"I'm hesitating, I know." I ground my teeth in frustration. "I just... I need..." I trailed off as Tamura started forward with a giggle. We were to the side of Trough and I watched him skirt around it, leap up onto the dais, and strike.
The first of the captains went down to a punch to spine before they knew Tamura was there. The second turned, brandishing a ladle. In a move so quick I couldn't follow it, Tamura disarmed the man and chased him away with his own ladle. I'm not sure if I was more surprised than the scabs watching, but I leapt into the opening Tamura had bought me.
Climbing the dais behind the food I caught the scabs' attention easily. Some laughed, a few cheered, most watched with eager eyes, wondering what I was about to do next. They had come to expect momentous events from me, and I didn't plan on disappointing them. If only they knew the price.
There is a secret to working a crowd, especially a crowd of underfed workers living their lives in the worst conditions imaginable. First, tell them the truth. Just a little bit of it. Just enough for them to swallow the lies that follow.
"Deko uses food to control us," I shouted. Out of the corner of my eye I could already see his thugs over at the Hill standing and staring my way. It would be only moments before they got order to remove me. I had just set in motion something I couldn't undo. Either I got the scabs to listen, to respond, or Deko would kill me. The rumours and fame were something he could ignore, but this was not. This was inciting rebellion. Luckily, there were far more scabs than foremen, and at feeding time almost all of us were down at the Trough; a churning crowd of flesh and sweat they would need to push through to get to me. "They dish out meagre portions for a lifetime of endless bloody digging. And all the while they keep the best bits for themselves.
"Fresh bread, more than most of us see in a week." The crowd was nodding along, but I needed them to do more than just agree. I needed them whipped into a frenzy. "They don't want us to know it, but they don't just get this shit." I kicked at the gruel to make my point. "The Terrelans give us broth. Real meat. Real food. Deko didn't get that fucking fat by accident. They steal the food that is meant for all of us." I can be quite compelling when I try and the crowd bought my lie without hesitation. In all fairness, it was easy to believe.
The foremen reached the crowd of scabs in front of me, trying to push their way through, but the scabs were pushing back. It wasn't just that I was speaking, of course, they didn't want to lose their place in line for food.
"It's not just the food, either," I continued while I could. "Clothes. Bedding. They steal everything meant for us." I was almost screaming to be heard over the noise of the crowd. I've always found it quite surprising how loud a crowd can be even when all they're doing is listening. "We're prisoners, not slaves!"
The first of the foremen to push his way through, reached the dais and leapt up. Tamura appeared behind the man and, with a twist, sent him tumbling away into the crowd. I didn't see him rise again.
"They make us fight in the arena for extra scraps." The crowd shouted at that. There were still foremen trying to push their way towards me, but there were others, captains included, at the edge of the crowd who started to back away. There was a charged sense in the air. I didn't realise until then how close Deko kept the scabs to revolt. Walking the knife edge between open revolt and resigned destitution. It must have been a tough balancing act for him, but he managed it with such brutal skill.
"Down below he is using us to build a palace underground. Deko thinks he's a fucking king. But he's not. He's nothing. Just another prisoner like us." Another cheer and the foremen struggling to push their way through the crowd suddenly found themselves being dragged down. I saw little circles open up in the scabs where the more violent started to kick at the downed foremen. More deaths on my conscience. More skulls paving my way.
"We outnumber them!" I screamed myself hoarse that day. It was worth it. "They keep us down with fear. But I am not afraid. We are not afraid. This isn't fear. This is unity. This is strength." The crowd screamed with me. "Let's take back what is fucking ours!"
I finished by pointing towards the Hill where Deko and his captains were massing. It was hard not to see the glint of steel in hands. Shivs and clubs. Harder still not to see the snarl of rage on Deko's face. As I have said, burning bridges is a speciality of mine. If I didn't escape, I would have half the Pit tearing me to pieces by the end of the day, and the other half cheering them on.
Watching a crowd turn is terrifying when you're behind it. A shift in momentum, the damn breaking and flood waters rushing out in a wave that is all destruction and no reason. It's even worse when you're in front of it, and I have to give respect to Deko and his thugs. They held their ground against numbers that could have crushed them. They didn't. The rebellion lasted only an hour at most before Deko regained control. I have no idea how many scabs died that day, but I am the weapon, and it is not for the weapon to count the lives it has taken.
No sooner had the crowd turned, then I dropped back down behind the dais, and hurried away with Tamura, clutching two sacks of bread each. Even as we reached the closest stairwell, I could hear the sounds of fighting and the sounds of dying. I had just started my very first rebellion. It would not be my last.
Chapter 24
We are insular creatures. We rarely consider, truly contemplate how our actions affect others, affect the world around us. It is not selfishness or arrogance, it is simply a matter of perspective. Drop a pebble in a lake and the ripples will reach every bank. We cannot track every ripple, we cannot see every outcome. Consequence is defined by perspective. That same pebble dropped in the lake, affects a bird resting on the surface, and a fish swimming underneath in entirely different ways. And we cannot be expected to consider them all. Then again, maybe I'm just making excuses for my actions. For the violence I caused.
I tried to forget that I had just traded away hundreds of lives for a chance at freedom. I can't forget. Nor can I justify it. I did what I did, and I would be lying if I said I wouldn't do it again. Maybe that makes me a monster, yet it is far from the most monstrous thing I have done.
We found Yorin pacing a tunnel intersection near our escape route. He reminded me of a caged animal left hungry too long. Short steps, balled fists, muscles tight as though he were just waiting to pounce on something. When we got closer, I noticed fresh blood on his knuckles. Yorin seemed to calm when he saw us, standing up to his full, considerable height and taking a deep breath.
"Is it done?" My first words were all business. Yorin never did pleasantries.
"I don't like leaving them alive," he said. "Especially not a foreman. If you don't get me out and Deko hears of this..."
"We're getting out," I hissed and pushed past him towards our tunnel. "Besides, Deko has enough to worry about. If we don't get out, he won't care a rat's blistering arse about you when he has me."
Tamura let out a giggle. "Winter winds." He twirled a finger around in the air then clapped his hands together with a loud crack. "Churning waters. The mountain meets the storm."
"What does that mean?" Yorin asked.