Runaway
Regulus didn't feel bad for the kids that died during his escape, they really weren't any better than the camp controllers with their comments, the way they would brush up against his shoulder when passing by and give him a dirty look as if it were his fault. As if he should've been the one to move out of their way.
It's not like they were friends.
"Do you think the other kids in the cabin died?"
"Barty, we blew the place up, what do you think?" He didn’t mean for it to sound as rude as it did, he really didn’t, it just slipped out.
"So is that a yes?" Barty grabbed onto the metal bar next to Regulus' head and leaned down, his face just a few inches from Regulus', "Do you think we might meet some other kids from other camps that also escaped?"
"Maybe, but with how old you look they might mistake you for an adult," he taunted, standing up and walking to the other side of the motel room they had snuck into.
"Hey!"
"Might wanna be a little quieter old man, someone could hear you," Regulus turned back around to face Barty, his lips pulled into a smug smirk.
Barty huffed and began walking towards the queen-sized bed, "You act like you wouldn't love me as an old man," he fell down onto the bed, face first before making a groaning noise.
Regulus turned around, facing his best friend, "You're upset. Why?" He asked, noticing his mood change. "We got out relatively unharmed,"
"No, it's not that," They sat in silence, Regulus waiting for Barty to tell him what it was he was upset about.
A few more minutes in silence, “...Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”
Barty turned his head, straining his neck to look at Regulus, “I was waiting for you to ask.”
“Oh.” Regulus stood there, thinking that maybe he’d just spit it out already but he didn’t. “What’s wrong?”
Barty flipped over and sat up, crossing his legs, “Well, Regulus, I’m glad you asked!” He said, his mood doing a full 360.
“I was thinking about that lady doctor, Ms. Née, she said that they had found out you were an orange, how do you think they did that?”
“Probably the white noise. Y’know, seeing how everyone reacted or something. I don’t know, I’m not an expert.” Regulus pushed the bathroom door open, walked in, and turned on the water, cupping it in his hands before splashing it onto his face.
“What if we run into them? Do you think she’ll be mad that you didn’t follow the plan?”
“No, and I seriously don’t think we’ll end up running into her. We’ll be fine, don’t worry.”
Barty is sure that Regulus had jinxed them when he said they wouldn’t run into Dr. Née. They had decided to leave the motel and only an hour in they were found and stuck in an awkward staring contest.
Barty was silently standing behind Regulus, his hands casually resting in his pockets, the knife he had snuck into his pocket before running into them was gripped tightly in his hand in case anything got out of hand.
Barty slightly leaned forward to take a look at Regulus, whose face was scrunched into a sour expression.
“I had a feeling it was you that had blown the place up,” Dr. Née said, looking at the man next to her through the corner of her eye, he was blocked by their car so Barty wasn’t able to get a good look at him until he came around the corner, his hands behind his back and Barty immediately got a bad feeling.
“Yeah, I wasn’t thrilled at the idea of being the only person to get out.” Barty kept his mouth shut, slightly grateful that Regulus had taken to risk to take him.
“Actually, what would’ve happened to the other kids who were identified as yellow or above?”
“I don’t see why that would matter, you blew the place up-” The man stepped up, he kept his hands behind his back but once he started talking he rested one hand on Regulus’ shoulder, and Barty wanted to burn that hand off. Burn it so he could never touch Regulus again.
Regulus’ eyes went even darker, if they even could and roughly shook his hand off of him. “I’m sorry, I was talking to Dr. Née. Not you.” He replied, barely looking at the man.
“Come on now, there’s no need to get aggressive,” The man chuckled and Regulus wanted to wipe the stupid smirk off his face.
“I was simply stating a fact, in no way was what I said aggressive.” Regulus’ eye twitched, was he seriously calling him aggressive? Provoking him when he had the upper hand just seemed stupid.
“To answer your question, Regulus.” She said, moving the conversation back to the previous topic. “They could’ve waited. Their situation wasn’t as pressing as yours was. When the time is right, I’m sure we’ll go back for them, but in the meantime, don’t worry about them. They’ll live.”
Barty’s stomach lurched at her tone more than her words. The way she said it--They’ll live--was so dismissive, he half expected to see a hand come up and wave him off, Don’t worry. Don’t worry about the way they’ve been mistreated, don’t worry about their punishments, don’t worry about the guns constantly trained on their backs. God, he was disgusted.
To think there’s a chance he could’ve still been there.
“Oh--no, Regulus, I’m sorry, I didn’t even realize how that would sound,” She said, her eyes kept going between Regulus and Barty. “I just meant… I don’t even know what I’m saying, I was there for weeks, and I still can’t begin to imagine what it must've been like. I shouldn’t act like I know what you went through.”
“You’re right, you shouldn’t, but we-” Regulus pointed over to Barty, “have things to do so if you’ll excuse us-” He grabbed onto Barty’s sleeve and began pulling him away, “We’ll be on our way.”
Dr. Née didn’t let them get more than a few steps before she was calling for Regulus. “Wait! With your help we can get rid of all the camps, you just need to go with us. If you had come the first time you wouldn’t have a bounty on your head.”
“A bounty? What is this? We’re not criminals.” He ignored her and continued walking. “The 40 dead and 100+ injured would say otherwise.”
Regulus was silent for a few minutes, “We did what we had to so we could get out.”
“There was a safer way that wouldn’t have caused anyone to get hurt.”
“Plenty of people would have gotten hurt. Including the kids who ‘could’ve waited’. We’re not going with you.” Regulus gripped Barty’s wrist, his hand slipping down to the edge of his sleeve. He calmly dragged Barty into the rundown 7/11, his eyes dragging across each aisle for a few minutes before whispering over to Barty, “Are they still out there?”
“Uhh-” He looked over the aisle they were in, “Yea,”
“Well, don’t make it obvious you’re looking, you dumbass!” Regulus hissed as he grabbed onto the back of his shirt and tugged him backward. Regulus pulled a bag from off the shelf and started filling it with water and all the necessities, “He had a gun. We need to hurry and leave.”
Barty went to start grabbing stuff before going still, “What is it-”
Barty pressed his hand against Regulus’ mouth, stopping him from speaking, and looked to the back of the store.
It was another kid.