Categories > Original > Drama
Code Red
Five
The sirens have stopped. It is over. We are all still alive.
I feel /dead/.
Four
We wait with bated breath. The ground has stopped shaking moments ago, but it is not safe. It will never be safe again.
I can see cement breaking off the ceiling, tiny pieces falling all around me. Dust cloaks everything. I can't beyond three feet. The only thing I can smell is sulphur and fire and sweat and /fear/. I can't breath, but I'm not suffocating. Not yet. I can't see the blood, but I can feel Death's ice cold hands all around me.
The silence surrounds me. It is the loudest that I have ever heard.
Three
/Run/. I am running. My legs are pumping up and down in a rhythm of their own. My breaths are quickening. I'm not breathing any more. I'm panting, harsh gasps of breaths escaping through gritted teeth. I can't remember when did I close my mouth so tightly, but it must have been quite some time. My jaw hurts.
I realize that I am afraid.
The world is crashing down on my ears. The building shakes on its foundations. The floor screeches in protest and split with an ominous 'crack'. I can see people running around me, past me, behind me. They are faceless.
The world is nothing but a blur of movement.
The floor shakes, and I gasp. I claw at air and manage to grab a railing, and force my legs to run even faster. My legs ache, and my lungs hurt from the lack of air. Fear surrounds me and cloaks me and forces me to keep going. Adrenalin is my only fuel.
I am hungry. I am tired. I am /scared out of my mind/.
This shouldn't be happening. This shouldn't be happening.
We should be safe.
Two
The first warning we have is an explosion, and a symphony of high-pitched, pain-filled screams.
The second warning are the crackle of the radio as my fingers trips themselves trying to switch it on and a monotone declaring... declaring...
We are under attack.
"This is an air raid. This is an air raid. All citizens are to remain calm and move towards the shelters. I repeat. This is an air raid. All citizens remain calm..."
My voice is trapped half-way in my throat when I try to reassure myself. My mind is filled with nothing but denial and the slow, cold creep of fear.
"No, no, no, no, no..." It is a litany. A mantra that I repeat in my head in vain hope that it will protect me, that it will wake me from what I believed to be a horrible nightmare.
Then there is another explosion, and more screams. Hope disappears from my mind faster than water vanishes from a desert. I am left with nothing but the icy arms of fear.
The world starts to shake and blur. The sirens blare.
"All citizens please retreat to the shelters now. I repeat, all citizens retreat to the shelters!"
Shelters. Safety. I will be safe there.
Safe.
I start to run.
One
"There will be no attack. We are a neutral party in this war, we are not involved. I repeat, there will be no attack."
I smile to myself and switch off the radio. I took a sip of the cup of vodka in my hand, and lit up a cigarette.
I look approvingly around myself. The flat is newly-renovated, the walls still glistening with barely-dried mahogany paint. The marble floors shine under the ceiling lamps with polish. The slight smell of turpentine and paint hang in the air, and I take a deep, soothing breath. The smells of something new always leaves a sense of satisfaction in my heart.
I step around the house on tip-toes, drinking in the sights of my very own flat. I am half-drunk with euphoria and alcohol. I feel that there is no greater joy than this.
It is a quiet neighbourhood, I remember. There is no traffic around at this time. I revel in the peaceful silence, basking in the joy of being independent at last. Finally, I am free.
Outside, a plane flies past.
End
PS: Try reading it backwards now. ^^
Five
The sirens have stopped. It is over. We are all still alive.
I feel /dead/.
Four
We wait with bated breath. The ground has stopped shaking moments ago, but it is not safe. It will never be safe again.
I can see cement breaking off the ceiling, tiny pieces falling all around me. Dust cloaks everything. I can't beyond three feet. The only thing I can smell is sulphur and fire and sweat and /fear/. I can't breath, but I'm not suffocating. Not yet. I can't see the blood, but I can feel Death's ice cold hands all around me.
The silence surrounds me. It is the loudest that I have ever heard.
Three
/Run/. I am running. My legs are pumping up and down in a rhythm of their own. My breaths are quickening. I'm not breathing any more. I'm panting, harsh gasps of breaths escaping through gritted teeth. I can't remember when did I close my mouth so tightly, but it must have been quite some time. My jaw hurts.
I realize that I am afraid.
The world is crashing down on my ears. The building shakes on its foundations. The floor screeches in protest and split with an ominous 'crack'. I can see people running around me, past me, behind me. They are faceless.
The world is nothing but a blur of movement.
The floor shakes, and I gasp. I claw at air and manage to grab a railing, and force my legs to run even faster. My legs ache, and my lungs hurt from the lack of air. Fear surrounds me and cloaks me and forces me to keep going. Adrenalin is my only fuel.
I am hungry. I am tired. I am /scared out of my mind/.
This shouldn't be happening. This shouldn't be happening.
We should be safe.
Two
The first warning we have is an explosion, and a symphony of high-pitched, pain-filled screams.
The second warning are the crackle of the radio as my fingers trips themselves trying to switch it on and a monotone declaring... declaring...
We are under attack.
"This is an air raid. This is an air raid. All citizens are to remain calm and move towards the shelters. I repeat. This is an air raid. All citizens remain calm..."
My voice is trapped half-way in my throat when I try to reassure myself. My mind is filled with nothing but denial and the slow, cold creep of fear.
"No, no, no, no, no..." It is a litany. A mantra that I repeat in my head in vain hope that it will protect me, that it will wake me from what I believed to be a horrible nightmare.
Then there is another explosion, and more screams. Hope disappears from my mind faster than water vanishes from a desert. I am left with nothing but the icy arms of fear.
The world starts to shake and blur. The sirens blare.
"All citizens please retreat to the shelters now. I repeat, all citizens retreat to the shelters!"
Shelters. Safety. I will be safe there.
Safe.
I start to run.
One
"There will be no attack. We are a neutral party in this war, we are not involved. I repeat, there will be no attack."
I smile to myself and switch off the radio. I took a sip of the cup of vodka in my hand, and lit up a cigarette.
I look approvingly around myself. The flat is newly-renovated, the walls still glistening with barely-dried mahogany paint. The marble floors shine under the ceiling lamps with polish. The slight smell of turpentine and paint hang in the air, and I take a deep, soothing breath. The smells of something new always leaves a sense of satisfaction in my heart.
I step around the house on tip-toes, drinking in the sights of my very own flat. I am half-drunk with euphoria and alcohol. I feel that there is no greater joy than this.
It is a quiet neighbourhood, I remember. There is no traffic around at this time. I revel in the peaceful silence, basking in the joy of being independent at last. Finally, I am free.
Outside, a plane flies past.
End
PS: Try reading it backwards now. ^^
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