Brennen Im Feuer Ch. 1

I woke up to the sound of my alarm going off and hit the snooze. The sun had been shining for a while but I wasn’t ready to get up. Every day living in District 1 seemed to be a nightmare. The kind of nightmare that only sleeping could get rid of. District 1 is the kind of place that makes even the sunniest person turn into a cynic. Since the dissolution of our country a couple hundred years ago in 2024 our cities have become autonomous city-states and District 1 has been run in the most fascist of ways. The feeling of safety is now a luxury; not because of crime- it’s been almost completely eradicated- but because the slightest transgression can lead to death by the police. We are forced to become (or at least act the part of) brainwashed zombies who are unable to have original thoughts or feelings.

“Time to get up!” My father came into my room. “Your friends will be here in half an hour.” My friends Paul and James worked with me at the factory and we walked the mile together every day.

“I’m always ready in time, aren’t I? Just give me a few more minutes! I’m not a kid anymore anyway.”

“Really? Then why do I still have to pick up your laundry every morning and make you breakfast?” he said jokingly.

“Well if you don’t want to do it, I will. It’ll just take longer for things to get done,” I smiled.

After eating and getting ready I met up with Paul and James. Paul asked, “How goes it this morning?”

“Besides the uniform chaffing, same as always.” As part of the law in District 1, everyone had to wear a uniform and an ID card at all times when outside of their home. Basically, any attempt at being an individual had been taken away. When I was a kid, there was an attempt to have one day where people would be able to dress however they would like. But this led to people doing so on non-sanctioned days and then led to the Law Street Massacre where hundreds of people, mainly civilians died during a riot. Afterwards, any attempt to allow individualism was quashed.

 

We were about halfway to work when we saw a group of four policemen harassing an older man in an alleyway between two brick buildings. One officer seemed to be dishing it out more than the others. James said to us, “Oh, shit! That’s Officer Azrael! We need to get going!”

I had heard about Azrael. He was the baddest motherfucker on the city’s police force. It was said that he was too extreme for most officers but nobody seemed willing to even question his authority. Anything brutal that occurred was said to be his handiwork. Hundreds of deaths have been attributed to him.

Paul said sarcastically, “So what? Just because you know his name it doesn’t mean he can still do that!”

“You’ll get hurt, or maybe worse,” I said.

“Well, looking at the situation, there would be four of us and four of them, it would be quite even.”

“If there were twenty of us and four of them we’d still lose!”

Paul ignored me, stepped forward and yelled, “Let him go, he’s not doing anything to you!”

James grabbed him by the arm and whispered angrily. “Shut up, we don’t want to end up like him!”

Paul didn’t listen though and walked right up to them. “Hey assholes! Leave him alone! He’s not doing anything to you!”

The officers turned to us and Azrael said, “Would you like us to move on to you instead?”

“Better me than him!” Paul leapt at them despite our protests. The one who had just spoken to Paul grabbed him and through him up against the brick wall. Paul came back at him but Azrael gave him a vicious uppercut that rocked his head into the wall. With the sudden jerk of his head we heard his neck snap. He lay dead, killed instantly by the collision against the wall.

“Why did you kill him?!?” I screamed.

“He deserved it,” said Azrael. With a devilish grin he stepped forward and said, “Now you two better run along before you join him.”

I was about ready to oblige but James stopped me and said, “Let’s go. I have no interest in joining him and I know you really don’t either.” I looked in his eyes and knew he was right. We finished the walk to work but the experience was too traumatic to accomplish anything. All I knew was that I needed a plan to get revenge.