Handprint

• Giselle Kershaw, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2015

"I hope you don't mind, I helped myself to your semi-automatic rifle."
That's what I heard upon entering the apartment. I flicked the lights on and dropped the groceries. There was a pile of corpses in the middle of the room and blood on the floor, guts on the walls and brains on the granite countertop.
"Connie, you do know I'm only borrowing this place, don't you?" I said, exasperated, "How the hell am I gonna clear this up by morning?"
"Oh, Leandra. You do worry so." He sighed innocently, sipping his cup of coffee.

The second time I met Connie, he was sitting in my little wood hut and warming his pale hands over a fire he'd built. We were both wearing the same clothes as we had the first time we'd met face to face. Again, corpses were strewn around my campsite. Brilliant.
"I'm looking for a place. Mine blew up." It's like he takes all this like a joke! I was furious with him. However, I didn't really have time to be because the next second we were taken.

When I woke up, Connie was behind me. I didn't know where we were, as I had a blindfold on.
"Children shouldn't play with guns." a lady purrs, presumably in his ear.
"Who said I was playing?" he growls. I keep my head down, but I flinch when a hear a slap and a kicking sound.
"Have you still got your blindfold on?" His voice came from where he was tied up behind me.
"Yes."
"Promise me you won't take it off."
"Fine!" I barked. I heard gunshots, and slap of skin against skin. A few minutes passed of these steady sounds and I felt hands on the sides of my head and pulling off my blindfold. I was looking into the brown eyes of Connie.
"So, what now?" I stared at him, not really wanting to look at the gore around me.
"Now, we escape."
"Well, untie me!" I was too impatient. I have always been. He untied me and helped me up.
"Now, we corrupt the security system and walk out the front door." He smiled.
"And how are we supposed to do that without being seen, genius?"
"Well, we collect these people's weapons, and kill whoever sees us, ok?"

We almost did make it out. I pressed buttons, he killed people, we ran. There were so many guards. The door was closing and we ran through, but so did they. I shot some of them, and Connie was a blur. The door slammed. We leant against it, victorious.

But more guards appeared, seemingly from nowhere and I was so goddamn scared. I turned to Connie who whispered "You know how you always thought I was brave?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, I'm about to prove you wrong!" and he turned and ran, holding onto my hand. We ran so far, but when I stopped in the woods, I discovered I'd only been holding a handprint.