Gabriel sensed something was happening but he couldn't see what through the crowd. He'd been wandering the protest for a couple of hours, hovering around the edge of the crowd wherever possible. He had been keeping an eye out for the policeman but hadn't seen anything.
The mood had been festive and hopeful. Now suddenly people seemed tense and uncertain. Gabriel heard a distant boom. And then another. Were they shooting?
Something fell into the crowd. The crowd began to scatter and Gabriel saw it, a tear gas cylinder billowing out smoke.
There were several more booms. Gabriel looked up and watched the canisters rain down on the street. The wind shifted and the smoke hit his eyes, causing them to tear up.
"They're trying to force us to leave," a man shouted. "Hell, no. We ain't going anywhere."
Despite his words, many in the crowd were already scattering.
The only problem was where to flee too? The National Museum was in a roundabout near the city center. Four main streets met at the roundabout. Gabriel wasn't sure which direction the tear gas had come from. It was clear that no one else knew for sure either. People milled around anxiously, moving towards one street only to find the way blocked by others.
"They have us surrounded," a woman shouted, her voice high with fear.
Activist were trying to calm the crowd, with minimal success. "We are peaceful protestors," the man at the sound system kept reminding them. "We are no danger. They have no cause to harm us."
A siren sounded, coming from the west. A new voice, a man calling out on a megaphone, told them to disperse at once.
"How?" the woman yelled back. "We don't know which way is open."
The cops and the military were coming from the west, from the financial district. But the crowd to the east wasn't moving and voices were insisting that there were soldiers down that way as well.
Slowly the crowd started moving that direction. The soldiers coming from the west were closer, firing tear gas and banging on riot shields to force the crowd to move. Seeing no place to hide out of the way, Gabriel began to move with the crowd. He listened to the adults talking, trying to guess what was coming.
"They have picket lines and police up ahead," one man was saying. "They are driving us through them, so they can arrest who they want."
A group of men pushed past them. They had their faces covered in dark bandanas, dripping wet to dampen the effect of the tear gas. Gabriel recognized the men he had talked to earlier at the State Building. He blinked agains the tears and then made to follow them.
"Ain't going down without a fight," one of the men was saying to another as Gabriel paced them.
There were several more booms, followed by more canisters. One of the men rushed out into the street as the crowd fled past him. He picked up a canister and threw it forward with all his might.
They had come down past the State Building now. The crowd broke on Gabriel's right and he saw another line of police waiting along a side street. They weren't approaching the crowd, but instead police would dart out from behind the lines and snatch a protestor here and there, dragging them behind the lines to be arrested. Already there was a small crowd of men and women on their knees, their hands cuffed behind them.
Gabriel knew the woman was right. They were forcing the crowd down this way so they could slowly arrest them. He had to admire the cleverness of the plan even as he hated the men who were doing it.
"What now?" one of the men asked.
"We got to break through the line somehow," another said. "We rush them all together," he shouted at the crowd. "Come'on. Its our only chance." The crowd was looking scared and uncertain. They didn't want to face the police, with their riot batons and heavy plastic shields.
There was another set of boom and more canisters falling. Gabriel dashed into the street and scooped one up. His face burned and he could barely see what he was doing. He rushed towards the police. But then instead of launching the canister high, he threw it underhand. It skittered across the pavement and went under their legs.
The men in the front, in riot gear, had masks on. But just behind them most of the police didn't. The tear gas in close proximity caused chaos.
"They are using live rounds down there!" A voice shouted.
Gabriel suspected the man was only saying it to galvanize the crowd. But it appeared to work. They surged forward.
With a wild shout, three of the men in black masks rushed the police lines, throwing themselves bodily against one of the men's shield. They staggered backwards.
Before the police could fill that hole, the crowd was there. At the front men and women threw themselves onto shields, dragging the men down. And more poured over them. The line was overran in a matter of seconds.
Gabriel ran with them, barely able to see. He had to leap over a fallen form and dodge several more. The crowd ran, headless and Gabriel feared that if he fell now he'd be trampled underfoot.