The Hamartia Project

Chapter Three- Ara (Totalitarian Communism Dictatorship)

Again, I nod, although I am definitely not ready. I hold the cup firmly in my hand and crawl into a crouched position. Before I even get the chance to take one last deep, shaky breath, I watch Luca jump out of the corner of my eye. I don't hesitate because I know that I can't. In moments like these, if you hesitate, you can lose seconds and maybe your life.

I bring the glass down as hard as I can on his head, feeling the glass shards pierce my fingers. I land on top of him. He falls to the ground hard, but I realize that he definitely isn't unconscious. His hands grapple for his back pocket, but, when I realize what he is doing, I move quicker, pulling out the knife he was reaching for.

What do I do? I panic. I can't kill him. I could never do that.

Although I am sitting on him, he is stronger than me, so he is able to start rolling over. I do the only thing I can think of doing. I punch him in the neck as hard as I can.

He grunts in response, letting me know that he still isn't unconscious. I need to think faster.

Luca said to go for the neck, but I need to knock him out. I don't want to cut him, so I can't use the knife. I look down at my hands. Blood is oozing from the cuts all over my hands and glass shards are uncomfortably sitting in my skin. I want to cry in pain, but I need to act quickly if I am going to get out of here alive.

Then, I vomit.

The fear that had tied my stomach into knots finally took over. In my moment of stunned silence, he takes advantage of the few seconds that I hesitate, flipping himself over and shoving me away from him as hard as he can. My head smashes against the back of the truck, and I groan as the world bends and sways. Colors dot the darkness, and I realize that I may have ruined this escape. I waited too long and fear took over.

The man grabs my wrists, plucking the knife from my hand easily. I can hardly see him because the world has gotten so dark, but I lash out my leg, kicking him in the stomach.

He grunts again, but I know he isn't going to be stopped this time. He shoves me against the back of the truck again. As my head slams against it, I feel as if it will shatter into a million pieces.

The next few seconds are a blur. In books, they always say everything slows down, but I honestly can hardly remember anything. Then again, I was also about to faint.

I watch as Luca scrambles over to us, gripping a knife in his hand. I don't want him to kill the man, but I realize that this man is going to kill me. However, as the scene begins to play out around me, I begin to understand that Luca has no intention of killing him. Luca brings the butt of the knife down hard against the man's head. This time, he doesn't grunt. I feel his grip loosen as he crumples to the ground.

Luca reaches his hand out to me, pulling me up off the ground. The world tilts dangerously and bile rises to my throat again. As I vomit, Luca steps over the man and grabs his knife.

"I just knocked him out. I was afraid of killing him," he mutters. When he turns back to me, he shakes his head. "I should have had a better plan." His face is cloaked in concern, revealing fear that was absent from his face just a few minutes ago.

"This isn't your fault. I hesitated too long," I reply, wishing I would have listened to the voices screaming inside my head that told me to hurry up, to not not hesitate. But I didn't. My fear got the best of me.

"No, it definitely is my fault, but we have to get moving," Luca says, rubbing his hands together and bouncing his right leg. He is nervous now.

I don't know if I can move, but I have to, so I stumble away from the truck, leaning on Luca because I desperately need his support, as much as I hate to admit it. If we want to get away from here before they catch us, we have to run, but my head hurts too much to even walk.