Life was a hell hole. This once safe, clean city has diminished into the gates of hell. The proud sturdy buildings were crumbling. The alleyways and streets were littered with trash, drugs, crime, and graffiti. The air was polluted and hard to breathe. Even though I was 16, I smoked and that felt healthier for my lungs than the air did. Most of the teenagers, 13 and up, smoked because nobody could tell us not to and it's not like it could make life worse. Drugs were another big issue. But I wasn't in to that.
The government had finally caused its own destruction. The police were of no use seeing as though their corrupt minds thirst for power, and bloodshed was the only way to quench it. They abused their power and now they are merely men in meaningless uniforms that have access to weapons. And this was the reason I stood here, confused and fearful.
I watched from behind a car at the scene of hate filled teenagers rebelling against the corrupt police. The screams were strangling the air. The sounds of homemade bombs going off and shattering glass surrounded me. The smell of smoke, gun powder, and blood overwhelmed me. I watched as a young boy flung a rock at the oncoming police.
"Fuck you!" The boy screamed. His face twisted into hatred.
Another older boy screamed pleas of help as four policemen circled him and beat him with their clubs.
"Freedom!" Cried a rebel. I could see his veins pressing against his neck as he shouted his battle cry.
I heard a muffled crying. It seemed like the crying belonged to a small child, maybe a baby. It was then that I looked inside the car, that I was seeking refuge behind, for the first time. A little girl was strapped into her car seat. Her deep grey eyes filled with paralyzing fear. I looked in horror at the driver's seat and found the mother of the girl lying limb over the steering wheel. A small stream of blood ran down the side of her face. Looking back at the small child I reached for the door handle.
All of a sudden heat consumed me followed by an ear splitting sound. I flew into the brick wall behind me. My body fell to the hard ground. My head ached and my ears were ringing. My head felt a thousand pounds heavier as I lifted it up. In front of me was the car I had used as my shield now in flames. I started to scream remembering the little girl.
Out of now where blind hatred consumed me. All I wanted to do was pick up a rock and through it with all my might at someone. I wanted to empty my lungs and scream out into the night, letting the hatred escape through my breath.
"What the hell has our lives become?" I thought disgusted.
I ran out from behind the flaming car. I scooped up a good sized chuck of concrete blown from a building and lifted my hand above my head. I looked for a target. I heard another shout for help. I turned towards the sound. As soon as I found the source of the pleading, a boy my age kneeling at the feet of three policemen who had a gun pointed at his face, a shot could be heard through the chaos and the kneeling boy stared blankly ahead with fear and pleading still on his face as he fell on the side of is face. His head was turned to me, and I could see the wound where the bullet had entered into his forehead. I dropped the chuck of concrete that was in my hand. That was the final straw. I had to get out of here before I ended up like the rest.
Instinctively, I picked up my feet and began to run. But I felt something grab my ankle. I smashed into the ground. My face scraped the cement. I shrieked knowing I had been caught and soon I was either going to be beaten to death or shot. I felt someone pulling me toward them. I kicked but didn't make contact with anything. My captor pulled me to my feet as I screamed. I thrashed and tried to break free from his grip. My eyes were squeezed shut and my breath was coming up short. I wanted to scream out again, to cry for help, but my voice had deserted me.
I heard the noises get a little fainter so I opened my eyes. I found that I was in an alleyway not too far from the riot.
"Jesus, you're feisty." Came a deep voice from behind.
"Let go of me!" I screamed flinging my body side to side. My back hit the damp alley wall while two hands pinned me there.
" Listen to me…" He tried to reason. I gave up, looking at the dark figure in front of me.
I couldn't see much, but it wasn't a police officer. He was a boy maybe a year older than myself and definitely taller.
"Listen, I need your help…."
I looked at the shadow in front of me, completely confused. My thoughts were scrambled and it was like my mind was clouded over with fog. I couldn't think straight. I knew that people were dying out there; I knew that I could defiantly become one of them, and I knew that some stranger was in front of me asking for my help…but I also knew that he was not the enemy, he was a teammate. A partner in war.
I looked back at his face. It was covered by shadows, so I still could not see him. I couldn't help but question, why me? It made me a tad skeptical. I mean there were hundreds of people to drag away into this alley…why me?
My look hardened. Mu muscles tensed.
"What kind of help-" I didn't finish because he cut me off.
"Shhh…" He stiffened.
"Wha-" I tried again but he interrupted me, again.
"Shut up!" He hissed covering my mouth.
I grabbed his wrists trying to pull his hand away. He ignored me. He looked to his right as if he saw something. My heart started to speed up. I started to think of the worst possibility.
"It's an officer…we're caught…I'm dead…"
He looked back at me. He lifted his index finger to his lips, signaling me to be quiet. I slowly nodded my head. He carefully lifted his hand from my mouth.
He light footedly took three steps towards the opening of the alleyway. I didn't move. Another bomb went off a little ways away, I jumped at the sound. I could hear the debris rain down after the blast. I closed my eyes trying to focus.
"Psst!" I looked up. He was motioning for me to follow.
Hesitantly, I took a step forward. He kept motioning to me. I walked faster. As soon I reached the opening where he stood, I could hear the horrific sounds clearer. The shouting, the bombs, the gun fire…
We both leaned our heads out to see if any officers were nearby. Apparently he saw something I didn't because he pulled me back against the wall using his body to pin me. He clamped his hand around my mouth again. When I heard and saw no danger close by us, I slapped his hand away annoyed that he was so physical.
"Stop doing that!" I spat, venom dripping from my voice.
He almost looked amused. Again, it was a little too dark to see what his actual expression was.
"What the hell am I doing? I don't know what I'm doing here and I don't think I'm getting anywhere closer to escaping."
I pushed passed him making my get away, but he caught my arm and pulled me back into the shadows for the third time.
"Where are you going?" He demanded.
"Look, you are not helping me get out of this hell. I'm sorry I can't help you, now let me go." I hissed.
I started to push passed again but he stepped into my path. I bumped into him. I took a step back. I stared up at him, angry that he dared to block me.
"Who are you to A) touch me and B) stop me from leaving?" I yelled through my teeth. I pushed him with my hands on his chest. I shoved him and to my surprise I actually moved him three steps back. He was now in the light and out of the alley. He looked down at me with no emotion, like a statue. His jaw line was set in stone…almost like he was clenching it.
"You two, over there!" A deep voice boomed.
My heart skipped five beats. I froze up, my logic, feet, and mind went numb and I could not move. To my absolute astonishment, the guy, that I didn't even know his name, yanked me behind him in a very protective manner.
Not that I wasn't thankful that I had some protection, but he didn't even know me!
I tried to see over him, but he was way too tall so I looked around him. There were two policemen. Only one had his gun out the other was behind him ready to beat us to death with his club. They both were walking towards us.
I wanted to run, I wanted be far away, I wanted to not think about how in a few minutes we would be dead, just another two limp bodies for people to forget, just another two bodies for people to step over.
I squeezed my eyes shut. I refused to watch as the officers proceeded towards us, bloodthirsty. I could feel the boy's body in front of me tense up. I knew he was thinking the same thing.
"What now? It looks to me that you've got no where to go." One policeman teased.
Neither one of us answered.
"Back…up…slowly…" He carefully whispered over his shoulder. He said it so quietly, I almost didn't hear him. I felt him take a micro-step backwards. I did too. We slowly, very slowly, backed up until I hit the brick wall of the alleyway. But he kept backing up, closing the space between us.
"What are you doing?" I whispered hoarsely.
"Trust me." He replied simply.
The policemen had fanned out, blocking the alleyway opening. They took confident steps towards what seemed to be the death of us.
"On a count of three…jump." He whispered cautiously.
"What?" I hissed a little too loudly.
"JUST," He paused and lowered his whisper, "Just do it."
It was only then that I looked up. It was like a miracle. There, above us, was the fire escape. I almost let myself think we could escape.
"One…two…"
I felt him reach back and place one hand on my waist.
"Three!" He quickly spun around and as I jumped he grabbed me fully and with great forced, thrust me up. I took hold of the ladder before gravity to bring me back to the ground.
"Damn it! Get them!" Shrieked an officer as he fired his gun. My heart skipped a beat as I felt and heard a bullet miss my head and hit the bar of the ladder, making a clanking sound. I almost let go as an instinct. I climbed the ladder as fast as I could. I pulled myself onto the platform. I didn't distract myself by looking below at the scene. Instead I unlatched the ladder. I heard a loud clang as it reached its full length.
"Don't let them get away!" Yelled another officer.
Shots were ringing out and echoing off the ally walls. In a moment of weakness, I looked down. The officers were spread out and aiming the guns. The man who had protected me had caught onto the ladder but he was having trouble pulling his lower body up.
"Shit! My gun's out of ammo." Cried one policeman. He threw his gun on the ground. At this moment, my comrade had successfully begun to climb.
"I got a perfect shot," Announced another officer aiming his sniper.
I wanted to scream "no", but my voice ran away from me. Everything went into slow motion before me. It was like I could see the bullet spring from the gun and slice through the air. I looked down at the boy who had saved me. He was climbing the ladder to the fire escape, unbeknownst to him of the bullet barreling towards him. My mind was spinning, my palms were damp, and my breath was uneven.
People say that when panic sets in and the adrenaline pulses through a person, there is a split second \when the adrenaline rush caused supper strength. Well, as I watch that boy moments from getting killed, panic set in and I reached down and grasped his wrist with both my hands and pulled with every damn muscle in my body. My limited super strength must have been triggered because I found myself with strength I never knew I could possess.
And then, just like that, my world went from slow motion to fast forwards and everything became a blur. I heard a yell. I felt a pain as a hand grabbed my forearm and yanked me up the fire escape. I knew that there must have been bullets whizzing past our heads, but I did not hear them. I almost tripped over m own feet but the hand held me up and kept dragging me up the steps. I wanted to go faster, but with every second I felt like my legs weighed ten more pounds.
After what seemed a million stairs, we stumbled onto the roof of the building. It was only until then that I realized how hard my heart was pounding. I swear to the lord on high, it was going to burst.
"Keep running!" I heard him yell to me.
But the world around me was growing fuzzier and then it began to spin. I wanted to warn him that I was going to fall, but when I tried to speak not even a mere whisper came through my lips. Our footsteps, the bullets, the screams, the bombs…everything grew faint and all I could hear was my heavy breathing as it came up shorter and shorter. I felt my legs go numb. I blacked out before I hit the ground.