Gus decided not to confront the rumours. He would only fight back if things got physical.
Any attempts to attack Gus with words or rumours could not yield any results. He had been mocked and taunted by thousands — perhaps even a million... for his appearance, his situation or even so much as his dead parents.
Gus and Hal quietly took their food. As they walked to a secluded bench, Gus could see everyone moving aside; making them way, as if touching them would cause a plague.
"You know Hal, you don't have to stay with me." Gus said to Hal.
"You kidding me? If these nincompoops don't wish to speak with you that's okay. I hate people like that. You know, people who seclude someone on other's orders." Hal smirked.
A smile flashed across Gus's mouth. What he saw in Hal was a true friend not one who hung around Gus for selfish reasons.
Gus and Hal finished their breakfast and moved towards the dorms. As Gus approached his bed, he could see that the person who slept on the adjoining bed, had packed their stuff. After being seen with Gus; the same thing happened to Hal, as his neighbour moved to another empty bed.
Hal then decided to pack his own things and brought them near now-empty bed on the left of Gus.
"What are you doing right now?" Hal asked Gus.
"Nothing, actually. Though I am planning to practice writing letters again," Gus answered.
"Why are you trying so hard to learn reading and writing, Gus?"
"It's nothing actually, I don't know when a skill like that may help me in the future." Gus continued, "I want to be strong, you see."
"Is there a particular reason as to why you wish to be strong?" Curiosity got the better of Hal.
"Well, it's a long story." Gus said.
"We have time. We're not going anywhere till the lunch." Hal snorted.
"You see I live in a place called Scavenger's den. It's ...…"
"SCAVENGER'S DEN!!!!" Hal jolted from his seated position. His eye brimmed with excitement. He had read the article that flashed a day after Claus's death. There were many details in the article, but what piqued Hal's interest was the person involved in the incident. He had followed this man's story like a loyal pup chasing a war hero. The name of the person was 'Hero of the people: General Baldwin'.
"Oh, sorry about that, please continue." Hal's sudden reaction surprised Gus. Scavenger's den wasn't a place that should have caused such a reaction.
"Anyways, I have lived my whole life scavenging for food my whole life. People with privilege truly look down on us scavengers. I always felt helpless whenever any son of a bitch angry with his life; decided to look for runts like me to relieve their stress." Gus continued with his story. He felt disgusted with himself. "I had suffered a lot in that place. Being hit by strangers was merciful compared to the other horrors of that place."
"I had a friend, you see. She was the one who'd raised me. A few days before I was admitted to the military. We had scavenged a good haul that day — trying to sell a few things for money. It was a diamond broach." With every pause Gus felt sadder and sadder.
"While coming back to our refuge place, she was kidnapped in the town. I tried asking for help with the uniformed military men. They beat me up, stole the money we'd earned, then pissed on me and told me to fuck off."
"So, I did the only thing I could. I tried searching for her on my own. For an entire day, I was all alone searching, being beaten up by townsmen." At this point of the story Gus's eyed showed sorrow. The pain ached more than he could admit. Tears were rolling down his cheeks.
Hal had quieted down. He felt every word touching his heart. Playing with his relatively innocent feeling. "What happened after that?" Hal asked, his voice quaked with worry.
"She... She died. The next day, I found her dead body. She was naked, assaulted, and thrown away like a rag doll." Gus continued, "You asked me why I wish to become strong? It's for revenge. Revenge against the town of Mirebrook."
"I planned out how I would achieve it. I was weak and naive. I knew that the day for revenge would come. But it wasn't anytime soon." A sense of guilt showed on Gus's face as he continued his narration. "I began bidding my time. I had to grow rich, the only way I knew was to scour through the scavenger's den, hoping that lady luck would bear her fangs for me."
"One day, as I was scavenging. I was approached by soldiers — they wanted me to find an escaped convict." Gus took a pause, as he looked at Hal. Hal's face was filled with discomfort. But he still nodded to Gus asking him to continue.
"I found the guy, but again my helplessness almost allowed the convict to kill me. You wanna know how I survived? It was soldiers." Gus's eyes brimmed with anger once more. He did not know where to direct that anger.
"It was the bloody soldiers that saved me. They even treated all my past injuries at the hospital. That's when I decided. I would become the strongest person out there. I will protect every other Gus out there." Gus finished with a determination Hal could only admire.
They both went silent after this. Hal reviewed the story so far. At last, he decided he would follow Gus on his journey. He wanted to see Gus reach the heights not for himself, but for others who suffered like him.
TRRRIIINNNGGG!!!
The bell rung. Symbolising the time for lunch. Gus who had gone to sleep after the heavy talk woke up with a jolt. For the first time for quite a while he had a nightmare. A nightmare which was his past.
٭٭٭
Meanwhile, Baldwin was following his day as per usual. The thoughts in his mind, though, were anything but usual. He had received a letter that morning — one bearing a traitorous symbol, and his dead friend's message inside.
"Lies burnt in an open furnace… This is obviously a coded message," Baldwin thought. He was sceptical about following this lead. He might accidentally open a Pandora's box.
But was his friend's betrayal not worth the risk. Baldwin decided to follow the lead. He was constantly reliving Claus's death. Suddenly he remembered. Claus had mentioned a particular mission to him. 'Mission Firebird.' The name fit the nature of the message. He and Claus did feel as if they were being burnt alive in the village during that mission.
Baldwin decided to follow his hunch. He got up from his desk and made his way to the file closet. He entered the closet and searched for the file containing the details of that date. No luck. The earliest file he could find was from three months ago. Usually, for every week the military created a register which contained a summary of all the missions that week.
Baldwin exhaled. The registry shelf was a mountain of dust and silence.
He began to dig. Register after register. Hours passed in flickers of parchment and smudged ink... until; he finally found the register he required. He opened the register, then he searched through it to find a hint of clue that might be available. Then he reached the end of the mission's summary.
As he decided to keep the file back, he noticed something, a small piece of evidence. A jagged end on paper that was forcefully removed. He opened to that page. What remained there was a small piece of paper that was attached to the book. The entire page had been ripped out. Only the date remained — like a scar in the registry. It was the same day. A mission that was at the same exact date as the Mission Firebird.