Fast Forward. He couldn’t get the words out of his head, they were the worst kind of trouble you could get into, the government’s number one enemy. Murder of an Enforcer was much more serious than any crime against a civilian, what if they tried to pin it on him? Miscarriages of justice were alarmingly frequent. He was furious with himself for not turning to leave as soon as the smash-up began. Ben reached his apartment block at three o’clock in the morning. The street outside was deserted and silent. As he walked through the vandalised lobby, Ben glanced up at the CCTV camera recording his arrival. He opened the door to the apartment slowly so as not to make a noise and crept down the hallway in the dark, navigating around the clutter by memory. Entering his bedroom, Ben crept into bed so as not to wake his sister. There was no chance of getting to sleep, he lay awake while his brain went over the problem again and again. Still he came no closer to the answer he wanted: the certainty that he would not be blamed for the murder. Ben’s mind was like a computer program stuck in a loop and he had to make a conscious effort to break the cycle. He tried to calm himself, there was no way they could pin this on him. They had plotted an escape route that avoided the CCTV cameras. Eventually, Ben convinced himself he wouldn’t get pulled in. After two hours, exhaustion caught up with him and he began to fall asleep. His last thoughts were half in dream and half in consciousness. He wondered why Stude had taken the time to make him feel welcome and introduce him to new people. That wasn’t normal behaviour, Ben wasn’t used to someone going out of their way for a stranger. Then he remembered he had saved Stude from being hit by the security guard, saved his life, perhaps. With that, Ben fell fully asleep. In his dreams Ben saw the street being smashed up again, but this time he joined in. He was whirling around with a baseball bat in his outstretched arm, smashing everything in reach. Then he heard the sirens and the others began to run, but Ben found that no matter how hard he tried, he could only run in slow motion. Soon the Enforcers were at the scene, shouting at Ben as they ran toward him. The shouting continued even as the dream faded away. Enforcers were barking orders louder and louder. Ben woke suddenly. The shouting carried on. A loud bang came from the front door and he heard people entering the apartment. Their footsteps were heavy and their motion clumsy, Ben could hear them knocking things over as they came along the hallway. He knew they were Enforcers. They shouted continuously, telling everyone to lie on the floor. Linda had awoken and was screaming, she ran around to Ben’s side of the room and cowered by his bed. Ben’s first thought was to give himself up immediately and stop this frightening ordeal for his family. He told Linda to hide under the bed and then darted out into the hallway, announcing his name and shouting for the Enforcers to stop. ‘All right, all right, I’m here!’ he shouted. ‘You’ve got me!’ As Ben emerged from the bedroom, he came face to face with a man in a black balaclava. The Enforcer reacted swiftly, grabbing Ben and pushing him to the floor. Ben found himself flat on his stomach, with both arms held behind his back. ‘Stay down, don’t move,’ he was told. The Enforcer twisted Ben’s head to the side and thrust the barrel of a pistol against his cheek, then squinted to see his face in the darkness. Ben was petrified but thought at least the team would back off, now they had him. To his horror, he heard them carry on down the hallway into his parents’ bedroom. Esme had moved right up against the back of the bed, as far from the door as she could get, and was cowering with the duvet pulled right up to her neck. She screamed when three intruders entered the bedroom, pointing guns at her husband. Jack was out of bed, ready to confront them, but the Enforcers were tall and powerfully built, clad in bulky armour; Jack was naked and vulnerable. One of the team grabbed him and thrust him to the floor while another shone a torch in his face. ‘Positive ID, Jack Principal,’ the Enforcer shouted. Esme was screaming uncontrollably, but the Enforcers ignored her as they handcuffed her husband. In a distraught voice, Jack implored the Enforcers to tell him what was going on. Panic set in as it became clear they were going to take him away. Jack cried out that there must be some mistake, but no one responded. As they hauled Jack out of the room, Esme became hysterical, leapt out of bed and tried to grab her husband. ‘Don’t take him!’ she shouted, before being pushed away forcefully, causing her to fall backwards over the bed. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’ screamed Jack in a frightened voice. ‘You’re being apprehended,’ someone replied from behind a balaclava. ‘What for?’ cried Jack helplessly, but no one answered him. ‘I haven’t done anything. This is a mistake!’ The Enforcers carried out their orders like robots: unfeeling, uncaring and unable to listen to reason. They rapidly retreated from the apartment, dragging Jack with them. Two Enforcers bundled him out of the front door, while a third tried to stop Esme from following, but she wouldn’t be restrained. Still in her nightgown, Esme ran down the stairs, screaming her husband’s name at the top of her voice. The fourth officer remained in the apartment, holding Ben down on the floor. When the rest of the team had exited, the Enforcer sprung up and marched quickly out of the apartment, leaving Ben behind.
Woah. This is like something out of V For Vendetta. Really good writing. Didn't see the part with the dad coming either. Awesome work. Was the formatting deliberate? I'm only wondering, cause it's kind of wall-o-text and that might deter some people from reading it (which would be unfortunate). If not, I recommend adding a break between paragraphs. Makes it less daunting to read.
