I ran for my life. The gates of the building where closed. There was only a whitewashed flight of stairs to go to. “I know this place”, I thought. “I’ll climb up without a sound and wait on the roof for help.” The sound of approaching footsteps startled me and my throat went stiff. Even as, my heart pounded wildly against my chest, I began moving up as quietly as I could. Those few moments inside the stairwell, whilst I struggled to gain control of my shaking limbs and my numbed sense of balance, death stood a tiny mistake away and it seemed like an eternity before I could see the exit door. As I inched closer I identified a scared, native couple, rugged clothed, ducking behind a black water tank, shushing me away with impatient gestures.
I stopped short. “Don’t trust them, you have to move out, someone is coming up the stairs” I thought. As tears slid down my face I took a leap of faith and jump across to where they stood hiding. They gave me a disgusted look and immediately ran for another shelter. Then there were gun shots – one, two – and silence. “Oh my God! Are they dead?” I surmised. I was alone again but not long enough. That man running up the staircase had finally reached the exit of the stairwell. He immediately saw me. “I am going to die” I said to myself and then in an impulse something took over me.
I clenched my teeth and I mustering all the courage I could, ran straight into him, pushing him as hard as could down the steps. He fell on his back. I picked his gun and snapped the trigger with both fingers. The bullet must have hit him in the chest, but I couldn’t tell against the black of his clothes. I ran. The next man appeared from behind the south face of the exit. He wore the exact same black clothes. I shot him directly. He fell with the dull thud behind the water tank, a flame bladed knife still in one hand. I began weeping and wailing. My hands shook as I looked around. I counted four dead bodies, four pools of blood, one gun I was having difficulty using and one flame bladed knife. I had discovered a new ability to kill without thought and had no idea what was happening. I was in a daze.
It was then that I finally saw him. The man responsible for whatever this was about – his long, curly, black hair flying loose against the wind. His lean, flaccid torso was exposed and had fresh, bloody slashes on the chest. His face was twisted in an angry grimace. He was coming to get me. I pointed the gun at him, but the trigger wont move. So, with the most terribly shaking hands I threw it towards his head. It missed him my kilometers. He screamed at me like an angry ape and pulled out one arm to strike his first blow. I had picked up the knife, as he inched closer, I looked directly into his eyes and let out a loud, roar-like scream. It rendered the tiniest shock and kicked him in the balls. “Now what?” I thought. “Are you going to STAB HIM!!??” He was already standing up.
I held on to the knife. I had to do it. I had to. I stuck it into the side of his body. He let out a deafening cry, blood welled up from the wound. It felt like putting a knife in butter. I did it again. He tried to stop me. So, this time I aimed it right beneath his sternum, where his last pair of ribs joined each other. The knife widened the cut and it got bigger and bigger until the lower part of his abdomen had finally flopped out like a pouch. I thought I could see food in that mix of blood and innards but it had become all too much for me suddenly. I shook myself back to reality. Five people lay dead on the roof and I was standing in the middle of it all with a blood soaked knife in my hand.
Then I heard someone behind the opening of the stairwell. I was no more game for this. I was prepared to give up. I was scared of myself. I looked for the presence to reveal itself. A gay pair of young boys came out, arm in arm. They looked at me with telling eyes, said something funny about it to each other and ran into the building chasing one another. What was happening??!!
To Be Continued
Practical Realities 