Final part of these flashback chapters!
"Promise me you'll make it back. Secure our citizenship Jaclyn!" April beams.
It's aggravating, knowing that someone depends and relies on me as much as I do on myself.
I nodded and hugged her tightly as she buried her head against my chest. "We'll be able to leave this godforsaken place soon." I guarantee her.
It's midnight and when I open the front door, it's eerily quiet. Something I truly hate and try to avoid is walking down the streets during night time in this doomed area. From here on I have to walk the half hour to Asama, the neighbourhood where the break-in will take place.
Alys who told me more than she should've, explained that I have to take away documents from a man that has been investigating her. She's convinced he possesses over enough evidence to lock her up and it's my task to snatch it away before he gets the chance to hand it in.
When I say I hate authority figures I'm not lying, but there's something about Alys that actually makes me want to succeed, even if it was just for her sake alone, but knowing I will get something big out of it too gives me the extra push I need.
I live in Kaizuka, one of the poorest and underprivileged neighbourhoods in the underground. Just walking down here at this time of the night makes my skin crawl. People sleep on the sewer water soaked streets and beg for food and shelter. I look straight ahead as I ignore the occasional body's at the side of the streets, some of them still awake, softly mumbling words, making this place even scarier.
I wanted to take another step but someone holding onto my leg caused me to come to a standstill. I glare down and see a man with sharply sunken cheeks, he's in his mid-thirties and speaking unintelligible words. I sigh as I have to face the harsh reality of the underground again. I can't close my eyes to these hell-like surroundings, after all this is reality. The fucked up and unfair world I live in and sadly have to deal with every day.
"Let go." I say as I try to shake him off. He then gradually started raising his voice as I still can't catch anything of what he's saying. "I really don't have time for this." I whisper annoyed and the man is suddenly starting a commotion out of nowhere. I notice lights of the homes around me being turned on. I take that as my queue to leave. "Let go." I warned a last time but his hands remained tightly around my leg. I lifted my other leg, kicking him in the face as his body falls back to the ground and immediately he went silent.
"Sorry." I whisper as I glance down. I quickly jog away, I can't afford to be late, or caught.
When I arrive in the street I'm supposed to be, I put my hoodie on to cover my face for the slightest. Straight away I notice the five people I am supposed to work with standing in an alley. One of them whistles and cautiously I walk over. They too, are wearing a hoodie and with the dim lights I'm not able to get a glimpse of their faces.
"Let's get going." I insisted, ready to enter the house and take the documents so I can get this over with.
"Wait, shouldn't we first see each other's faces?" One of them said. "We need to trust each other if we're carrying out such a dangerous job." He then added.
I'm standing with my back to them already annoyed, I'm too impatient for this.
"We don't have the time to built up something as useless as trust." I retort. "You're hired to do the breaking in right? Do your job and leave the rest to me." I started walking to the house but a hand on the shoulder stopped me.
"I'll be coming with you, the rest will be on the outlook." A male voice spoke.
"Fine with me. Do whatever you want, just don't fuck up." I shook him off and keep on walking as I hear his footsteps right behind me and the others' fade in the distance.
I stand in front of the place that somewhere had the documents locked away, it's a huge single house with a large fence built around it.
The underground district, the remains left from an immigration plan even has its richer and poorer neighbourhoods and it actually disgusts me how they build these unreasonable small houses, and then you have these giants. I can't wrap my head around how that this place was build as a last resort and they still manage to think of the status of the richer ones and build these houses. It's meant to be a one family home but it takes up the place where three if not more families could live.
Well, my bitter thoughts aren't going to change the situation one bit. I just want to get my hands on the papers for now and I'll be able to leave this fated place for good.
"This is your area of expertise?" I glance over my shoulder and set my eyes on boy who now had taken his hoodie off.
My eyes widen with surprise. "Honestly it had to be you!" I shook my head and he stares at me confused.
I took my hoodie off and his reaction was similar, bewildered he stares at me.
"So this is where you had to be?" Kay asked.
"Do your job already." I say and he nodded as he got to work, within thirty second the gate was open. If I had to do it myself it would've taken me much more time, maybe Alys is right about working together with them.
Tiptoeing we moved forward to the front door which Kay also opened in no time. I take a step inside and glance around.
I look around in awe, the house is filled with expensive looking statues and it has a shiny marble floor. Suddenly the clock in the hall rings and I do a step backwards as I bump into Kay.
"Just the clock." He says.
"Obviously." I say as I quickly walk further in the house. "We should hurry, it's already three o'clock."
Something seems off, but then again, everything always appears suspicious to me. There's a broad staircase and from what Alys had told me, the papers are most likely located in the bedroom.
I walk up the stairs and notice that Kay is soundlessly following me, as long as he doesn't interrupt while I get to work I guess I don't mind having him near. Trying my best to accurately remember the route description Alys gave me, I walk to the right and open the second door on the left. Like she had predicted, there's one man sleeping in the bed. I take out a piece of cloth and soak it with a sleep-inducing drug she had provided me with. For a change I don't have to kill anyone because this is about her and she doesn't want to raise suspicion by taking his life. Instead, simply taking away the evidence seems like a better idea this time.
I stand next to the bed of the man and forcefully press the wet cloth directly onto his face, covering both his mouth and nose. His eyes shot wide open and he protests but a moment later they close again as his body relaxed and he dazes off into a deep sleep. This is enough to hush him for the next few hours and luckily he wont remember any of it.
Straight away I get to work and open one drawer after another, flipping through pages but nothing contains what I am looking for. Kay unlocks a few I'm not able to open up but even those didn't held the important documents.
"Think." I say to myself while I looked at the room in detail. Where would I hide something I want to keep save at all cost. I fumbled the furniture at all sides but there's nothing to be found.
"Perhaps he wears it on him." Kay suggested.
I frown at the idea of touching the man's body, but I assume it can't be helped, it's not a weird idea to be taking it with him everywhere he went. I'm curious though as to why would he go through so much trouble in order to lock Alys behind bars.
I stand next to the bed and observe him closer. He's a bold, overweight man, presumably in his forties and he has this oddly shaped moustache. Reluctant I pull the covers behind but let them fall down halfway. "Would you mind?" I mumbled, asking Kay to do it.
He is leaning against the wall with his arms crossed as a smirk marks his face. "I'm not exactly eager to touch an old man." I point out.
"Alright." He shrugs and walks over, checking the man's body for the documents while I crossed the room in a couple of strides. I come to a halt before the window and the floor underneath my foot squeaked. I push the tip of my shoe against the floor and the noise is clearly audible again. I'm about to check it but movements outside caught my eye.
I peek through the curtains and my heart skipps a beat as I gasp loudly. "Shit, they're here!" I shout to Kay and confused he looks up to me. "Your friends, I think it's the Military Police that caught them!" Before I can turn around again he already exited the room.
Hastily I take my knife out of my pocket, lifting the wooden floorboard with it and surely, here are the papers I'm looking for. I grab the large envelope with Alys' name written on it and quickly scan through them, Alys' name along with her crimes are written on the documents and I make sure there's nothing left hidden underneath the floor. I tuck it inside my shirt and hurry downstairs. Before I can even reach the ground floor I hear one, two and then the third piercing shot.
"Shit... don't tell me they would actually..." I leave the sentence unfinished when I see Kay standing at the front door with his hoodie on and a weapon in his hand. I peer across him and see the bodies of his comrades lying lifelessly on the ground. The Military Police that I recognized by their logo, are slowly walking up the house with their guns pointed right at him.
"Get on your knees and put your hands behind your head." They yell commands and it looked like Kay was about to obey.
"Fucking idiot!" I yell and I jump at him. We both fall to the ground inside the house and I'm sitting on top of him. "Unless you want to die too, come with me." I say and pull him up by his collar. I run to the back of the house and out of every window I look there's someone standing. This place is completely surrounded.
Kay stands next to me. His expression is dull, almost as cold as the body of his fallen comrades.
Honestly, I feel bad for him but right now I don't have time to show sympathy. We need to leave this place alive. I can't die, not a moment before I'm about to leave the underground for good.
I thought hard as an idea came to mind while trying to ignore the demanding orders from outside.
"Kay, you take a chair and throw it out of that window and at the same time I'll throw one out of this one." He nodded and I continued. "After that we escape through the back door and make a run for it." Succeeding is not likely with this ill-considered plan but it's the best I can come up with in this stressful situation.
"Ready?"
We nod at each other and the piercing sound of the glass breaking is all that reaches my hearing. I take Kay's hand and we rush out the door. I look back and see they divided into two groups at the broken windows, not realizing we just escaped. We climb over the fence and ran through the streets to the opposite side of town.
My mind works quick as we run and turn corners, trying to keep my mind clear and alert while my heart is beating so fast it's almost painful. I'm short on breath and my body feels hot. That was a really close call, but we're not safe yet.
"Where are you planning on going?" He asked while panting and I dragged him along with me, still holding onto his hand.
"I'm certain they won't be looking as far as Kaizuka, if we keep running at this pace we'll reach it in fifteen minutes or so." I said through ragged breaths and sweat drops are tickling my face.
Abruptly I came to a halt because Kay stopped moving. "What is it? We don't have time to be taking breaks!" I say and pull him forward again.
"I can't... leave them behind, I should return, I-"
I don't have time to deal with this right now. I turn around, and when I do, I smack him across the face, back into reality.
"Listen to me." I swallowed hard. "They're gone, mourn later, right now make sure you survive and get going for fucks sake!" I shout at him and his eyes widen, he slowly nodded and took a deep breath. "Come on then." I say and we pick up speed again.
Based on that, I can tell he's a strong person. I'm someone that gets people back on their feet to face the world, but I myself am no hero when dealing with the feelings he must feel right now. That's why I'm amazed that was all it took to keep him going.
After approximately thirty minutes we reach the house. Along the way we encountered the Military Police multiple times so we had to stop and hide before we could continue.
April is sitting outside on the stairs and she stands up when she notices us approaching. Puzzled, her eyes fell onto Kay.
April opened the door and let us enter. "Sit." I say to him and he does. He's a winsome guy but right now it looks like all life has drained right out of him.
"Save your questions for later." I say to April who surely wants to ask me a thousand already. "I got hold of the documents." I let her know and she realizes what that means and her eyes lit up with excitement.
"Really! So we get to leave this place!" She said enthusiastic but she calmed down when her eyes fell onto Kay again. "Who's that? Why did you bring him along?" She asks warily and confused.
"What do you mean by leaving this place." He questions April but she looks over to me.
"We're leaving the underground to live above." I answered.
His unsure frame is sitting on the chair and he looks in deep thought. "What are you going to do from here on?" I ask carefully, knowing very well his life just dramatically changed. He stares at his hands that rested on his lap, I guess he himself has no idea.
"If you have nowhere to go, come with us."
April's mouth fell open in disbelief and her eyes shift between me and Kay. I eyed him seriously. "I won't ask twice." I say and stand up.
"Are you serious?" He asks, seeming just as surprised as April is. "If that wouldn't be a problem." He answers softly, looking unsure.
"I'm the one inviting you, not?" I swiftly smile and he returns it.
"Well then, I think I haven't properly introduced myself. Jaclyn Rosenthal." I held my hand out for him and he took it.
"Kay Andreasen. Nice to meet you Jaclyn." He shook my hand.
"And this is April." I say and motioned to her.
"Pleased to meet you." She charmingly smiled and also shook his hand. "But, I need to hear all the details about how you two met. I know jaclyn wouldn't invite just anyone to join us." She says teasingly.
"Don't get the wrong idea brat."
The conversation is interrupted by the door that slowly opened and I recognized the familiar face that stood on the other side.
"Ethan!" Kay hurried over to him."What happened?" He asked while he looked him over but he didn't appear to be injured.
He is panting heavily and probably breathing too hard to even mutter a word. I drag him across the room and let his body fall onto the couch. "Let him catch his breath." I say to Kay before he gets the chance to speak again.
I hand Ethan a glass of water and with a big gulp he drank it all in one go. I pull a chair and sit in front of him as Kay joined me. "You were supposed to be on the lookout, what the hell happened?"
He takes a few deep breaths before he starts talking. "I was on top of the roof... I don't know how they found out, but suddenly the place was surrounded by the Military Police. When... when Nola put up the slightest bit of resistance they shot her."
He stares down to his feet, probably trying to wrap his head around the fact his friends are gone. Kay also looked downwards as he restlessly fiddled with his hands.
"After Nola was shot, Jacob and Omar stood up... and that's when they also got killed, I saw you two escape through the back so I followed you here."
"I see." I say in deep thoughts.
Someone must've alarmed them when they noticed us on the streets... but for the Military Police to gather with such a large number is unusual. The only other option I can think of is that they expected us from the very beginning.
"The fucking pigs! You should've taken them all out!" April suddenly shouted and I'm not sure who that was directed to.
"What are we going to do?" Ethan says as he buries his head into his hands and it sounds like he's on the verge of breaking down.
Kay glances over to me. I had just invited him to come with us, I didn't count on his friend, that I didn't like, to also show up.
I sigh loudly and put my hands onto my hips. "If you gather all the money you have, will you have enough for the two of you?"
"You're okay with that?" He asks surprised and Ethan looks up to us.
"If you buy your own way out I can offer you a place to stay."
Those dull eyes of him glisten with a little glimpse of hope and I'm glad I can do this for him. His friend however... I'm not so sure about him but I'll let him join for now. I can always kick his ass out later on.
The money I've earned and saved these past years along with selling this house, finally I'll be able to buy our way out for good. Alys has arranged a house for us at the edge of the forest within wall Rose and she also helped me out with the finances. I can't believe I actually befriended someone from the Military Police.
April is already bombarding them with questions and they're a bit taken aback by her being so overly exited. It's something they'll have to get used to from now on and I laugh as I watch her quickly making new friends.
Kay glances up to me and despite everything that has happened, he offers me a smile that I happily return.
...
I won't have to live here again, that thought seems like a unreachable dream but that day has finally arrived.
My mind is occupied with the possibilities of things I'll now be able to do.
I am no longer suppressed by the depressing and suffocating underground.
"Awesome!" April shouts and looks up to the sky.
It's a clouded day but they shift and rays of sunlight break through. I smile at how April's emerald eyes are sparkling with happiness and she now silently stares at the beautiful scenery in front of us.
Kay and Ethan stand beside me and they too, speechless enjoy the sight.
"We finally made it out, this time for good." I smile and April hugs me from the side.
"You really did it." She breaths out.
Indeed, I finally did it.