I looked down. I could see the lifeless streets, dyed red from the blood I had seen spilled. I tilted my head back, as I always did before I made a life-changing decision, and felt the cool breeze flow through my hair. I took a long sigh of relief, knowing that I would soon leave this cruel, war-torn city, where I had once enjoyed life. I coughed as that very familiar black smoke came out of the rusty, dented vent beside me on the rooftop where I stood. This was where Abby and I sat, all those years ago. I remember when she told me she loved me, here, on the old warehouse roof. Her exact words were " We've grown so close lately Austin. I think I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I honestly think I lo-" and that was when we were interrupted.

They kicked down the door of the stairwell, and charged at us. A tear fell from my eye as I remembered how they had tied my hands together and thrown me on the cold cement. They claimed that they were going to "re-educate me", and turn me into one of those bastard soldiers I now hate so very much. Abby was a small girl, and wasn't very strong. They decided they had no use for her, and shot her straight between the eyes, right in front of me. It was then and there, that exact moment, I lost all my faith in God, and vowed revenge on whoever was responsible for sending these soldiers into my city.

The soldier that seemed to lead the troop, their general I suppose, took off the gas mask he wore. That was his only mistake. That was what damned him. He had snow-white hair, even though he looked to be around 25. He had a very deep scar over his left eye, which ran all the way from his eyebrow, to his jaw. I would remember this detail until I took my last breath. He ordered one of the larger attackers to carry me down the stairs. They knocked me unconscious at this point, so I don't recall exactly where they took me, or how long I was out for.

I woke up in the back of what seemed to be a heavily-armored van. There were a few other captives in the back, some unconscious, and some awake. There was a single man with a gas mask and worn clothing, holding an AK-47 standing at one end of the room, if you could call it that. I could tell he was looking straight at me, for what reason, I didn't know. I could tell it was either dusk or dawn, as I could see it was barely light outside through a bullet-hole in the ceiling. I looked at the man beside me, his back propped up against the side of the car.

"Do you know what's going on?", I asked the man. I noticed that his clothes were very old, as though he was a poor man. He turned to me, and as I looked into his eyes, I could tell that he had seen much suffering in his life. He looked me dead in the eyes, sighed, and said "I know we're going to die." I could tell that this old man was very serious about what he said. And I knew he was right, unless someone did something, we would die. As I opened my mouth to ask him his name, the car jolted violently.

The captives were fine, as we were on the ground and didn't move much. The man who was watching us on the other hand, was thrown into the wall, and was now either unconscious, or dead. The sun was now up, and shone brightly through the single hole in the roof. I looked at him, and saw a glimmering light near his pocket. I crawled over to it, and discovered the man had keys to our shackles, and the door that would free us. The man I was speaking to earlier followed me over to the body.

"Are those the keys to free us?", he asked. I nodded at him slowly, in case the man could still hear us. I picked the keys out with my teeth, and handed them to my companion. I tilted my head towards my hands, and he knew to unlock the cuffs on my arms. With my hands now free, I began freeing the other people laying in the car. Once everyone's cuffs were off, I grabbed the gun the guard had used to keep us from trying to fight him. "My name is Jacob.", said the man who had freed me, a man I wish was still here.

I smiled and said "Austin.", and then turned back to the door on the vehicle. I unlocked the keypad, removed it from the door, and took the deepest sigh I've ever taken. The others stood and watched me, as I kicked open the doors, and braced for attack. What I saw was something I never expected.

I expected to see a desert wasteland, with a few buildings scattered here and there. What I saw was not that, but the same city streets I had always seen. Yet instead of seeing people going places and having fun, I saw blood-stained streets and bodies on the sidewalk. Those who had hidden behind the walls beside the door in case we were shot at now peeked from behind the steel. Along with me and those who had stood in the open, bravely awaiting whatever happened when I opened those doors, their mouths dropped in horror.

If I was still a religious man, I probably would have said a prayer for those who had fallen. I bowed my head as I stepped down from the truck. I could hear the others slowly stepping down. I knew that these people's lives may very well have been in my hands. Jacob stood beside me, pulling a knife out of his pocket with a pearl handle. "My father gave it to me, I guess the guards didn't care that I had it. I guess they thought I wouldn't live long enough to use it."

I saw the armory in the near distance. I believed if we could get there, we would be fine. I looked behind me, as I wondered what had made the truck jolt so violently before. I gasped when I saw that a building had fallen on the cab, killing both the driver, and the passenger in the front seat. I was thankful for this, as I was sure they would have killed us if they had survived. I looked at the faces, then unfamiliar, and announced "Follow me, if you see something on the ground that can be used to defend yourself, grab it."

A few nodded, a few said ok, and a few just looked at me with those pained eyes. I began walking in the direction of the armory. I looked at some of the buildings, with the destroyed windows, and the broken walls, and wondered what had happened. I saw one building that had been tagged with the phrase, "Where is your God now?". I shook my head, and then continued on. Nothing else caught my attention on the way to the armory.

I opened the door, and took a few steps in, Jacob right behind me. Suddenly I heard a whisper, "Who are you!?" I turned to see a man with a shotgun pointed right above my nose. I gasped, and saw that the man was wearing a gas mask, and he was beginning to squeeze the trigger. This was it, I was dead. All of a sudden, the man stopped, his eyes opened wide, and his jaw dropped. I gasped as the man fell to the ground. I watched as he hit the concrete with a thud. I looked up to see Jacob standing there, looking down on the man with the now stained blade he had shown me. Our eyes locked, and we knew that we had to be careful in here, or we had little chance of surviving.

I handed the assault rifle to one of the men that had followed me here. I needed a lighter, quieter weapon if I was going to keep our presence unknown. I searched the man that had nearly killed me, and luckily found a pistol on him. It appeared to be a Glock, even though it had been spray-painted over, and sanded down into a smoother shape. Jacob, four people from the truck, and I began to go up the stairs, while the others stayed below. I kept my new pistol in my hand, and close to my side. At the top of the stairs, I saw a man leaning on the wall facing the opposite direction.

I motioned for Jacob to hand me the knife, and he did without question. As the man turned his head slightly, I saw that so very familiar gas mask. I tucked the pistol into my pocket and put the knife into my right hand. I grabbed the man from behind as quickly and quietly as I could, as I didn't know if there were any other guards around. I dug the pearl-handled blade into the back of the mans neck, deep, and fast. I held him in my arms still, as I didn't want to let him hit the ground and make a noise.

At this point, I had an idea. I reached for the mans face, and removed his mask. His face looked like that of a normal man, not the monster he seemed to be. I put the mask on my head, and gave Jacob the body, and told all the people to wait there. I walked into the hallway after climbing the last few steps.The halls, that I had once walked with my father as a child, were so much different now. Instead of a haven where I felt safe, I felt in more danger than I had ever been before.

I saw another one of the mask-wearers. I approached him slowly and asked him "Hey, I just got here, how many guys do we have here?" He simply chuckled and said "We got 'bout three more patrols in here, but they're prolly asleep, know what I mean man?" I nodded and acted as though I was beginning to walk away. I knew that two patrols were already dead, so after this man, there would be one. He turned his back to me and the door behind him.

I walked slowly, silently toward the man's back. I quickly threw one arm over his throat to keep a grip, and one under the mask, to keep him from screaming. I backed into the door with all my weight, and burst through it. I tore off the mask, being careful to keep my arm over the mans mouth. I pulled the pistol from my pocket with the arm I had used to keep him in my grip, and turned him around as quick as I could. I pointed the gun an inch or two from his face, and told him to sit down. I now realized that we were in a bathroom, and told him to sit on the edge of the bathtub.

I kept the gun pointed at him, and began asking questions. "Who are you creatures, and what have you done to this city, my city?", I said, hardly opening my mouth and gritting my teeth, staring into his fearful eyes. "We are liberators, we are those who want freedom at any cost. We killed those in this city because they were all government pawns. With them dead, we are one step closer to freeing this country! Now, I demand to know, just who the hell are you?"

I knew I couldn't allow this man to live any longer after hearing that. I twisted my face into a scowl, looked into those cold eyes, and said "I am the one who stops you. I am the one who will free this city from your cold grasp.I am the thought that always stays in the back of your mind, about what would happen if someone tried to fight back. I am that someone, and I am going to end this foolish attempt to take over this city, MY city."

These were the last words that man ever heard. With one less bullet in the clip of my pistol, I turned around. I saw a cracked mirror, and looked into it to see if I was still me. However, instead of seeing the man I had been, I saw a cold monster. I looked at myself for a long time, realizing I hated what I now saw. This was not Austin, not me. I was a good person, never harmed anyone. The monster in the mirror was a heartless thing, that had killed two men. I stared into my new eyes. They might have stayed the same color, but they didn't have the sparkle, or the soul in them anymore.

I closed my eyes, put the gun in my hand to my head, and was ready to squeeze the trigger. Everything I had ever done was going through my head, my childhood, my family, my school years, things I had forgotten so long ago. Then, as the muscles in my hand began to tighten, I remembered Abby. I remembered how she had once told me if anything happened to her, to just go on with life, and move on. My eyes opened, and began to water horribly. My whole body began shaking, and I dropped my arm. I looked back in the mirror at my eyes. They were now blood-shot and watering. This was the first time I had cried in years. I put both hands on the sink below the mirror, and leaned on it for a while. When my eyes were dry, I began walking out of the room. I kept the gun at my side, for fear of the last patrol walking the halls.

I walked to the top of the stairs, sighed, and wiped my eyes. I walked down slowly, and when I got to the bottom, looked up expecting to see the people I had left here watching for others. I saw an empty room, and thought that they must have stepped outside to get some fresh air. I was right.

I opened the front door, and walked out. I saw Jacob crouched behind a jeep, and walked over to him. "Where's everyone else?" I asked in a quiet voice. "I am everyone else." I quickly crouched down as I heard footsteps. I tapped Jacob on the shoulder and pointed to under the jeep. He nodded, and we both crawled under the cab. I saw around three pairs of those camouflage combat boots walk past us. I held my breath as I watched them go by. Part of me just wanted to stay there and let them go, and another part wanted to dart from under that jeep and shoot all three of them and watch them die.

As soon as I knew they were out of earshot, Jacob and I crawled from under the jeep. I opened the door of the Jeep, which seemed to be made of a bullet-proof material. I tried to find the keys, but it was to no avail. I saw Jacob lean from the seat towards the steering wheel, and he began moving his hands under the wheel, but above the pedals. Then I realized he was hot-wiring the Jeep, and we would soon have transportation. I heard it begin to roar, and it was a very satisfying sound. I handed him the gun and his knife I had borrowed.

"Just in case anyone decides to follow us.", I explained. He nodded, and I began to drive down the war-torn streets. I figured if we could get out of town, we might have a chance of building an army to come fight these pathetic excuses for men. I left the radio off, the less sound, the better. Things were looking alright, like we might just survive this, until we hit mid-town. That's when "the chase" happened.

I swerved to avoid an overturned, burning car, only to see three vehicles chasing the Jeep. I yelled to Jacob to try and take out their tires so we could gain some distance. I began swerving around corners sharply to try and shake them, but these were no ordinary drivers. These knew what they were doing. Jacob shot out one of the vehicles right where I had told him to, and they lost control and flipped their Humvee over. The pick-up truck swerved to avoid hitting the Humvee, crashed into a building, and they were soon out of our sight.

All that was left was Jacob, the other Jeep, and me. I told Jacob to try and shoot the man so we could get away, as I wasn't going to lead them into the next town. He told me about how he had one shot left, but would still try to shoot the man in pursuit of us. He fired the shot, which hit at the top of the person's head. Instead of killing them however, it just tore off the mark of the soldiers, the gas mask. I expected to see an unfamiliar face, someone that wouldn't bother me to make die on the spot if it meant getting away. I turned to see their face, but it wasn't unfamiliar.

At first I saw that snow white hair, and my eyes widened. Then I saw that scar, and I knew I wasn't going to let this man die so easily. I knew exactly what was going to happen. I pulled off a u-turn, and did a burn-out the way I had come. As I passed the scarred mans vehicle, I caught a glimpse of the eye under the scar. It had no pupil in it, it was completely white. The man was half-blind. I told Jacob to give me the knife one last time, and he looked questioning, but did as I asked. I heard a gunshot from behind me, the man was firing on us after he had turned around.

I began swerving to try and avoid the bullets, when suddenly I saw the dashboard turn red. I gasped as I looked beside me and saw Jacob bleeding from the chest. The last words he told me were "Don't give them the pleasure of killing me. You see that cough knife? I want you to slit my throat with it, nice and fast." He looked at me with his eyes, that weren't as pained as when we had met in the truck earlier that same day. In fact, they had the sparkle mine used to have, before that day. In that short time, he had become my best, and only friend. Everyone else I cared about had either died long ago, or was shot by the very man chasing me. I sighed and put the knife to his throat, and said "Goodbye Jacob, I'll be seeing you soon." and let him take his final nap.

The scarred man had now taken the lives of the two people closest to me. Now so much was at stake, there was no way I could be beaten. He sped up and hit the bumper, causing me to lose control momentarily. I regained control, and smiled as I saw where our last battle was going to be fought. With Jacob's knife in one hand, and my hatred for the man in my blackened heart, I was happy to see the old warehouse.

I pressed the gas pedal all the way to the floorboard as I was nearing the place of the scarred man's death. I opened the door of my Jeep, and prepared to jump. Once I was closer to the warehouse, almost at the corner of the street, I tucked my head under my hands, and rolled sideways out of the vehicle. I hit the concrete and bounced off a few times. I was in pain, as one would expect after leaping from a speeding vehicle. I saw the man nearing where I was. I jumped to my feet as fast as I could, and ran for the broken steel door.

As I entered the familiar room, I saw the destruction. All the cars we had raced with were now destroyed. The dark blue Nissan Skyline I had won my first street race with was now totaled. The windows were broken, the vinyl tagged over, if it wouldn't have been so special to me, I wouldn't have been able to recognize that car. Even the car I had won for Abby, the orange Toyota Supra, was just as ruined, the body kit was missing, the tires were gone, and so was the engine. I shook my head as I realized I couldn't take the time to see what had happened to them as I heard the Jeep's brakes squeal. My last memory in this room was the trophy I had gotten for winning the race down Dead Mans Canyon.

That win was very special to me, as if I hadn't been in it, me and Abby might never have become as close as we were. I had known Abby since child-hood, we had always been good friends. That night, I called her up and told her to meet me at the warehouse, because I needed to show her something. I showed her the trophy, and she was so surprised, she told me she always thought that I could be a good racer. We sat at the warehouse all night, and just talked about anything and everything. That night, I knew I had fallen in love with her, and knew she felt the same.

I then took off into the hallway to the stairs as I heard footsteps coming through the door. As I ran up the stairs, I looked behind me to see how far away I was. I saw that the snow-haired man was just entering the hallway, and knew I would make it to the roof. I burst through the door, and shot to the left. The city streets may have given him the upper hand, as he still had bullets in the %u0160korpion he carried. But up here, on this roof-top, I knew where everything was, and I would certainly use this to my advantage. I leaned on the wall beside the doorway, waiting to see him step out. I crouched as low as I could once I heard footsteps.

I saw that black trench coat he wore blowing in the wind as he looked for me. I dove from my cover, tackling him from behind, making him throw his gun to the other side of the roof. He turned over and tried to grab my throat, but I quickly evaded him. I swung my right arm directly at his face, hitting him directly in the jaw. The side of his head slammed against the concrete, causing his cheek to bleed as he spit out blood. I began punching his face as hard as my body physically could, just trying to kill the man for what he had done. He suddenly pushed me off of him and stood up, still bleeding from his cheek. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and said "Stand up so I can kill you, just like I killed the whore you were with." His voice was raspy, as though he had been screaming.

I noticed that he had a Russian accent, something that I hadn't noticed in the other soldiers. I stood up like he asked, and felt my muscles tighten as I stared him down. We just stared at each other, I could feel the hatred in my soul growing stronger and stronger, and I could feel my kindness and merciful side slowly slipping away. I charged at him suddenly, throwing a big right hook into his chin, knocking him back. As his body turned to the side, I expected him to fall, but instead, he turned around almost instantaneously and swung back at me. My head tilted back from the force, and I felt blood rush from under my eye.

My head snapped back down, I cracked my neck and jumped at the man, grabbing him by the shoulders. I swung him into the back of the neon letters at the side of the roof-top. As I looked into the man's soulless eyes, my mouth dropped in horror. "Nikolai...", I whispered under my breath. I suddenly realized who this man was. I couldn't believe I didn't recognize him sooner.

"That's right Austin, it's me. Your old friend Nikolai. I told you one day I would take this city over, but you just didn't believe me now did you? I gave you the perfect chance to become a king, a ruler of this place. I still can't believe you refused to help me, just because you wanted to stay with that stupid whore. With your driving skills, and my knowledge of urban warfare, we could've taken this place over with no problems. Now, it's too late for you to even try to join me. I'm surprised you made it this far alive, I figured you would've died in the armory. I'm proud of you Austin, I always knew you could survive if this sort of thing happened." He grinned like he used to, when we used to race together.

After hearing this speech, I dropped my hand, and let him go. We just stood there for a moment, staring each other in the eye. The lights flickered on and off, "Kings Of The Street" flashed in front of me. I remembered when Nikolai and I had won the race for the prize of having a construction crew come in and modify your house. We had agreed instead of fixing up our houses, we would make the warehouse look nice. Then he left, all because I didn't want to be a part of the plan to take over the city.

I stared deep into his eyes, took a deep breath and said "Well, I guess you were right about me being able to survive, too bad you couldn't do the same." He tilted his head, and just as he was opening his mouth, I threw a punch with all the force I could behind it. It hit him directly in the forehead, knocking his head backwards, along with the rest of his body. He started stumbling backwards, and tripped over the bottom of the "O", falling off the side of the building. I walked over, and leaned through the hole, and looked down at the street. Instead of seeing a man's body splattered on the sidewalk, I saw Nikolai clinging to the side of the building. He screamed at me, "Pull me up! Pull me up right now! You wouldn't let your friend die this way would you!?" I looked at him and replied with a smile, "No, I wouldn't."

I then backed out of the giant letter, and undid the bolts holding it down. Now with it loose, I simply pushed it over, and watched it take down a section of the building. I smiled as I saw the hole where Nikolai had been holding on. I went to the other side of the roof, the same spot where Abby and I had sat earlier that day. I went to sleep on that cold concrete, it was the greatest sleep I ever had.

I awoke in the morning to the sun shining brightly, the birds chirping, and a light breeze blowing. I stood up, walked to the edge, and looked down. I could see those once life-filled streets, now empty and blood-stained. I tilted my head back, for I knew this would be the most life-changing decision I would ever make. I sighed a happy sigh, as I wouldn't be in this cruel, lifeless city much longer. That black smoke poured out of the vent, I guess the heater still ran. That was when I decided it was time for me to leave. I took my last step forward, and began falling.

I was not only falling away from the building, but falling away from the memories, falling away from the pain. I was falling away from the people I had killed. As I fell, I saw a puddle of motor oil on the ground. Time seemed to slow as I looked into that black, still liquid. When I was inches away from the makeshift mirror, I noticed that the sparkle had returned to my eyes. I smiled, if only for a moment. As I looked into that puddle for what seemed like forever, my smile faded, and I saw my reflection slowly turn from the emotionless man I had become that day, to the happy person I was before. I knew that I wouldn't live to see what became of this city, but I knew it would go back to being what it once was.

That was how the last day of my life was. It seems that since I killed, I'm not allowed into the place where the noble go when they die. But since I was usually a good person, I wasn't in the Hell where the wicked go. In fact, I still don't know if these places exist. I've just stayed a phantom, watching my life play over and over again. It seems like every time I watch it, it becomes just a little bit less shocking. I've come to terms with the fact I had to do things on that day I would never have done at any other time. To this day, I still haven't seen any trace of the Heaven or Hell that religions speak of.

I wonder if I'll ever meet the God that men spoke of. I wonder if he's really there, or if I just follow my life, over and over again. Either way, I'm just fine. The best part about this very strange after-life is me and Abby can sit together and watch our lives replay, and we never have to be apart. Maybe one day Nikolai will go back to the way he used to be, and come watch with us too.

The End.