Advent 2020

December 2nd

      I can only run for so long; you have to understand that. 

      And it's been so long. 

--- --- --- Two Days Earlier --- --- ---

      "Stop right there!"

      The road blurs past underfoot and the soles of my shoes start to heat, friction slowly burning through. I'm not fast enough to run holes through them though, which is all I need to remind myself to push harder. 

      Streets lit with fire and littered with bodies run along both sides of me and force my breath and thoughts into a pressurised ball of panic lodged in my throat. 

      Those bodies, charcoal turning to dust, were my family. My friends. My whole life is ash now because of these men in grey who spread lies of peace. 

      We were at peace. 

      Our city was not built to be a bargaining chip. We tried to tell them slaughtering us wouldn't do anything, but the government disagreed. They saw a solution, a way to protect the country by burning down one city - the numbers made it obvious.

      I am not just a number. 

      But they gave us no warning. The men in grey came together to take matters into their own hands. Their hands, that are stained red with blood. 

      They're killing everyone, and chasing those they didn't get to soon enough. My brother tripped about five minutes ago and I still see his face - the panic as he realised he wouldn't be able to rise in time to get away; the shape of 'run' on his lips as he lifted his head for the last time. 

      The worst part isn't knowing I won't see them again, but smelling them right now. They were once people of warmth and comfort and now they're warmth and poisonous. 

      I'm breathing them in and I can feel my breathing getting worse. It doesn't help that I have to keep running. 

      I dart in and out of the wreckage to lose them, and sleep when they do. They like to call in backup to replace them every so often when they get bored - because that's all I am to them, a game to win or get bored of - which gives me half an hour to gain distance between us again. 

      But it all takes energy. I haven't eaten since they first stormed my city - my, because I'm the only one left.