For Those Who Suffer
This was for a contest I did for the Owl Canyon Press Hackathon in 2018.
For this contest they give you the first and twenty fifth paragraph and you have to create a fifty paragraph short story with them. This was a fun contest, even though I didn't make the finals.
For reference, the first paragraph is:
"Beyond the cracked sidewalk, and the telephone pole with layers of flyers in a rainbow of colors, and the patch of dry brown grass there stood a ten-foot high concrete block wall, caked with dozens of coats of paint. There was a small shrine at the foot of it, with burnt out candles and dead flowers and a few soggy teddy bears. One word of graffiti filled the wall, red letters on a gold background: Rejoice!"
The twenty fifth paragraph is:
"The kid got up onto a milk crate and raised his hand. A murmur went through the crowd and then it fell silent, except for a few people shouting words of encouragement at him. The kid acknowledged them with a nod and a shy smile. In the full light of day, he looked less angry and more beautiful. He waited until people stopped shouting. A siren could be heard, maybe five or ten blocks away. The kid raised the bullhorn, pressed the button, and began to speak"
And now for the story, enjoy!
For this contest they give you the first and twenty fifth paragraph and you have to create a fifty paragraph short story with them. This was a fun contest, even though I didn't make the finals.
For reference, the first paragraph is:
"Beyond the cracked sidewalk, and the telephone pole with layers of flyers in a rainbow of colors, and the patch of dry brown grass there stood a ten-foot high concrete block wall, caked with dozens of coats of paint. There was a small shrine at the foot of it, with burnt out candles and dead flowers and a few soggy teddy bears. One word of graffiti filled the wall, red letters on a gold background: Rejoice!"
The twenty fifth paragraph is:
"The kid got up onto a milk crate and raised his hand. A murmur went through the crowd and then it fell silent, except for a few people shouting words of encouragement at him. The kid acknowledged them with a nod and a shy smile. In the full light of day, he looked less angry and more beautiful. He waited until people stopped shouting. A siren could be heard, maybe five or ten blocks away. The kid raised the bullhorn, pressed the button, and began to speak"
And now for the story, enjoy!
Beyond the cracked sidewalk, and the telephone pole with layers of flyers in a rainbow of colors, and the patch of dry brown grass there stood a ten-foot high concrete block wall, caked with dozens of coats of paint. There was a small shrine at the foot of it, with burnt out candles and dead flowers and a few soggy teddy bears. One word of graffiti filled the wall, red letters on a gold background: Rejoice!
I stood by and marveled at my work as a smile came across my face.
“Goodbye Sienna.” I whispered to the wind as I dropped my paintbrush to the concrete.
As much as I wanted to stay and gaze upon her memorial, I knew the patrol would be here any moment. I put on my wooden mask and fastened it behind my ears. I knelt down to check the supplies in my backpack to make sure I had everything I needed. Once I stood up, I heard footsteps coming my way. From around the corner I saw them in their blue and black uniforms. They lowered their sunglasses and pointed at me.
“You! Stop!” They shouted as they approached.
I quickly grabbed a flowery yellow bulb from my bag and threw it on the ground. A bright yellow cloud of smoke erupted with a loud BOOM. The officers coughed and I quickly dashed past them to make my escape. The streets were empty and the roads were cracked with more dead grass as I ran quickly looking for the closest alleyway.
“Don’t let her get away!” I heard the officers shout from behind me.
I sprinted faster and eventually found a few abandoned buildings to my left. I turned into the dead-end alley to see if there was anything I could use to make my escape. There were some broken down wooden crates that maybe held groceries or supplies at one point, but now empty. I looked toward the backdoor of the building and grabbed the handle. Locked. Of course. The footsteps were getting closer, I had to move fast! I slammed my body against the door, but it wouldn’t budge.
“That’s far enough!” The guards boomed at the end of the alley, their rifles trained on me.
My life flashed before my eyes as I saw the end of their rifles trained at me. Living in the wilds of this destroyed city. Stealing supplies and food just to survive. Sienna, my girlfriend, shot down on our last raid together. And me, standing there, not being able to save her. I shook my head, I’m not dying here! I ran towards the door again and slammed it with all my body as hard as I could. A loud CRASH sounded as it flew open and I landed on the floor. The guards rushed towards me as I scrambled to my feet and ran further inside. This was a convenience store in the past. Rows of metal shelves and empty hooks littered the large room as I entered from behind. I quickly ducked behind one of the rows of metal and hushed my breathing. The guards rushed in and stopped to look around.
“Damn it! Where is she?” one of them grumbled as he turned on his flashlight and darted it from side to side.
I slowly crawled away from them, looking around the wrecked store to see if there was a weapon I could use to fight back. I luckily stumbled upon the hardware section as there were hammers and screwdrivers littered all over the floor. I grabbed a small hammer and a slightly heavier one in my hand. I heard the footsteps get closer and saw the lights dart around. I gripped the tiny hammer and readied myself.
“One…Two…NOW!”
I flung the small hammer at one of the officers. CLANG! It hit him right in the face and he fell backwards. I gripped the bigger hammer in my hand and rushed the other officer while he was in shock. Before he could raise his rifle, I slammed it against his face. The rifle went flying out of his hands as I swung at him again and again. His body went limp a I continued to smash his face with the hammer. The other officer started to get up but I scrambled to grab the rifle his partner dropped. I quickly slid on the floor and aimed at him. BANG! BANG! The loud shots rang out as I shot him twice in the chest. He gurgled and crumpled to the floor. My hands trembled as I threw the rifle away and fell to my knees.
“That was for you Sienna…” I cried as tears streamed down my face.
The officers laid on the ground motionless. Instantly, flashbacks of Sienna’s body on the cold pavement came to me. I didn’t have time to sit here, more guards would be on their way. I got up and grabbed my bag and made my way to the back door where we came in. The streets were still empty, and the eerie silence was welcoming. I was lucky these officers were by themselves. I began to make my way out of the city, trying to avoid the streets or else I’d risk running into more of them. The old run-down buildings and immobile cars were normal to me now, but I remember in the past how they used to creep me out.
A few decades ago, the world finally imploded in on itself. All the hate, lies, and civil unrest finally bubbled over and the people revolted. Everyone fought each other and the government that failed them. Riots broke out in all major cities, innocents were slaughtered, and the government just couldn’t get control of anything. Finally, after years of chaos, the people who had enough of the nonsense chose to live outside of the cities, but close enough to where they could raid them for supplies. The government upped their security and kept the survivors of cities under martial law. They were unable to leave their homes and were forced to live almost like prisoners. This was their “solution” until they could figure out what to do with everyone. That was how it was for Sienna and me as well until we escaped.
I made it to the city limits. A long expansive highway with an army blockade at the gate. I snuck to the side where there was a hole in the rock wall for people to sneak in and out. A small handful of officers were pacing back and forth looking around but did not notice me. I quickly ran across the dead grassy fields and by the time they could notice me, I was already safe inside the nearby forest. I ducked into some brush and saw their flashlights point near my direction. It was just turning evening, so I had the setting sun to help me make my escape. I took off my mask and stared at it for a moment. This beautiful wooden theater mask that Sienna gave me for my birthday ages ago. Painted in two halves, one side gold and the other side bronze. Blue lipstick around the lips and gold and blue eyeshadow around the eye slots. I later added green feathers along the edges to complete it. It was a perfect representation of me and I smiled as I carefully placed it in my bag.
Pushing brush and tree branches aside, I slowly made my way back to my village. I knew where all the traps were that we set, so I was careful to avoid them. Bear trap to my right, leaf pit a few feet up ahead, we couldn’t be too careful in case one of enemies came and happened to stumble into our home. A few minutes later, I arrived to treehouses, RVs, and tents in an open area of the forest. Fires burned brightly as everyone was cooking and conversing about the day. A woman was feeding her children some cooked rabbit in a tent, an old man was sitting at a campfire talking to a bunch of people about stories long past, and a bunch of children were playing tag around one of the RVs in the center of town. I smiled seeing that everything was peaceful.
“Dene, you’re back!” I heard a familiar voice say from above me.
I stopped and looked above me to see my older brother, Taino, climbing down from a lookout tree post. He was a little older than me, around his late 20s. He was wearing a makeshift vest made out of tough vines and wood, a straw hat covered in leaves, and his cocoa skin was painted in green and black camouflage paint. He was strong, but kind and very proud to protect this village as one of the lookouts. He ran up to me and gave me a big hug.
“I’m glad you made it back in one piece.” He said putting his hand on my shoulder.
“Thank you, Taino.”
“Were you able to find your apartment?”
“Yeah, I found her teddy bear collection and some flowers along the way too. I gave her a nice send off.”
“And did you run into any trouble?”
“I…may have run into two patrol officers on the way back.” I answered looking away from him fearfully.
He sighed angrily, “This is why I wanted you to take a small group of people with you. What if they had killed you!? You know you are the only family I have left!”
“I’m sorry Taino, but this was something I had to do by myself. Sienna was everything to me, I couldn’t risk someone else’s life again.”
“But you can risk yours, right?”
“Enough Taino! I don’t want to get into this now.” I huffed as I walked away from him.
He didn’t follow me, he knew it was too soon to talk about anything. It was just a few weeks ago since I lost her. As I climbed up to our treehouse, I could still feel the empty silence of her presence no longer here. It was a small building on the top of one of the surrounding trees of our village. A relaxing bed sewn together with various tattered blankets we managed to smuggle with us when we escaped. A nice window that could showed the whole village and the buildings of the city close by. I sat on the bed and dropped my bag. Opening it, I grabbed one of Sienna’s teddy bears I kept for myself and laid it on the head of the bed. It was a red valentine’s day bear I gave her on our second-year anniversary. The stitching was bad since we had it for so long but it always made me smile.
I laid down and stared at the ceiling made of mostly vines. We were supposed to finished patching the roof together, but we got lazy. I could see the setting sun and yawned as I closed my eyes. My mind began to wander.
“Are you really going to sleep the whole day away again Dene?” Sienna asked as she playfully kicked my dangling foot.
“It’s better than having to actually get up and fix that roof. It’s such a nice day anyway, we’re supposed to be lazy.” I whined as I rolled over.
Sienna giggled as she tied her long blonde hair into a ponytail and put on her red bandana. We were close to the same age, she was slightly older by a year. She was wearing some black overalls over a white T-shirt and black work gloves. It looked good over her white skin and freckled face. She knelt down and tugged at my arm.
“Come on Dene, if we don’t get this roof fixed, we’ll get wet when it rains again.” She whined back.
“Alright, alright…I’m moving.” I grumbled as my black hair brushed messily against my face.
“Now go down and wash you face, I’ll get the stuff in order.” She smiled as she leaned forward to kiss me.
I kissed her back and yawned as I threw on some blue jeans and a teal shirt. It was late morning so people were just starting to get to work around the village. I climbed down the treehouse and headed for the river nearby. This was where people washed, did laundry, all that hygiene stuff. I waved hello to some mothers doing laundry and trying to bathe their whiny kids because the water was too cold. It put a smile on my face as I knelt down and cupped some water in my hands and washed away the sleepiness. The cold water was a slap to my face and I shook my head finally feeling fully awake. As I dried my face with my shirt and fixed up my hair, Taino was just arriving.
“Morning sis.” He waved with a yawn.
“Slept late too?” I teased as I finished messing with my hair.
“Of course. By the way, you know it’s you and Sienna’s turn to do a run today right?”
I gasped, “Crap I totally forgot! We’ll get right on it. What do we need?”
Taino scratched his head, “Mrs. Davis needs diapers, more first aid supplies wouldn’t hurt, and food is always good.”
“Alright, we’ll head off soon.” I said as I hurried off.
“Be careful!” he called after me.
I made it back to the treehouse where Sienna was arranging the vines and wood for the roof project. I took a deep breath and strode towards her.
“Heeeeyyyy there babe.” I smiled as I put my hands on her shoulders.
As soon as she turned to me, the look of disappointment shown on her face, “You forgot to tell me about a run again, didn’t you?”
I sighed, “…yes”
She moved my hands off her shoulders and started to grab her backpack, “You know Dene, would it kill you once just to remember something so simple? You know I was looking forward to taking care of the roof today.”
I slowly walked over and started preparing my backpack too, “I’m really sorry. I’ll make it up to you.”
She stuffed some more things into her bag, “Oh? How?”
I wanted to make things right and there was one card I could play to get on her good side again.
“I’ll sneak back to our old apartment and bring back your favorite teddy bear.”
She gasped, “Dene…that’s too dangerous…”
I walked over to her and held her hands, “I know, but I’ll do it for you.”
She smiled and pecked my lips, “Fine, but I’m gonna hold you to it. No weaseling out of this time.”
We finished packing our backpacks and put on our masks as we headed into the forest. The sun was high in the sky, it must have just hit noon. We snuck in through the hole in the wall beside the guard line that marked the city limits. We moved from building to building, avoiding patrols with ease. We found a corner store entered in through a broken window.
“We need diapers and first aid supplies.” I told Sienna as we started walking up the aisles.
“Diapers again? Wait, don’t tell me, Mrs. Davis.” She groaned.
We both laughed as we found the supplies and begun stuffing our bags. I found some ace bandages, band-aids, and alcohol. Stuffing them quickly into my bag, I moved over to the next aisle where I found some junk food.
“Jerky?” I asked.
“Sure, grab me some sticks if they look good.”
I skimmed through the pile and grabbed a couple to take home. We grabbed some canned food too and left the rest for a return trip.
“Alright let’s take this stuff back to the village.” She said as she hefted her bag over her shoulder.
“No, we have to head to our apartment.” I argued.
She gave me a worried look, “Dene…no. We don’t have to go there, it’s too dangerous. That area is always heavily guarded.”
I didn’t back down, “Sienna, I really want to do this. Let’s go get that bear.”
She sighed and kissed me softly, “You are so wonderful. Fine, let’s go.”
We hid our bags behind a counter, the weight and supplies inside of them would make too much noise. Exiting the store, we made our way downtown to the apartment district. We moved from alleyway to alleyway, avoiding the streets until we finally reached our destination. Some grey and green jeeps were parked in front of some of the buildings. A yellow shield decal on the doors and small antennae was on the back. The windows were dark so we couldn’t see inside them.
“Looks like it’s lunch time for the prisoners.” Sienna sighed sadly as we ducked behind a jeep.
My fists shook but I calmed down as I kept an eye on our rundown apartment. Our house was on the third floor of the seven-floor apartment. Three guards were walking into another building adjacent to ours carrying a heavy crate. This is how they made their daily deliveries to the people still forced to live in the city. It was going to be tough to get to our apartment without being detected but I was determined to make this happen. Once the guards entered inside, we opened the door to our building and looked around to see if the coast was clear. The mailbox slots on the wall of the main hallway were still intact. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw that me and Sienna’s mailbox still had a “No Bills Allowed” sticker taped in front of it. Straight ahead in the hallway was the elevator and next to it was the door that led to the stairwell.
“I wish we could take the elevator, but you know they probably using now.” I groaned as I reached for the door.
“Yeah, plus we can check if the coast is clear from the doorway before we barge in.” she nodded as she followed after me.
The grey spiraling stairs were before us, with some windows every few levels so you could tell what floor you were on. Sienna closed the door behind her quietly and we began dashing up the stairs. We kept our breathing and voices low, we didn’t know what floor the patrol was on and didn’t have time to find out. Once we reached the third floor we leaned against the wall and I opened the door just a crack. The hallway was lit with rows of doors on both sides. I didn’t see anything unusual and motioned for Sienna to follow me. We stepped lightly on the carpeted floor until we arrived at our door. I dug into my pocket and pulled out our house key. With a few quick turns, the door unlocked and we walked inside. We gasped in shock and sadness as we saw the whole place was tossed up. Broken cabinets doors in our kitchen, bed and sofas knocked over to the side, our TV busted, and that was just the beginning. Sienna did her best not to cry as she walked inside and looked around. We hadn’t been in our home for months and this was just a devastating return.
“They must’ve been looking for clues on where the hidden village is. That’s the only explanation.” She said in a shaky voice.
I walked over to our busted fridge, “The least they could’ve done was clean up afterwards.”
She cracked a small smile as we entered our bedroom. All our wall posters were ripped off and the mirrors shattered. But luckily, the bears were still okay. Sienna’s bear collection was dirty and dusty from the mess, but most of them survived as they were knocked over from her dresser. I ran over and grabbed some of her miniature ones, stuffing them into my pockets. Finally, I found the one I was looking for. It was a red teddy bear holding a Valentine’s day heart.
“Dene! Wake up!” Taino shook me out of my dream.
I rubbed my eyes and sat up, “Taino? Why are you in my treehouse?”
“Something strange is happening in the city, we need you to come check it out with us.” He said as he helped me get up.
I groggily grabbed my bag and climbed down after him. The sun was setting but there were some strange spotlights shooting into the sky from inside the city.
“What the hell is that?” I asked pointing at the spotlights.
“That’s what we’re going to find out.” He said as he checked his bag and we met up with the rest of our group.
The villagers were standing at the edge of forest, murmuring and talking to each other about the lights as we approached.
“Everyone, stay alert! We’ll report back once we know what’s going on. Until then keep all the traps armed and keep a close eye out.” Taino said to the villagers as we left.
They nodded and we moved quickly around the traps and into the open field towards the city. Something was off, there weren’t any guards at the city limits. It’s like they were inviting us in. Aside from me and Taino, our group had three more members. A woman named Yenna who I didn’t know very well but she was a close friend of his. She was dressed in a makeshift vest like Taino and had short amber hair with green eyes. And two guys made the rest of our group, Glen and Rodney. Pretty strong tan guys who were brothers that came from another city that found our village and helped us build it up. We entered inside the hole in the wall like always and moved further inside the city. The sky still held some light and soon we saw the machines running the spotlights. There were a circle of jeeps and a lot of civilians talking to each other like it was a party or concert. We stayed low and got behind the jeeps. The officers were patrolling the crowd, I counted at least 6 of them. Suddenly through the rows of people a kid stood before them all on a makeshift metallic stage.
The kid got up onto a milk crate and raised his hand. A murmur went through the crowd and then it fell silent, except for a few people shouting words of encouragement at him. The kid acknowledged them with a nod and a shy smile. In the full light of day, he looked less angry and more beautiful. He waited until people stopped shouting. A siren could be heard, maybe five or ten blocks away. The kid raised the bullhorn, pressed the button, and began to speak.
“People of Gretan City! I know these months have been hard on you. They have been hard on us as well. When the world plunged into despair, we were the ones that stepped forward to protect you from the looters, rioters, and deviants. We at the Sirac Foundation know that you have been suffering and we know food and supplies have started becoming scarce these days.” He said shaking his head sadly.
The crowd began to complain and jeer, but quieted down when he raised his hand once more for silence.
“The savages outside the city have been breaking in and stealing YOUR food and supplies. They do not care about you or your starving children. They want to continue to plunge the world into turmoil while we are trying to rebuild it!”
“YEAH!” the crowd cheered angrily, raising their fists.
This was looking bad. Whoever this kid was, he was riling up the crowd with lies. And I knew exactly where he was heading with his speech.
“The Sirac Corporation simply does not have enough men to combat them. That’s why we need to band together and wipe them out before it’s too late! Will you help us?” he pleaded.
“KILL THE SAVAGES!!” The crowd cheered, raising their fists again and stomping the ground.
At that moment, it all became clear to me. I quickly crawled over to Taino, whose mouth was open with shock.
“Taino!” I whispered to get his attention.
He turned to me and shook his head, “Dene, this is bad…”
“I know what he’s doing, he’s going to use the people to set off our traps so his men can get through!”
“Those bastards!” Rodney cursed as he spat on the asphalt.
Yenna moved closer to us, “We need to move and warn the village immediately.”
“Even if we warn the village, a lot of innocent people are going to get hurt. We need to find a way to stop this.” Glen argued as he crawled over to us as well.
Taino stared at the crowd, deep in thought deciding what to do next. They were getting louder and louder as the kid on stage smiled.
“Alright, here’s the plan. Yenna, I need you to head back to the village and warn everyone of what’s going on. Rodney and Glen, I need you to find the source of those sirens we heard and create a distraction.” Taino said in a commanding whisper.
“What about you and Dene?” Yenna asked.
“We’re going after that kid. If he started this riot, we can figure out a way to get him to stop it.” He answered.
We all nodded as the others left and went their separate ways. Taino punched the car we were hiding behind angrily which sounded off an alarm. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest as the angry mob went silent and all anyone could hear was the car alarm.
“RUN!” Taino shouted as we got up and ran into the sea of buildings.
I hurried behind him as I could hear a stampede of people chasing us. We were in the open street, we had to go through some alleys if we were going to lose them. Taino was thinking the same thing as we turned and ran into an alley between two tall buildings. I looked behind me and saw the crowd trying to squeeze inside. A man tripped over as people were pushing their way inside. I looked ahead and almost crashed into a fence in front of me. It was a few feet higher than me so we were going to have to climb it. The people of the crowd were starting to catch up as we began climbing as fast as we could. Rocks hit me in the back and I grit my teeth in pain. Luckily, my bag took most of the hits for me. Taino was scraped in the arm as a sharp rock grazed him.
“You’re not getting away savages!” a man from the crowd yelled as he reached for my foot. I barely managed to climb over the fence and make it to the other side just in time. Taino was nearly over when WHAM! He was hit with a lead pipe.
“I got him!” a woman said happily.
Taino yelped in pain as he paused his climb to endure the pain from the swing of the pipe. I reached for his hand from the top of the fence but the mob reached him and pulled him down to the ground.
“Run Dene! Run!” he shouted as the mob began stomping him mercilessly on the alleyway floor.
He curled himself into a ball trying to take the pain, but once the woman with the pipe began swinging at him with all her might, he was no longer able to defend himself. I grit my teeth and jumped off the fence to the other side. I didn’t look back, not even when I heard his cries of agony and pain. I just had to keep running. Soon, I was on the other side of the alley. Two jeeps were rounding the corner to cut me off, so I quickly ran across the street and into an abandoned café. I heard the tires screech and jumped behind the counter before a rain of bullets showered into the building. The large display window shattered, tables and chairs crumpled to the floor, and I laid as close to the floor as I could. The bullets stopped and I held my breath as I crawled my way to the back door heading into the stock room. I could hear heavy footsteps enter the building as I found myself in a large room with boxes and a large machine for crushing them. I ran to the machine and hid behind it as I heard the stock room door open.
“I didn’t see her body out there. She’s definitely hiding in here.” One of the officers said as he moved a flashlight to search the stockroom.
I knelt down and searched through my backpack for something I could use. I pulled out a roll of sharp thin wire. I unraveled it and held it out between my hands. This was going to be tough, but I had to do it. I put my backpack on and made my way to a pile of boxes as one of the officers made his way to the machine I was just hiding behind.
“What the heck is this thing?” He asked his partner, looking around through the boxes.
“It’s called a bailer. Stores would use these to crush boxes and recycle them.” the other officer sighed.
I moved behind another pile of boxes and was just about ready to make my move. As the officer who was checking the boxes got closer, I quickly leapt out and wrapped the wire around his neck before he could react. I twisted the wire and twirled my body to cut the air around his neck.
“What the heck!?” the officer at the bailer gasped as he grabbed his pistol.
I wrapped the excess wire around my hands to keep the pressure on the officer I was choking. He was fumbling about trying to get the wire off his neck; his skin turning color as he was losing air. I was behind him, making him the perfect shield if his friend decided to open fire. I kept the pressure going, his partner just staring at us, while trying to get his gun trained on me
“If you want your friend to live put your gun down.” I growled, gritting my teeth and applying more pressure.
The officer I was strangling was starting to grow limp as his partner lowered his gun slowly.
“Drop it!” I shouted.
He threw the pistol on the floor as his partner started to gently fall to the ground. I released the wire as he fell. The remaining officer ran for it, but I got there first and kicked him hard across the face as he knelt down. I scooped up the pistol and shot him quickly before he could get up. I went over to his partner and checked his neck for a pulse, he was already dead. I put the pistol in my bag and moved to the front of the store, the jeep that they arrived in was still running.
“I need to find Glen and Rodney and get out of here…”
I had to not think about Taino. If I did, I would succumb to despair and lose focus. I could hear voices and sirens all around me. Should I take the jeep? I would be able to find my team faster, but it would bring more attention to me. But I could use the pistol in case I ran into trouble. But it has limited ammo. But…but…but…
”BOOM!” There was a large explosion and the sirens stopped.
“They did it!”
I jumped into the jeep and stomped on the pedal driving towards the explosion. The angry mob of people and more jeeps were all headed in the same direction. What was I doing? This was going to be suicide! Soon I was a few feet away from a three-story building that was on fire. Glass shards and smoke littered the area as the people and officers watched safely from a distance. Some of the them rushed in to search for survivors as I turned off the jeep and used the confusion to find the others. I ducked low behind the murmuring and fearful crowd. I was so tempted to attack one of them for killing Taino…no stay focused Dene. From the corner of my eye, I could see two shapes heading for a warehouse building close by. I followed after them as they headed for the back entrance. I noticed droplets of blood on the asphalt as I followed their trail.
“No…”
They went inside through the back door and I entered behind them. Glen turned swiftly and threw a punch but I grabbed his fist and raised my free hand.
“It’s me, Dene.” I said quietly.
He lowered his fist and breathed a sigh of relief. Rodney leaned against a wall holding his chest before he sat on the floor. I rushed over to him and knelt down.
“What happened!?” I gasped as I saw he was bleeding badly from his stomach.
Glen grit his teeth, “They anticipated us. This whole time, they knew we were coming!”
Rodney coughed, “When we got to the tower, there were armed guards waiting for us. We managed to fight them off and blow up the building, but not unscathed.”
I closed my eyes trying not to cry. I quickly stood up and turned around.
“Where’s Taino?” Glen asked.
“We got caught by the angry mob of civilians. I was barely able to get away, but he got caught.” I answered sadly.
There was a heavy silence, we were not in a good position.
“You both need to get out of here and warn the village.” Rodney coughed as he fought to get to his feet.
Glen helped his brother stand up, “I’m not leaving you, Rod.”
Rodney turned to him and forced a smile, “That’s cool of you, but seriously…if you stay here, you’ll just…”
“I know.” Glen cut him off, “But I’m not leaving family behind.”
I nodded as I handed him the pistol from my bag, “Give em hell, I’ll get back to the village as quick as I can.”
“Good luck Dene.” Glen said with a stern face as he readied the pistol and helped his brother further into the warehouse.
I left out the back door where we came in and kept low to the ground.
“There’s blood on the ground here, they’re this way!” I heard a voice say nearby.
I quickly darted down the street in the opposite direction as I heard footsteps head for the warehouse. I hid behind a mailbox and took a look around trying to find out where I was. Judging from the smoke, the lack of tall buildings ahead of me, and the street signs, I knew I was a few blocks from the city limits. The streets were full of noisy full of shouting and running. Fortunately, and unfortunately for me, the mob was going to circle the warehouse any moment. This was the perfect time to make a break for it. I hated having to use my team to make my escape, but this was the only way. Once I saw the mob reach the warehouse, I ran towards the city limits. My mask was nearly falling off my face, I never ran this fast before, but I had to make it. Once I saw the blockade at the limits, I ran for the hole on the side wall and made it to the field.
“D…d..dene stop!” I heard a voice weakly call to me.
I stopped in my tracks and saw Yenna sitting against the wall. Her hands on her chest trying to keep blood from pouring out of her. She looked at me with relief and raspy breaths.
I knelt down and opened my bag, “You too? Did they ambush you?”
She coughed, “They knew about the hole in the wall the whole time. They’ve been playing us for fools. Once I reached this side, there were two soldiers with their guns aimed at me. Right when they were going to finish me, they headed back to the city for the explosion.”
I found some bandage cloth in my bag, but Yenna shook her head and pushed me away, “You…you have to get to the village and tell everyone to evacuate. They…”
“You! Stop!” I heard an officer bark from the blockade.
I quickly grabbed my bag and ran for the forest as bullets flew in my direction. Once I made it to the brush and shrubs, I kept running.
“Please! Please let me make it in time!”
Suddenly there was a sharp pain in my leg and I tripped forward, hitting the dirt. I looked at my leg and noticed in horror that I was shot.
“W…when!? I didn’t hear the shot!”
“Surrender! We have you surrounded!” a voice said somewhere hidden in the tress around me.
They set up snipers in the trees. But I couldn’t see them. I grit my teeth and got to my feet, limping my way to the village. I leaned against a tree to gain balance and finally hear the bullet whizz past my head.
“This is your second warning! Surrender!” the voice commanded.
I continued limping. I didn’t care, I had to make it to the village. Another shot hit my other leg and I fell hard to the ground again. The pain was horrible, but I started crawling. I was determined to make it there no matter what. I couldn’t stand, but my arms still worked. I climbed over a tree root and kept on going without stopping. My vision was getting hazy from all the pain. My adrenaline could only carry me so far after all the close calls I had today. My luck had finally run out. No…my luck ran out when I lost Sienna. As I was fading out of consciousness while crawling, my mind drifted back to the final run.
Once we grabbed the bear, an officer walked into our apartment. In all our excitement, we forgot to shut the door. So when the officers were making deliveries on our floor, imagine their surprise when they saw an open door to a tossed apartment. He aimed his gun at me and Sienna quickly grabbed a book and hurled it at him to make him miss his shot. I kicked him in his ribs and he buckled over. She grabbed another heavy book and cracked it over his head and knocked him out.
“Time for us to go, now!” she breathed out as we made our way to the door.
We ran to the stairway as the other guard just saw us from the elevator. He tried to chase us on the stairs, but tripped as we lost him in the spiral. Sienna was behind me. I could hear her breathing so I knew she was safe. We made it to the bottom floor and ran for the entrance. Officers from the other buildings heard the gun shot and were already making their way to us.
“Damn it!” I cried as I was catching my breath and frantically looking for a way out.
Sienna grabbed me and we ran to the back of the apartment as bullets started whizzing towards our direction. We kept running the back way til we hit an open street past a telephone pole. Another officer turned the corner and time slowed. He aimed his pistol at us and Sienna moved in front of me, taking the bullet meant for me. I gasped and quickly moved ahead of her to disarm the shooter and kneed him in the gut. I grabbed his gun and shot him before returning to Sienna.
“Dene...go…” she said weakly as she laid on the asphalt ground bleeding.
“No Sienna, I…this is my fault…” I cried with tears streaming down my face as I held her hands.
“It’s okay, don’t be sad. Rejoice instead, there’s no more suffering…” she coughed as her eyes closed.
“No more suffering? W…what?” I asked and I held her hand tighter.
The officers that were chasing us from the apartment were getting close…I had to leave her behind…and so I escaped, leaving her behind.
My vision returned briefly. The night sky was lit with an orange hue. The village was burning ahead of me. They knew the whole time. All this fighting and surviving we were doing was just for their amusement. They were just waiting for the perfect time to take us all out. I didn’t have much strength left in me. And I forced out a weak and pitiful laugh.
“Rejoice…now I get it Sienna…” I mumbled as I lowered my head into the dirt.
No more suffering, she was right. There wasn’t going to be anymore suffering since we weren’t going to be alive to suffer. I fell asleep for the last time, ready to see Sienna and everyone again.