The Heartless Survivor

The darkness was falling swiftly upon the tightly packed sardine can that was Cell 49. Only spotted glimmers shown on a chilled metallic floor and the scores of bodies that lie on it, from the lead they pumped in a splattered array through an immense steel door that had seen better days. Only lighthearted chuckles and hooting could be heard from the Prime Guards beyond the walls. They would sleep easy that night, I suppose. They sleep easy many nights, working with impunity in the proverbial Hell that was New Grand Rapids.

They may not have needed the battering ram to finish the already decrepit, now bullet ridden door; "-but why would we bring it if we're not going to use it!" joked the leading lackey of the raid. It was a certain humor the guards would often bask when it came to their use of excessive force... It never aged to them. The door burst open on one strike, falling over those that now lie before it. They scoured the cell for any signs of life, walking carelessly on top of the corpses, every so often giving toe-lead kicks to the head or ribs. If any of the bodies were still alive, they would have felt nothing but the ripping pain of iron-spiked boots.

"The Heads of Testament will be there in 20 minutes, ETA-" sputtered one of their radios, "-be sure to check everyone. If you don't find the target's body, orders are to burn the structure down. Do you confirm, Number 426?" The head guardsman's once cheerily disturbed voice now sunk into blatant annoyance. "Yes," replied the guard into his dark grey tactical jacket, "I'm 'confirming' that Miss Pawelski ain't here. We will follow protocol and-" as he searched his jacket pocket "erase any and all-" and pulls out a flare. "- evidence."

"Sir-" shouted one of the guards in the hallway. "-it's getting dark. Are we cleared here?"

"Yeah, she ain't here. Everyone get your canisters ready. I want it sprayed from this room, diverging to each exit of the facility."

The shaking of the little glass balls in the canisters sounded sharp, and all you heard was the hiss of the spray shooting high-grade propane into the air. The smell alone could induce the sensation of vomit. Once every guard had made it through the halls, down the steps, and past the exits, there would be one guard on each end to light the flares.,, and then, boom...

... and Margot Pawelski opened her eyes. It was funny to her that the door had rusted well before anything else in that cell of pure decay. Funnier that the guards had never took the chance to check her body. Even funnier still that the uncomfortableness of being pushed against a corroded and blood stained wall was half the reason the impacts of the bullets were impeded; the other half being the poor souls in front of her. Wretched pungencies lessened now that she could see the massacre around her. Margot knew only one thing at this point. She scrambled to her feet quickly, running to the door way and assessing the best route in her mind. Should she take the east wing? No, they've got every exit watched, doesn't matter which exit she could take... unless it's the roof. Margot raced for the emergency stairwell to the roof, and cautiously looked over the side. Her heart pounded, and her vision became inescapable. She knew only one way down. She jumped, straight down into the depths of the Grand River. Straight into the rolling waters that would either ensure her freedom, or her demise...

Margot woke up just on the bank fifty yards from the wire-fencing of the abandoned prison. Where she had squatted for 7 months. Where she had made 27 friends. Where those 27 friends took over 80 lead bullets... and then, the pain dawned on Margot. Not only the emotional, but a sudden pain in front of her chest. Margot removed her tattered, muddied shirt to see a small puncture and a dark bruise around it... and to the right of that wound, dead center of her chest, was a bullet in the center of the heart shaped locket an old friend had made from the fallen fragments of that once chromed steel door.

It wasn't just the door and the barricade of her loved ones pushing her back that saved her... she now had her oldest friend to thank... and sadly, she now had to kill that friend and his fellow guardsmen. The only thought that she could find comfort in at this moment... was at least she was now heartless.