1. August 27
An explosion.
It must have been an explosion, so loud and strong that it made the very ground rumble and a piercing whistle in the ears, drowning out everything else.
Chaos, everywhere. Screams, but barely audible, as if the TV's loudspeakers weren't working properly. Glass on the floor and the smell of fire and smoke.
Dizzied, she stood up, looking around, until someone grabbed her arm and dragged her away from where she was standing, out of the building. She heard muffled voices, but no distinguished sounds.
She was sat down about ten yards from the building on the ground. She could hardly see due to the smoke in the building, let alone hear. Only the ringing sound and muffled white noise.
What had happened? The person who had got her out was already gone.
Her eyes stopped to water after just a few minutes, and she got up gingerly. Many more people were sitting around the square, some were sitting in groups, others alone, and smoke was coming out of the building she had been in such a short while ago.
What had happened?
She was still watching the building's entrance when she heard the first sirens. Two largely built men were carrying another person out of the doors, but from what she saw, it seemed that it might be too late already for the sirens.
"Are you okay?"
She hadn't realized that the ringing noise had died away. A middle aged man was looking her up and down, looking worried. He had soot smeared over his face.
"Okay", was all she said, nodding slightly. "Thanks", she added, after a few seconds.
The man gave her a wry smile, patted her once on the shoulder and went to look after an elderly lady, looking lost with a singed handbag dangling from her bloodied arm.
The first ambulance arrived at the scene, paramedics jumping out of it while people were storming towards it like moths to the light.
She stood up, but stayed where she was, when suddenly another explosion made the earth tremble and her stumble again. People were running everywhere, screaming in panic. She stayed put, not knowing where to go. Where had the explosion come from? She could see neither fire nor smoke, and the square was nearly empty.
And there they were. Suddenly they appeared everywhere, seemingly out of nowhere, masked and heavily armed. Then she saw the others, a tall man wearing a round shield and a woman dressed all in black first, then people who looked like a SWAT team from a TV show. The first group opened fire instantly, but she saw the woman take on three men at once, proving to be an equal match for all of them.
"Come on!" Somebody had grabbed her elbow, dragging her with them. "It's too dangerous here, got going!"
She started to move reluctantly, still not sure where it was more dangerous, since the masked man had appeared from everywhere. The person dragging her was already gone.
After a few steps, she turned around once again, cursing herself for doing so. She felt the gaze of the tall man with the shield, fighting two gunmen at once, linger on her for the fraction of a second, when she saw another masked attacker behind him, aiming for his head.
"Behind you!", she screamed without thinking.
She saw him turn around and throw his shield at the masked man, knocking him out instantly.
She heard them scream words in a language that felt vaguely familiar. She heard more shots. She was knocked down by the pain. Everything was quiet, and all she could hear was her own breathing, fast and shallow, panicked. She couldn't locate the pain and heat and cold rushed over her.
"… still alive, get us a heli," she heard someone say. A woman, by the sound of the voice. She felt pressure on her stomach and a tough hand on her shoulder, along with excruciating pain. "Stay with me, okay?", the woman said.
She wanted to scream, but her lungs wouldn't fill with enough air.