An Unjust Life

A Place For Us

All of the guards had set out in teams of twos. I didn't like the idea of escaping when I wasn't exactly sure of how many of them there are. I tried to think quickly about what direction we were going to run in. Anyone could've heard that gunshot; it sounded like a nuclear bomb going off. I couldn't shake the feeling of being surrounded with nowhere to escape. "Ava, where are we gonna go?" Aiden cried. "They're coming". Thanks for pointing out the obvious Aiden, I thought to myself. I grabbed another rock off the cold wet ground as I tell Aiden, "When I say run, go that way as fast as you can, okay? Don't look back for anything. I'm going to be right behind you". I did my best to scan the area despite the terrible angle I was in. It worried me seeing that Aiden was still shaking; I didn't know if it was from the freezing air or if it was from the fear of potential death. "You have to stop shaking like that, okay? The only thing your doing is showing them you're afraid". "Mom said it's okay to be afraid because it's what keeps us alive", Aiden reminded me.  "And dad told us we have to be strong. We can't do that if we're always trembling like scared puppies," I said back to him. He looks crushed now; like I just shattered his whole world. I feel as if I told him 'don't listen to what mom said, she's wrong.' Was I too harsh? One-half of me feels guilty and wishes I could take it back, but the other half of me is a little relieved that I explained our reality to him. "Aiden, get ready," I tell him. I planned to throw the rock as a distraction just like before. Too bad sometimes plans fail...horribly at that. When I threw the rock, I felt like it flew halfway through the woods. I was wrong. One of the guards walked straight toward the impact as it landed on his head. "What the hell," the guard said cringing his teeth feeling both pain and what looked like anger and bewilderment. "I think we found our target", the other guard said. To think fear and anxiety would be something I was used to by now, but both feelings were like foreign objects every time. I grabbed Aiden's hand desperately trying to hide the fear in my eyes. "We need to leave now", I say trying to be loud enough for Aiden to hear me, but quiet enough so no one else will. I decided that we go the way with the least amount of guards, unfortunately; it was difficult because it seemed as if they were all perfectly spread. "Come on," I say to him right before we start moving in the direction. I was relieved to see that Aiden was ready to run like a 'bat out of hell'. "Don't run", I explained to him in a whisper. "We still have a chance to escape if we stay low and quiet". We traveled a pretty good distance from our previous spot before the guards got there. "We have to keep moving", I whispered. What's that noise? I was hoping so badly that it was just me hallucinating. "Do you hear that", I asked Aiden. "Yeah", he said. Not what I wanted to hear. "It kinda sounds like someone's running". Aiden was right. Only it sounded like a group; coming from the direction we were going in. Desperately trying not to be seen, I grabbed Aiden's shoulders and forced him to the ground. I hope he's not hurt, I used more force than I would have liked. I couldn't be sure because my brother and I were both grounded, but I think I saw six more men arrive at the scene. "Sir, we heard gunfire in the distance," one of the men said to the leader. "Nevermind that," the leader said. "There's a child nearby in the area and possibly someone else with him. Find him and kill him on sight". "Understood," the man said. Aiden and I slowly stand trying not to make a sound. How much longer can we stay discreet? We've been fighting mentally and emotionally for a long time now, but eventually, we'll have to fight physically as well. I looked around for a stick that's hard but easy enough to swing. No luck. All of the thick-looking sticks looked too heavy for me to even lift. I feel like life has always been against us; never the other way around. I'm so tired; I'm ready to just give up... for our fight to be over. It broke my heart to hear someone screaming not too far from where we were. It sounded like it was coming from the direction we were going. Definitely not going that way. All of the guards were fixated on the screaming. I took the opportunity to fall back to where we came from. We kept moving back trying to stay covered by the trees. It was working. I slowly began to feel a hint of relief until I walked straight into him as I fell on the ground. It was Jason. The same guy who got our potential savior killed. "And where do you think you're going," Jason says with a smug look on his face. I grabbed a handful of mud off the ground and threw it right in Jason's face. "Aiden, run!" I yelled. I got off the ground as quickly as I could and started trailing Aiden. "They're over here," Jason blurted out. Gunfire started going off like fireworks on the fourth. "Aiden, don't stop," I yelled exhaustedly. My lungs felt like they were going to burst. "Ava, I can't run anymore. It hurts". Just before I can say something, Aiden falls face-first into the mud. I was instantly at his side trying to get him up. The fireworks continued to go on for what felt like days. My right shoulder was suddenly on fire while something warm was dripping down my arm. "Ava, your bleeding," my brother cried. "We have to keep going," I said willfully. It felt like all the people in the world were taking turns lighting my shoulder on fire. I couldn't run anymore; my surroundings began to look and sound blurry. Aiden said something to me that I just couldn't make out. What was he pointing at? My vision was already going bad and the running didn't make it any easier. I must be starting to hallucinate because I thought I had seen someone waving to us. We were about halfway toward them before my head got super dizzy. You have to keep going; I told myself, Aiden needs you. I guess my body's resolve wasn't as strong as my spirit's because everything started to go black. I looked at Aiden one last time before my body crashed to the ground.