The New Law

The Uprising

Christina and I left early in the morning. We snuck though the apartment gathering lingering things. With a swift latch of the door, we were gone. With everything we owned together piled into Christina's car, we headed towards my plan. The drive was long and tiring. We felt at edge, hoping we weren't going to be questioned as to where we were going. Passing each police patrol bared enough anxiety to fill a life time. I wanted to take us as far away from the city as possible, which meant breaking the New Law. We scanned the old map stored inside of Christina's glove box, looking for the path I had heard about, the path unguarded, the path that would let us leave the city. My intex finger traced the path I had planned before finding this secret pass. The pass I had heard about was a long and dry road; it almost looked like a desert. The road was never  changing and went for miles. When we finally departed onto the pass, our tensions loosed. Neither of us talked. I listened to the car's engine hum as we zoomed down the unpatrolled road. Christina was the one to who eventually broke the silence. "Austin, who's your face?" She looked over at me for a second, before returning her eyes to the road. I looked up at the rear view mirror, examining the work Alex had put into my face. It didn't nearly look as bad as that night. Before we had slept, Christina cleaned the blood off my face, reveling the bruises that remained. Besides some purple circles here and there, my face didn't look to bad.

"Its looking pretty good." I said, as I traced the purple around my black eye. I looked at Christina and gave her a cheesy smile. She looked at me to catch the smile.

"OH god, your pretty!" She said this in a sarcastic tone. We both laughed. "So Austin, do you mind telling me what happened?" Her right hand leaving the stirring wheel to meet my left hand resting on the center concel. I looked at the her hand, and embrassed it with mine. I squeezed it as I swallowed hard. Everything still as fresh as rain in my mind.

"Idk, I mean, he was just mad..you know?" I continued to look out the window, trying to sell her what I had just said. A moment or two had passed, letting me know that she hadn't bought any of the shit I just told her.

"That's not being mad Austin..." Her tone becoming more direct. "Why are you protecting him?? Just tell me what happened". I could feel and uncontrollable wave of guilt rush over me.

"Nothing really, I.." She snapped

"AUSTIN, YOUR FACE IS NOT NOTHING." I couldn't contain myself anymore. I could feel my face twist, tears falling from my eyes.

"CHRISTINA!!" I took a deep breath beginning my sob. "IDK...idk..I don't know why he did what he did!" "He was just mad. No matter what it was my fault." "I.." I was again interrupted.

"Don't you even say that, nothing of this was your fault!" She looked at me with a look of concern. "You did not control his fists, and you most certainly didn't do anything wrong." She looked back to the road.

"Idk Christina, I'm sorry. Idk..Im so confused." Our conversation ended there. I had fallen asleep moments after that. I dreamt about my mother. I dreamt about what she might have been like. If it was anything, I missed my mother the most. I wished she was here for me, to help guide me, and help me move through the tough times, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. I had to learn how to do that myself. Fortunately I had Christina, who in a small way was the mother I wanted. The one who could kiss my "boo boo's". My dream ended when I was shook awake.

"Austin, we were just stopped by a police car!" I turned to see lights flashing. I began to panic. I turned to the officer at our window. He was in a normal uniform, but one thing stood out. I noticed something on his badge. The letters YOA were nicely printed into it. I knew we had made it. I looked to Christina,

"Its okay, we have arrived." With the police car in front, we were escorted to my plan. The HQ of the YOA...Here is where my revolution began. 

The patrol car reached a large complex; the stuff that you see in zombie survival movies. We pulled up to the large steel doors. A second or so passed before the sound of grinding gears and bending metal rang out as the double doors opened symmetrically. Driving into the new opening, a new world was revealed.  This military style city was massive. Cargo trucks and men moved this way and that. Everyone seemed to have a purpose. Cargo helicopters duck behind view as they land on some helipads beyond our range of sight. This place seemed alive and it caused a part of me to awaken as well.