The City Of Death

Before Skye Disappeared- Part Five

Skye held Macy's hand tightly as they walked along Salvia Street, hoods over both of their heads, trying to appear as inconspicuous as possible. It wasn't that Skye was afraid of Salvia Street or the Invalids, per se, but she was scared of the gossip that would start if anyone saw her there. How could she explain why Newscaster Skye and her kid sister were on Salvia Street in the dead of night? But being six and hyper, Macy didn't make it easy on Skye. She was resigned to this fact and just walked faster. 

She understood why Macy was excited, and Skye couldn't bear to take that excitement away from her. The little girl knew where they were going, and she knew that she'd get to see Atlas and the rest of the Renegades. Skye had yet to tell Macy that Atlas was the man she was in love with, and Macy had yet to ask which Renegade it was. She planned to tell her sister when they were all back in the Outside and safe from the City and its leaders. 

Macy was also excited to see Israel, the newest addition to the Renegades, and Skye wanted to see how he was settling in. He'd joined them only a few months ago, after a rather amusing introduction. Atlas, Skye, and Israel all laughed about it looking back, and Skye was pleased to see a friendship blooming between the two boys. After all, they were nearly the same age, with Israel two years behind Atlas's age of 19. 

Israel was a Musician, and a good one, at that. She'd heard his voice on the radio every now and again, but she had to admit that Israel's music felt... trapped. She wondered what he could create if he was in the Outside with no one telling him what to do and what kind of music to make. He'd been walking home from the music studio one night when he caught a glimpse of Skye and Macy sneaking into building 14. Since he lived on Salvia Street, he knew that building 14 had been condemned, and he was curious what they were up to. 

In doing so, he had crashed the Renegade's meeting. He'd barely had any time to respond before Skye had him pinned to a wall, her arm pressed against his throat. It had been an amusing sight, according to Atlas. Even at four years her junior, Israel was much bigger than her, but Skye was able to disarm him rather quickly. Israel admitted that he wasn't there to get them in trouble, he was just curious about what was happening. Skye had let him sit in on the meeting, and the rest was history. 

Skye was taken out of her thoughts by Macy tugging on her arm. The little girl pointed to a man, and Invalid based on the clothing, sitting slumped against the wall of a building. The Invalid was clearly high on salvia, muttering gibberish to himself, looking very unhealthy and unkempt. Macy asked if they could help him, but Skye quickly pulled her away. The man's sleeves were rolled up, and Skye didn't see a green wristband that marked him as a Renegade. So they simply kept walking. Skye had a meeting to get to and didn't have time to help anyone who wasn't a Renegade. 

That was where Skye and Macy differed. Skye only gave her time and attention to the people that mattered to her, which was mostly only Macy and the Renegades. Atlas had always said she was loyal to a fault, and maybe he was right. But Macy, bless her heart, she wanted to help everyone. Skye was still struggling to find the balance between encouraging that helping heart, keeping her sister safe, and protecting her from being taken advantage of. 

Eventually, they reached building 14 and they both ducked inside without anyone outside of the building being any the wiser. Skye pulled her hood off, crouched down in front of Macy, and removed her sister's hood, as well. She smoothed down Macy's hair, which was about halfway down her back, as the little girl stared up at her with those big green eyes. Very quickly, though, Macy's attention was pulled elsewhere, and she ran up to the Renegades, easily falling into conversation with any that would listen to her. But even as some of them smiled upon seeing the young girl, Skye could see that those smiles reached no eyes.