The first thing you saw around you was the sea.
Once again, you were back to that blue and endless immensity that you tried so hard to avoid during your life.
It seemed that no matter how much you tried to avoid it, you always ended up coming back here.
At first, everything seemed normal. The fish were swimming around him, the sun could be seen above the waters and your body was floating calmly in that deep blue immensity.
Until, suddenly...
Your body got heavier.
Your eyes began to burn.
And your lungs began to ask for the air you had forgotten you needed.
You tried to struggle, tried to get out of the water, reach the land and finally be able to breathe.
But you couldn't.
In an instant, chains appeared out of nowhere. Thick, big and heavy. They trapped your whole body and began to drag you deeper into the ocean.
You tried to let go of the chains, kept struggling, desperately trying to get to the surface.
In desperation, you instinctively began to draw air, look for oxygen in that place full of water. But he just ended up filling your lungs with more water.
You couldn't breathe. You couldn't move. You couldn't save yourself. You couldn't do anything.
1 second... 2 seconds... 3 seconds...
Perhaps having accepted your imminent death or trying not to pay attention to what was happening now, you began to count how many seconds you would still have before fainting.
4 seconds.... 5 seconds... 6 seconds...
Your vision began to get blurred and blurred. Your lungs screamed while yout nostrils and mouth continued to be filled with an endless amount of water.
Even so, you didn't stop telling.
7... 8... 9... 10... 11...
You finally stopped struggling. You finally accepted that there's nothing you can do now. No one listened to your requests for help. No one will come to save you. Only the ocean knows what is happening to you and only the ocean will know what will happen to you next.
12... 13... 14...
You couldn't think of anything but water. You tried to think about your family, your friends, the people who could have saved you. But all your mind could focus was the water that kept invading your body.
15... 16...
Speaking of family, weren't they the ones who put you in this situation?
17...
You lasted 17 seconds. Congratulations.
It's a new record.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////
Jasper woke up panting, sweaty and scared.
The first thing he did was pull as much air as he could for himself. And he was relieved to realize that instead of water, it was pure air. He was breathing. That was good.
The second thing he did, now calmer, was to look at the environment where he was. Gray walls, clothes scattered everywhere, furniture placed in a strange way. There was no doubt, that was his room.
He wasn't at the bottom of the ocean.
He wasn't drowning.
He wasn't chained.
He was just in his room. Breathing. Living.
" Ahh..." A sigh of relief escaped his lips.
That dream...
That nightmare...
Those memories... were things Jasper wanted to forget. But it seems that his mind did not agree with him in this aspect.
In the end, nothing changed. It was just a nightmare. The best thing was to just forget and move on.
After what must have been a few minutes of internal reflection, Jasper got out of bed and began to stretch. He used to do this when he woke up early, which was almost every day.
Looking out the bedroom window, he saw a scene he was already used to: children rummaging through the trash looking for food, beggars fighting for a wet box and the military ignoring the whole situation as if nothing was happening.
A sad but common vision. Liebov is no longer a good place to live after the war. No, it was already a terrible place to live even before the war. The war only made what was already bad become worse.
People who didn't have much were left with nothing. And people with nothing are desperate people.
Before he could think about it anymore, Jasper heard something vibrating. Looking at the floor, he saw his phone on the floor vibrating with the flood of messages he was receiving.
Jasper still hadn't gotten used to the fact that he now had a phone. In fact, he barely used that thing, and the most he did was answer the calls he received, when he didn't ignore the same calls.
Picking up the device from the floor and checking the time (it was 5:19) he saw that the one who was sending messages non-stop was Omar.
Scrolling through the dozens of messages he received, he saw that Omar and the others were going to meet on the bridge and Jasper was supposed to be there too. Without much to do, Jasper sent a message confirming that he would be there and didn't even care to see if Omar had answered or not.
Looking at himself and seeing that he was only wearing pants, Jasper took the first more or less clean shirt he had on the floor and put it on. He also put on a chain that he thought was silver.
Before leaving, he went to the clothes closet, opened one of the drawers and took out a pistol from inside. He checked the charger and after confirming that the gun was loaded, he put it inside his pants.
Before leaving, Jasper his lighter and a box of cigarettes, and left home soon after.
The city was the same way Jasper always knew it: gray, dead and empty.
Gray skies covered by clouds of smoke that came from the factories. Dirty and poorly maintained streets. Children walking almost no clothes through the streets while looking for food in the trash. Young people going to factories with tired and empty expressions. Military roaming the area with rigid expressions.
A sad, but common vision. Jasper was already used to all that. He just ignored all that as he continued on his way towards the bridge.
The bridge was not very far from his house, so he was the first to arrive as usual. The others would still take a while, so while waiting for them, Jasper lit a cigarette.
4 cigarettes later, it was already 6:20 and Jasper saw someone from the group approaching. That someone was Nep.
Nep was a thin young man with black hair and eyes, and just like Jasper, he was 19 years old. He was often seen with light dark circles, so you could imagine that he didn't have a good sleep schedule.
Nep's clothes were similar to Jasper's clothes, worn pants and a shirt that had better days. The difference was that Nep wore shoes and Jasper was barefoot.
"Good morning" Nep greeted approaching Jasper.
Jasper took another drag before answering "Good morning".
"You haven't stopped smoking yet? " Nep asked sarcastically.
"No" Jasper's answer came out dry as always "do you want one? "
"Nah, you know these things are not for me" Nep refused.
Jasper just shrugged giving another drag. Even if nicotine no longer had an effect on your body, it had already become a habit to smoke at least once a day.
"So, how was your night? " Asked Nep.
"Probably better than yours. You look like someone who hasn't slept for days," Jasper replied.
"Haha, I'm working on some night projects these days"
"You aren't going to the factories, are you? "Jasper asked now more seriously.
"You know I would never put my feet in that place" Nep replied shrugging his shoulders "It's just a few of my projects, a way to get an extra income"
"Okay" Jasper just accepted that and continued smoking.
A few more minutes later, the rest finally arrived. Omar, Omen and Olivia arrived together.
Omar and Omen were twins, so they were physically very similar. Brown eyes, brown hair and brown skin. Well, at least that's what Jasper thought. They were both 23 years old.
The only difference was that Omar was taller than Omen, in fact Omar was the tallest of the group. He was 6'3 tall and Jasper was 6.
Their clothes weren't the best either.
Olivia was the figure of the group who stood out the most. Brown hair, green eyes and skin so bright that it didn't even look like she really lived in Liebov.
Her clothes, despite being much better than the clothes of the rest of the group, were still common and simple clothes, but they seemed to be branded items that highlighted Olivia's seductive body. She was 20 years old.
"Finally" Jasper said seeing the trio approaching "Do you want to tell me why you called us on the bridge so early on a Monday? "
"First of all, good morning to you too," Omar replied, rolling his eyes.
"Just answer the question, jackass" Jasper replied.
"Okay, okay" Omar replied rolling his eyes again "So, I learned through the school corridors that there will be manifestation on Friday"
" Manifestation? " Nep asked intrigued.
"Yes" Omen replied "It seems that some workers, homeless people and even some students will fill the streets of Liebov to protest about the current living conditions of the country "
Jasper took more puffs on what was supposed to be his sixth cigarette, releasing smoke around and making Nep who was next to him start coughing.
"And what do we have to do with it? "
"We were thinking..." Omen began.
"That we could also go to this manifestation " Omar finished his brother's sentence.
The other 3 just stared at them in amazement.
"Wow..." Nep sighed surprised "I knew you were crazy, but damn, this is a completely different level of madness"
"Come on Nep, it's going to be fun. People screaming, a giant crowd and if some shit happens, we can just run away " Omar replied with a smile.
Nep sighed once more.
"Jasper? " Nep asked, curious about Jasper's opinion.
"It doesn't matter to me. Anyway, I have nothing more interesting to do on Friday " Jasper replied.
He didn't care. It would not be the first or the last time that a lot of people would get together to complain about the current situation in the country, so there was no reason for him to care.
If Omar and Omen wanted to do something crazy, then he would at least be there to ensure that they would come back alive. It's not as if a demonstration is a great danger for him.
After all, Jasper was extraordinary.
"So I think I'm going too," Olivia said with a smile.
"Really? "Omar, Omen and Nep asked the same, all with very different emotions.
"Well, Jasper will be there. This alone already guarantees our safety " Olivia replied with a smile " Besides, maybe it's a little fun "
"You're the only one missing, Nep" Omen said looking at the boy with dark circles.
"You are impossible..." Nep said rubbing his temples.
"So it's decided! " Omar said clapping his fists " Friday we are at the manifestation! "