Escape.

Chapter 2

It was the next morning and Brit started getting more suspicious about the mayor. She didn't show up to the scheduled rally. Though, who could blame her. After what Brit did at the last rally and those angry protesters, she was probably too humiliated to go back into public. People were crawling the streets with signs calling her a coward and things like: if you're so afraid of us, why did you run for mayor? Not that Brit didn't agree with them, just that they're so violent. People were throwing rocks and shattering windows. People were setting things on fire. You could just see these things from your window. Which is what Brit called 'shut-in' days. Where the protests got so bad they had to lock all of the doors, the windows, shut all of the blinds, and stay out of reach of possible danger. Brit could see Kira's figure moving around in the dim room. They hadn't said a word to each other since yesterday. Brit hadn't even bothered to ask for her Prayer Box back. She had had enough. Every day she woke up fearing the end would be today. She was tired of being afraid and she was tired of the people. There was only one thing to. She snuck around to the back door and opened it quietly. Once she was out she took out the letter she had written the night before that was folded in her pocket:
Dear Kira,
I'm sorry I left. I had to leave. I couldn't take it. I'll be back soon. Don't go looking for me. I'm safe where I am.
                        Sincerely, Brit

She placed the letter under the faded 'welcome' mat on her porch and ran.
"Brit?" Rene dragged her in his house right before a large rock hit the door from a rowdy protester.
"How did you-"
"I did a lot of ducking and hiding behind trees." Brit said, already knowing his question. She was breathing heavily and dirt and leaves were streaked all over her hoodie.
"You need to stop coming here, you could've gotten killed out there!" Rene said sternly.
"Alright, I get it, I get that - we aren't friends anymore. Okay, but I didn't come here in the middle of a riot to fight with you." Brit paced the floor, and picked the twigs out of her hair.
"Well what did you come here for!" Rene's deep voice startled Brit. What was his problem, lately? What was everyone's problem lately? She shook her head.
"I came because - well...because I'm leaving." She pushed her curly hair around her ear. Rene stared at her.
"Leaving?" He repeated. Brit nodded.
"Leaving as in going where?" He asked. Glass shattered and crashed unto to the floor. Pieces flew everywhere and loud sounds of shattering material made Rene's voice harder to hear.
"GET DOWN!" He screamed. People from the outside yelled and more glass shattered. Brit ducked down behind the couch as debris and rocks flew past her. The smell of smoke filled the room. Brit heard a loud yelp.
"Rene!" Another yelp.
"Rene, Rene where are you?" Another scream. Not just a normal scream, a scream of pain. She felt her way around the room. All she saw was smoke. With her hands guiding her, she felt  Rene's arm.
"Rene!" She heard nothing but shouts from outside and groans from Rene.
"Rene! Are- are-" She choked on smoke and tears of fear. He moaned one last time and Brit used her hoodie to fan a cloud of smoke. Rene turned over on his side and that's when Brit saw it. She gasped and dropped her hoodie. She backed up to the couch and covered her mouth. Rene looked panicked.
"What? What?" He said with his raspy voice. He sat up but crashed down with pain.
"Brit," He coughed then winced, "what is it?" But Brit just shook her head. Rene slowly looked down and saw blood. He gasped and a shot of pain went down his leg. A sharp piece of glass was sticking out of the side of his thigh.
"Rene!" Brit ran up to him. It wasn't a lot of blood but it was enough to make Brit gag at the sight of it on the floor. A small rock flew into the room and there were loud bangs at the door.
"We've got to get out of here." Brit picked Rene up by his arms but his weight slowed her down.
"Brit, no." He stopped to take a breath, "You can't carry me, we won't make it out without being hit."
"Well, I can't just leave you here!" Brit cried. Another loud bang on the door. "What do they want from us?" She said, frantically.
"I don't know but you need to go!"
    "But-"
    "Brit, go!" Rene was demanding now. He coughed and managed to crawl about two inches across the floor.
    "No." Brit said sternly. She picked up Rene, with a little more strength this time, and lifted him up to her shoulders. With a few more tries Rene was hanging over Brit's back. They waited for a moment.
    "Where are we going to go?" Rene asked, surprised that Brit could lift him.
    "I don't know, but there's an alley down the street and if we run fast enough to lose them, they won't know if we went right or left." She explained.
    "But what if they go both ways?" Brit felt Rene breathing fast. He was scared. And so was she, and - Kira. She had forgotten about Kira. She felt as if her whole body collapsed but she was still standing. What if she was in danger? What if she was out here looking for her? She should have just stayed. But there's no going back now.
Brit pushed open the door and stepped out. The people stopped and stared in shock that they were brave enough to come out, which gave them a headstart.
"Get them!" A man yelled and the whole crowd of people ran after them until they reached the pathways of the alley.
"Which way'd they go?" An angry woman asked.
"We lost them." Brit said as clearly as she could. She dropped Rene carefully and caught her breath.
"We can't just stop here, they'll find us." Rene tried to get up on his own but helplessly fell back down. They heard rapid footsteps.
"They caught up to us!" Brit not-so gently dragged Rene up on his feet. "Come on, walk!" She pushed him forward more and more until he was somewhat doing a twist between running and limping. Good enough, Brit thought. She stopped running and picked up a few rocks.
"What are you doing?" Rene whispered. Brit threw the rocks to the right while they turned left.
"Good idea." Rene said.
"I know." Brit bragged. Rene rolled his eyes.
"I think I heard something!" A voice said, "they went that way!" Brit ran behind a small building followed by Rene and they both flattened themselves against the brick wall. The people rushed the wrong way, and Rene and Brit breathed with relief for the first time.
     Rene felt his leg. A large scratch replaced the glass. "Now what? Only for so long before they notice we aren't down there."
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    "So you always come here?" Rene asked as the skylight gleamed off of the water.
    "Used to. Me and my mom used to come here when it was actually safe to walk this far." Brit smiled. "I remember when she used to tell me stories about -" She stopped and looked at Rene. He leaned over the big bridge at the border of the city that connected it to other cities. Brit remembered where everyone used to cross this bridge from other cities to see this one. Her city used to be the prettiest. Now that destruction has come it was the ugliest looking one she'd ever seen and no one even bothered to risk their life to come. In fact, the only pretty thing left was this bridge. It was nice and low so you could stick your hands through the poles of the bridge and feel the fresh, cold water. Rene looked at her. The wind flowed through his curly, brown hair and the water made his hazel-colored eyes shine brighter. Rene was basically looking at a girl version of himself. They'd might as well be twins.
    "Stories...about...what?" He slowly asked. They stared at each other for a few moments before Rene quickly turned back to the water.
    "Oh, right." Brit kicked herself a little and turned pink. "She used to tell me how this bridge was...magic. She said that the two people who stood on this bridge were meant to be. That's how she met my dad." She winced. She didn't want Rene to think that she liked him. Brit thought for a long time before Rene's voice interrupted her.
    "It may be 'magical' for them but, I couldn't imagine me and you." The way he said 'you' made Brit's heart sag down to her feet. She looked down at her shoes.
    "Yeah, me neither." She said quietly. Why does she care anyway? Her and Rene are only friends and - she wants it to be that way. She looked at her reflection in the water. She saw her mom. She saw the exact image of her mom in the water. She felt tears and they dropped into the ocean and made riffles in her mom's nose. She swiped at her reflection in anger and watched the water go each and every way. Just like my life, Brit thought. Going each and every way.
    "You okay?" Rene asked as he bent down next to her.
    "I'm fine." Brit got up and started walking.
    "Where are you going?" Rene stood up and followed her.
    "We're not staying here, are we?" Brit said, sarcastically.
They kept walking in silence besides the crunching of leaves beneath their feet.
    "So...what is this city?" Rene asked as he looked back at the bridge. He had never been out of their city before.
    "How should I know? I've only been to the bridge, I've never actually left the city. Do you know what Mayor Barsen would do if she ever found out some tried to leave? Once you're in you can't come out. It's the law. Plus, what's the point? It's not like there won't be any destruction where you go. It's all over the world." Brit explained. Rene stopped walking.
    "Wait, wait, wait. So we're breaking the law right now?"
    "If you're so concerned about the law, we could go back and let those people rip our heads off." Brit looked around. All there was were trees and woods.
    "What did those people want with us anyway? If they should be mad at anyone it should be Barsen. She's probably somewhere in her mansion safe from all of the people. Man, if I could somehow get past her hundreds of guards and get into her house--" Brit pushed him to stop him from talking.
    "Shut up for a second." She snapped as she looked around. "Strange. No destruction. No riots. No yelling or tearing down houses. There are no houses or people to start a riot. Where are we?"
           "How am I supposed to know? You're the one who brought me here." Rene replied.
Brit shot him an ugly look, "And you're sure no one can find us here?"
Brit looked back to the bridge, she observed smoke and figures of people running wild, but no one dared to cross the borderline. "Yes."
For a second they stared at the city. Brit remembered it all. She remembered when the city was 'normal'. When the sun used to shine and fire only arose in bonfires instead of bombs. She remembered her father lifting her up on his shoulders and showing her what seemed like the whole world. She remembered her mother dressing her up in bows and Kira running in the garden. And she remembered three months ago. When chaos wrecked the streets, when the Mayor became untrusted. When she lost it all. Kira, she thought. She was the only one she had left, and she left her. All of a sudden, a light began traveling. She narrowed her eyes. She hasn't seen an airplane in months.
      "Brit..." Rene called, his eyes grew large.
      "Rene," her voice shook, "what is that?"
The light seemed to grow lighter and move at a expeditious rate. Rene suddenly jerked her arm,"Go!" he began to limp on his wounded leg, but somehow Brit couldn't keep up with him. She had no idea what was going on, but the way Rene managed to pull himself about, she knew it wasn't good. They had still been running  and had reached a good deal away, they heard a piercing sound as if something was slicing fiercely through the air. They had turned in just enough time to see the light had been far more than just a light. In less than a second it had reached the bottom. Smoke and fire had erupted. Even as far as they were a ear-splitting sound filled the air. Brit watched in awe as buildings fell and people screamed. The bridge had burned and sunk in the river below.  Someone had bombed the city.