Read National Exile: A 21st Century Novel about Nobility, Poverty, and Cruelty Page 36

  Chapter 32

  Leave and Never Look Back

  It was a long conversation between Aser and our friends. After a long argument, they decided to go to Orb, and map out the first stages of the plan.

  Rain, Sidra, and Yazan were the ones asked to Orb. Everyone else including Samir, Laith and Mai had to stay behind to protect the Burj. Leaving the Burj that day, Sidra and Rain had committed what they considered the biggest mistake of their lives. Leaving their friends behind and everything they stood for was not the right call that day.

  “The electric walls are now activated. You should be fine in the time being.” Sidra said.

  “Take care of yourselves and be careful out there.” Mai said.

  “I have a bad feeling about this. I feel like I should stay.” Sidra said.

  “Maybe I should stay and look for my father.” Rain added.

  “No, we need both of you. As for your father, we can use Orb’s resources to find him and get him out.” Yazan said.

  “Do not forget to invite us to your wedding.” Samir said smiling.

  “Your name will be the first on the list, my best man.” Rain said as he hugged him.

  They said goodbyes and left as if they would be gone forever. They all had bad feeling about that day.

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  After nearly a week of constant work in Orb, Sidra and Rain received some concerning news. The one and only hospital near the Burj area was bombed. Many buildings were completely damaged as well. Rain had to go and help. Sidra insisted to go with him.

  “I’m sorry, but my friends need my help at the hospital.” Rain told Aser.

  He gave them permission to leave for a while, but he requested their return as soon as it became possible. They got to the hospital around 5 AM. The bombing damaged big parts of the building. Some areas were not damaged but filled with wounded people. A lot of people had died. Many infants were brought in dead as well. Way too much death was seen that day.

  A father brought in his few years old girl covered by blood. Rain, who was in charge of that case, could not help but notice that she was already dead. He took her from her father’s arms and lay her down on the floor. He did not know how to tell the father that she was gone.

  “Sir, your face is covered by blood. Please, let me take care of you.” Rain said.

  “MY FACE… WHO CARES… Save my daughter, please…” The man screamed at him.

  Sidra, who was too busy helping the wounded, noticed the screaming. She turned to see what was happening.

  “Sir, please try and understand that this is war. And we all have lost some people. Please, remember that we will all end up in a grave one way or another.” Sidra told the man.

  “No, what did she ever do to anyone? She’s just a kid.” The man said as he cried and sat on the floor looking at his dead daughter.

  “I’m really sorry. Please let us take care of your wounds while we send for someone to help in burying your daughter.” Sidra said.

  The man cried and took his daughter and left. Rain and Sidra just looked at him as he walked away. They could not say anything else. They both went back to what they were doing. The sound of people screaming about the loss of their loved ones still stuck in their heads. It was around 8 AM when everyone at the hospital heard a big sound of explosion not far away. Due to the number of people at the hospital who needed help, they could not even look outside to see where the explosion was. Another explosion was heard, and once again, they ignored it. They kept helping the wounded as they kept coming in. About an hour later, Rain shouted at Sidra to leave what was in her hands and go with him.

  “Something is wrong… My bracelet turned red. I think the Burj was bombed.” Rain told her.

  “No, they would not dear…” She said not believing him.

  “We can’t go to the Burj and see. So, let’s go to the woods where we can have a clear view of the Burj. We have to stay at a safe distance.” Rain said.

  “Let’s just go.” She said leaving everything to the few staff members left at the hospital.

  They went into the woods and had a very clear view just like Rain said. They could not believe what they saw. The Burj was gone. And so was everyone in it. About ten tanks were in their way to the wreckage of the Burj. Samir was seen getting out of the Burj with few other people. Sidra and Rain witnessed Samir and the other guys get shot by the soldiers in the tanks. Sidra put her hands over her mouth not believing any of it. She just went into a complete shock.

  “It is a war, and we are not going to leave this world without a fight.” Rain said as he gave her a gun.

  She looked at him with her teary eyes not knowing what to do. After standing there for almost ten minutes, she finally realized that this was not the way to pay them back. She threw a way the gun and said,

  “I’m done. Let them rule a land with no people.”

  “What do you mean?” Rain asked.

  “I have seen enough. We did everything we could to stop them. We helped as much as we could. I want to leave Estil once and for all. I cannot see any more blood.” She said.

  “Aser is calling… Do not go anywhere. Please sit down.” He told her.

  “Leave the area immediately.” Aser ordered them and said, “Your names are on a kill list.”

  “Sidra… Sidra… Hey… Focus…” He shouted while shaking her. She had no response what so ever.

  “We can’t just leave, Aser. We might have to fight them before they approach us. We only have two guns. Also, Sidra is not responding.” Rain told Aser on the phone.

  “Do not get yourselves killed. Do whatever it takes to get out of their alive. It’s an order.” Aser said and hung up.

  Rain stood there not sure how to react or what to do. He couldn’t fight them. He couldn’t leave without Sidra who stood on a side with wide-opened eyes.

  “You want to leave? By all means… Do it... You cannot even do that now. Can you? We’re few minutes away from getting killed. We will get caught if we leave this place. We’re surrounded.” He told her.

  There was no response at all. She was completely traumatized as she saw her brother get killed. Rain sat down on the ground putting his hands over his head. He remembered his friends who were just killed right in front of him. He could not blame Sidra for going in a shock like that. He just had to be stronger.

  He remembered the bracelet and the purple code. He could use his and Sidra’s to cause a divergence while they escape. But once again, Sidra seemed like a dead person. There was no time. So he could not even think.

  “I need you to focus with me. SIDRA!” He slapped her as he yelled. It was a strong slap that she fell on the ground.

  “That did hurt.” She finally said something.

  “Good. That was the point.” He said, “We need to use code purple. We’re going to burn our way out of here.”

  “I don’t care. I do not feel like I want to live anymore. I want to leave this country. I hate it.” She said.

  “You have to live. Think of the future we tried to build together.” Rain said.

  “I did not want to come back to Estil last time I left. I thought about running. Then, I heard that you and my brother have been shot, so I came back.” She said.

  “For now, we need to leave. Just know whatever happens, I’m here for you.” He said and got up.

  He looked at his gun and had another idea. He took the bullets out and said, “Code purple”. The bracelet opened and turned purple. He threw it with the bullets away in the direction of the soldiers and the tanks. It exploded and everything around was covered by smoke. He grabbed Sidra and started running while shooting his way out with the other gun.

  After they went back to Orb, Sidra had already made up her mind.

  “What do you mean you want to leave?” Aser asked Sidra.

  “It’s not my fight anymore. What did I ever do to deserve seeing my brother and best friends get killed?” She questioned.

  “I’
m sorry about your friends and everything you had to go through. But you cannot leave. Not after opposing the administration the way you did.” Aser explained.

  “I only said what everyone was thinking.” She said.

  “I know. Few days from now, we will publicly announce the birth of Orb. We want you to be the speaker of the new era.” Aser told her and left the room asking her to think about it.

  At that point, Rain had it with her. He was feeling the pain just like she was, if not more. He just said without thinking,

  “You want to leave? Leave… Leave and never look back. I don’t want you here anymore.”

  Sidra never really expected that from him. She did not know what to say.

  “You just want to escape after what you did. I hope you know that they were killed because of what you said a week ago. They bombed the Burj because of you. Maybe we should’ve kept our mouths shut and not opposed the government so publicly.”

  Sidra knew that he was right. She left running to her room. She spent the next few days in bed. She never left Orb. No one spoke of the matter after that. One day, her mother, Jenna, safely arrived to Orb.

  “Mother?” Sidra said as she ran towards her mother and started crying, “They killed them. They killed them all.”

  “I know… I’m really sorry honey. They killed my son, your brother” Jenna said and cried.

  I’m not sure about what exactly Jenna and Sidra talked about. But whatever it was, Sidra almost got back to her usual self. Not long after that, the entire world saw Sidra on TV. The message was broadcasted on both national and international TV. It was also on YouTube, where people shared it and retweeted it over and over again.