San Rebel

Captured

I woke up the next morning in my bed. I had a stiff pain where the cut on my knee was. I sat up and stretched my arms above my head. Liam came running into my room, still in his pajamas and bed head. 

"Rix! Can I run? I woke up early and there aren't any guards out! Please, please, please!?" he begged.  Since Liam was a Runner, I wanted him learn to control it. I'd let him go out to the wide valley a few blocks from the house, but only if there weren't any guards out. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and looked at him. He was on his knees with praying hands. 

"Fine. But you have to eat, get dressed and brush your teeth and hair first." I told him. I got up and sped out of the room. I get up and walk to the bathroom to brush my teeth and put my hair up. I made Liam some eggs and water and made sure he ate every last bite of his food. 

"Can I go now? I'm ready." he said standing up to show me his clothes. I grab his shoulders and look him in the eyes. 

"Now, you remember the rules right? Now going any farther than the field, don't talk to strangers, and if you see a guard, run. Just run, okay?" I say in a very serious tone. He nods, hugs me and runs out the door. I stay where I am in the kitchen and just pray he doesn't get caught. I get up and finish getting ready. I write a note for Liam if he returns before I do and head out the door.

I walk down the streets of downtown. I scan the sidewalks with my headphones in with the song "Next Right Thing" by Seth Glier. The familiar shop catches my eye and I walk straight to the door. I push it open and the little bell above it rings loudly. A man with a long white and gray beard looks up and smiles at me. 

"Rixton, what you here for today?" he asks. I smile and set my bag on the glass counter he sits behind and pull out a small gun. He sucks in a deep breath as he sees my new treasure. 

"You have any idea what kind of gun this is, or have bullets for it?" I ask. The man nods and picks up the gun, turning it carefully in his hands. 

"Indeed I do. These are guns back in my grandfather's time. It's called a Desert Eagle. It was one of the most powerful hand guns made. And your lucky that I found ten bullets a few years ago." He walks into a back room for a minute. I scan around the old shop. It used to be a Pawn Shop before the outbreak, but now I'm really only customer. 

He comes back out with a small cardboard box. I open it and count exactly ten bullets. "How much you want Mory?" I ask. 

"What ya' got?" he asks. I reach into my pocket and pull out an old gold band I found the other day. "Now that's very nice. Deal."  

Suddenly, the bell rings as the door opens. In walks a man with a black hood covering his face. He doesn't look up, just goes straight to the back of the store. 

"Can I help you?" Mory asks.

"Just looking, thank you." the man answers. The man keeps his back towards us and is quite the rest of the time. 

"I'm gonna head back. Liam is out today and I'm getting  little nervous." I take my new bullets and but them in my bag and head out of the store. I pull my hood over my head and walk as fast and as calmly as I can. I've left Liam alone by himself so many times before, but today felt wrong. Like something was off. 

When I reached my front yard, I could see that the door was just barely cracked open. I loaded a few bullets in my gun, but kept it hidden in my pocket, ready to pull the trigger if needed. I walked to the door and pushed it open. "Liam, how many times do I have to tell you? Don't leave the door open." I say as I walk through the room. It was quite, and still. Nothing in the living room was touched or out of place. "Liam?" I call. No answer. I walk to the kitchen and the bedrooms, but nothing--or no one--was there. I continued calling out Liam's name, but he still didn't answer. He was probably still running, but I just had to be sure. I pushed the backdoor open and nearly fell down the steps.

I knew what happened before I even processed the image itself. Burned in the grass was a all too familiar symbol. A wreath with a sward and olive branch crossed in the middle. The symbol of the San Rebel Guard. They found Liam. They took him. He's gone! 

I drop to my knees and and hold my arms at my sides. Tears fall out of my eyes like waterfalls, and I rock back and forth. I gasp for air that wasn't there. I screamed at the top of my lungs. "LIAM!" I shout, over and over and over again. I stare at the burned grass through teary eyes. Then suddenly, I stop crying. It clicked immediately. I stand up and grab the gun in my pocket and stare at it. I suddenly feel all the anger in the world. It consumed me. 

I walk back in the house, but what I see doesn't faze me one bit. Standing in front of me was a guard, clad in the usual black uniform. He had five more guards, armed and ready behind him. I hold my gun tight and stare down the guards. I can see my reflection in their sleek helmets. 

"Put the gun down, kid. We shoot you if you resist us." I don't say anything, just stare. I raise my gun and shoot the ceiling, and crumbling dust comes raining down and I charge at the guard, knocking him down. I shoot another guard in the shoulder, but I'm grabbed my another one behind me. I struggle to get out of his grip but it was no use. Two guards hold my arms tight and another readies his gun, aiming at my chest. In this moment, I think that this is it. I failed my parents. I failed Liam. I couldn't protect him. I close my eyes and prepare myself for the bullet, but all I head it the sound of a jaw cracking. 

I open my eyes and see and man in a black hood attacking the guard with the gun. It was the same man from the pawn shop. The guards holding me release my arms and aim their gins at the man, well boy. The guy takes his hood off, revealing shot cut brown hair and dark brown eyes. He put his hands up and smirked at the guards. 

I back up from the guards without them noticing me. I grab both of the guards' helmets and crash them together. It doesn't do any damage but it does bring them falling to the grown. "Common!" I command the guy. He follows me as I lead him up the stairs and out a window in a spare room, climbing out onto the roof. When we're out, we see that we're surrounded by at least ten more armed guards in the front yard. "We're surrounded." I point out the obvious. 

"Stay up here." he says. 

"What?" I ask in confusion. He grabs my arm and backs me up to the very top of the roof. Before I can say or ask anything else, he runs down and off the roof. When he hits the ground, he hit with so much force, the ten guards fall to the ground. I take this moment to take my gun and shoot as many guards as I can without hitting the guy. He takes care of the three guys I didn't get, and I was left sitting on my roof with a gun in my hand, a random stranger helping me, and my younger brother captured by the San Rebel Guard.