Before Kevin could ask what she meant his nostrils were suddenly assailed by a sickly sweet scent and he bent over, coughing violently. He coughed until his throat was raw, until tears ran from his eyes. When the coughing finally subsided Kevin knelt to the ground to rest. He struggled to catch his breath but it was no use, each breath was labored and came ragged. He stared down at the cracked sidewalk in a daze, his vision blurring.

Mary came around Kevin’s side and crouched down next to him, peering into his face. “Still not used to the air, huh?” She patted him on the back, albeit a bit too forcefully, in an attempt to make him feel better. “Yer so strange, ya get sick so easily. All of ya outsiders do, d’ya have weak immune systems or somethin’?”

Kevin slowly looked up from the ground and into Mary’s eyes. “What’s that smell?” he asked her tiredly, his voice scratchy.

“Perchloryl fluoride,” she responded immediately. “The factory ’round the corner gives off those fumes.” She pointed, and sure enough, a little ways beyond the corner of the intersection Kevin could see a smokestack, and from it, thick black clouds of smoke billowing into the already gloomy sky.

Kevin looked at the ground again absentmindedly. Suddenly a thought occurred to him and he snapped his head up. He looked directly into Mary’s eyes. “My stepdad was getting a factory job here,” he said. “He could be in that factory!”

“Doubt it,” Mary said. Kevin ignored her. He got up and started to walk in the direction of the smokestack.

“Hey!” she shouted after him, standing up. “Where d’ya think yer goin’?”

Kevin kept walking, not looking back. “My stepdad might be there, I need to go to him!”

Mary swiftly caught up to him and grabbed him by the arm forcefully, whipping him around to face her.

“No way,” she said, glaring at him. “That place is ran by the Brats.”

Kevin stared at her blankly. “Who the hell are they?”

“They’re a gang here,” she quickly explained. Her hand was like a vice, gripping his arm fiercely. Her fingers dug into Kevin’s skin and he winced at the pain. “They’re possibly the most powerful in Galen, and they’re a bunch of kids,” she continued. “They’re notorious; messing with ‘em means certain death. If ya go in there yer gonna die.”

Kevin glared at Mary and tore his arm away from her. “I don’t care!” he exploded. “I have to find my stepdad no matter what, and if I get killed by them then so be it! But I’m not gonna die without trying, and I’m not gonna wander around here with you forever!”

He didn’t bother to hide the annoyance in his voice, and this surprised Mary. She was shocked by his outburst, and stared at him wide-eyed.

Good, he thought. Her reaction satisfied him. He was tired of being ordered around by her, of having to follow her around for days on end without having the slightest idea of where they were even going.

He continued. “Didn’t you say you’re notorious in this town too? If so, then why are these ‘Brats’ such a big deal?” he smirked, and took it one step further. “Or could it be that you’re afraid of them?”

Mary stared at him incredulously. Suddenly she stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled out her gun. She pointed it square in his face.

“I’ll shoot ya right now,” she said icely.

“Do it then,” Kevin hissed between clenched teeth. “I dare you.”