In a small, dark alley where light barely hit the ground lay a small staircase down to my house.
Someone burst through the small front door. All I can see is a dark figure.
"WAKE UP PATHETIC" someone yell at us.
I jump off my cramped bed, nearly crashing my head into the ceiling.
The shadowy figure standing on my front door has disappeared.
I rush off my bed and find my way out of my messy room.
I step on to the stair and I was met with another day of dense smoke. The smell of it linger in the air, the smell is funky.
I look up to a worn down building just across from me. I look up higher and I see a tall smokestack looming in the distance and on it is a red light flickering against a dark sky.
"What are you looking at? Be quick" his yell echoed throughout the street.
He lead me into the usual van full of mutants just like me.
The van is packed to the brim with worker.
The last thing I remember is that we are driving off my street before I fell asleep again.
When I stepped out the van, I am met with tall mountains rising from the smoke filled air.
When I look forward, all I see is a mine entrances, a small shack, and the dense forest surrounding us.
"Go grab your stuff and get to the mine" the driver yell at us.
I walk to the shack to grab my pickaxe. Inside it, there're a bunch of mining gear and a big mess of boxes.
Boom…boom..
The sound of dynamite spread across the forest. It is deafening.
After I left the storage, I walk for hours into the dark coal mine as light fades behind me. The tunnel is narrow and covered in jagged rocks. Below our feet is a small rail track.
"One..two..three..four..five..six..sev" I count the skeletons on the ground.
"What're you counting?" Someone ask me.
"Skeletons on the fl.."
"FASTER" someone yell.
We walk silently for hundreds of meters on a damp uneven floor.
When we reach the end of the tunnel. We instinctively ram our pickaxe into the hard rock wall ahead. There're tens of us mining side by side.
As we mine, sweat seeps through our skin. The air inside is thin, hot, and humid.
We mindlessly collect coal from the floor and out it into the cart behind us. We mine in silence, too tired to talk, and the only sound is a distant rumble of dynamite and the sound of our pickaxe ramming against the wall.
"We should runaway together" someone break the silence.
"We have mouth to feed" many people respond at once.
"Tora, didn't you have nobody at home?" A tall tanned guy beside me ask.
"Not really…. but I just don't really have the best relationship with them." I answer
I hear a sound of something big falling in the distance. The sound of it sent the whole mine into silent.
"I wouldn't even surprise considering the this look mine look so worn down like its abandon"
Anyone remain silent, including me.
The sound of dynamite explosions constantly shake the mine.
After another hours of constant mining, the sound of explosions stop.
I place down by tool and sit down with other.
I bring out a piece of plain bread with nothing on it out of my backpack. For others the food isn't much better, some bring plain white rice and others even nothing.
Our food is covered in coal dust and so is our body.
We eat in silence knowing the break is only 10 minutes long.
We quickly stood up and get back to mining.
We continued digging a narrow long tunnel from the morning.
One of us run back to the exit of the turned and comeback a while later with a box full of explosives.
We lined the dynamite up in a long thin line on the ground. We walk far away from the line and one of us grab a lighter out of his pocket and light up the fuse.
BOOM
The explosion sent a massive shockwave down the tunnel almost knocking us down.
We rush back to the end of the mine, the area is filled with black dust, and grab shards of coal into a big wooden cart filled with holes from overuse.
Cough..cough..
The sound of coughing filled the tunnel.
we drag those heavy coal cart out of the same way we enter.
We walk a long way until the light at the end keeps expanding larger and larger.
We are drenched in sweat and coal dust when we exit the tunnel.
The breeze of cold air hit us.
"The car will arrive late today" a higher ranked manager announced to us.
The cloud above us is dark gray.
The rain start to pour out of the sky following by thunderous roar.
I rush under a flower tree, the ground is covered in its pink flowers. I see someone small running toward me. She rush towards the same tree I am under.
"Why are you here" I asked surprisingly, never spotting any women near the mine.
"I ran away from my house" she answered nervously.
"Why?" I asked.
She stay silent but the traumatized look on face say it all.
We move closer together either for physical warmth or maybe because we share the same past.
The rain stop as fast as its start.
I stand up from a ground covered in flower.
I walk away, exchanging what should we one last glance at each other.
"You can always meet me….at the cafe…by the train station.. I promise I'll be there" she speak in a surprisingly hopeful tone.
I know that I can't even afford to be in the cafe.
"Hurry up" someone yell at me from the car.
I look up at the sky. It is in a beautiful shade of orange either from the sunset or the pollution.
I walk back to the car and get in. The old car move forward shaking as she fades into the distance. The ride through the dense jungle sat for kilometers before any trance of civilization appeared. We move through a dimly lit highway filled with potholes. The road is as worn down as the car I'm on. The car move from forest to farm and then the city. The van stop at a street in front of an alley with old, tall buildings surrounding us.
I stepped into the allay that is devoid of any life except a few mouse. I step down a small staircase down and I was met with a completely dark room. The room is completely silent with anyone sleeping peacefully in their bed. The house is crumbling with sagged roof, broken window, and a wall with decaying paint.
I grab a white T-shirt from the closet and a pair of pants and walk into the bathroom. I turn on the light and locking the door behind me. As I'm ready to take a shower I hear footsteps just outside and a sound of metal hitting against something.
Shouldn't anyone be asleep. I think to myself while shaking in fear.
Bang…
I hear a sound of a gunshot.
I hear my brothers screaming but I cannot quite put together what words are they saying.
"Help…help…." I hear one of the crying for help with true fear in his voice.
Bang…
bang…
I hear many more gunshots and then silent.
I hear a faint creaking sound of footsteps against our old wood floor.
Then it gets loud as if someone is walking toward me.
Then I see a dark figure as the already worn down door gets kick out of its hinges.
It's doesn't take a genius to know that I'm whoever that figure it is next prey.
Bang.. bang..
I hear many more gunshots and then a sound of glass shattered.
Then it go black.
I can't see anything and the only thing I know is that I'm not standing and I feel a horrible stinging pain in my leg.
I smell gunpowder.
"Goodbye" I hear a faint whisper and a warm wind against my ear.
Then I feel like a cold metallic object is place on my forehead.
I hear a sound of a trigger being pulled.
Bang..