Authors note-This may be a bit short, as it was originally written for a 1,000 words contest.
Like a trapped bird
Darkness. That was all she could see, as she blindly ran into the night, as fast as her legs could muster. As soon as she seemed satisfied of the amount she had run, she cast a quick glance to see if the pursuers were still on her trail. "Them", as many liked to call them. Not seeing any sign of "them", she paused and had a break – she had faith that "they" had lost her. Being a girl of the forest, she knew the signs animals made when there was danger, and there seemed to be tranquillity in the air. The girl's posture went from tense to relaxed, as she thought of her strategy to evade "Them". As she wanted to survey the area, she would have to see. Fire. That seemed the obvious solution. She gathered what seemed to be some discarded wood, and lit a fire. Her fatal mistake. Suddenly realising she was on the run, she futilely tried to stomp the fire out, but she was too late. The noise and the light had alerted "Them" to her presence. She felt a sharp pain in her back, and the smell of acid reached her lungs, and her vision faltered. She let out a cry of pain and agony, and blacked out.
The musky smell of rotten flesh awoke Kazumi from her trance. She realised her escape was futile last night, and now she had to pay the consequences. She sighed slowly but quietly, as she knew "They" could be anywhere. She realised her "accommodation" as "they" liked to call it, was the same, and her worn diary was still tucked up in the corner. She smiled slightly, but not a smile of happiness; it was a smile of regret and sadness. Her mother had given it to her, before she was killed for treason. Kazumi never understood why, but she thought it was most likely "They" thought killing for the sake of it was a game. A sick, twisted game. A scream was heard from down the hallway, another torture session had resulted in death. It reminded Kazumi what little time she had left. Glancing down the hallway to see the victim sent a shiver down her spine – it was Yukiko.
Yukiko. The only friend she had had in this place. Tears started to form in her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away. If "They" saw her crying, they would consider her an easy target to torture and kill. Being emotionless hurt, but it was the only way to survive in this hellish place. That was why her mother had given her a diary, she thought solemnly. She turned to pick up the worn down book, and opened it to a page. It was the requiem of Saki, and it reminded her of Misaki - her mother. She quietly hummed the tune; she knew Yukiko had loved the melody as it sounded just like the blossoms of summer. A few glances were thrown at her, but at this point in time, she no longer cared. Everyone she knew was gone, and now she realised it all. "They" had killed everyone inside like this; and she was not going to stand for it. She was going to rebel against The Challengers.
Many people joined her rebellion with no problem. She had made a sign advertising it, but did have to take it down when The Challenger guards were on the patrol around the lab. She sighed when she looked at everyone; they were all lab experiments, each one in a cell marked with a number. She never understood why the challengers were interested in making these mutations of people; they had enough power already. She guessed it was the same reason as the killings, all a sick game. Hopefully the rebellion would make the people of Kamui gain some freedom, and maybe even other throw The Challengers. Many people had joined the rebellion for the hope of this, but the people who hadn't insisted they couldn't be led by someone as young as Kazumi. After all, she was only thirteen. She had left them to think about it themselves, and some of them did join, but they insisted it was because they had nothing left in life. Kazumi knew that, at some point, she would need to explain her strategy to the other rebels. She flipped open her diary to where she had written her plan, but was two pages early, and found a picture. A drawing of a bird, trapped in a cage full of dying plants and rotten fruit. She knew this had to be their symbol, as it represented them perfectly. They were all like it. Like a trapped bird.
May 15th. The day of the rebellion. Kazumi had chosen to have the rebellion in May in memory of the last month the people of Kamui had freedom. Her rebellion would be known as the rebellion of Satsuki. All of the people were ready for her orders. She gave a nod of the head and everyone broke out of the laboratory. Many of The challengers tried to stop them, but the rebels' numbers were too great to stop with pure force. Many fatalities were made, but Kazumi told the people they were not in vain. But The Challengers had seemed to grasp the rebel strategy and fought back – harshly. The rebels dropped like flies in an oven, and many tried to escape the battlefield, but they died as well. Kazumi had managed to survive so far, but she knew she would die soon. The perfect rebellion had been destroyed and growled in defeat and anger at the challengers. Then she realised that the other people had put all their dreams and hopes into the rebellion. And she was not going to let their sacrifices go to waste. Grabbing a bomb from a nearby fallen challenger, she blew up the city of The Challengers.
Not everything has a happy ending.