The Gang of Nothing [Inactive]

I touch my face, just below my eye.


"The bags under my eyes are that apparent, huh?"


I give a half-hearted smile and turn away from Ciela. My mind feels dense. Thinking becomes similar to trying to move through quicksand.


"That was short-lived," I whisper to myself, trudging back to my own corner of the warehouse. Where my energy suddenly leaves me, exhaustion takes its place. I don't even bother to curse my misfortune.


My sleeping bag lies close to where the walls meet. Sitting against those walls are my backpack and duffel bag. They look untouched. Before falling over to sleep, I take all but one packet of the matches out of my pocket and place them near my backpack, in case Jessica comes to get them. I move the matches I kept on me to my front left pants pocket.


"At least I can still be considerate, even like this," I mumble.


I slip my shoes off and put them next to my duffel bag, then take off my hoodie and throw it on top of my backpack.


The ceiling suddenly catches my attention, and I decide to stare at it for a while. I think of the past week. I think of the weird people I've met, and how I got to where I'm at now. I think of my friends and my life back home.


I think of my most recent hospital stay.


I look down at the underside of my arms and sigh.


"I am an idiot."


My eyes dart to the other people in the warehouse - Jessica, Ciela, guy-I-still-don't-know - then down to the floor.
 
Ciela's head shot over; she nodded.


"Coming," She mumbled, walking over and picking up a few bags herself. She figured this was another one of the steal-and-run grocery bills. She didn't mind though, all she cared about was food. "What did we get this time?"
 
Having sat down on my sleeping bag, I stare at the floor in front of me. I hear Jessica ask Ciela to help with the groceries. I would, but I don't know where to put them, I tell myself.


Remembering something, I look up.


"Jess, can we start a fire?"
 
"We got enough for at least two weeks." Jessica said. "Start a small fire if you have too." She added with a sigh. She took her coat off and tossed it on the ground. "Lets just put this stuff in the office."
 
Ciela perked up when Jessica allowed a fire. Even if it was small, it was still a beauty. She carried the groceries into the office and sat them off to the side. Then she waited at the door for any other instructions from Jessica. She wouldn't want to be off near the fire when work had to be done. She could get in serious trouble for that.
 
Picking up an extra pack of matches, I stand up and walk over to the cardboard boxes I had dropped in the center of the room, next to a burning barrel. It's packed with miscellaneous debris I can't really make out. I assume it's non-flammable, considering it's still there.


Picking up three of the cardboard boxes, I tear them to pieces so that they fit into the barrel, then toss them in. The cardboard boxes are large enough for three of them to burn for a good two hours, at least. I sigh.


"You'd think it was still Spring with this kind of weather..." I shiver slightly without my hoodie.


I take out a match and strike it against one of the scraps of cardboard. Nothing. I sigh again, taking out the entire pack, then strike the match against the strip on it. It ignites. I hold the match to a corner of the cardboard. As the flames begin to spread, I toss the match into the barrel, then put my hands into my pockets and watch the fire.
 
"Ciela, go ahead and enjoy the fire. I'll just finish up here." Jessica said. She liked working alone, it stopped others from getting in her way. But do I really think that?
 
Ciela's face lit up from a large smile. He happily speed-walked over to the barrel, and leaned to watch the flames flicker. What a beautiful sight. Such power in such beauty. She was practically in love with the flames themselves. The warmth spread over her entire body as she stood peering in.


She soon became lost in the flames. Her own mind wandering as if it flickered around itself. If only she could control it, like one of those kid shows. That was her dream.
 
Jacob joined the group by the fire. "Perfect." He said. Jessica put away the groceries and got into another coughing fit. This fit was a bad one, racking her body with the coughs.
 
Ciela looked over as Jacob joined, then heard Jessica coughing. Her face grew concerned, "Is she going to be alright? Should we go out, and try to find some medicine?"
 
( I'm just gonna switch to past-tense because present-tense is too hard >> )


I glanced over to the guy I still hadn't met, then at Ciela. She appeared to be entranced in the flames before hearing Jessica's coughing fit.


Medicine.


I did notice that she had looked a bit under the weather during our shopping trip. The abnormally low temperatures this early in the summer definitely didn't help. I guess Mother Nature fell asleep somewhere during early spring and forgot to set an alarm.


My eyes found their way back to the fire.


Medicine, huh?
 
Jessica removed her hand from her mouth. It was speckled with red. Nonononononono!! "Ugh, I need some meds." She said standing up. She wiped the blood on her jeans and it left a nice red streak. "Damn it!" She hit the wall.
 
Ciela looked over to Robert and motioned for him to follow her. Something had to be done about Jessica's cough. Maybe it was the flu or a cold that's gotten out of hand? All she knew was that Jessica was in no condition to go out in the cold, and someone had to do something.


She walked to the door, looked back to see if Robert was following her, then walked out either way. She shivered at the cold. She needed to find a better jacket for them all as well, something thick. It was time to be more than a mouse in a corner.
 
Ciela gestured to me. I could guess what she meant to do.


I don't even know where we'd get medicine...


Stepping out the door after grabbing my hoodie, I shut it behind me and walked over to Ciela. I was still in a particularly down mood, and my voice reflected that.


"What's the plan?"


I sounded perfectly lackadaisical. It bothered me. Shivering slightly, I shoved my hands into my pockets. My hoodie was just warm enough for me to be mostly comfortable. The smart kid I was, I opted not to bring anything much warmer. I was all about the layers.


I tried to enjoy the wind nipping at my face as I waited for Ciela to tell me her game plan.
 
Ciela waited for Robert. When she saw him coming she smiled, thankful he noticed, but at his question her face fell. She looked up, kind of with a shamed face and said, "I don't have a plan. I normally clean and help bring stuff in. Sometimes even help administer the medicine. I've never gotten any of it before."


She looked at the ground, pulling her jacket tightly around her at the gust of wind. She started again, "I mean, there are drugstores right? Maybe we could grab something quickly...and maybe one of us distract the guy? And if he hears the alarm, throw it out in a pile of something and hope he doesn't notice, then grab it?"
 
I looked away and grinned, the side of my face hidden by my hood.


Well.


I wasn't exactly a fan of stealing. The first time I'd done it was in the past week, back when I began this adventure. What I knew, though, was that most stores couldn't do anything about stealing. Or rather, they didn't, to ensure the employees' safety. They weren't supposed to chase shoplifters, so all we had to do was grab something and get out. Bonus points if they don't notice.


"Do you know of like, a CVS or something in the area?"


Looking back to Cierra, I thought of the buildings I saw on my way into New York. Surely I'd seen a drugstore. The problem was retracing my footsteps.
 
Ciela watched him as he looked away. She couldn't tell what he was thinking, but it didn't matter to her. Once he voiced his question she thought for a moment.


"I'm sure there probably is one, not sure if it's a CVS, or maybe Rite Aid, or maybe Walgreens, or something. Any one of them would be good, really; I can't decide whether we should grab one bottle of medicine or a few bottles."


She paused and thought for another moment, then sighed, "Whatever, let's just go." And with that she started trekking off toward the main road.
 
I watched Ciela walk off for a second before following.


Whatever works, I guess.


Walking next to Cierra, I matched her stride to stay with her pace.


"With something like this, more is better than less." After saying this, all the situations where this was a bad philosophy came to mind. Being that it was morning, we had a smaller chance of running into some weirdo like before - not that Ciela knew about that. After a moment of deliberation, I decided not to bring it up. It wasn't exactly relevant.


My mood began to elevate, though I remained wary. The thought of adventure made my mood ecstatic, but I had to remember that I knew next to nothing about my companion. She likes books and her eyes sparkle when something's on fire. Who's to say she wouldn't throw a flaming book at me?


I realized quickly that this thought was irrational.


Following beside Ciela, I opted not to ask more about her history. I mean, we hardly knew each other, and I'm not usually the type to pry. Although, I did sort of hope that she might say something herself.
 
They walked for a while, Ciela's feet soon beginning to hurt. She wasn't much of a walker, she normally stayed inside. She decided to ignore the soreness in her feet and quicken her pace. She looked to Robert beside her. He seemed to be lost in thought. She wondered what he thought, and if he thought their plan was absolutely crazy, which, it was.


Finally she spoke up, not turning to look at him, "So, liking the warehouse?"


It was a stupid question, but she had to break this silence.
 
I stole a glance at Ciela after she looked at me. We continued walking.


'So, liking the warehouse?'


Half-grinning at her question, I pulled my hood down. Now that it was morning and we were entering a more populated area, I didn't want it to be up. Based on experience, people think teenagers with their hoods up are delinquents. Even in this sort of cold.


I decided to be honest.


"I can't say it's better than home, living-conditions-wise, but at least you guys actually listen to me."


Maybe my actual feelings weren't the best way to reply to a stock question, but it would certainly break the tension. I wanted to be able to talk freely. However long I was with The Nothing, I wanted to get to know them. I've never been good with strangers.
 
Jessica put another piece of cardboard on the fire and stood by it, trying to warm her skin. Jacob put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Are you ok? Your freezing." Jessica set her hand on his. "I'll be fine. Or I will be." She said, "Thanks for asking."
 
Ciela nodded, "Being listened to is quite nice. It's better than being ignored because you were odd or strange, or just because your family were all trash to begin with."


She heard her voice go cold at the last sentence. Parents? More like benefactors and nothing more.


She looked around as they hit the west side of town. She knew they'd find stores closer to the center, so she walked on, looking out in case they passed one.
 
A cold front passed through me, carried by Ciela's reply. I thought something that came up often when talking to this sort of thing with friends. A simultaneous sigh of relief and empathic sorriness. I'm glad she can relate to me, but I'm sorry that she's even able to. Maybe it was a shitty thing to think, but it provided me a small amount of comfort.


I nodded, a quote coming back to me.


"Y'know the saying, 'blood is thicker than water?'" I didn't stop to let her answer. It was more rhetorical.


"That's wrong. The actual quote is, 'the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.'"


I paused.


"So I think we're doin' alright."
 
A smile played on Ciela's lips as Robert spoke. He understood, and didn't try to pity her. She liked that.


"I agree wholeheartedly. Wombs are worth much to me anymore, anyways," she said.


She turned a corner and came in view of a small drugstore on the corner. She stopped and looked over, "Okay, time to finalize the plan."
 
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