Chatty Town

Chapter Eight : 20 Questions

Dem turns to me and addresses the group with inspiration, "We're survivors, we started out as strangers but now, we're a family."

A girl from the crowd snickers, "Does that mean Merrick and Wren are inbreeding?"

A few of the younger ones in the crowd chuckle and Wren sits up a bit and shoots them all a look and they immediately stop.
Dem shakes his head, "You know they're not related, and except for a few of you, none of us are."

I shake my head, "But, who are you to those kids? Why are you here, in an Auto shop of all places– and why are you being hunted by those kids?"
Dem sighs, "That's three questions and we haven't even reciprocated your first one."
Slight anger bubbles up in my torso "Chock it up to compensate for your earlier interrogation of me."

Merrick chuckles and Wren notices, standing up in an instant.

Wren snaps, "Okay. You wanna know who we are? Dem said it best." Wren walks down the steps and gestures with her arms when talking about the Chatties. "We're survivors! Of those lab created freaks out there who've killed all our families and would've killed us too if it weren't for Dempsey and the rest of the Resistance! Who's all dead now by the way!"

Dempsey. So Dem is just a nickname. I think to myself.

She continues, "Why are we here? Because those bastardized children are letting us live." Wren scoffs, "If you can even call this living? Fighting for our lives. Stealing for clothes. We don't even have heat or water in this damned building!" Wren walks closer to me and Dem puts his hand out to keep her at a distance.

"And to answer your question of why they're hunting us-" Wren scoffs as Dem holds her back from me. "It's because we're old. And stupid. To them at least– and that's all that matters. Whatever they deem true is law."

Dem nods his head and in a solemn voice he mumbles, "Okay, Wren. I think that's enough."
Wren shakes her head, "No! It's not enough. It's never going to be enough!" Wren pushes past Dempsey and gets in my face,  "Because this princess was fucking asleep for the whole war! She never had to strangle one of them before they did the same to her!" Merrick steps between me and Dempsey and pushes Wren back by her shoulder and hip.
Merrick pleads quietly, "Wren, stop. Take a break, okay?" Wren looks her boyfriend in the eyes and scoffs before turning around- making her way to the stairs where she leans on the railing and Merrick follows her.

I nod as I process it. Children are killers. Everyone here lost someone they loved because of a child. Like the ones outside. Lying on the sidewalk dead because of Dempsey and Wren. Because of me and that book.
I shake the thoughts from my head, "So you all lost someone?"

Zeph nods and mumbles from the crowd all agree.

Dempsey grabs my elbow and moves my arm to get light into my wound and I wince. "We should get this taped up before you lose too much blood." He looks in the direction of the stairs and shouts, "Lo, we need those tweezers!" Lo jogs down the stairs with a clear rectangular bucket filled with bandages and metal medical instruments.

She apologizes down the stairs, "Sorry, I was waiting for a good time to join again. It got pretty serious there, for a second." Lo hands the box to Dempsey and he pulls me over to the couch and sits me down.
"You sterilized them, right?"
Lo puffs, "Yeah, I mean that's what took most of the time."
Dempsey nods and grabs long metal tweezers out of the box and tells her to unwrap the self-adhesive bandage and get the gauze ready. Lo nods and Dempsey moves my arm into the light peering from the smudged windows behind the stairs and instantly digs into the wound for the bullet.
I gasp and scold him, "What, no warning?!"