Kael woke to the sharp bite of hunger gnawing at his stomach.
The cold metal sheet above him did little against the rain, and his clothes were soaked through. The air smelled like rust and filth.
He curled tighter, his fingers brushing the golden coin hidden beneath his shirt. It was the only thing he had left.
He hadn't eaten in days so, he slowly sat up.
Kael sucked on the last stale piece of candy he had found in his backpack, but it wasn't enough. The ache didn't go away.
Kael walked on the road and cars rushed past him. Still, he attempted to cross the road on his own.
No one cared. His tiny feet carried him through the alleys, his breath shaky.
Then he saw it—a half-eaten sandwich in an overflowing trash bin.
Kael hesitated, it smelled rotten. Flies hovered over it.
But his stomach hurt so much. A rat scurried past, its beady eyes glinting in the dim alley light.
He didn't care, Kael grabbed the sandwich and stuffed it into his mouth.
A deep voice boomed behind him. "HEY! That's mine!"
Kael flinched, spinning to see a filthy, bearded man towering over him.
His heart slammed against his ribs. "D-didn't know…" Kael's voice trembled.
The man lunged forward as Kael ran. His small legs pumped as fast as they could, the half-eaten sandwich clutched in his tiny hands.
"Mama!" Tears streamed down his face as he darted through the maze of alleys.
By the time he stopped, his chest was panting heavily, and his hands trembled.
He sat against a dumpster, eating the sandwich with shaking fingers.
He swallowed the last bite and let out a choked sob.
**********
The next day, Kael sat near a crowded street market, pressing his knees to his chest.
He watched people—how they moved, how they held their belongings, how they ignored kids like him.
Then someone noticed him. A boy, around nine, with messy brown hair and sharp eyes.
He grinned. "You hungry?" Kael hesitated but nodded.
The boy tossed him a piece of bread. Kael grabbed it, shoving it into his mouth without question.
"Got a name?" the boy asked.
Kael swallowed. "Kael."
The boy smirked. "Name's Rook." Kael's eyelids grew heavy. He hadn't slept all night due to his fear, but feeling a sense of reassurance his head swayed.
******
Kael jolted awake. The bread was gone.
His coin was gone. His hands scrambled to his chest, feeling for the pendant that wasn't there.
"No, no, no—" His father's coin. The last thing he had of him.
He ran as fast as he can through the alleys, pushing past people, searching—
Then he spotted him, Rook stood with a group of street kids, laughing, tossing Kael's coin in the air.
Kael rushed as he lunged his small hands forward and hit Rook with everything he had.
He clawed, bit, kicked—anything to get his coin back.
Rook yelped. "Get him off me!" The other kids shoved Kael away.
Rook stumbled back, his lip bleeding. He scowled. "It's just a coin, idiot."
Kael panted, his fists clenched. "It's mine."
A figure stepped between them— a girl who was no less than 16 years old, Juno. She glanced at the coin in Rook's hand, then at Kael.
"Give it back," she said. Rook grumbled but tossed the coin.
Kael caught it, holding it tightly to his chest.
Juno smirked. "You fight like a rat. That's good." Kael said nothing.
"Come with me," she said.
Kael wrinkled his nose as the girl—Juno—led him deeper underground.
It was dark, damp. But not empty.
Kids huddled in corners. Blankets. Bits of food. Low whispers.
Juno stopped, crouching in front of him.
"Rule one: Don't trust too much."
Kael swallowed hard.
"Rule two: Hide your stuff."
He clutched the coin tighter, shoving it under his shirt.
Juno smirked. "You'll figure out the rest."
Then she walked off as Kael stood there.
*******
Weeks passed, Kael barely spoke.
But he watched and Learned. Juno saw it—the way he studied people, the way he never let his guard down.
Korn, the biggest kid in the tunnels, saw Kael as weak.
He had already stolen Kael's food, shoved him around, threatened him. But the thing he really wanted was the coin.
This was Juno's world. She wasn't the biggest, nor the oldest, but she was the one who led.
And in the tunnels, leadership didn't come from words, it came from action.
Juno had survived too long, fought too many times, and outsmarted too many threats to be questioned.
She knew where to find food. She knew who to steal from. She knew how to keep the enforcers blind to the kids lurking beneath their feet.
The others followed her not out of loyalty, but out of necessity. Without her, they were just rats in a maze, waiting to be crushed.
The law was simple: Take what you can. Defend what's yours. If you can't fight for it, you don't deserve it.
And if someone stole from Juno? They didn't get a second chance.
Kael learned this in his first week. He saw how Juno handled a thief—how she dragged him before the others, how she stared him down without blinking as if she was deciding his fate.
She didn't need to raise her voice, Didn't need to threaten.
She only said one thing: "Weakness gets you killed."
Then she left him to the others.
Kael never saw that boy again.
That was the moment he understood—the tunnels had no room for the weak.
The tunnels were quiet that night. Too quiet.
Kael was alone when a shadow fell over him.
"You think you can keep it from me?"
Kael barely had time to react before he was grabbed and slammed against the concrete.
"Where is it?" Korn growled, shaking him.
Kael struggled, kicking out, but a fist slammed into his ribs.
"You think you're special?" Korn hissed, hitting him again. "Where is the gold coin?"
Kael's world blurred, he felt small and Weak.
Just like that night in the penthouse.... Just like when the bad men had invaded.
His fingers clenched tight and then, he spotted a rusted pipe lay near his feet.
Kael reached for it, he had learned what death looked like. He had been too small to stop it.Too weak....
But this time? This time, he could stop it.
Korn isn't a faceless killer in a mask.
But in that moment, it did not matter.
In Kael's mind, Korn became one of them—one of the monsters that took everything.
And Kael… Kael wasn't the helpless little boy anymore.
He was something else now.
He finally reached out for the pipe. He crouched to the ground and immediately he swung it.
Korn barely had time to react before it crashed against his ribs.
He stumbled back, snarling in pain.
Kael didn't stop....He struck again....And again....And again.
Korn fell, gasping, Kael climbed on top of him, gripping the pipe with both hands.
Blood splattered, his vision tilted, and the tunnel faded away as he fell to the ground.
Korn had stopped moving, Kael had fallen unconscious. Until there was nothing but silence.
Footsteps could be heard from miles away, and Juno approached the scene, with everyone clearing out of her way.
She took in the scene—the body, the blood, the wild look in Kael's eyes, now unconscious on the ground —
"He is truly one of us," she smiled, bending down to scoop little Kael into her arms while picking up the coin that had fallen from his pocket.