The Blade in the City

The Kidnapping

Alex woke up early the next day, somehow her body woke up at the exact same time every day no matter how late she was up the night before. One time her and Josh had stayed up until four in the morning talking about random stuff and she still woke up at five forty-five, her body doesn't allow her to sleep in. She stayed in bed going over all that happened last night, smiling at the memories she soon decided to go for a run. Getting dressed she went out to find her pa sitting at the kitchen table, like usual.

"Hey pa" Alex said as she grabbed a bowl and filled it with granola.

"Hey Alex" He looked kind of nervous, fiddling with his spoon.

"What's up? You look nervous." Alex said. Seb thought for a second before speaking.

"Well things at work have been different, some people have tried to rebel against the military, and well the military don't like that, Alex."

"Why are they rebelling?" Alex asked.

"Well I think they don't like the shift times" Alex could tell he was lying covering what's actually happening in the factories. "Just promise me Alex you won't talk to a man who is bald and has a scar down one of his eyes, okay?"

"Why?" Alex asked.

"He is the source of the comotion, now promise me you won't speak to him"

"Okay I promise not to speak to the creepy bald dude with the scar." Seb smiled and said,"Thanks, now have a good run"

"I will, thanks pa" she waved a goodbye to her pa then left the house.

Alex ran down the street, past the shop and cafe, waving at the owner of the cafe. She continued to run past the school, down to the park then past the town hall. Alex ran down the river path that wound around the town. She reached the edge of town by six thirty. She ran around the edge of town, the edge of town separated the houses from the wide open fields, there was only one road in and out of town plus the railroad, she ran for a little on the edge before coming up to the primary school. She ran past that then decided to take the long way home, Alex ran through side streets then across parks. She reached the home stretch around seven o'clock, she only had a few more streets to go.

Alex began to notice that the military population where she was, was very dense. She saw multiple cops, more than usual on this street. Alex kept low, she was good at not being noticed, they took no notice of her. She slowed to a walk so she could fade into the shadows easier. Walking up the street she saw a man walking towards her. The first thing Alex noticed was that he was bald then she realised it was the man her pa had warned her about. He obviously worked at the factories and must've been on his way to work. He continued to walk down the middle of the street, Alex took even more care not to be seen. Nobody noticed Alex as she walked. The cops, having noticed the man, began to walk towards him. It was a weird sight all these cops walking towards this one man on his way to work. The Military stopped right in front of the man stopping him from walking down the street. Alex couldn't see the man anymore but she could tell they had tackled him to the ground, what had this man done? Didn't pa just say his was just rebelling against work hours, Alex didn't really think that was what he was actually rebelling against but surely he didn't need to be tackled to the ground from rebelling. Alex didn't see the shot being fired but she heard the gunshot as it rang out, this surprised Alex she had never heard a gunshot here in her town yet these cops just shot the man on the ground. Alex froze realising what she just witnessed. She couldn't move, she had witnessed a murder. She watched silently as they pulled a military truck up and dragged the dead body into the back. Alex was so shocked she didn't notice the one cop who was staring at her. She looked him dead in the eye, then she bolted, something in his gaze snapped her out of her trance and she bolted for her life. The cop yelled at her from behind but she was too fast. Alex ran as fast as she could all the way home, she bolted inside and grabbed her phone. She texted Josh that they needed to talk about something she just saw, she didn't want him to confuse it with last night. He didn't reply instantly meaning he was still asleep, Alex decided she would cool down in a shower. She got into her shorts and plain black tee before checking her phone. Josh still hadn't replied. She braided her hair and paced the room trying not to think about what happened.