Gunner's Paradise

The scene around him was layered with ominous intent. It felt as if he had been swallowed by a never-ending void. Left and right,it was dark, dark, Oh, how he hated the dark. Thump, thump his heart beated rapidly in his chest. His hands would not move, his body would not turn and no words left his mouth. Thump, thump his heartbeat. The more he struggled the more futile it seemed. He had slowly succumbed to its whims as the darkness touched him draining what little strength remained. He was on the verge of giving up when a light slowly crept in and the darkness faded. His vision came to him, blurred, as the sound of a familiar voice spoke. His surroundings were familiar, with people who he knew that were long dead. "Mind your manners when you're at the table, Sheldon," his father scolded. "Forgive him, dear, he's still just a young boy," he heard his mother reply. "Yes, but he can't be displaying that level of behaviour, it disgraces our house. What would people think if they saw this?" He could hear them and see them as the times flashed before his eyes. The scenes shifted as he relived his past. The memories washed over him at a rapid pace. "Look, Sheldon, isn't it beautiful?" "You must always be a leader and strive for due care and diligence." "Lights out, Sheldon!" "Goodnight, okay." "One day you will lead this house." "You did your best and that's the most you can do." "I am disappointed in you." The voices rose in volume. He could hear them still but their faces had changed no longer pleasant but bloodied. He motioned to scream but he couldn't, nothing came from his lips. He felt their accusing eyes looking upon him. "Avenge us!!" "You ran and left us behind!!" "What kind of son are you!" "I raised you better!" With their horrid faces, his family chanted together, "Coward, Coward, Coward, coward!!!" Silence soon came by, like a leaf that fell upon the grass, before long the silence was broken by the sound of another voice. An image of a girl came before him. She had long, black hair that fell around the sides of her soft gentle face. Her big brown eyes pierced him. "Hey, what's your name?" she asked with a gentle smile, "mine is Natalya." It was where he had managed to escape to, behind her laid the city. As soon as Sheldon was about to answer the girl, he awoke, but the nightmare still plagued him. It felt so real as if he was still there. His thoughts fluttered, they had killed them all, every last one of his family and now he was stuck here. I must escape. I must have my revenge!                                                                                    # Sheldon folded his fists and softly muttered, his prayers to Zantrao. It calmed him as he watched the rising of the sun. The light illuminated the classroom slowly and gently. if only we could...he thought, but was not able to finish as he watched it quietly through the broken window while seated on the ground, his back against the hard graffiti wall. He closed his eyes to try to rest for a few moments but was awoken by the stench of fresh vomit and shouting as those around reminding him of the reality he was in. Natalya's body gently turned, she was sleeping peacefully in his arms without a care so sweet like that of a newborn baby. Her olive skin radiated natural beauty in the slightest things that she did. He held her closer to him as though to protect her from everything surrounding them, wrapping the torn dirty blue blanket over her. He glanced around to the huddles of people, the room wasn't big enough. Some people kept to themselves while others grouped together. The things they all shared in common: their faces were rugged and hard with a miserable and cold look; clothes were overly worn and as dirty as his. Sheldon and Natalya were both out of their element as he spoke differently from the other people here. That wasn't a good thing, although he tried to conceal it. They weren't the only children and children hardly received any special treatment. The entire building was filled with homeless people as this was one of the few places of refuge that anyone could find within the city. There was no general requirement here, no cost to stay, but there were still segregations; a section for the new people and for those who were here from the beginning. Sheldon had to be strong for her. He clenched his left hand into a fist even though he wished he could run away from this situation as it sometimes filled him with hopelessness. The loud grumbling of his stomach startled him. He sighed softly, trying his best to ignore it but kept his eyes focused on everything around them. Sheldon noticed Natalya's eyes slowly opened and he pretended that he was still gazing around. She smiled."Good Morning," she said, breaking the silence. "Good morning Natalya," Sheldon responded, trying his best to smile, then began coughing as the dust in the room started to affect him. "Ewww your breath smells, Sheldon," Natalya retorted, looking at him playfully and covering her nose with the blanket. Sheldon's eyes went wide as his hands covered his mouth."It does?" He knew supplies that they had were short but it still bothered him when she said things like that. Ignoring him she got up from his arms and stretched, looking at him she asked, "Are you ready to go outside?" without waiting for a response, "We have to get money to eat, and staying here won't change that." "Yes."Sheldon sulked and looked down. He remembered he had lost the money in a fight with a man that they spent the whole day before gathering. He still had minor bruises to show. If only he had ignored the comment the man had made about her. Natalya placed a gentle hand on his head patting him like a puppy, as he remained sitting. He looked up as she moved her hand away and focused on wrapping up their meagre belongings into the only bag that they had. "Let's see, we have four bottles of water, a lighter, toothbrush, a blanket, and half a loaf of bread" which she made sure to hide it away in a hidden compartment in the bag. When she was done, she put the bag around her back and then motioned to Sheldon, who got up to follow her. "Today will be a great day," she said to him as they walked. "We will make enough money to finally leave this place," looking at him filled with determination. "Always filled with optimism, child," someone muttered seated near them. Paying it no mind, she began to walk to leave and Sheldon followed behind her. He sighed as he thought, I should be the one inspiring her. Instead, I always feel like the weakest link. "Natalya," her name rang out from someone calling as they walked outside on to the field. Sheldon and Natalya turned to see an older, well-dressed lady. If he didn't know any better, she would have looked out of place. She was slowly walking in their direction and alongside her, was a gentleman who also looked out of place. She commanded respect here and everyone instinctively moved out of her way. Mathinda was her name, at least that's what Natalya told him. Sheldon still didn't understand many things here nor did he want to know. He just wanted to leave. She smiled at Natalya and as she came to a short distance from them, she spoke with a calm voice towards her. "Have you had something to eat my child?" Mathinda asked looking towards her. Sheldon folded his arms instinctively. He looked her up and down as he unconsciously took a step back. Judging by how people responded to her by scampering out of the way, he was not sure of what rank she held. The gem around her neck shone. It caught Sheldon's eye it was out of place and he had never seen anything so beautiful before. "We haven't as yet," Natalya responded to her while looking at Sheldon, who then averted his gaze. "Oh," she said, "a young girl shouldn't go without food. Come with me for a moment." She began to lead and as Sheldon started to instinctively follow, she smiled and pointed, "You wait here." Sheldon spat on the ground and he cleared his throat. It was always the same, whenever she appeared it was like he did not exist. Strangely, she seemed only to help the young girls here. Why? He wondered as he bit his lip. Even with his expression, the lady didn't pay him any mind at all. She completely ignored him as she continued to walk on. "It's okay," Natalya responded calmly giving him a smile, "I will be back soon." The man that was beside Mathinda looked Sheldon over, "You're about fourteen right ?" Sheldon nodded, in response. "The same age as Natalya," he said nonchalantly as he started to walk along with the rest. Sheldon watched her walk away before he shifted himself. He found a place not too far to sit under the shade of a tree as the sun's heat bared its gaze. The long worn bench was facing the overgrown pasture as he watched and waited. The other homeless people passed him up and down while some started gathering around the pasture, taking seats beside him. He had long grown accustomed to their putrid smell, still, their conversations for information were extremely useful. People always liked to gossip, it took their mind off their suffering. A scrawny boy with long black hair, wearing discolored, green ragged clothes the same age as Sheldon approached him cautiously. There was a shakiness in his voice and a foul stench on his breath as he spoke, "Good morning Sheldon, is Natalya nearby?" Sheldon looked at him. He turned his face in disgust, he had seen him many times before, but he didn't care to know his name. His mind was more focused on listening to the conversations around him. "No," he responded coldly. "Did you hear that music playing in the school last night? It always plays at the same time; someone probably likes to practice at that time ...." The boy asked but realized he was not being acknowledged. The boy looked down as he lingered for a while until he could no longer stand the hostile air that he was being given. Sheldon heard his footsteps and glanced at him as he walked away in the opposite direction from which he had come. The people that surrounded Sheldon spoke about it being harder and harder to live and looking to leave the city. Others were talking about the disappearance of children that were staying in the area. The last thing he heard of importance was of the small group of the Swidleys and how they were taking over every district bit by bit in the zone and forcing people to pay to commit crimes in areas they had claimed. He shuddered as he thought of their tactics, for some reason Sheldon felt that information of those smaller rogue gangs might end up being a matter of life and death for them.