Aftermath

There were no guards stationed outside the clinic, which was slightly alarming to Yern. Someone was supposed to be on guard no matter the time of night. Yern went into the clinic to find it completely abandoned. The few lights that were in the place were turned off. No patients lay in the beds, and there were no employees in the back office.

Horrible thoughts rushed into Yern's mind. 'Did Marrow attack while we were gone? There are no signs of a fight, so maybe PE's took everyone to jail.'

Yern sat on a bed to take a moment to calm himself as Sar looked over the empty place hoping to find someone.

"I can't find anyone. Where could they have all gone?" Sar asked, the worry in his voice rising.

"There are only two things that I can think of. PE's snatched everyone up and threw them in jail or they ran." Yern replied trying to think rationally. They couldn't panic when there was a chance nothing had happened to the rest of the gang.

"Where would they run if the clinic was in danger?" Yern asked Sar. Yern was slightly embarrassed that he didn't know his members enough to know this information himself but as they had just established he cut himself some slack.

"Uh... that big house that we all slept on the first night." Sar responded 

"Alright. That's where they'll be then." Yern said, heading towards the door. Yern wasn't as confident as he seemed and hoped he was right. If he wasn't he had no idea what he would do. He had to find them quickly, if they weren't in some jail cell. That would be almost the worse thing if they were in jail, the worse being them being dead of course. The thought of being against Marrow with just one other person sent shivers down his back. Who knew how long Sar and himself would be able to survive with PE's and Marrow after them.

They left the clinic in a hurry, Sar leading the way to the house he'd mentioned before. It was a short walk down the street to the Circle. They made it to the Circle and to the biggest house on the street and could hear conversation going on in the house.

They rushed in at the sound of Allen's and Tack's voice, startling everyone in the house. Everyone in the house included everyone in their gang and the woman who worked at the clinic before their gang was established. Yern was relieved everyone was safe and not in a jail cell.

"Where the hell have you guys been?! And whose blood is that?" Allen seemed to be speaking for everyone else as they all looked at the two surprised but confused. Yern and Sar didn't realize but they looked rough. Running away from the PE's in the Marketplace had cut up and ruined their clothes , then Sar got blood all over his shirt after stabbing the man in the alley. The journey home in the rain and using the bank of the river as a pathway soaked their clothes, partially cleaning the blood from Sar's shirt. Yern understood their confusion and started to explain his hectic day.

"Calm down, calm down I'll explain. We had a little fight against some of Marrow's men, I'm sure you knew that already. We ran until the PE's stopped chasing us but we were deep in Marrows territory. We made our way to an old house I used to live in and Sar had to stab a man so we could get to the place. The-"

"There's more?" Tack asked. Yern nodded and continued his story.

"We were worried about being attacked by Marrow's men or being found by PE's. So we walked along the river bank till we got back here. That's it, nothing crazy." Yern joked. Yern gave Sar a look to tell him not to mention the part of the story he left out.

"You used the bank of the river? That's smart." Allen said.

After a barrage of questions from everyone in the house and re-explaining the events a few times, everyone calmed down and went back to what they were doing before Yern and Sar ran into the house. Yern quietly called Allen and Tack into another room in the house. They were confused but went into the room with him and Sar.

"What's going on?" Tack asked as Yern closed the door.

"I found Marrow's headquarters. While we were trying to find the river we came across it. It has guards everywhere." Yern explained loud enough just for the four of them to hear. Allen and Tack stood shocked.

"That's very valuable information. I'm glad you pulled us to the side. We will need to start preparing to attack it. That'll help end this blood war and we can start making real money." Allen said after snapping out of his shock.

"There's almost as many guards around that house as there are people who run with us. There's no way we can attack it with just us. We need more recruits, mainly people who can fight." Sar voiced his opinion on the matter.

"No one wants to join us after the blood war started." Tack said.

"And we don't have the funds to pay anymore people." Allen added.

"We will talk about this later. What happened to make everyone move away from the clinic?" Yern asked.

Allen explained how a group of PE's had followed Titan and the runners back to the clinic after they saw them talking to Yern. Yern had hoped that wouldn't happen but what could he do. The PE's had stayed at the clinic for a few hours waiting on Yern and Sar to come back. When they didn't they told Allen if Yern came back to the clinic anyone in there would be considered accomplices to the crime. So knowing that would be the first place Yern looked for them, they left just to be safe. 

Yern wasn't really sure if someone could be called an accomplice to a crime simply by being in the place the criminals ran to hide, but he really couldn't argue with PE's about it. What could he do besides going to the Peace Enforcer Headquarters and try to talk and bribe his way out of the situation. If he didn't and continued to hide they would probably harass people trying to receive treatment at the clinic or the clinic employees themselves. All while Marrow's smoke weed business continued making him money without interference from the PE's.

"Tomorrow morning I will go to the Peace Enforcer Headquarters and try to sort this problem out." Yern said, receiving a concerned look from the three other boys. They didn't seem to think his idea was the best.

"How do you plan on fixing it?" Allen asked.

"Bribery is my main plan. I don't really know if that doesn't work." Yern admitted 

"And what if they just throw you in a cell as soon as they see you?" Tack asked

"Then you guys keep things running until I get out. I should only get a few weeks at most, not like we killed someone in the Marketplace. And they should stop looking for Sar if they catch one of us." Yern said.

"Then Sar should turn himself in to get them off your back." Allen said and received a sharp look from Sar.

The room went quiet after Allen said that. No one wanted Sar to go to jail of course but it would be better for a soldier to than the boss. Yern knew he couldn't let someone else do time for something he caused. He was the boss and he was the one who caused the blood war in the first place, so he would be the one to do the jail time if it came to that. He was praying to all the gods that it didn't. He knew Allen wouldn't let him take the blame so he had to trick him.

"Come on, Sar." Yern said and began walking out the room. Sar seemed confused but followed anyway. The two made their way out of the house and away from listening ears so Yern could tell Sar what he had planned.

"I'll do the time. Like you said, it won't be a long time." Sar hesitantly said as they stood on the side of the house.

"No you won't. No ones going to jail. I'll being going to the PE's HQ early in the morning, before the clinic even opens. I'm telling you so you won't go and be arrested and so someone knows what happened if I end up in jail." Yern explained

"So how long should I wait until I tell Allen you went to the HQ? And what if he tries to go to the HQ" Sar asked

"By the time he wakes up I'll either be in jail or on the way back to the clinic. Allen is smart enough to know if I'm in jail there nothing he could do to stop it, he won't risk going to the HQ himself. Alright, lets head back in." Yern said, heading back towards the door to the house.