Her way ✧ (Richie White)

18.

The sky darkened no later than eight pm. All the kids were gathered around the Rec playground whilst our parents and guardians made their way into the school building for the emergency meeting. When Carl showed up suddenly, the others gasped and murmured. He approached us and embraced Cory in a hug.

I tightened Richie's jacket around my body as Mark showed up too, saluting to Carl. "How you doing soldier?" He asked. "I'm okay" Carl replied, shaking his hand. "Do you think they'll fire Doberman?" Abby called out. "Ah, hell. Fire him. They'll give him a medal" Mark's friend scoffed. Everyone agreed.

"He's gonna make a big speech tonight and say how he shot Richie in self-defence" Claude announced. My jaw clenched. "Oh, bullshit! The gun wasn't even loaded so it's not self-defence," I snapped. "It's all a bunch of crap!" Abby replied, and the others kept agreeing.

"The longer we wait to do something, the further Richie gets from receiving the justice he deserves," I said into the circle. "What do you suppose we do?" Cory asked. "We're gonna crash that meeting and tell all the adults to go to hell" Carl raised his voice.

"Look, you do realise that once we do this, there's no turning back" I warned but the others didn't back down. "We're all in this together. We have to do this for Richie" Carl said. He was right.

"For Richie!"

As a united crowd, we moved together and made our way to the stupid school. "Man, one stick of dynamite would do it," Mark said. "Well, what now?" I asked.

"Help me climb up onto the roof, I'll make my way inside" Carl urged. We climbed the stairs and helped boost Carl up onto the school roof as the rest of us waited down below. I could hear Doberman giving his dumb speech, pretending he was sorry. For that, my burning passion for hate grew stronger.

He ranted on and on as Carl and the others began to chain up the inside of the school, trapping the adults. We were ready to start a war. I overheard an argument that broke out between Julia and Doberman. From the start, she always had our backs. I liked her so much. Eventually, Carl ran back to me and nodded, signalling it was time.

Smashing cars. Barrels on fire. Screams of triumph, tears of grief. We all went wild outside, gaining the adult's awareness from the hall. I stood in the shadows, watching the chaos erupt. I could hear more kids inside the school going crazy too, glass smashing and property being destroyed. It got worse when we could get our hands on guns and shots were fired.

I helped Johnny to set off firecrackers, running off with a yelp. We had all this power, it felt great to rebel against the adults. They never listened to us, so why should we have cared? I joined in the car smashing, using the largest bat I could find. Carl had run off somewhere when Cory suddenly screamed and ducked to my feet.

Mark had fired at a car, causing it to explode and we all screamed, running for cover. The fire was enormous, and the heat made you feel like you were in a sauna. Shots after shot, cars exploding after one another. It was something out of an action movie. All this rebelling for Richie, I hoped we made him proud.

I had no idea where Cory went until I heard from a kid that Claude was taking her home. To my relief, I was glad she was going to be safe as I caught a glimpse of myself in the glass.

I was slightly bloody in the face with a mix of sweat from the amount of heat. The dark circles under my eyes were a reminder of my sleepless nights and my body felt sore from all the running about. I bumped into Carl on the way out. "Jeez, there you are" I panted. "You should go home, I've had enough" he sighed. "Yeah, me too" I replied softly.

The sound of police sirens filled the air as kids started to run away in a frenzy, leaving all our damage behind. I stayed by Carl's side and we legged it as fast as we could. "Do you think we'll get away?" I called out. "I hope so" he groaned.

"I see you Carl Willat, Adrien Walton!" Doberman spoke through the police speaker as he chased us in his car "Hold it right there! Don't be a fool like Richie!"

My knuckles clenched tightly. "It's over Adrien," Carl said and I knew he was right. We came to a halt, staring in defeat at the police car in front. "Don't make a move or I'll nail you!" Doberman warned.

He clambered out of the car and forced us into the backseat, handcuffing Carl's hand and mine to the ceiling of the car. "They're gonna send you up to the hill for a couple of weeks and then you're gonna come home, then it's up to you and I hope you make the right decision!" Doberman expressed.

We sat in silence. If Ed Doberman hadn't of killed Richie, I might've believed he was a good person too. My head ached and my wrist was irritated from the metal rubbing against my skin. I started the night out so energetic but now, I just wanted to hide far away and sleep.

As the car sped down the winding road, Mark aimed his shotgun at us and fired at the engine causing Doberman to lose control of the car which crashed into the teen Rec. Pieces of the dome went flying and then everything fell silent.

Glancing at Doberman, I could tell he was unconscious. His body was crushed and wounded, it was obvious from the blood splats on the shattered window. Then, the car abruptly set on fire and I screamed in fear as the blaze rapidly spread.

Carl leaned over in a panic, searching for the key on Doberman. He found it and managed to set himself free but my handcuff wouldn't budge. "Listen, Carl, run! Get outta here!" I yelled at him but he wouldn't listen. "I'm not leaving you!" He fumbled with the lock frustratedly.

The overwhelming smell of gasoline consumed us. "I've already lost a friend, I'm not losing another too!" He shouted, kicking and pulling fiercely at the metal. It hurt my arm but Carl didn't give up.

When the handcuff finally snapped, we crawled our way quickly out of the wreckage. Carl grabbed onto my hand and pulled me along as we ran but I felt weak, unable to keep myself up and stumbling all over the place.

"Carl-" I gasped but the sound of the rec blasting cut me off. We watched in horror as our once beloved Rec was now destroyed. As for Doberman, he'd be nothing but ashes and bones by the time anybody would reach here. He finally met his fate as fireballs flew in all directions, causing more chaos.

Peering down at my abdomen, I had been cut by a shard of glass real bad that was wedged into my flesh. "Oh shit," I whimpered, collapsing to my knees. Carl crouched down beside me, holding my hand.

I blinked at him in silence, trying to make sense of everything that happened. "You're gonna be okay Adrien" Carl whispered. I could hear faint sirens in the distance but I was too tired to keep my eyes open. My time was coming to an end...Right?