"Well, this didn't work out entirely as it did in my head, when I decided on going back to the city.
I'm writing this in the basement of a row home in Center city, probably the area that's most prone to violence. I'm pretty hopeful and at least, confident, that the owner of the house doesn't know I'm here. It's strange, part of me wouldn't mind having someone to talk with.....
It's been close to two 'days' since I've come back to the city and tried sleeping on the overpass. It was terribly unsuccessful. About a half 'hour' into my sleep I was awoken by sirens and there were several guards running at me from either side of the bridge. I was cornered and thought about jumping to the street from the overpass but the fall could've been fatal or at the very least, highly injurious. The idea was inane at the time but I didn't abandon it.
The guards scattered 'voices' came at me as a rush but from what I was able to gather, I was inserted with a microchip after my arrest. I assumed then that the tracking device didn't have a very large radius. The guards told me to put my hands up and surrender. People were now lining the streets, taking in the scene. Many were disappointed that they were unable to get their bounty for me and I guess others were upset that I was found so soon. I heard one girl say, "Well, at least that was exciting while it lasted." I guess I had begun to receive some sort of a cult following.
I still don't understand how much of a threat I really am but the guards were cautious as they neared me and they seemed oblivious to know that the firearms they wielded were far more potent against me than any defensive I had. I saw that the guards were wearing their ear muffs, deafening any weapon I contained.
I remembered seeing a peculiar zip line, used for transporting cargo, just below the glass underpass. Panicking, I looked down and saw a very narrow ledge on the bottom of the overpass. As one of the sentries lunged for me, I threw my hooded cloak high in the air and stood on the ledge of the bridge.
"You want me alive, right? If any of you take any steps closer, I'll jump." I warned. Hands outstretched. The guards were immobilized and the leader of the operation ordered everyone to a halt. I had a few moments now to eye up the bridge and the narrow ledge just below while the head guard attempted to reason with me.
"Easy, buddy. We're not here to hurt you, just take my hand and we'll all be okay."
"Okay." I said and as I reached out my right hand, I threw my hooded cloak off with my left and hurled it high in the air. Before it landed, I hopped off the bridge and grabbed ahold of the ledge underneath it. My one hand slipped and I screamed a little as the bystanders below me were sent into a tizzy of pain, holding their ears and screaming in agony.
"Tell them to start the sirens." I heard above me. The head guard then began to climb over the ledge but his balance seemed to be off or something and he was unable to get over the railing. Some of the other guards tried as I dangled but none were able to. I had to move before the sirens would start and I'd most likely fall out of the paralysis the noises brought.
"Everyone, please remain calm and vacate the scene." The head guard said from above as more reinforcements arrived, pointing their guns at me.
"Step down from there son, or else we'll be forced to shoot." A guard said from below.
I kept quiet. One guard, who was capable enough, tried to grab me from above but he lost his balance and fell over the railing, landing on the guards directly below me. The guard, fell so close to me that I thought I was for sure going to be knocked off the ledge and I grabbed hold of some sort of lever that sent me flying through the air, on the aforementioned zip line.
The trip took me further into the city than I've gone so far. It lasted maybe a minute, but since I've been here my perception of time has become so inept. The ride felt long. It was arduous as trees, buildings and debris nearly truncated my flight...and my torso.
I was brought to the top of a building where the zip line goes though. It wasn't very wide and I began feeling suffocated and suffered minor claustrophobic bouts that made me want to fling myself over the edge of the rooftop. I came to when I caught a glimpse of the future city skyline that I'd yet to see and how it stretched long enough it gave me some sort of hope that this universe was where I needed to be.
And though it was industrial and the planet looked just as tampered as the one I previously left, it made me realize this urbanized evolution is inevitable and mankind as a whole, we're just a bunch of artists and we're angsty and mad at god or whoever made all of this and we have it somewhere in our minds that we can make something better and off we go, making all sorts of steel structures and mechanical devices to make our lives simpler but all we seem to do is complicate things.
It was in the stupor that was the vastness of the city that I was taken down, involuntarily, on an elevator that took me through the different floors of the warehouse I was atop of. I couldn't jump off the thing as I was probably 15 or so feet in the air, but it was a nice little tour. I got to see about 7 floors. The first four were workshops where tailors looked like they'd work. I'm not sure the specific name here. The next floor looked like, and I'd learn later, was the bedroom of someone who lived there. The elevator made a brief stop on the second to last floor where an elderly woman sat in a chair, sleeping. The tv was on and the static blue glow illuminated her face as she sat, conked out while I stared at her, frightened.
A million horrible thoughts went through my mind, a million awful scenes played out there too and each ended with her waking up, calling the cops and I'd be taken away.
The elevator seemed stuck for hours before it finally lowered to the bottom floor, a basement. I've been here now for quite some time. I heard the old woman get up and leave a little bit ago. I'm going to go investigate and use her bathroom but until then, she's got jars and jars of perishable canned goods that look like the peppers from the river.
It's a pretty terrible place here, though, in this part of the city. I'm not sure what the audible noise policy is here but I heard shouting and even some screaming for a good part of the night.
Hopefully, I won't be caught and can write again
-A.J."
