Chapter 8 - Alex
Well, that was amusing. Fooling with my uncle is among my top favorite things to do. I suppose is should be a little more nice to him. He does do a little bit of supporting.
"Nah" I mumbled to myself. Then I discovered the most amazing thing: the place was a palace of echoes!
"Echo!" I screamed.
"Echo, echo, echo, ec..." I got in response.
This place was awesome! After exclaiming a few profane words, I decided to try something a little more daring.
"Dea..." I cut myself off. Do I dare to say that? I mean, as far as I can tell, no one else is here. Well, except for my idiot of an uncle and his friend. Why not, I'm already a fugitive?
"Death to Dictator Chu!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. That was the most dangerous thing I had ever done. And it felt great.
Just as I was about to yell it again, I heard a crash in the distance. I thought nobody was supposed to be here. I thought to myself. Well you thought wrong. My subconscious responded.
My death awaited me. No one speaks out against the Freedom Nations. Ever. Because if you do, you are publicly beaten and tortured, and then taken away to God knows where. One time, as I was walking to school, back when we still had school, a young woman ran up to me. Not really me, but everyone who was walking on the street.
"Help me," she begged. "Please, help me! They're going to have me killed!"
Just then, a military truck buzzed. around the corner. The woman let out a blood curdling scream and started running. Everyone just watched her. I mean, it's not like we could do anything, but still, we just watched her, knowing she had no chance of escape.
Weeping, she ran as fast as her body would allow. Actually, it was the fastest I had ever seen a human run. But it wasn't fast enough. In a matter of seconds, she was chased down, and a net was shot out of the truck. The net instantly entangled her, and she came crashing down, smearing her face on the pavement.
Some NASR soldiers jumped out and cuffed her with plastic handcuffs. They then took her down to the hub, which is the center of the city, tied her to a post and stripped her down to her underclothes, and whipped her. 72 times, if I remember correctly. And I do; I counted every lash. The only reason they stopped is because she was about to pass out. They untied her and led her, well not really lead more like carried, her into the truck. And then they were gone.
I can't let myself get caught. I have to be smart about this. I have to face my fears.
I quickly maneuvered to the nearest cover I could find. It was a wall made of glass, and through the glass were headless figures staring back at me, wearing extravagant clothing. It, they, nearly made me scream when I saw them. Is this what people used to like? Headless dolls to play dress-up with?
I regained my wits and peered around the corner, ever so tactfully. Nothing. Was it just something I imagined? Likely, but my instincts tell me that it wasn't. If there is anyone I can trust, it would be myself. I pressed on towards the noise, doing so with the slightest and quietest movements I could.
About to turn back, I notice large white sign that said Apple. Apples, just the thought of it made my stomach grumble. I never ate my bread, I just remembered. I was yanked away from biting into the bread by my uncle evacuating me. I was starving. Even though all of my senses were screaming no, I said yes.
I still moved tactfully towards the store, but as soon as I reached the door, all of my guards went down. I ran to the shelves, only to find that they were empty. What is going on? There was a poster on the wall that read, "iPhone". There appeared to be more, but that's all I could make out. But I didn't have time to process it, because the doorknob started to wiggle in the corner. I pressed my body into a small space in the corner near the door. I am a master of stealth; I have been stealing food for years, and I have never gotten caught.
