Resolution

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The first part of the journey was simple. I started walking west, passing various houses. Most of them are similar to mine, but others have been repaired with scrap metal and other materials available at the scrap yard. The further west I move the better the houses get. Some houses begin to look newer, or better kept. Some look built out of sturdier materials, such as steel. The more I move west the better kept the streets look. Roads are newer and looked after, houses become less like prisons and more like homes. I even begin to see trees on the sides of the roads, but the leaves have not yet blossomed. Sometimes on my regular trips to the shop, I wonder whether my life could be any different. Could I have been wealthier? Could I have had parents? I decide that I should focus on the task in hand, rather than become delusional about what could my life have been.

I start to see a change in the scenery up ahead, and pick up pace. The houses fade into a sandy wasteland. Although the road is still ahead, it becomes degenerated. The safeness of the housing is gone, and whats left is a bleak, mountainous terrain of sand and dead shrubbery. The faint crackles of gunfire and chirp of birds has all died, and left a eerie silence. Steven once told me that this whole land was once occupied, but after gang violence forced its residents to move away. As they moved out, people started looting what good building material they could find, whether it be a wooden wall or a tile. This continued for 2 years before the entire landscape was picked clean. Even though the scenery is threatening and unwelcoming I still feel safe knowing what comes up ahead. I see houses appearing in the distance and I realise where I am.

I continue walking down the road, until houses start appearing on both sides of me. I had reached the business part of the sector. I looked around, counting at least 100 to 200 people in my close vicinity. Even though there are so many of them, there is only a faint sound of people talking, and the occasional cough. They are all afraid. I reach into my pocket and clench the handle of the knife tightly, hoping this would help me feel safe, with no results. Suddenly, I hear the sound of engines, and quickly push through the crowds into the nearest alleyway. I crouch behind some scrap material and watch whats unfolding. I begin to see people panic, as they all attempt to make room for the passing by vehicles. A quick glance confirms my suspicion. A convoy of gang cars are passing through. The men, carrying various weapons, are all similar in appearance. Vested tops and baggy trousers, an image that brings fear to the people of the sector. 

I decide not to risk going through the streets and take a shortcut through the alley. The noises of the engines are silenced out in the dark, ominous back street. I wrap my arms around my waist, and look down. Uninterruptedly, I notice the faint glimmer of an object from inside a plastic bag. I hastily head towards it, and rummage through the bags contents. I take out various cans, bottles and wrappers, until all that is left is a sparkling, gem like stone. On the rare occasions I find such a treasure I would usually pawn it off, hoping to make some money. But this was different. The way it sparkled continuously, regardless of if light hit its diamond-like surface. I was fixated on it, unable to look away. Clenching it in my right hand, I continued walking through the alley. I saw the street ahead, although the crowds of people had gone. I decide that the safest place to put it is in my coat pocket, but before I put it away I couldn't help but look at it for a second time; oblivious of the outside world. I continue walking, still staring at the gem, until I am abruptly interrupted by figures in vests. "Hey Kid, what you got there?"