Reforming Society •• OneRepublic {2}

Upheaval

Anonymous elderly man's P.O.V.

Limping along the polished floors of The Shops at Liberty Place in Philadelphia, with a cane helping him keep his balance held at his left side, the old man was having a good day. His grandson - his first grandchild - had been born that morning, as he'd gotten the call from his son-in-law in Salt Lake City an hour ago.

It was also his first week of retirement out of the rail industry, which he not only needed to leave with age, but it was getting harder with the new government. They controlled the imports and exports - which came only from other states, naturally - and were forcefully dominant about who exactly was handling their goods and conducting their trains. They were probably bound to fire him anyways, as they wouldn't want an old cripple to be at the engine.

He leisurely walked past a jewelry store to see a couple of men arguing inside. He thought nothing of it.

Until there was a gunshot, shattering glass, then an alarm shortly after. He turned to see the second man running, a long diamond necklace clutched in his left fist and in the other hand, a handgun. He ran through gasping and screaming people and the old man watched him. Just a second later, another alarm went off down the hall, and then another on the second level of the mall.

The man could do nothing to stop this, so he instead joined the fleeing people, picking up his pace with them as more gunshots rang out. It sounded like there were two machine guns just down the hall from him, so he turned to go the other way. A slight fear ran through him, but it only grew when he realized he still had a grandson to stay alive for, and two kids making their own lives in the world.

As the man had a limp - from an accident three years ago in the rail business - he was not nearly as quick as everyone else fleeing. He found himself falling behind with the stragglers at the back, in the midst of the chaos that stayed behind.

Two men fighting fell in front of him, the one on top beginning to choke the other. The man swerved around them and landed beside the broken window of a dress shop of which the clothes then burst into scorching flames that made him stumble back. A woman inside screamed and if he had the ability to help her, he would have.

Just as he picked up his pace again, the old man was shoved by another man running. He almost fell but was able to catch himself on his cane, all the strength in his arms going to raising himself up to stand again. Then he limped as quickly as his legs would carry him, becoming more anxious to get out the longer he tarried.

Yet through stragglers still searching frantically for an exit away from the danger in all directions, the old man saw some yards away a young girl - likely about four or five years old - standing by herself and crying. The man went to her first, leaning down.

"Where are your parents?" He demanded.

"My auntie ran, and---and I tried to keep up and hold her hand, but---"

"I'll help you get out, come on." He held out a hand, cutting her off. Without hesitation, the girl let out a small sob and took his hand. He limped along as she squeezed his hand so tight he began to lose feeling in his fingers. Yet it became his duty to get the girl and himself out alive. The gunshots drew closer with each passing second, and the drumming in his ears gradually got louder. There was more shattering glass, along with alarms going off and the stores that hadn't been robbed shutting their gates.

"Come on." The old man said loudly to the girl when she began to slow down. Tears had stopped falling, but she still looked on the verge of continued wailing. The man, however, could see the doors wide open as he, along with a few others, headed for it as fast as they could.

Her cries resumed as soon as someone pulled her away, a middle-aged man clutching her in his arms as he ran. The old man lunged at him, but his reflexes were too slow and weak. It even took him several seconds to yell, only after the girl's sweaty grip slipped from his.

In shock and anger, the old man stood there for a moment. He wanted to go after her, but the kidnapper was already out of sight. He was livid with himself and his actions, the fact that he could not do better than he was, that he was incapable of helping others because he was too old.

The gunshots were close. He had to leave. The door was probably forty feet away, give or take a few, and he only had to hobble a little more until he was in relative safety.

Until a searing pain hit him square in the back and all feeling in his lower body even fell away quickly. There was a wetness spreading over his muscles, making the fabric of his clothes stick to his body. It wasn't until the cold tile was against his cheek that he also realized he'd fallen, his cane snapping in two. Instead of groaning, the old man coughed. Red sprayed the floor in front of him. He could hear screams, shots, tinkling and breaking glass, alarms, yelling, banging, all muffled behind a loud ringing. Through blurry, starry vision, the last pairs of feet running for the exits passed.

Running inside the building were the familiar shoes of police officers, the selfish and murderous ones that were all over the streets, dressed in black with the red and black flag on their breasts. Behind them were firefighters heading into the orange flames engulfing several different stores. But no paramedics, despite the man's hopeless wish for them.

Never mind it, though, for even if paramedics reached him, he would be nothing but a bloody, tepid body.

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I hope you guys liked this one! Granted, it's really short (although I think I warned you of that) and also messed up, as usual, but I still hope it was good! As usual, lol.

Next update is Saturday, October 1st (I can't wait for October/fall and ALSO that'll be the last update before we have a new fucking album). It'll be Ryan's P.O.V. with a time jump of a few days and more Ryan/Ramona. Tell me if you're getting tired of Ryan and Ramona (!) and also, what would you like to see with them? Feedback appreciated! Love you guys! I'm also preparing you for a big hill in the plot of the story and it's basically kicking off now, so expect the unexpected in October!!