continued from Chapter I: Starting with a Bang

Jimmy/Jammy had got what he deserved.
The plan had been working. Manny had crushed the truck into the entrance. He was unscathed. He and Jimmy/Jammy were covering the ground floor windows. A couple of pigs had popped up their heads, but Daka and Manny had discourage them with a few rounds.

Then there was the silence, which got to Jimmy/Jammy. The silence killed the kid. “I am gonna get me some pigs!”, he had yelled and jumped out of cover.

Seconds later his head was blown away.

And that set off panic. They pulled him in and a large sweaty guy went to work. It looked to Burke as though that guy was supposed to be the medic or something. He fumbled with the kid’s clothes tried to steady his jerking body. He took off the mask from the kid’s head and realized that his fingers were covered in blood and brains. And he was shocked. There was another couple of kids, almost clones of Jimmy/Jammy who just stood over the body. One kept mumbling “Ohmygod.! Ohmygod!”. The other was fighting back tears. The large sweaty guy was trying to give him CPR. He was doing it all wrong. Either it was panic or ignorance. But instead of giving a cardiac massage, he was just crushing the kid’s ribs in. Burke would have said something but there was no point. CPR can’t do much good if half your head is splattered over the pavement.

So these were the children of the revolution. The Wolves.

“He’s here”, yelled Manny.

Burke could see a short plump figure standing across the road. Daka fired off a few rounds and beckoned him to make a run for it. Which the man did. He ran as fast as his stubby legs could carry him.

When he was about 10m from them, the shots went off, and the man hit the pavement.

Now even Daka had panic in his eyes.

He poked around and fired wildly with their only automatic rifle. “I see him. I see the pig.”

Manny was barking orders.

“The smokers. Throw the smokers. He’s alive. I can see him move. He have to get him out of here. You. Noob. You don’t have a mask.”

He was talking to Burke. The big guy and the two other kids had given up on the body and they were throwing canisters onto the streets. They exploded when they hit the asphalt releasing thick black smoke. It had an awful odour which burnt Burke’s nostrils. He shook his head. He didn’t have a gas mask.
Manny pulled him up and suddenly pushed him out of the cover of the alley. What was he doing? He didn’t want to end up like Jimmy/Jammy.

But no shots were being fired. The smoke was already thick as a blanket.

“Go get the vans. And don’t breathe.”, ordered Manny.

Burke looked over at Daka and he nodded. The three others had also run out of the cover and were lifting up the short fat man from the road. They were doing it wrong again. If he was shot in the shoulder, they shouldn’t pull him up by the arm like that.

Suddenly Burke swallowed a gulp of the smoke and started coughing violently. It was burning up his insides. He couldn’t stay here. So he ran down the roads, covering his mouth. The vans would be just around the corner. Havelock ave off Poole Street.

Even the best laid plans failed. And this plan hadn't even been half decent.

Something told him, this would be a long night.