Perception

Chapter Thirty-seven

Chapter Thirty-seven

Pound for pound, the amoeba is the most vicious animal on earth.

Unknown

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  The fear and tension of the city had been building for so long all it had needed was a spark or in this case a muzzle flash. Annus had insisted on playing with matches and this brushfire was the result.

     We moved as fast as we could away from the battleground. After a block or so Jacob regained the use of his legs and that made running a whole lot easier. But just like a brushfire we couldn't escape. The ember of hatred skipped ahead sparking little outbursts of their own till they spread back to the whole.

     Turning one corner I saw a bunch of seven year olds going at a car with baseball bats and clubs, the terrified screams of the family inside could be head over the smashing of glass. Another street was filled with looters, smashing shop windows and taking whatever they could carry. We dodged and weaved through the chaos, having to double back a few times when the way became too dangerous.

    After an hour of getting nowhere we pushed a dumpster across a blind alley, barricaded ourselves in. Pack Rat run around the enclosed space, acting like his namesake. Jumping every now and then sweeping his hand along the brick. I thought he might be looking for an escape route but I was too tired to ask. Petra, her face red with exertion, stood in a half crouch to peer over the plastic lid. Jacob paced muttering to himself. So it was to him that I directed my anger as I sank to the ground to sit next to Mark

     "What now Gandhi!"

      "That wasn't suppose to happen!" his tone matched mine, "No one was suppose to react or fight or have a gun! If they had just stayed still and turned the other cheek we would have had public sympathy on our side. Now we've become the threat they always thought we were."

     "I told you before, you moron, when you turn the other cheek all you get is a busted jaw." My hand stung after slamming it against the metal bin. "Not many people are willing to take that for some nebulous hope of acceptance or whatever it was you were pedaling. Especially when their kids are standing right next to them."

    Petra took a second to look over her shoulder, "How were we suppose to get public sympathy when the public weren't there to see?"

    "Yeah. Annus took the media inside with him." Pack Rat added from the other end of the alley.

   "It wasn't supposed to happen like that!" Jacob repeated.

  "What do we do now?" Mark asked his voice trembling with fear.

   We all flinched as something exploded close by. I didn't know what it was but the choking smell of burning plastic filled the air.

  Pack Rat pulled his shirt over his nose before answering, "Go back to camp and wait for it to be over."

 "We can't..." Petra started braking off to dry reach.

   I went to pull a jumper or something out of my backpack and realized for the first time it had been lost to the chaos. Swearing, I reached for Petra's bag and pulled out a tea towel and some old clothes throwing them to Petra and Mark before tying the towel around my lower face.

   "It’s not safe." I lent over to help Mark, missing Pack Rats initial reaction.

   "Why not?" he said over my head.

   "Look outside James. Do you really think our little park walls will keep that out?” Petra started rolling her eyes.

    "My stuff!" Pack Rat screamed charging at the bin.

     Jacob made a grab for him and missed, Petra grabbed an arm but it wasn't until he was half way over that anyone got a good enough grip to haul him back down. He struggled, kicking and screaming as he pinned him to the ground. Mark and I sat on his legs while Petra perched on his torso.

   "Let it go," she demanded holding tight as he bucked under her.

   Pack Rat snarled, trying to jerk his arms out of Jacobs’s tight hold. Jacob pulled them higher above his head not giving him an inch.

    "You collection is not worth your life." Jacob sweated.

    There was another explosion outside. A flurry of tiny bits of paper, their edges tinged with bright red embers rained down around us. They stung where the touched my flesh. I looked up and around to see what happened and got a kick in the back for my troubles. The ground was coming up fast but I was able to catch myself on the dumpsters handle before kissing it. Shaking off the black fuzziness around the edge of my vision marched over to Pack Rat and slipped in front of Petra on his chest.

   Crack. My palm stung as it connected with his face, then my knuckles as I back handed him. Grabbing him by him lapels I pulled his face up so it was only inches from mine, his eyes bugged in fear but he remained silent.

"Listen up you cockroach. There is more at stake here then your moldy pile of junk. Can't you hear the explosions, the screaming, the gunfire?" The sound of a shotgun going off accented my point nicely. "We're in the middle of a flaming war zone and all you care about is a pile of stuff people have already thrown away!"

  He nodded, eye still wide, and calmly tried to pull an arm from Jacobs grip. Jake held tight and Pack Rat sighed. "I'm sorry, your right, your right."

  We all looked at each other and then to him, not sure if it was safe to let him up. Finally Petra asked, "So you’re done then?"

   Pack Rat paused before nodding tentatively we all moved back, bracing just in case he made another run for it. He breathed deep and sat up slowly, rearranging his mask before asking, "So where do we go?"

  They all looked at me and I hadn't a clue.

  "We could go to Romans," Petra suggested, "His place is a fortress, there's no way any looters would get in there."

   I shook my head "Trust me. Roman is the last person we can run to."

  "The shelter?" Jacob offered, "No ones going to raid there."

  Again I shot it down, "Both the Captain and his Lieutenants were at the march. With all the security screens the only way in is the front door.

   "Where then?" Mark demanded flinching when something collided with the dumpster.

   "I don't know," I snapped. And I didn't, I just know that we couldn't stay here. "What about Matt's?"

    It was Petra's turn to frown, "He's in Fremantle for his grandmothers funeral."

   "What we can't take a rock to the window? No ones going respond to the burglar alarm."

    "He lives in the rich part of town, Amy. It would be looters central over there."

   "Fine." I grunted taking Petra's point, "What about the corner of Grace and Gardner, there's that abandoned factory. It's so run down no one'll bother to look inside."

   "It's as good a place as any," Jacob, agreed, "We can't stay here so let's go."