A Life Half Lived

[Dusty Lens]

This wasnt good. Things were moving far too quickly. There was supposed to be confusion after the blasts, mayhem, a panic of bodies into which he could seamlessly integrate.

Not this wall of vehicles and innumerable stabbing lights from patrol ships above.

It hadnt been five minutes since the charges had gone off, the firestorm was barely contained beneath a layer of foam, debris and bodies alike buried beneath the mass of retardant, and the streets were flooded with riot response units. As though they had been waiting for this to happen. Demonstrators were huddled in quick-pens, cuffed and laying on the ground, some were being roughly interrogated on the street by screaming officers.

The two youths watched from their perch behind a shattered office window. It was difficult to make out the specifics of what was taking place below. The sick red light of the setting sun was almost entirely obscured by the remaining detritus cast by their explosion. But one thing was evident and could not be hidden behind darkness nor uniform: These were not the common street thug LPI with whom they were familiar. David quietly muttered as they witnessed the smart movements of the officers forming up protestors around descending Grizzlies.

What was that I said about a world of ****?

Allan grunted We earnestly and sincerely need to get right the frak out of here. Come on

They traced a confusing path through the maze of abandoned machinery that dominated this floor of whatever long decayed building it was that they were inhabiting. The uncertainty of the situation compounded by a sudden sound of rapid movement from somewhere a floor below them. The proximity of danger was casting a sudden and extremely unwelcome specter of reality over the situation, a reality which had been entirely absent amidst the almost abstract concept of what they were doing. A shout rang from below and a pulse of light breached between a crack in the floor. World of **** indeed.

The two made their way to the doors of a dated elevator and gingerly attempted to pry the rusted portal open. Davids heart nearly vacated the premises when the door emitted a heart rending screech with the unwelcome movement. A moments pause to ascertain the impact wasnt necessary, the noise of movement below erupted into a symphony of voices. The two shot each other a panicked glance and, with an eruption of effort, wrenched the doors apart.

The shaft was barren of car or cable. But it still possessed a service ladder. Allan hurriedly pushed forward to grab ahold of the first rung and began a frantic descent. David looked on for a split moment of hesitation before his mind was made by a sweep of light emanating from the ascending officers. He scrambled into the dim tunnel and began his plunge into darkness. However his hand barely touched the the first rung before the metal, with a tortured shriek, broke free of its moorings.

He fell backwards through the darkness, dimly aware of a human scream. Then he landed on something which kicked the air from his lungs and the senses mind. It wasnt until a hated beam of light cut through the dimness above that he found the will to urge his body back to life. A remaining burst of adrenalin from a body that felt more like a battered shell with every passing moment.

He sat up, his body felt broken, but moved. His head felt like it could barely contain the panicked blood pounding through, yet he could think. He shakily rose to his feet to find an adjoining passage before a weak cry brought his eyes downwards, settling with something almost akin to surprise on the twisted form of Allan. Allans leg hung at an impossible angle, jeans wrapped awkwardly against themselves.

A sudden beam of light stabbed down the shaft and David instinctively stepped into the passage. He looked down at Allan, now enveloped in a trained beam reveal how desperately wounded his friend was.

David took another step back.

Da.. Dav... God.. .Man help. Where ar... going? Allans eyes burned with a sudden fever through the blood coating his face, his voice finding sudden strength as he nearly shouted his condemnation. Where are you going!?.

David turned on his heel and ran down the passage, he didnt look back at the belch of a repeater, nor at the choked sob of pain which followed. He didnt need to. He doubted he would find a waking moment where he wouldnt see what he knew lay behind him.

The passage terminated at an overgrown loading dock. A brief scramble into the pitch of the new evening took a short distance into an adjoining reservoir. The filth of the still water feeling like a haven against the sense of impending horror. The blaze of light cast by slow moving patrol craft terminated some blocks away but, still, he ducked into the putrescence until he felt fit to drown and began a slow journey to the south.

It occurred to him that the rest of his smokes were now ruined.