Side Effects

27 - Night

Cherie had abandoned her post various times during the day. Seeing as it was night, however, her safest bet lied with staying in her designated barricade, watching dark clouds roll by.

She had returned to old habits, lighting a cigarette and waiting for the clouds to make way for the stars in the night sky.

"Mind if I join?" Mickey's voice sounded from beside her, as he mirrored her actions, pulling out a lighter and a cigarette and pressing it to his lips. "What's up?"

"Responsibility." Cherie smiled sarcastically. "Other than that, I'm in a good mood. Today's been fun, hasn't it?"

"Yeah." Mickey scratched the back of his neck and chuckled. "When that police guy got ambushed-"

"-And we over-used ammo cause he was the first to turn up!" Cherie chuckled.

The two exhaled at the same time, releasing thin smoke into the chilling air. The cold outside was crisp and icy, but Cherie was not particularly shook by this cold, unlike Mickey, who shivered in his coat that was wrapped around him like a blanket.

Because of the barricade's location, no streetlights indicated their enemies' position or what was happing beyond the buildings they were incased between. It would have been unlikely for anyone to have seen the Northern barricade in its dimness. Still, rubbing their eyes from the top of the construction were four boys, all in their late teenage years, on the duty of lookout on different corners of the barricade's square structure.

"Back at Miretti's, I never thought I'd end up back in the North area. I just didn't get the wages to." Mickey took another smoke, and then after some silence, changed his subject. "Maybe... we could both come back here together some time? Not during the revolution, of course, but as a..." He stopped his words.

Out of the blue, he moved closer to Cherie, softly holding her arms. "Do you like me back?" He asked, nervously.

Cherie laughed, which was unfortunately not the answer he expected nor wanted.

"You're a good friend, Mickey, but don't get carried away in all this adventure bullshit."

"No it's not that... I've actually liked you for a while now."

"Oh." Cherie stopped, looking to the other rebels, fast asleep within the barricade's walls.

Mickey and Cherie both returned to their original postition, stood side to side, glaring into the distance, smoking what was left of their cigarettes. Cherie smiled once more.

"I'm sorry." She dumped her cigarette on the ground and scraped it with her shoe. "I'm just not into guys."

Mickey nodded sadly. There was a pause for a moment before he understood what she had said, and almost comedically, he turned to her with an expression of realisation.
"Oh!"

They both began another fit of giggles, acting as they always had. Mickey nudged her asking who it was that she loved. Cherie bit her lip, shaking her head, but Mickey egged her on to tell the truth. Discreetly, Cherie looked to the fighters resting.
"Her name's Ramona. She lives on our street."

Various people of statuses both wounded and safe huddled together and slept in thin blankets to block out the sharp gusts of wind. Ramona slept amongst them, only her face peeping out of the blanket wrapped around her head and body like a cocoon.
"We've been together for a few months. And we know it may be a little rushed, but we're thinking of getting married soon. It's just the cost of it though, isn't it?"

Mickey dropped his cigarette to the floor and shuffled his foot over it, noticing his friend's joy. Somehow, he didn't mind this. He didn't seem so awfully cut up about the rejection he faced. He just cooed at Cherie mockingly, causing her face to become as red as her hair. Cherie punched him in the arm and Mickey giggled again at the slight pain she caused.

"Welp, I'm going to go sleep now." Cherie announced to him, preparing herself to leave. "I have a plan to fulfil tomorrow, and I'll need the energy for it."

"What plan?" Mickey asked. Cherie tapped the side of her nose vaguely.
"A plan I've had all along. It's a good one, trust me."

As Cherie began walking away, a static noise crushed in her pocket. She dug into the pocket of her jacket and took out a small radio specifically used between the Cards for communication. Before Mickey could ask what it was for, Cherie clicked the button and put spoke Donnamira's voice. Cherie turned down the volume to detract attention from the barricade.

"Cards, meet at the Central barricade immediately. It's urgent."

Cautiously, Cherie began to take steps back towards Mickey, passing him as her pace increased.
"I gotta go," she announced, clambering on the barricade, "I'll be back soon."

With a weak wave from a confused Mickey, Cherie set off completely alone into the night.