Extracts

Enforcers down

Liam ran after Lou, he picked up the crowbar which she had dropped earlier. Lou's jacket was soaked and she was leaving behind a trail of blood. With every move it felt like the cut got deeper and that she was carrying more and more weight. The wind grabbed her by the ears and tried to drag her backward. The further she went the more her knees wanted to kiss the ground. Desperately she urged her feet to move quicker, however, the more she did the heavier they got. She turned into another street when the officer reached her. He grabbed her aching arm, turned her around, slammed her on the floor, and pressed the metal onto her chest. She grabbed the cold metal on top of her, begging her body to cooperate but her arms were failing her. With his heavy body pushing down on her, all she wanted was to sink into the floor but it was against her too. The cold stones were pressing against her back while the rod was squeezing the air out of her lungs. No matter how hard she tried her body wouldn't budge. She had no energy left not even to create a small blast.

This was it. She was going to lose her grip on the metal, get brought back to the facility, and stay there for the rest of her life. She would get poked and punctured, hooked up to various machines until they learn that she is no use to them. She will get dragged back after fighting for her life only to be brought in a little room further down, tied up to a chair, hear some jazz play over horrible speakers, inhale the white gas, and never see the day of light again.

She started screaming partly because of the pain, but mostly in hopes of grabbing someone's attention on the street and getting help. June was probably already in the tower waiting for her, wondering what was taking so long. And then she would forget about her. She would die and no one would ever remember her. No one would have ever loved her, no one would have ever cared for her and the people responsible would continue living their lives without being held accountable for what they did.

Tears started rolling down her face, her screaming turned more into sobbing, "please, I can't go back." She couldn't say more as she was gasping for air. Right here, right now, she was going to die because of crimes she never committed.

A flow of air went through her throat and filled her lungs. She never knew how incredible a fresh breath of cold air could be. The weight on her body slowly decreased and her fingers slipped off of the metal. She quickly sat up which she then regretted as a stinging pain went through her arm. She didn't care how much it would hurt, he gave her a chance to escape and she will take it. She moved away from the man, who was crouching in front of her, as quickly as she could, which was frustratingly slow. He looked concerned and almost as if he had sympathy for her. But she knew that no Enforcer would have mercy on her even if they might seem sympathetic.

"You need to run and stay low for a while, then find a way to leave the city. I don't know what's going on but they won't rest until they get you," Liam said.

Lou got up and stumbled further away. "I'm going to lead them back north, to the light city, so head south and hide."

Lou rushed away at a surprising speed and the man was left with a lot of questions and a crowbar.