Outcry'e (excerpt)

"I'm hungry," I whined as my stomach growled. I don't even remember the last time we ate something, let alone, something warm. We were walking along an abandoned city, hoping there would be something that we could find. Anything that'd look decent would be good enough for me.

"Don't worry, bro. This doesn't seem to be a Pari station. You know they love leaving stuff behind," my sister, Ja'nae, mentioned as we stumbled across a church. It looks not only untouched but reinforced. "Eh.., got any confessions you want to get off your chest?" She asked while we approached the steps.

This church more or less looked like a library. It's two stories with some obvious added-on rooms. I thought it was creepy. "God knows I like doing things I'm not 'posed to. What if somebody is home?"

"We haven't run into anybody in this town, including the Outcries. I'm sure there's only one entity there." Everything she says comes off as reassuring but usually something bad happens as a result of her jinxing it. I didn't even get the chance to protest as she started to make her way up the stairs. I noticed that the sun could go down at any moment, so if this place is safe, then we may have shelter for the night. I followed her to the front door just to see that there was no way that we could go in through the front. "Either, we're not supposed to get in here or Pari is planning on coming back."

"Or there's already people in there. Or all three," I said while being realistic. "I think we should leave while we still can."

Ja'nae shook her head while scanning the building. "A thing this big has to have a basement, right?" She asked while walking towards the back of the building, which meant that we were going to have to walk through this long wet grass. Every window we came across was barricaded. Well, not that I'm trying to climb windows but when my sister is certain in something, I just have to trust it. "I see a vent."

"You're not going to fit in a vent," I chuckled as I saw the size of it.

"Nobody said anything about me."

I froze a little before looking back at that vent. It didn't have its cover on, so she could easily get me inside it, but everything about this sounds like a bad idea. "If somebody is there and I get caught, then I am done for. I've only spent eight years on this planet and I'd like to live at least eight more."

"Aleija, I know we love to crack jokes along our journeys but take this seriously. We're both hungry and haven't eaten for days. We either die here in the hopes of something or we die because we decided to turn this place away." Ja'nae zipped up my jacket and put my hood on as she stared into my eyes. "You're growing up to be a man. You shouldn't have to become one this early in life but you do. And you know what men do?"

"Be brave?"

"Damn, you're really good at guessing. Yeah, men are brave." Ja'nae chuckled.

"What about women?"

"Oh, we're brave and smart. Men are just brave." Ja'nae stood back up and stood under the vent before squatting with her fingers locked together. "But it wasn't very smart putting my back against this wet brick." All I could do was laugh as I walked towards her direction. After she got me up to the vent, I slipped in easily, Only thing was, it was completely dark. I felt a pole-like object in my right coat pocket and after pulling it out, I realized that it was a flashlight. I also found a walkie-talkie, things Ja'nae must have slipped in when she zipped me up.

Once I turned on my flashlight, I started to go the path it led me before trying out my walkie-talkie. "I've successfully got into the vent; over," I whispered.

Almost immediately after I said that, she replied with, "I successfully saw you. Do not make any noise if you see somebody; over." I continued to crawl through this awfully dusty air vent with silence being my only friend. Eventually, I started to hear chatter, but it was faint. Almost if it was coming from the other side of the building. I ended up coming across an exit point that had no cover on it. The room was dark as night and there was no way that this wasn't the basement.

I flashed my light in the room to see that I'd be crawling on the floor when I entered. When I finally got onto my feet, I started to look around the room until I heard the door to the basement unlock and open. I quickly hid under an raggedy old couch while flicking my flashlight off, hoping that this person didn't hear me. I saw his flashlight ray beam automatically beam to where I just came out off. He screwed in one of those covers I mentioned they neglected to put on. "This should prevent them niggers from coming in." I couldn't see him though I'm sure he was old and fair skinned. With grunts of irritation, he made his way back up the stairs. If I thought that I could die from surprises like this, except that would take away the element of survival.

Once I was more than a thousand percent certain that it was safe to speak, I whispered through the walkie-talkie, "we have a problem. It looks like somebody saw us and they blocked off the way I came in." I got from under the couch and flashed my light on the vent, seeing that there was definitely no way that I was going back through there. But, they didn't shut the basement door. "I'm gonna have to find another way out. Also, what's a nigger?; over."

"Something European skinned people call Outcries. And, okay, maybe sending you in there wasn't the best idea I ever had. Is the place completely dark?; over."

"It is down here but I think I hear a generator. There's this humming sound," I muttered while continuing my disrupted search. I eventually found it with a thing that said that it's eco-friendly, whatever that means. "I don't think there's any type of light down here, though there is a generator. I'm about to go upstairs and find another way for you to get in; over and out." I put the walkie-talkie back in my pocket before making my way to the stairs. As I walked through the door, I turned off my flashlight, though it was still dark in the hallway. I could hear people approaching, so I hid behind the door, sitting with my arms wrapped around my knees.

A few seconds later, the voices became more clear. "You don't have to kill him!" I heard a female plead.

"Doris, maybe you're not clear with the rules here," a guy with some bass in his throat said. "We kill people that aren't white, it's something that we love to do. Once we find your buddy, the two of you will be sharing a grave."

"Okay, so can I at least say one more thing? Doing this to us won't get you closer to Camil'e." I jumped a little as I audibly heard him kick her down the steps before shutting and locking the door. Being a visual thinker never really helps anybody. As he walked away, I had no choice but to follow him since I could use him as a light. I stopped when he started to go up some steps since this was definitely the first floor. When his light disappeared down the corridor, I turned on my flashlight and started to think about what type of place this was. Their Jesus is fair-skinned, along with the people I have seen here or...heard. They kicked a chick down the stairs, so I wouldn't be surprised if one thing that they overlooked while securing this place would be possibly a female bathroom? If there is a female bathroom here and it was overlooked, then Ja'nae figured that out already.

In search of a female bathroom, I eventually found one, which was northeast of the entrance. The boys bathroom is so secured that it's not there. Door was replaced with a brick wall, while all the females had was a door that said vacant above the door knob. I turned off my flashlight and went in to look for a light switch. Once I found it, I flipped the switch for the lights to barely work. "Boo," Ja'nae whispered while grabbing my shoulders. I didn't even give her that satisfaction. "You're no fun. I guess the generator does work but who are these people here."

"I think that they're all cooped up in room southwest from here." I handed her the flashlight before following her out the door. As we went up the stairs, Ja'nae pointed the flashlights towards the walls and said, "you see them messed up spider drawings on the walls? Those are swastikas. I don't know the reason for them but people who drew them would round people who looked like us up, torture us, even kill us if they were in the right mood." I stayed quiet wondering what civilization was before the Outcry'e. I only know what the reverend told me. And from his experiences, it wasn't all of that.

Upstairs, at the end of the hall, there was light beaming in from another open door. We approached the room as quietly as possible while their voice became more coherent. "If it is true, then we have to leave."

"What about the girl?"

"Fuck the girl. She's not going to give us what we came here for. Let's just burn this place down to the ground and get the hell on." The room they were in looked like an office. For once, I got ahead of my sister and went on the other side of the door. Since she couldn't protest or grab me in time, she came over there with me. "What are the two of you waiting for? Let's burn this church," he clapped. All three of them left the room and exited down the steps. With no time to lose, we slipped into the office area to see what they had laying around.

Ja'nae checked the drawers to the desk and found three cans of cranberry sauce, made with real cranberries, a loaf of bread, and this yellowish brown bar thing full of crème before stuffing them all in her backpack. "Aren't you glad that we came in here now?" I didn't answer though we haven't found this much food since we came across quadrant Huston, 3-47. "We have to get out of here before they set this place on fire."

"What about that girl they have locked up? We can't just leave her there."

"You're right. Lead the way," Ja'nae nodded before handing me back the flashlight. I took a deep breath and took my time on the way back to the steps and down them. When I found myself near the door, I seen light. Bright red and yellow light followed by black smoke. Forgetting that I was supposed to be stealthy, I ran towards the place I knew that Doris chick was. "Aleija! Slow down," Ja'nae yelled. I couldn't stop until I got to the flaming door that looked like it was the entrance to hell. With me not knowing what to do, my sister began to kick the door as hard as she could. I guess, thanks to the fire, the door weakened and the door - along with its frame - fell down. Unfortunately, her pant leg burned off completely. I flashed the light through the door to see the girl on the other side getting a running start before jumping through the flames.

She crashed into the wall and basically fell on to me. She quickly hopped up to her feet before helping me onto mine. "Sorry, little dude. Do you know a way out?"

I nodded stunned by the beauty of this stranger. Since my mouth wasn't working out so much, I ran in the direction of the bathroom while illuminating our path with my flashlight. Once we reached the ladies room, I ran to the window and simply lifted it.

"Wow, that window was unlocked? I crawled through that," Ja'nae said while pointing at the vent above the stall. "Accidentally stepped in the toilet." That Doris chick had already gone through the window with my sister following her. I was the last one to exit. The fire was coming our way fast, so good thing we got out when we did.

"Hey, they're escaping!" I heard from behind us. My blood went cold. My feet started to have a mind of its own and took off. I grabbed Ja'naes hand and just started to run as fast as I could. Fortunately, it's not hard for her to keep up with me.

I heard shots from their pistols pop off as we crossed the street and ran toward this elementary school. It was nearly destroyed, but it was our best option for cover. "Leave them! Dem Outcriers are coming in swarms!" One of the men shouted. We still ran to the school and hid quietly until we were certain that we weren't followed.

When we were sure that nobody was coming after us, we walked into what seemed like what used to be a cafeteria. The ceiling was caved in, so this is the farthest we were going to get. That Doris chick wasn't there with us, however, I hope that she's okay.

"Are you good?" I asked while looking at her leg. She seemed slightly burnt but nothing too bad.

"The real question is; are you?" She asked while pointing at my arm.

I glanced at my tricep to see a red hole. "I don't even feel it."

"You will if we have to get that bullet out." Ja'nae searched my coat sleeve and then said, "looks like it went through and through. Thank god it didn't hit bone." She pulled out her switchblade and started to cut around my arm to get my sleeve off. She tightened it around my arm before tying it. "Hopefully that doesn't get infected."

"Infected?" I asked as my heart jumped.

"Nah, not that type of infected. Like, if your arm gets numb or falls off, let me know." Ahh, she knows exactly how to keep me calm, the eight year old thought sarcastically to himself about his seventeen year old sister's response. "You hungry?" Ja'nae asked as she took her backpack off.