Sore Throat

Hundreds of thousands of people shouted with their fists in the air. My voice was long gone, what was left was a scratchy brittle throat that insisted on professing the words of order alongside the crowd.

Everywhere I looked all I could see was people with the same background as me. Older, younger, taller everyone blocked my vision with their backs and backpacks. Swallowed by the seaquake of shouting citizens my juvenile heart felt strange.

I couldn't quite understand the reason behind my excitement for being in the middle of a protest. I was getting pushed and pulled from different directions by the people marching towards the Memorial building. Every now and again I got squeezed so tight between bags and legs that the one thing I could so was laught, enjoying the fact that no one was aware of my presence.

My intentions weren't to join a protest, I got dragged to the center. When I realized I was at the center of the thing, screaming through my sore throat. Under those voices I was protected from the cops that circled the perimeter from every angle, awaiting for one of us to step out of the line. It felt good being invisible, knowing that nobody would hear me or tell me to shut up.

When the sky began to lose light I decided it was time to leave. My stomach had been fighting me from the inside just as much as the people around had been trying to cast me out. I raised my eyes to the building tops and advertisements to get a hold of where in the city I was. To my left I saw the ad for a new fast food chain. I remembered staring at that burger earlier and so did my empty stomach.

Impersonating a professional swimmer, I inhaled air until my mouth was full before diving into the sea of people. On the way I faced backpacks, sharp zippers and people that kept shoving me down which made me tip toe every few meters to check where I was. Took me a while to get past the center but as the space in between protesters became more and more open I started running towards the edge like a prisoner who had just escaped solitary.

As fun as that whole screaming into a crowded void was, breathing fresh air without having to climb someone's back was truly underrated. Walking backwards towards the food ad, I took one last look at the protesters. Above us the Memorial building imposed a certain fear with all the inside lights out, blending the lower levels with the rising night. Around it, holographic messages given by one of the Leadership's official synthetic androids warned the crowds to not approach the Memorial or be prepared to encounter strong repression by the Force.

Another pointy pain hit me in the guts, reminding me of my body's necessity of fuel. I spinned on my heels, ready to take off in the opposite direction but instead I bumped into someone much taller than me.

- Watch it! - I hit my head on something hard, not at all like a person. I wasn't even on the sidewalk yet, it couldn't have been a wall.

- What did you say, you dirty little rat?

The moment I heard that word I no longer could feel anything. Not the pain on my forehead nor the hunger that was killing me seconds before. What I hit was a shield. A Force shield. The concrete beneath turned into quicksand, stopping me from making even the slightest movement such as looking up.

- You're mute now? - I looked at my feet, begging them to move away from the armed Force agents in heavy combat armour. I couldn't, I was stuck. Impotent. - I asked you, - he lowered his head to speak closer to my ear. - What did you say?!

His voice infiltrated my brain, frying the connections to my legs. I fell on my butt with all my height. Still I couldn't look up or speak, something didn't let me. No matter how much I wanted to say how sorry I was and beg for them to let me go, the only thing I was able to do was stare at his black shining boots.

- You're not gonna talk?! So I'll make you talk, rat!

What came after that was the same boot I was fixated at. It hit me on the stomach so violently I even moved away a few centimeters. On the ground facing the sky I didn't feel pain exactly, it was something else. An absence of life blocked my emotions and physical reactions. He kicked the air out of my lungs and my thoughts went along.

There was no difference between where I slept everyday and the street I was currently laid on. I had no reasons to get up, nowhere to go, no one to see. If I wanted I could stay right where I was and watch the dark sky until morning and no one would care, except the drivers.

Maybe I stayed too long without blinking that my vision became blurry and my eyes started burning. Immediately, as second nature, I scraped my face with the back of my hand. As I was trying to stop whatever was happening to me, a big hand in black leather gloves grabbed my left arm lifting me up with no effort.

- This little rat escaped the lab.

As I got pulled up, the air that disappeared from my lungs decided to come back. Desperately, I breathed in with all my strength waking up my body and mind to feel again all the pain I was under. Every sensation hit me at once with no mercy.

- Squeak! Squeak! - Some other guy bursted into laughter after grabbing my other arm, taking me off the ground leaving me completely defenseless.

Both my hands were tied and I was too high off to do anything. A trapped animal, that's what I was, weak and powerless. Expensable material looking back at me from the reflectable helmets the soldiers were using. I could see my pathetic figure clearly but not even a glimpse of their faces.

- PIGS! - A voice behind me yelled, followed by a noise of something hitting the steel shield. They didn't hesitate to let go of me and just took off after whomever attacked them. Once again I landed on my butt, only this time my entire body felt an excruciating pain.

Lights on every building were shining. It was hard to say it was night when everything was as bright as during the day. Almost no one was in sight. Ahead of me the streets were quiet, the only sound came from the Memorial building, where the warnings had become more frequent and threatening.

Stupidly I tried to get up normally but got knocked out by the piercing pain in my gut, making the drop the idea all together. Using whatever energy I had left I crawled to the sidewalk trying to move as little of my torso as possible. Between growls and curse words I made it to the nearest alley.

Leaning against the wall of a cheap burger shop, I relaxed my arms and legs finally letting my body rest. The street lights didn't get far into the dirty passage, stopping before it could reach me. I didn't want to be seen. All I wanted was to float out of that alley and up to the great darkness that lived beyond the buildings to never go back.