Nightlife

Nightlife

4th of April, 2018, 10:00pm

King Harry Mall

The sound of running water was what roused him. Groggily, sluggishly, Brian woke. He looked around. He was in a men’s toilet, lying prone in a puddle. There was a broken tap nearby, spewing water, and he found that the ground didn’t feel quite level. All the lights were off, and one of the fittings was sparking. He looked around, trying to recall what had happened. He remembered fighting a man, and hiding in the toilets with Jess, before there was an explosion. /Oh sh­it, Jess!/ Brian searched the room with his eyes, feeling too tired to stand. He finally saw her, sitting in the corner, her legs pulled up to her chin, and her eyes staring blankly ahead. He had to call to her, but his throat felt like he had swallowed several metres of steel wool. His vision began to darken around the edges, but he refused to let go. /Jess.../

Jessica stared without sight. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her legs; her knees were right against her neck. She could feel her throat as she sobbed, but it didn’t concern her. Nothing about the present concerned her. Her body shuddered as her mind took her for another trip down memory lane. The first vision she experienced was of events earlier in the day, when everything seemed peaceful…

- - - - - -

2:30pm

King Harry Mall

“Jess! Jess!” Jessica turned at the sound of her name being called. Miranda was waving at her. “Come over here, they’ve got CDs!” Jess walked over to her, bemused.
“CDs?” Jess asked. “How retro can you get, Mir? Next you’ll be asking to buy magnetic cassettes.”
“Actually, they have those at the back.” Jess was surprised, but kept listening to Miranda. “This is a new song though, apparently the artist ‘likes to keep things old school’.”
“I didn’t know people like that still existed. I don’t even know if my parents own a CD player, let alone any of our friends.”
“I own one,” Mir said with a pout.
“Oh,” Jess replied, but Miranda just burst out laughing.
“Don’t worry; it’s kinda my dirty little secret.” Miranda winked and laughed. “Come on, they’ve got a player over here where we can listen to some of the songs.” Miranda dragged Jessica over to the headphone racks to listen to the album.

Twenty minutes later, and both of the girls walked out of the CD store carrying bags. Miranda had bought the first CD, and Jess had found a couple that she liked too. They were chatting about old technology when both their Netpads gave simultaneous chirps. Jess pulled out hers, and glanced at the screen.

</// RIOT WARNING ///>

“That can’t be good,” Jess muttered.
“Don’t worry about it, it’s just telling us to stay away from the northern part of town, like normal.”
“My parents are up there checking on my aunt.”
“They’ll be fine, Jess. StugariPol have got the whole place under wraps, my brother said so. It’s not like there’s widespread violence, there’s just some idiots who decided to start attacking police.” It was at that moment that a convoy of emergency vehicles drove past the mall, their sirens drowning out conversation.
“I still don’t like it,” Jessica said.
“I think we should be more worried about the boys. I haven’t seen them since we got here.”

It turned out the boys had been inside the video game store the entire time since they got to the mall. The girls decided to leave them be, going into a clothing store across from the Gaming shop. Miranda pulled Jessica behind a rack of clothes, and leaned in conspiringly.
“So, when are you going to ask Brian out?” Miranda asked.
Jess was mortified, and said so. “Mir! What’s wrong with you? We’re just friends. Besides, isn’t /the guy/ meant to ask /the girl/ out?”
“And you called me old fashioned,” Miranda quipped. “Everyone knows chivalry is dead. You need to make your move, because he’s too clueless to do it himself.”
“Well, actually Mir, I do have a gift for him.”
 “What sort of gift?” Miranda asked.
“Something very important that he gave me a long time ago.” Before they could continue their conversation, they were interrupted by Brian and Brodie calling them over.

The rest of Jessica’s flashback flew by in a blur. She was with Brian and Brodie, staring as a man stood on a podium and signed their death sentences, and watching as he threw down a holo-projector. The seconds began counting down. Miranda was breaking windows. As Jess met eyes with her best friend, she knew that Mir was only doing what she thought she could do to stay alive. She ran with the boys, to the nearest exit, but only to find their way blocked. She remembered her cadet training as the man pulled out a machine pistol from his overcoat, but was frozen into inaction as Brodie was shot. She saw his bulging eyes, and watched blood gurgle through the hole in his throat. He shoved her backwards into Brian, and Brian took her down a side corridor, away from the man. She huddled in the corner of the toilets sobbing, as Brian crouched next to the door. “/Hide, I hear someone coming!/” he said, and she did. Gently, she pulled a teddy bear out of her backpack. The little tag said ‘Brian’s Bear’. Quietly, she clutched it to her chest, and watched Brian fight for both their lives. Then the explosion came. For hours, she sat, holding the bear and staring at the door that had spewed forth fiery hell. Her mind was caught in a loop, playing memories over and over, as she contemplated her life up to this point, the point of her death. Only one thing stirred her from her reverie.

- - - - - -

“Psst, Jess!” The voice was hoarse, but her head shot up in surprise all the same.
“Brian! Oh my God, I thought you were dead!” she sobbed. “I thought you were dead, Brian, I didn’t know what I was going to do, and I was /so/ scared. You were lying on the ground, and you didn’t wake up, and…” Brian came to her, and embraced her. She sobbed into his shoulder.
“Don’t worry Jess; it’s going to be alright. Just calm down,” She felt as he stroked her hair, trying to settle her down. “I’m not dead, everything’s alright now.” They spent a few minutes holding each other, until Jess finally managed to get some semblance of calm back. “What happened while I was knocked out?” Brian asked.
“There was a lot of gunfire, and yelling, but that stopped a long time ago.”
“How long ago? How long was I out cold?”
“I don’t know. It’s been hours…”
“Hours?! Why didn’t you try to wake me up? Nevermind, we need to get out of here.” Brian got to his feet. “Come on; let’s go take a look outside.”

The dirt-covered teenagers crept out of the broken toilets. The rest of the mall didn’t look any better than the toilets did. Debris was strewn everywhere, parts of the roof had collapsed, and everything looked burnt. There were still a few spot fires burning amongst the rubble, and any light fixture that was still attached either sparked at irregular intervals or flickered feebly, throwing eerie shadows on what was left of the walls. The exit to the street was blocked off with a grate. There was no sign of anyone alive, but there were a few scorched and twisted corpses lying around. The putrid smell of burnt flesh suddenly filled Jessica’s nose as she noticed the dead. She tried her best not to vomit then and there. There was nothing to be heard but the light tap of her footsteps through the rubble. Brian moved over to the grate, and tried to lift it in futility.
“No use,” he said. “It’s locked.” Sudden gunshots made him jerk back, swearing.
A voice rang out from somewhere outside, in the dusty gloom, “God damn kids, go back to what little hole you used to sneak past us! We told you, it’s not safe here! If I see you again, I’ll shoot you for real!” Jess sobbed, and Brian heard it.
“Come on Jess, stay strong. You were in the cadets, right? Use your knowledge.” Jessica nodded, sucking up her tears. She wondered why he wasn’t walking with a limp, or why he didn’t seem as dirty as she was. She ignored this, however, as he said: “We can’t get out this way. There’s probably roof access somewhere up high though. Some of the neighbouring buildings are pretty close to ours. Let’s go upstairs.”

They found the fire stairs, and Brian began to rush up them, but stopped when Jess didn’t follow. “I can’t bend my leg,” she mumbled. She looked down, and saw a giant piece of glass sticking out of her knee-cap. “Oh god,” she sobbed.
“Jess, listen to me, we need to get that fixed, or you’re going to have to crawl up the stairs.” Brian walked back down.
“I-“ she gasped in pain. “I don’t think it’s stuck anywhere vital. If I can get it out, I’ll be okay.”
“Okay,” Brian said, kneeling before her. “I’ll pull it out. It’s definitely going to hurt.”
“Just get it over with. Please.” Brian yanked on the glass, and it came out of her knee with a slick sound. “Shit!” She screamed. “Fu­ck! Okay, sh­it! I have to stop the bleeding. F­uck!” Brian ripped apart a piece of relatively clean fabric, and tied a makeshift bandage around her knee. “Alright, let’s climb,” Brian said. He went up the stairs with no trouble at all, looking back at Jess as he went, calling out encouragement.
“Someone will hear you,” Jessica said, but something in the back of her mind told her that it probably wasn’t like that.

It escaped Jessica how Brian could so easily climb stairs after the explosion. She hazily remembered something about him getting hit full force by the door, but that couldn’t be right, no one could survive that and climb eighteen flights of stairs like this guy. The door mustn’t have hit him. Despite this, something kept nagging in the back of her mind, but she pushed it aside as Brian called out.
“This floor doesn’t look as beat up as the others, let’s check it out.” Jess painfully made her way up the staircase, flopping down just inside the door. It was a large, open plan office space, with views across most of the CBD and out further into the city. They were on a floor that was above most of the surrounding high-rises. /Odd,/ Jessica thought, /I only counted eighteen flights of stairs. We must’ve climbed higher than I thought./ As she looked, she was surprised to see Brian already on the other side of the building. She began to walk, painfully. As she approached, Brian smiled, with a look of sadness in his eyes.
“We’re on the top floor. Look at the view.” Jessica limped up to the window, and looked out. The city lights winked back at her. Across the river, outside the CBD, it seemed as life continued on as normal, but all around her, the city was tinged with a haunting red glow. Fires burned everywhere, in the street, in building windows. There were several helicopters flying above the city, shining spotlights on hordes of rioters as they rampaged through the streets. Every now and then, policemen could be seen running across roads and around corners, along with some military men, but they mainly seemed to be trying to contain the riots in the CBD itself, and not let it spread to other parts of the city. Even this high up and through thick windows, Jessica could hear the sounds of gunfire.
“Why is it always us?” Jess asked Brian rhetorically, with anguish turning her voice into something painful to hear. “Compared to the rest of the world, the rest of Sapphire even, no other country has experienced this much violence. This is what we grew up with, Brian. We fled from the flames of one nation, only to be born into a new and frightening firestorm. I payed attention in history class, and Totoria was never as bad as this. Is this just our destiny?”
“I don’t know,” was all Brian said. They stood at the window for a long while, watching the city burn.
“Why are we up here?” Jessica asked.
“Because this is /our/ destiny.”

Jessica and Brian had sat for a long time, simply looking out at the city. The creaking and groaning of the building had increased tenfold in the last few hours, with one instance where the entire building shifted suddenly, throwing Jess to the floor. Jessica didn’t feel worried, however; she felt the need to be up here, watching the city. She felt like a lone sentinel, witnessing as society itself became an inferno. Brian got up and walked around, but he never touched anything, never opened any doors. He didn’t leave any marking of his presence whatsoever, apart from a stirring breeze as he walked past. As the moon came into view and reflected off his face, he took on an almost ghostly quality. Jessica didn’t notice, however. She simply stared, watching the city burn. The building shifted again, creating a very noticeable tilt in the floor. There was a deep rumble, and below their floor, windows shattered, showering the road below with glass. An office chair rolled from the other side of the building, smashing through a window and throwing itself out into the abyss, to be disintegrated on the asphalt far below.
“We’re not getting out of here,” Jessica stated.
“There’s only one way down now,” Brian replied, taking a seat next to her. The building groaned.
“Brian, there’s something I want to say, before... you know... I just want to say, that I’ve always liked you, and I had always hoped to be more than just friends; even years ago, when we first met, and you gave me your teddy bear. I was just too nervous to bring it up.”
“I know. I’ve always known. Jess, I’ve been in love with you for the past two years; you knew too. We were both just too scared of the future to do anything about it.”
“Too scared of /this,/” she gestured out the window, “to do this.” She leaned over, and kissed him on the lips. They held each other for a few moments, before breaking off. Brian had tears in his eyes.
“Jess, you do know that I’m-“
“Yes, shut up. Just humour me, at least for a little while longer.” They sat together quietly. The building leaned again, letting out a continuous groan that grew in pitch and tenor, until it was all they could hear. Glass broke, and anything unsecure began to fall and slide towards the window.
“It’s time, Jess. Come on.” They both got up, stepping towards the emptiness. “Don’t be afraid, I’ll be with you all the way down.” The two teenagers embraced, and Jess kissed him again. Brian almost looked happy.
“If we’re going down, we’re going down in style.” She held up her hand in a fist, with her index and middle fingers standing tall. Then, she clenched her eyes tight.
“Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
They jumped.

The wind was clutching at her, tearing at her hair and clothes. Brian still held her close, and she held on to him as hard as she could. His words were clear as day, despite the rushing wind.
“I love you, Jess.”
“I love you t-“

- - - - - -
A Viral Video That Changed Us All

12th of April, 2018

In the aftermath of the Stugari riots, a single video has surfaced and come to represent them. Just as "Tank-Man" came to represent the Tiananmen Square Massacre, forty years ago, so too has "Teddy-Bear Girl" come to represent the Stugari Violence. A journalist had perched on the roof of a building several blocks away from the King Harry Tower, providing coverage of the building and surrounding areas. Mere moments before the building collapsed, a person is seen jumping from a window on the top floor. The camera manages to lock on and zoom in on the person, revealing a dirty and bloody young girl, clutching what appears to be a teddy bear to her chest. The camera tracks her fall in chilling detail, the powerful camera recording minute features down to the tears falling from her eyes, and the name "Brian" on the stuffed toy's name tag. For decency, the cameraman removed the footage of her actual death. The video immediately cuts to the collapse of King Harry Tower, which buries the street and the young girl's remains. It is unlikely that recovery forces will be able to find an intact body.
After some days of research, the young girl was identified as Jessica Simmons, who was last seen inside the King Harry Mall with some friends. The fate of her companions is unknown. The girl's parents were killed in the fighting, adding to the tragedy. The young girl showed the world the violence that the AGA had spread, and how war claimed all, including the innocent. The video has spawned abundant criticism of the AGA, and around the country riots have died down as the video spread. Memorial services have been planned around the country, to honour Jessica and those who died in Stugari. Furthermore, there have been several serious attacks carried out on suspected and known AGA supporters in Penfold Head by local militia. The skirmishes had only been limited to small scale shootouts, and local PenPol forces have suppressed the violence.
Regardless, Jessica Simmons will forever be remembered as the girl who fell from a burning building, clutching a teddy bear to her chest and proudly signing the V for Victory high above her head.