Alternate 2020

Episode 5: Lost Labyrinth (1): Struggles and escape (1)

The siren.

*Bang*

*Bang*

The explosion.

Damn it. We were caught!

I hid behind the walls as I looked over to them; my hand was holding a pistol. I released the magazine and it dropped to the ground. Swiftly, I inserted the last one in the pistol.

Clouds of smoke rose into the air as people panicked and screamed while running away.

*Bzzz* "Can you hear me? Over."

I placed my hand on the earpiece and pressed the side button. "Y-yes, sir."

*Bzzz* "It's not looking great. The operation... It's busted."

"But sir!"

*Bzzz* "I need you to escape." *Bzzz* "Even if we don't survive... You need to escape! Escape and hide. Hide and hide. And anyhow, get to your father-" *Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...."

"Hey! SIR!!!"

*Bzzzzzzzzzz...."

There was no response.

Tears fell down my cheeks. Sir meant a lot to me. He was my teacher, my mentor, a person I highly looked up to.

Why did it come down to this? All because of my stupidity, my worthlessness; I dragged them back and I... let them down.

I wiped my tears off my face, with my hand holding the pistol, and dashed towards the other side of the building hiding in the smokescreen. On the pistol, I switched the safety on and slid it in my trousers hiding it in my blazer.

I proceeded forward and ran with the crowd. Looking back, behind me, my hand began to fuzz and I felt guilt overloading inside me. "I'm sorry everyone... Please survive!" I cried.

* * *

The smoke began to lift as I poked my head around the corner hiding in the shadows.

I saw a bunch of citizens lying on the floor; a lot of them were injured.

Many people were begging and screaming their lungs out but the soldiers dismissed them like it was not their problem.

"Please! Please get a doctor for my son! His arms bleeding a lot! I beg you, young man!!!" I heard in the distance but the soldier continued to ignore them. It was as if they were looking for something and couldn't be bothered to pay attention to the poor citizens.

*Tap* *Tap*

Something tapped my shoulders. I turned around and two soldiers were there.

"Hey. Go over there with the others!" he demanded.

I looked down on the floor and muttered to myself, "What should I do? What should I do!?" but the soldiers came closer and began to lift his gun.

I held my breath for a moment.

The other soldier continued to walk closer and closer.

Tears started to build up in my eyes.

"Yes!" I thought to myself.

I slowly lifted my head looking up to them. "Hi... please... I'm lost..."

A teardrop fell down my face.

The soldier looked at each other. I couldn't tell their facial expression as they were wearing black helmets with flashlights hanging off it; it was turned on and blinded me a little.

I could see the light reflecting off my eyes as it also reflected off the goggles the soldiers were wearing.

One of the soldiers shrugged a little and waved his gun. "Go go go."

"Go... where...?" I questioned.

"Over there with those people."

I pretended to cry a little. "*Sob* *Sob* thank you... thanks for guiding me..." I turned around and looked down on the ground, the corner of my mouth rose up a little; I smirked.

"They believed that?" I giggled to myself. "Pfft..."

"Hey. Get moving!" I heard from behind me.

"Ah, yes, yes..." I replied and I walked forward into the bright open area joining the group of people on the floor.

Some were injured. Some were panicking. Some were injured. Some were... shattered.

Chaos filled the area.

I could still see the smoke rising from the mission location. It was a failure. Water filled my eyes blurring my vision. I was crying for real this time.

"Yo."

I turned my head to the left.

"Yo."

I turned my head to the right.

"Yo... behind you!"

I turned my body around and saw a young man. He was wearing dull but casual clothing but with black leather-like gloves.

"Yo. You crying?"

"What?" I wiped my tears quickly using both of my arms.

"Oho... you're crying," he giggled.

"I'm not crying!" I exclaimed.

"Yes, you were, hahaha!" he continued to laugh.

"Hmph!" I turned around and faced away pouting a little.

He tapped on my shoulders. "But for real, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, now leave me alone!"

"Do you think they are fine?"

"Huh?" I turned back around. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean," he began to say while getting up a little. "Do you think 'they' are fine?"

"What do you mean..." I started to sweat.

"He... he knows about it... but how...?" I thought to myself.

The sweat droplets fell on to the ground as he got closer to me with a bright smile.

"Heyyyy calm down!" he laughed. "I'm just talking about the citizens over there." He pointed at the direction I was looking towards before.

The citizens were pacing their way towards us; some of them were bleeding heavily.

"Phew..." I thought to myself. "He doesn't know..."

"Hey... what were you sweating for? Did something happen?" he questioned with a confused expression.

"Nonono, nothing happened... I'm just... it's hot so I'm sweating a bit, hahaha," I laughed.

"Yeah, it's certainly getting hot in here. After all, we are inside a raid shelter and not to mention, underground..."

"Hmm, hmm..." I agreed, nodding my head. "That's right."

He was calm and collected. It was like he didn't mind what was happening around him. The screaming, the shouting, the panicking... nothing seemed to concern him.

"Who is he?" I wondered. I knew it wasn't a question I could ask but I needed to find out.

I got up from the ground and patted the dirt off my bum and trousers.

"Where ya going?" he asked.

"I'm going to the... toilet."

"Ah, okay."

Looking down at him, he still had a bright smile. I felt unease around this guy. He was strange. He wasn't like any other citizens here and first and foremost, he was wearing gloves in this ghastly temperature.

I need to escape from here.