michael ;
two large meat feast pizza's were sitting on the coffee table in front of the sofa, already cut into triangles. i looked at my watch, noticing that it was only a couple of seconds until commencement.
leaning back, i sighed and threw an arm around marcel. the boy started to complain before settling against me as the screen went blue and the usual white writing started to crawl up it.
"this is your emergency broadcast system announcing the commencement of the annual purge sanctioned by the u.s government. weapons of class four and lower have been authorized for use during the purge."
my eyes flickered over to the gun sitting on the kitchen table, filled with worry that we may actually have to use it this year.
"all other weapons are restricted. governement officials of ranking ten have been granted immunity from the purge and shall not be harmed. commencing at the siren, any and all crime, including murder, will be legal for twelve continuous hours. police, fire and emergency medical services will be unavailable until tomorrow morning at seven am, when the purge concludes.
bless be our new founding fathers and america, a nation reborn. may god be with you all"
the sirens blared and immediately there were gun shots and cries of glee from people out on the streets. i pressed a kiss to marcel's head as he turned his head into my chest, calming himself down.
"i love you, marcel."
"ugh dad!" he shoved me away and we both started laughing as he wiped at his head. "i love you too but no forehead kisses!"
we were still laughing as the purge news came on the channel. quickly, i stopped and switched it over. i didn't want my innocent son to see the things that were happening, even if he knew what it was seeing it was different.
"so, fancy trying to beat me in mario kart?" marcel smirked at me, knowing that he was better. i knew he didn't like how upset and serious i seemed to get on purge night so he always tried to lighten the mood.
"it's on like donkey kong." we both snorted with more laughing, finding that comeback funnier than we should due to our little fights over the donkey kong character.
ashton ;
i hadn't just saved up for all the weapons i had sitting on the passenger seat, i had also saved up for a six seater car that was completely armoured. the glass was bullet proof and unless someone got armour piercing bullets, the car itself was going to be impossible to shoot.
i had just listened to the commencement on the radio before turning it off. purge news wasn't something i was very interested in at all.
not living in downtown chicago, i had no idea what it was truly like. we didn't really watch the news due to my wife never liking it. the purge made her uneasy and i honestly didn't blame her in the slightest.
pulling onto the highway, i had to slow down the car. in front of me lay a scene i never thought i'd see with my own eyes.
a car was on fire and a family of four people were being held to the ground. there were multiple people in a group standing above them with knifes and bats, bashing the victims to death. i was frozen in horror, my mouth hanging open slightly as i watched.
one person looked up, his face painted completely white with dark rings around his eyes. drawn by his lips is what looked like a chelsea grin and a cross was painted onto his forehead. he waved, his mouth moving before more of the group looked up.
as fast as possible, i reversed the car. deciding it was probably easier to go through the side roads into the middle of downtown chicago to the large cinematic screens stuck onto the side of the largest buildings.
unfortunately, i had only just gotten onto the roads before i noticed a large white van following me. panicking, i knew it was the same from the highway and, as fast as i could, i swung the car into an alley way.
grabbing my bag, i flung open the drivers door and dived out before running as fast as i could to the back door of the shitty apartment building. i hoped to god that there wouldn't be much of a lock on the back door and i thanked heaven that it only seemed to be an outside padlock.
whoever lived in this building obviously didn't seem to be very important to the council. i didn't have time to get upset over the priorities of the country as i pulled a blade out of my bag and swung at the padlock.
i left the door open, wanting the people to follow me into the building. hopefully, if someone was nice, i would manage to trick them.
avoiding the elevator i jumped up the steps two by two. reaching the fifth floor as quick as i could. i didn't want to go higher but i knew that too low would mean they'd catch up with me.
my eyes scanned up and down the hallway before picking apartment 5C. i banged, loudly.
"help. please help me." i was smacking both of my hands against the door as i heard a motorbike pull up downstairs.
"what do you want? go away!" a man's voice shouted back at me from inside.
"i don't agree with the purge! please someone's chasing me. you can take my weapons if you don't trust me!" i whisper-shouted. trying not to give away how high up i was.
the door cracked open, still held closed on a latch. instantly, i held my hands up in the air and let the man with bleach blonde hair look me up and down.
"please. can't you hear them?" there was shouts and bangs coming from a couple of floors down. the man nodded, before pushing the door nearly closed and dispair filled me. "please!"
"what's going to stop them from coming in here?" there were gun shots and we both winced. my eyes flew quickly around his apartment before landing on a mid-teen boy. i felt terrible, knowing that right now they were in danger.
"the fire escape. i have a car and weapons," i shrugged slightly so my bag rattled. "i don't want you guys to become one of them." i pointed down, where there were more terrifed screeches from the grounds below.
the two people shared a look and i shut up, letting them have a discussion through their looks. the boy nodded and, what i guessed was his dad, sighed.
"show us. i'm michael by the way and this is marcel." he stuck his hand out and i shook it quickly before he lead the way to the fire escape, grabbing two pistols off of his table.
they took the wood boarder off of the window and pushed it open before standing out the way and letting me step out. i pulled out my pistol and scoured the area. i only saw one man standing on the ground and shot three continuous shots.
he fell and i grimaced as i moved out of the way for the father and son. both of them had a pistol in their hands and i shook my head at the idea that this night forced such young people to be in possession of a lethal weapon.
we all ran down the steps, still hearing gun shots and screams from inside the house. amazingly, they had done nothing to the car and i made sure they were both in before throwing myself into the front seat.
"i put my son's life in your hands man, you better keep us alive." michael slapped his hand onto my shoulder.
"i know, i know." the car was already in drive as we flew out of there. "i'm ashton, by the way." they both nodded and i gave them a forced smile in the rear view mirror before focusing back on the twists and turns of the back roads.
