Stray (ON HOLD)

Shattered Family

Macy wakes up to loud noises coming near the booth she was in yesterday. There were shouting, screaming, grunting, and thudding in the air. She sat up and immediately felt the tense surrounding as her heart starts to leave a beat empty. She caught a glimpse of Jake trying to restrain the leader from beating up a young man. He was trying to hold the leader with his arms wrapping around the leader's shoulders. The leader kept squirming as he tries to kick the young man despite the distance between them. Macy does not understand the situation but she heard the noise go silent in her head as she saw the young man crying while he is covered in blood that came from him, Macy thought. She felt her guts intertwine as her heart continues it's irregular beating at the sight of the ruckus.

"Unhand me!!" the leader says spitefully forcing his body out of Jake's grip. He breaths heavily as he looks at the bloody young man maliciously. "You're carrying this to your grave," the leader says calmly with rage hidden in his voice. His tone would've sent down shivers in anyone's spine but Macy saw everyonenot do anything and look at the situation with pity in their eyes. Yet again she didn't understand the situation, making her feel more anxious of her place. The leader proceeded inside the booth, slamming the door and locking himself in.

"Everyone... please let's just proceed with our tasks, and could someone please check the damage we have to deal with, with all those noise," Jake instructs the people to which they followed. Two women were left with the bloody young man. One of them was crying holding onto a blood covered bag, while the other was crying next to the beaten man. Jake consoled the two and requested them to treat the wounds of the man before he knocks on the door of the booth.

Macy stood up and rushed to the man's aid. "W-What can I do to help?" she inquired. One of the women looked at her with tears in her reddened puffy eyes. She opened her mouth and tried to speak but whimpering and tears were the only thing that came out of her. "Just get us some water and towels," the other woman instructed her sternly as she applied pressure on his head. Macy got on to the task after looking at Jakes direction.

It had been a slow and tense day for everyone in the camp. People have been quiet and the air was filled with silent static. Jake leans on the hand rail along the wall and crosses his arms. Macy looks at him then returns her gaze on the floor as she sighs a silent breath. "Sorry you had to see that..." Jake apologised. Macy asks what happened and Jake explains what had occurred that morning.

~flashback/ story time~
The man returns alone with his clothes covered with blood. People rushed to him, asking him all sorts of question.

"What happened?"

"Why are you covered in blood?"

What's with all the wounds?"

"Where is my son?"

Silence. A woman walked in front with a worried look on her face. The man looked at her before starting to cry. There were a few distinct gasp, but mostly were sighs of defeat. "Not again," a voice in the crowd says as the woman starts cry that soon turned into wailing. The man hands a blood covered bag to the woman which she grabbed immediately and clenched it close to her as she continues to weep. The leader rushed to the scene when he returned from the neighboring train station. "What happened here!?" he asked with a slight hint of fear in his tone. The air went dead at the sound of his voice creating a suffocating feeling. Rage rose within the leader's body as he saw the man covered with blood and the woman weeping as she clutched a bloody bag. He knew exactly what this meant. It was not the first time this has happened afterall. The leader immediately grabbed the man by the collar and started punching his face. He screamed, "WHAT DID YOU DO?!" as he repeatedly aimed for the man's face. People distanced themselves from them as a woman wailed his son's name and pleaded for the leader to stop his beating.
~~~

"I don't get it.... why did he beat the guy?" Macy asked. Jake sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "He... lost his wife and daughter in the apocalypse..." Jake explained with hesitation, not answering her question. Macy felt her heart sink with the new information she heard. She thought other people lost their family as well in this tragedy and that doesn't give the leader the right to act as he did. Yet she wondered again, why did the people let him. "We lost our sister and mother on that day too..." Jake continued with bitterness in his voice. Macy looked at him, wanting to say something but couldn't. Jake smiled a pitiful smile before continuing, "I mean... how could we move on from that, right? I'm sure it was more painful on dad's behalf." It broke Macy's heart to see her friend in so much pain from losing two family members. She thought she was lucky to not know what her family has come to, she could easily believe they were fine.