Revelation

Makara.

“I’m behind whatever you decide,” I said to Makara. “You are the leader of this gang. I just think this won’t be as quick and easy as you think.”

Makara stared at me. She hadn’t changed her mind, either.

“She’s right,” Char said. “I know how men like Rey and Grudge think. We must go after the Reds. And the sooner, the better.”

Marcus stared up at his brother. Up until now, I had not seen them speak to each other. For a moment, it looked like Marcus was going to say something to Char. If the two brothers would end up on speaking terms again, it would almost be worth going after the Reds. For some reason, though, it just felt like the wrong move.

Marcus turned to Makara. “I will lead the assault. Lucius and the Reds will not live to see the morning.”

“We’re not committing to an all-out war,” Makara said. “Just a fly-by. We’ll need everyone on the attack.”

“An all-out war is what you’ll get if you do this,” I said. “Whether you like it or not.”

Makara clenched a fist. “I need you to follow my orders, Alex. I am not messing with you. I’m in charge here, and this is my decision. Is that clear?”

I was doing all I could not to yell back at her. “Is this how we run things, then? Remember, if it weren’t for me, this wouldn’t exist. It was my idea to put you in charge. You better listen to me, Makara. I know what I’m talking about.”

“You do? I don’t think so. You’re just some sheltered Bunker kid who doesn’t know how the world really works. Leave the war and politics to me, Char, and Marcus.”

“Both of you,” Samuel said. “That’s enough.”

Makara looked at me, her eyes still angry. Though Makara could be harsh, sometimes it was just too much.

She calmed. “I’m…sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“It’s true, though,” I said, quietly. “Maybe I really don’t know what I’m talking about.”

“Come on,” Marcus said. “We can’t worry about hurt feelings. We need to organize this attack, and do it right now.”

Makara looked my direction. I could tell she felt bad. I could honestly say I preferred her feeling angry.

“Everyone, on the ship,” she said. “And Alex. This won’t be a war. You’ll see. This is just saving face. That’s it.”

Marcus’s expression told me it was more than that, but accepting Makara’s lie was just a way to save her face. It was stupid. She had put me in a position where I had to accept her decision, or be a jerk.

“Whatever,” I said. “If we’re going to do this, we do this. I can point and shoot as well as any man. I just don’t have to like it.”

“That’s fine,” Makara said.

She sighed, clearly not happy. What she had to realize was that we couldn’t get bogged down talking about my emotions. Emotions happened, and they made a mess. We had to ignore it, at least for now. More important things were at stake.

I looked from Makara, to Marcus, to Char, and finally, to Michael. I couldn’t believe how quickly this was all happening.

“They have their HQ in this large office building,” Marcus said. “I saw them park a lot of their bikes out there. If we raid that thing, we can deal a lot of damage.”

Makara was only half-listening to Marcus. She looked to me instead.

“If not attack them, what do you suggest, Alex?” Makara asked.

I could tell it pained her to say that. I just wished she would stop. She wanted an out, wanted to give me a chance to think of something better. I could come up with the perfect solution, right now, and it wouldn’t change a thing. Everyone looked to me, as if my opinion mattered. It didn’t. I’d already heard the truth. Makara was in charge, end of story.

“Honestly, I have no idea if there’s anything we can do,” I said. “I just think it’s a bad idea to make a decision in haste…especially one that will cost lives.”

“We’re already in this, kid!” Marcus shouted, his face red. “I don’t care what anyone here says. I lost two men tonight. The Exiles go, with or without help.”

“Marcus,” Char said, arms crossed, “you need to stand down. You’re not in charge, anymore. This is still an open question. Let the kid have his say.” He looked at me, and nodded. “I’d say he’s well earned it. We need to listen to skeptics.”

Marcus’s face, once crimson, was now pumice-gray. He was so angry he could not find words. His cold blue eyes gazed at Char, murderous.

“I’m not taking a counterattack off the table,” Makara said. “I just want to hear all of our options. We can’t ignore members of this group who disagree. That’s not who we are. What I said earlier…it wasn’t true. I don’t want anyone to think I’m not willing to listen.”

I shook my head. “I’ve already said what I’ve had to say. Do with it what you will.”

No one said anything for a while. During the deliberation, many of Char’s Raiders and Marcus’s Exiles had made their way closer to the ship in order to hear the plans.

“This gang is pathetic,” Marcus said. “You were all ready to avenge one of your own, until this kid whines about not wanting to get his hands dirty. If you’re in a gang, you get your hands good and bloody. There’s no other way to run a gang. Otherwise, you’re just in a club.”

Disgusted, Marcus turned from the ship, leaving us in silence. I had no answer for Marcus. Maybe the New Angels weren’t really a gang, at least not in the traditional sense. All the same, I couldn’t think of any way to solve the problem the Reds had caused without violence. Maybe I was just being petty. Besides, the Reds wouldn’t understand anything but violence. Violence was the language of the streets. If we didn’t learn how to speak it, we weren’t going to make much of an impression.

“I’ve made my decision,” Makara said.

We all looked at her. This time, I said nothing. Looking into her eyes, at that sense of resignation, I knew what she had decided. And I hated the fact that we would have to kill again. I didn’t want to kill, but there was no way to avoid it. It was easy to point my gun at the crawlers and Blighters. Those things had no souls. It was harder to point your guns at living, breathing people, even if they were the ones attacking you first.

Makara turned to face everyone, distant Exiles and Raiders included.

“We will attack tonight.”

The Exiles and the Raiders, who had once been staring each other down, now looked at Makara, their faces blank for a moment. Then the men broke into smiles.

Maybe attacking was bad in my book, but if it got the Exiles and the Raiders to stop hating each other, maybe it was worth it.

“If we’re really doing this, we have a lot to go over,” Michael said.

Marcus nodded, his expression relaxing.

“We can make our plans in the ship,” Makara said. She looked out at the crowd. “As for the rest of you, suit up. We’re leaving in two hours.”

Several of the men whooped and cheered as the rest scattered for their tents. I watched as everyone went to the ship, not quite ready to join them. It still felt wrong. We were focusing on petty vengeance rather than the end goal — and everyone was just falling into line. Maybe, like me, they didn’t agree. Makara had a lot of weight on her shoulders. She had a lot of hard decisions to make. She could be wrong, but she could be right, too. Who was I to say what was right or wrong? The lives of thousands of men, both within the city and without, both inside the New Angels and outside it, depended on a nineteen-year-old girl. It was insane.

I sighed, and walked to the edge of the bridge, staring toward the east. It was the direction of the Great Blight. The sky was dark with night, and I couldn’t see much further than a few blocks of buildings. I almost wished the Great Blight would attack, as crazy as that sounds. It would get us focused on shooting the Blighters and not each other. I shook my head. We were doing this stupid attack because Marcus was dumb enough to ride into the Reds’ territory. Did every life demand more blood to be spilled? Would it really be seen as weakness if we did