Felix, Kacy and Anna stood by their church with the wooden sign that said John's Witnesses. Steve and Lloyd wore white t-shirts that said in black ink make peace, not war.
They boarded the bus. Felix sat next to a woman. Her blonde hair was in a ponytail.
Felix said, "What's your name?"
"Claire. My brother couldn't come on this trip. He has to look after the sheep on our farm."
"How many sheep do you have on your farm?"
"We can only afford to take care of fifty sheep. If we have too many sheep on the farm, we have to butcher them and sell their meat. I don't want to lose my brother in war. I lost my father; he died from inhaling the fumes from the shredder gas."
"I missed my father, too. He died because his blood pressure was too high from not taking enough insulin.
Felix and Claire continued conversing for hours. They found out they both had common interests such as writing and hiking.
The bus arrived in Gem City and the driver parked in an empty lot. They exited the bus.
Lloyd said, "Everyone followed me, we're joining the group of protestors and marching down the city's streets."
They joined the group of protesters on York Street. In Felix's hand was a sign that said, no war with Technate and in his right hand was Claire's soft hand. Even though Felix had just met Claire, he had strong feelings for her. He'd imagined a life of living with her and helping take care of the sheep at their farm. Five thousand protestors followed behind Lloyd, shouting phrases such as Save our children from going to war, War cripples our economy.
For twenty minutes, they marched until they encountered five hundred police officers in the middle of the street, blocking their way. The officers were dressed in all black, full-face helmets, bulletproof vests and carried their assault rifles. Behind them were military trucks and police cruisers.
Llyod yelled in the megaphone, "Move! We're peaceful protestors."
The police officer didn't move an inch.
Claire let go of Felix's hand as she walked. Felix yelled, "Claire! Where are you going?"
"We need to get past the police officers. We can't let them stop us." Claire's blue eyes were wide.
Felix bit his lip. "Claire, I don't think it's safe, they're armed with guns! I think we should turn around."
Claire said with defiance. "It's going to be fine. They won't harm us."
She ran to the front of the crowd and joined Lloyd. Lloyd stuck the megaphone into his duffel bag, approached the officer and yelled, "Move!" He pushed the officer's shoulders. The officer fell on the road. Claire ran forward, and the officer grabbed her right arm.
"Let go of me!" She kicked the officer's testicles. The officer grimaced and let go of her.
The officer aimed his gun at Lloyd's head and pulled the trigger.
Bang. Lloyd dropped to the pavement; blood poured out of his forehead. Claire screamed. A police officer shot Claire in the head with his handgun. She dropped to the ground, and her eyes became hazy. Her plain blue dress was covered in blood. She had a blank expression on her face. Two police officers ran and grabbed the man's arms and threw him against the pavement. His nose bled; the officers placed handcuffs on his wrists. A protester threw a canister of tear gas on the road.
Grey smoke rose from the cannister. Felix stood like a statue; he didn't know what to do. Kacy grabbed Felix by the sleeve of his coat.
Kacy yelled, "Felix, we have to run back to the bus!"
Felix blinked, looking sheepishly at Anna and Kacy.
"What about Claire? We should go back-"
"We can't help her! She's dead. We've to go!" She squeezed his arm and spun him around. They ran amongst the crowd of people. A frenzy; the crowd of protestors was like a herd of buffalo running away from a pride of lions. If a police officer caught him, he would be tackled to the ground and arrested. The officer would kill him if he'd tried to fight back. His eyes were bloodshot from the smoke of the tear gas.
It was supposed to be a peaceful protest, but it's a shit show.
The officers dragged the bloody and bruised protestors across the pavement to their vans to hold them in custody. Protestors were scared out of their wits; they were screaming and crying.
They ran until they reached the bus. Quickly, they'd boarded the bus. The bus drove off.
Felix sat next to Anna on the bus. While Kacy sat alone.
Felix said, "Where's Steve?"
Anna shook her head. "He was arrested."
Felix gasped. "What?"
Anna sobbed. "Steve was tackled to the ground. The police took him away to their police van."
Receiving the news felt like a punch was thrown at Felix's gut.