Schatzi

36

It was two days after Eli had escaped certain death before he ventured into town, deciding he couldn't sit in his empty and silent house and feel guilty for a moment longer. He tried to keep hidden as much as possible and didn't draw any attention to himself.

He didn't know where he was walking. His head felt empty, like he was floating amongst the clouds. He'd felt strangely numb since the arrest. It was a numbness he'd felt multiple times before. There was the time when his dad left, and then when he lost Peter. Both times he'd had the same feeling of numbness.

His shoes tapped steadily against the cobbled streets, weaving in and out of crowds and deeper into the heart of the city. He still hadn't realised where he was by the time he reached the square in the centre of the city where they'd handed out their leaflets twice before. But he wasn't there to do anything like that.

There would be no more resistance. It was too dangerous. Lotte had screamed at him, saying Tig, Dolphi, and Markus would have wanted them to keep rebelling. Eli had just let her yell, watched her get angrier the longer he stayed silent. She'd said horrible things to him he yet he had said nothing. He had nothing more to say.

One thing Lotte had been really certain of was that he was a coward. She'd said it multiple times. Eli didn't think he was a coward, but he was scared. He was absolutely terrified of being caught again- and not being so lucky a second time. But he wasn't stupid, so the reason he'd told Lotte the group was being disbanded was because he knew they'd soon come for him again. And they'd come for the rest of them too. And as he reached the square, he realised he'd been right in knowing they were looking for them.

There were at least ten police officers stationed around the perimeter of the square, standing with backs ramrod straight, on the lookout for anyone who may try start anything. There would be no way for them to continue their small and disorganised resistance after what had happened.

There was something else new in the square as well. Two wooden beams with another stretching straight across between them, right in the middle of the square. The small crowds gave the structure a wide birth, some staring while others kept their eyes trained down on the floor. Mothers ushered their children away, hushing them as they asked questions. Because attached to the structure, hanging by 5 nooses tied to the horizontal beam were 5 dead bodies.

Eli stood on the outskirts of the street, watching from a distance, eyes flickering over the scene. He wrinkled his nose in disgust, unable to look at it for long. He couldn't believe they'd be displayed so publicly.

He was about to turn around and go back home, deciding it was definitely even less safe than usual for him to be out on the streets when something about one of the hanged bodies caught his eye.

A dash of red, striking against the beige and browns of the buildings behind them, like a drop of blood on old and faded paper.

No.

More than one person in the world wore red shirts. It didn't mean it was him.

But still, a horrible feeling of nausea and anxiety washed over Eli the moment he saw it.

He ran across the square, ducking under outstretched arms and dodging lampposts until he was only a few feet away and he could see clearly.

It was Dolphi.

A choked sob worked its way up from Eli's chest, coming out strangled and pained. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the horrific sight, even when he was jostled about by the crowd and almost knocked to the floor.

He didn't dare go any closer but he could clearly see Dolphi's face, partly obscured by his straight black hair hanging limply over his features. Skin drained of colour, eyes still partly open and bloodshot, staring at the ground.