"You will be, too, give it time," Matt assured her.
They were wandering down a side street near Harvard Square. Since the beginning of their trip, they had stopped by a music store so that Matt could get new bass strings and Benji could stare at guitars; stopped by a convenience store to get cigarettes and a paper; visited Benji's brother Joel, who was a lawyer; and bought sno-cones. According to Matt the underground railroad was fully functional, but they didn't take it because they were permanently monitored by undercover police. Also, he didn't like to drive because the traffic was so horrible.
Tim's legs hurt.
Glancing up, he noticed two boys dressed far too trashy for the cool weather. They were arguing, the blonde one having a slight hinting of a French accent. As soon as they saw Matt, Benji, Tim and Dana passing they stopped arguing to leer at them and preen.
"Hookers," Matt supplied in a stage whisper, catering to the confused look Tim had.
"Oh," Tim said in monotone, immediately reverting his gaze to the sidewalk.
"Hey, Benji!," the other whore, a thin, tall boy with long, greasy black hair, called as they crossed the street.
"Uh, hey," Benji stammered, also looking at the ground.
Matt made no attempt to stifle his full laughter, oblivious to the car that nearly hit them and the loud honking that followed.
"Friends of yours?," Dana asked with a knowing grin.
"Anyway, so about what Joel was saying," Benji ignored her question. "Do you think the takeover of Europe was a lie?"
Matt shrugged. "Possible. They might want us to think they're more powerful now. However, with as powerful as the government already is -"
"- wouldn't be surprising if they had," Tim finished for him.
"There's not really any way to know, is there?," Dana questioned.
"Short of going to Europe and checking it out for ourselves, I guess not," Matt decided.
They passed an upscale department store that looked out of place, but still somehow managed to stay in business, and continued down the sidewalk a ways to the Garage. Matt pulled the glass doors open and ushered the others inside, heading up the ramp to the upper level. The main room was much more active than it had been yesterday. Conor was in the corner strumming a guitar and making notes, Rob and Matt Skiba appeared to be deeply involved in a game of poker nearby.
Not long after Dana and Tim had resigned to a couch, watching the poker match, Hollywood had wandered into the room, flopping casually onto the couch next to them.
"Way to leave me alone all day, assholes," he greeted them.
"Can't really blame us for avoiding your presence," Dana told him distractedly.
"Yeah, well," Hollywood conceded. "Where've you been?"
Tim answered this time. "We walked aroud the city a little, met Benji's brother and stuff. What'd you do?"
Hollywood grinned widely. "Jade was letting me play with his guns."
Dana blanched, looking at him disgustedly. "Dude, we definately didn't need to know that."
"You're such a sick bitch, do you take everything as a sexual innuendo?," Hollywood scoffed at her. She rolled her eyes in a 'oh, yeah, that's definately my problem' sort of way and he continued. "Nah, in this room downstairs they're stockpiling weapons."
Tim snapped his gaze to Hollywood quickly. "What? They do realize how fucking illegal that is, right?"
Hollywood shrugged. "Yeah, well the way Jade figures it, the way things are working now, so peacefully and all, isn't gunna last forever. And he thinks we should be ready for when it all breaks down."
"Oh, well I'm glad Jade thinks it's a good idea. And I'm glad Jade trusts every fucking person who walks in here enough to tell them about his grand scheme. I mean it's not like anyone's going to find out about it that way and let the cops know. Not at all," Dana looked at him for a long moment before shaking her head.
"Wait, so...why do you think Matt hasn't said anything? Or Benji?," Tim looked at them curiously.
Hollywood shrugged, ignoring Dana's comment. "I don't think everyone here knows about it. Jade mentioned some people who don't live here, too, that's helping move them."
Dana narrowed her eyes a little bit. "Why'd he tell you all this shit though, really? I mean...it doesn't sound like the sort of thing you'd walk around making small talk about."
"Nah, he wants to get more people involved. What they're planning to do is surround all the cop stations and known hangouts of the pigs, and at a set time just fuckin' go crazy," Hollywood explained.
"So it's not about 'being ready for when it all breaks down'," Tim stated. "It's about full-blown massacre."
Squirming, Hollywood shrugged. "Well, I mean...it's not...you make it sound so harsh."
"It is harsh, Hollywood," Tim explained. "Those are fucking people. People with families and lives and joys and sorrows. And this Jade thinks it's a good idea to just take all of that away from them? Not even knowing them? It's no better than what the government does to us."
"Eye for an eye," Hollywood pointed out.
"Keep that up and soon we'll all be blind," Dana noted.
Hollywood looked between them for a long moment before speaking. "You guys saw what happened to our friends."
"Yeah, we did," Tim agreed. "There isn't much we can do about it now, though, and revenge isn't the answer. More likely everyone involved would get killed than anything changing."
"Isn't it better to die trying?," Hollywood asked them.
Dana and Tim looked at each other then looked back at him. Neither gave him a response, knowing it would be redundant. Hollywood sighed heavily.
"So what? We just keep running for the rest of our lives? When Boston becomes too rough we go somewhere else?," he asked, sounding quite disappointed.
Tim shook his head. "We can always stand our ground. But we have to find ground worth standing first. If they're smuggling guns into this place, and making large-scale plans to...start a riot, or whatever...I don't think this is the place to be."
Dana nodded her agreement, and Hollywood looked away, narrowing his eyes in thought.
"All right," he said after a minute, nodding as well. "What're we going to do, then?"
Chewing on her thumbnail in thought, Dana offered no response. Tim shifted around a bit, unsure his opinion would be appreciated, but deciding to give it anyway.
"I think we should tell Matt," he said in a hushed voice.
Hollywood looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "Why? If we're just going to blow the place anyway, might as well let them go ahead and stick with the plan."
"Yeah...but you said some people here don't know. Don't you think they have the right to know what's going on? So they can make the same choice as us?," Tim pointed out.
"That's a really good idea," Dana said. "Especially after all they've done for us."
"Yeh, I guess you're right. Then what?"
"Well, how soon are they planning this shit? I'd assume since they're still looking for people to get involved, it's a ways off," Tim said.
"Jade said something about this winter," Hollywood told him.
"So we have a little bit of a time frame to work with, figure out where to go and all."
Hollywood nodded. "Seems like it."
"Good, then let's not worry about it just yet. I don't know about the two of you, but I think I've had enough of stealing cars and train hopping for a while, I'd like to stay in one place for a bit."
"Well, one thing's for sure," Dana started, causing the others to look at her questioningly. "If I'd known we'd be moving around this much, I would have packed a toothbrush."
