STEEL (The Aurum Trilogy Book 1)

Chapter 20

TWENTY

Lauren

The citizens of Division 33 were killing the survivors of Division 34. The sound of gunshots and people crying out in pain and shock flooded my ears.

I stood there on the crooked edge of the building Daniel and I managed to grab on to and watched everything. I didn't know what to do. If I shot either the people of Division 33 or 34, it was shooting my own people as well. These citizens were also innocent, their minds were just poisoned by The Alliance.

This was what they wanted, isn't i?For the citizens of each division to fight against each other to the death. But I can't let them have it, not while I'm alive.

I raised my arm and fired a shot towards the sky. It was immediately drowned by the other shots being fired by the warring sides. I fired another shot, hoping to get their attention. I watched the bullet soar high above the air and vanish out of my sight. I focused back on the ruckus that was happening in front of me. The people of Division 33 started crossing the border and flooding the streets. The defenseless citizens of Division 34 were running away from them, stumbling over debris caused by the bombing. Blood was pooling everywhere and people were falling over with multiple bullet holes burning on their skin. A skinny, teenage girl started running towards rubble and hid behind it. She peered from one corner, making sure that nobody followed her or that she was safe in her hiding place. But a man holding an old-fashioned gun started creeping towards her, a menacing look painted on his grime-smeared face. I wanted to scream at her and tell her to look behind her but I was too late. The man had shot her and she fell to the ground, leaning on the rubble and leaving a trail of crimson smeared on it. A dark woman was carrying her belongings with her but two brawly men blocked her way and seized the things she was holding, claiming them for their own. One of them pulled her by her light blonde hair and dragged her on the rocky, fissured ground. I could feel the bruises swelling up in her skin and I could hear every scream that came out of her mouth.One of the men who took her belongings started to beat her up on the ground, knocking the air out of her. His fist connected with her cheek and then, with her stomach. The gruffly man holding her hair slammed her head against the ground several times until it cracked and bled and she stared to the sky, eyes rolled and skin pale. She was dead. The men left with her possessions, smirking to themselves as they began to attack another citizen from Division 34.I scanned the battle site and spotted a man who was running as fast as he could. I watched him make his way to the other border fence but before he could even reach it halfway, a spear catapulted in the air and went through the man. Blood trickled from his mouth as it formed a big letter “O”. His hands found the spear protruding from his chest and he tried yanking it out. More blood oozed from his gaping mouth. He pulled harder, his eyes barely visible as he groaned in pain. A man grabbed him by the neck. He must’ve been the one who hurled the spear at him. He had a dagger on his big and hairy hand. My hands were dying to shoot him right there and then but I couldn’t. That man didn’t know what he was doing. That man was a citizen too, he was part of my people. The man who got shot by the spear looked up and saw me, reaching out a bloody and wrinkled hand, curling its fingers and asking for help. His eyes which were in a shade of brown looked at me intently, begging for compassion and mercy. He was struggling to breathe, his chest rising and falling together with the spear. He was choking and blood was flowing from his mouth, staining the cracked ground. I forced myself to look away and saw a running woman who was carrying a baby in her arms. She fell as she was shot on the back of her neck, the bullet creating a hole through her neck. The baby flew out of her arms only to be unintentionally shot on its head. I saw the baby’s soft tissue explode into pieces as it let out a deafening sob that made my heart wince. The child was defenseless. It didn’t know what this battle was all about. It didn’t know why these sides were fighting against one another. It didn’t know about The Alliance’s rebellion or its second Division War. It didn’t know about The Control’s harshness and its injustice. It didn’t know about the sadistic world it was in. But the child was lucky to have died. He or she didn’t have to know about all these. It didn’t have to fight back or chose sides. It didn’t have to struggle to survive. I wish it was that easy. Someone would just accidentally blow up my brain and I’d be dead. But I can’t. I have something to finish and I had an Alliance to stop.