The App: App-ocalypse (1)

Day 49 - Hiding in a ventilation shaft

I shouldn't be writing. It's risky. I'm living in a movie right now. I'm lying in a ventilation shaft. It's way more smaller than what I saw on TV. I'm hiding here because I don't have anywhere else to hide. I certainly can't move in here without making any sound. I'm stuck. Well, I can't go anywhere and it's already been a while so I figured I'd write. This is a nightmare. This was a nightmare to reach my diary without risking to be discovered but I did.

We divided our group in two as I was writing yesterday morning. We spent the day walking silently in the airport and finally reached the obvious conclusion: they weren't here anymore. This airport is so big, we lost our way more than once. Even though we were supposed to be quiet I had the opportunity to speak to Anna. She said she was sorry for telling me I was a stupid teenager. She knew it was a hurtful thing to say to me and she was hoping to shake my convictions if she was hurtful.

She apologized. I didn't. I told her I would do the same thing again if I had to choose today. She said she understood me but was chosing differently because she couldn't stand being trapped in our country anymore. She tried to make me realized how dangerous it was to stay there. Even a trip to the airport turned into a vicious and dangerous situation in which she could have died. France will be our haven. We'll be safer there.

I decided I will go with them, if I found Michael in this airport before they leave. If they ever leave... She was glad to hear I partly changed my mind and so was Georges but he asked us to keep quiet. After that we spent the day in silence and didn't find anything. The evening came and we were back at our starting point. We met with the other group again. They didn't find anything either.

We decided to stay at the airport anyway because Georges and Sebastian wanted to wait to hear news from our French friends. We hope they're good but since we have no news of them, we're all starting to assume something bad must have happened to them. Well, something bad definitely happened to us.

We were sleeping in the bus last night when we heard gunshots. I woke up suddenly. Anna and Edmund were supposed to be guarding us, but they were nowhere to be seen. Gunshots were near us. Xia, Elaine, Nathan and Will all took our guns and left the bus, going in the direction of said gunshots.

Georges took me and Melissa apart, and he told us to go hide somewhere. Anton wanted a gun but we didn't have any left, as Sebastian had his own and Rose was giving hers to Georges. She never shot anyone and didn't knew if she could do it, she said.

We ran as fast as we could, which was not an easy thing to do with our bottle of oxygen. I can't emphasize enough on how those things are the worst. We hid in the toilets with Melissa. She was crying and had difficulties to breathe. Running at her age wasn't our best part of the plan apparently. Things turned really bad in those toilets because it took them only five minutes to find us.

Yes, a military guy entered the bathroom and found us. I guess the Ladies' room wasn't our best idea. A little bit too obvious. He threatened us with his gun, so we followed his orders. He took us to a stair and forced us to go upstairs. I was afraid and Melissa kept crying. It was all starting again, I remembered how I felt when I woke up on their car. Except this time, he was alone and we were in the middle of a staircase. I had to try this time. I turned toward him and pushed him as hard as I could. He fell. I told Melissa to run as fast as she could again. I did. I lost her.

I'm not proud of what happened. I was hoping she could follow me. I have no idea what happened to her. I feel sorry for her, I'm sick about what may have happen to her if she get caught, but I had to try to save my life. Maybe I saved her too. When he fell, he screamed and it was obvious someone was about to come help him. It was dark because it was the middle of the night and I didn't think about Melissa. I only think about getting away.

Which I did, only to run toward other military men a minute afterward. Bummer. They were three and they had machine guns. There was nothing I could do against them. I surrendered of course. Two of them took me toward another stair, but this time only one of them was behind me. The other one was in front of me and he told me not to try anything stupid.

I didn't. They took me through a waiting room, then towards another corridor and finally made me walk on a conveyor belt. I ended up on the other side of the wall by following this conveyor belt. And that's the part when I couldn't believe what I saw. He was there, looking at me, smiling. His hands were handcuffed and I was in a shitty position but he was so genuinely happy to see me. "You came back!" he cried, "I knew you'd came back!".

Yes, it was him. Michael was there, in front of me, sitting on the same conveyor belt that I was walking on. Behind him was one of the men who kidnapped us in Anton's house. My shock only lasted a few seconds because I heard a gunshot behind the wall, on the other side of the conveyor belt. The man took Michael away and threatened me with yet another gun. I had to follow him, his gesture was clear. I did.

Georges suddenly opened a door behind that guy, appearing from literally nowhere. It turned out he saw the men capturing me and followed us discreetly. He shot one of them on the other side of the wall and then decided to come and get me, using the door instead of the conveyor belt.

The guy didn't see him coming. Georges knocked him out with a luggage he found on the ground. Yes, they were there a lot of abandoned bags in the airport, and especially in that room. I guessed people panicked and fled when the App hit. I know that this is probably what I would have done. Georges made a sign not to speak because he knew one of the guy was still somewhere around here.

He took us in another room as discreetly as he could. He told us he was alone, he had lost sight of Anton, Rose and Sebastian. He had the idea to come check on me and left them. He told me he remembered those guys were after me. They were once so it was only logical to assume they would be again. He heard the man screaming in the stairs so he went after me and saw everything that happened to me. He did not see Melissa though. He truly saved me this time.

I wish we could have spoken longer but he asked me to hide in the ventilation shaft for now because the airport wasn't safe. He told me they were at least six guys with weapons after us and he only knocked out two of them. He hid me by closing the air vent, then opened an abandonned luggage on the ground. He asked Michael to hide there and told us not to say anything when he'll be gone.

Poor Michael. He was so happy to know Georges was alive and with me, and he hadn't even had the chance to hug us before hiding. I wish I could speak to him right now. I can see the luggage in which he is. I know why Georges hid me here. He let me his gun. He wants me to protect Michael no matter what, except I don't know how to use a gun.

So here I am. Watching a luggage from a ventilation shaft, a gun in my left hand, my pen in my right hand, writing everything that happened and trying not to fall asleep to keep Michael safe. It's been hours since Georges left. We heard other gunshots after some time. Everytime I hear a gunshot, I can't help but fear an explosion because of our oxygen bottles. So far no incident happened with them.

Now everything is quiet for hours, but I have no news from Georges, or Anna, or anyone else. I don't have a lot of oxygen left in my bottle. I just don't know if it's safe to come out. Georges was clear. I won't go out until he's here. I don't want to see anything bad happening to Michael because of me. In the meantime, I wish I could at least speak to him. This is so frustrating. And I really want to fall asleep now...