The banging becomes louder and Daniel swings into action. He quietly makes his way to the bedroom door and peeks into our living room. Daniel looks back at me and ask, "Now, who in the fuck can that be…"
Still fully nude, he walks in frustration to a cabinet to retrieve some pajama bottoms and a shirt. After he puts everything on, he begins to walk our front door but is stopped when the abrupt sound of the door being broken into. The loud sound of radio chatter begins to ring out in our small apartment, "It's a raid", quietly panicked Daniel.
He tries to look out our bedroom door but is immediately met with yells and demands by the intruding peacekeepers, "Put your hands up! Come out and surrender!" We didn't know what to do, I just laid in bed in fear, and Daniel just stood at the doorway.
Suddenly, the immense sound of a rifle shot echos through our apartment. Then one more, then another, until the peacekeepers shot at our bedroom doorway: right where Daniel was. I freaked out and quickly threw myself on the floor to hide myself and Daniel closed the door shut. They had made themselves clear, they weren't here to arrest us, they were here to kill us.
Nearly getting shot Daniel walks over to our bed and flips over the mattress. I cannot believe that I had never noticed what Daniel had stashed underneath where we slept. Three government sanctioned peacekeeper rifles, wood-grained bolt-action hole punchers, and a single revolver. He hands me one of the rifles without looking at me.
"What am I supposed to do with this?!", I ask in fear.
"To shoot yourself?", Daniel jokes, "What do you think? We are going to show those motherfuckers what for!
"We can't fight the peacekeepers; we'll get killed immediately!"
Daniel ignores me and continues to load up his rifle and shuffle around with his ammunition. I can visibly see his hands shake as he handles the big ass bullets to the gun.
"You got 5 rounds in that cart. If I don't come back, make sure your shots count", he tells me.
"Wait, I never actually had to shoot at anyone before. I'm not ready to kill again!"
"Don't think of them as people! Remember what they did to your brother!", he yells out.
My hands begin to shake at the idea of having to shoot someone, there's no way I am able to go through something like that again. I managed to get by that accident all those years ago but to ask me to do it again, I don't think I have the guts to do it. That night haunted me for years.
"Daniel… Please…", I begin to beg with tears in my eyes.
"I won't let them do anything to you, just use if you have to. I am going to go fight them myself!"
"What the fuck do you mean! Please don't go out there, you'll just die! Let's just surrender!"
Daniel turns away from me and says, "I'll be right back."
"Daniel no!"
Daniel unlocks the bedroom door and charges out, then what is followed is the sounds of gunfire and yelling. I've become so afraid that I have a hard time pointing my rifle at the doorway, so I decide to prop myself against the turned over mattress.
As the gunfight wages on in my living room, I hear the sound of harsh boots pound against the wood floor towards the bedroom door and suddenly, a bright flash, then I hear a man's scream. Bright red blood flies and coats the door, followed by a wounded peacekeeper slamming against the door and slowly sliding down it while clutching his gunshot wound. I get scared accidently fire and with the recoil, I drop my weapon.
I quickly try to pick it up and readjust myself but by the time I look up, the peacekeeper is already slumped over to his side and dead. He had been shot in the stomach with one of those massive bullets. I can see his innards hanging out and blood spilling out of his mouth. He must've died instantly from blood loss.
The sound of bullet fire and random vulgar language of the peacekeepers yelling "fuck" and "shit" and all sorts of words continued on. Then just as quick it had started, it grew quiet. Daniel hasn't said anything so... so... it was safe to assume that he had been shot. Knowing that this fucking gun has a strong kick, I steady myself and aim at the doorway. But I couldn't keep my fucking arms still, I kept on shaking as I panicked more, "The peacekeepers are going to come through that door any minute."
I hear the floorboard creaking and it might have been reflex but I closed my eyes when I shot. "Watch where you shoot that fucking thing", a familiar voice calls out. I open my eyes and see that Daniel has survived the shootout. I drop my gun and immediately run to him and give him a hug. His whole body shook violently with the mixture of fear and adrenaline.
"Pick up that rifle", he tells me, "We have to get out here as fast as we can. They know everything about us."
"Where would we go?", I asked.
"We gotta go outside", said Daniel, "We have to go outside to the Remnant."
Daniel grabs my hand and leads me out of the room and towards the door out of our apartment. I see the remains of the battle that took place including the 5 dead bodies. The man who was killed against the bedroom door. There were two dead in the living room: one had a bullet hole through his chest and the other was missing a leg as well as a bullet hole in his back. The fourth one had died the worst; his face was blown up by a bullet. Only the teeth of his lower jaw were left.
As we approached the exit, there was one peacekeeper crawling towards the exit. We just watched as this man propped himself against the door. He had been shot in the arm and it had been nearly torn off by the round. Just small slivers of flesh were the only thing that kept his arm holding on to his torso. He is bleeding a lot; he won't make it.
Out of breath he calls out for help to me, "Please you have to help me!" He raises up to me his bloody arm and begs, "Please… Please, I just want to go home." His breath begins to slow, and the peacekeeper removes his helmet.
His blood loss was going to kill him, and he knew it. He makes one more final plead, with tears rolling down his face, "Please help me...". But I just looked at him. I didn't know what to feel towards this man who was the root problem of many of this city's killings. I mean if Daniel wouldn't have shot him, he would have no problem killing us but still looking into the eyes of a dying man, good or bad- it is just too much for me.
I just stood there, naked and looking at him.
SOME MONTHS LATER…
It's been sometime since that shootout in our old apartment. Me and Daniel have managed to escape the citadel and we are now living in a small settlement of strays a couple miles away from the wall. Sure, it has been harder to live like this but at least it is better than being dead.
"That fat bastard took all fucking day to get us our rations!", calls out Daniel as he enters our little hut. Time has been kind to him, since there are not that many razors to use, his face hair has grown out and well, my legs are super hairy.
"Who?", I ask.
"That fat piece of fucking shit Murdoch!", announces Daniel with frustration in his voice, "I waited all day in line and his fat ass had the gull to say that they were out of food for the day… I know that asshole is probably eating all the fucking food before he gives it out in the market, that's why he's so goddamn fat."
"So, you didn't get any food?", I say jokingly but Daniel looked upset
"No Selma, I didn't get any food… all I got was water again."
I give him a kiss and tell him, "It's ok baby, I think we have some carrots left. We'll just eat soup like we did yesterday."
Making a disgusted face he says, "We can't eat that again, it's bad for our bodies. We'll be shitting water all week."
"Can you cook?", I ask.
"Well...No."
"Do you have any other Ideas?"
"No."
"Then shut up, we're eating soup", I say with a smile.
Daniel looks defeated and head to sit down on our little dining table. He reaches into his pocket and a smile overcomes his face, "Oh wait, actually. I did get you a little surprise." From his pocket, he pulls out a little bag filled with coffee beans.
"Coffee beans?", I ask in excitements, "I thought they stop giving those out! But why did you get me that? I thought you said I wasn't allowed to drink coffee anymore."
"I know I use to tell you that, but I wanted to make some for you as a treat."
I begin to blush and reach to get my coffee beans but when they were in my possession, I begin to feel a kick. I grab Daniel's hand and I place it over my belly.
"Is the baby begging me to not give you any coffee?"
"No, I think it's excited", I say smiling.
"I doubt that", Daniel says as he looks into my eyes, "By the way, how close are we to having him?"
"It can be any day now", I tell him.
"So, I know we've decided on a name before, but I thought about this name I liked, and I wanted to get your opinion on it."
"What is it?"
"Ok, don't make fun of me but it's…"
As Daniel is saying the name, my hearing begins to get fuzzy, and his voice starts to drown out. I begin to get a headache in the back of my head like I did all those months ago, back in the elevator. I grab my neck and try to physically show Daniel that I am in pain, but he continued to talk. Suddenly, there was a bright white flash, and I was somewhere else.