"I- I can't stop it. I'm sorry..."

"It's okay, it's okay. Just breathe. You don't have to be sorry for anything. I've got you. "

Blood gushed from between my fingers as he tightened his arms around me. My breath was staggered and my vision swam. The wound in my side spiked pain every time the train jolted on the tracks. As Min paced, her footsteps rang on the metal floor. Suddenly she stopped and hammered on the wall. I whimpered.

"Min stop that! She will be fine! She will...." Thomas winced. His words sounded hollow even to himself. I let go of my wound and slipped my fingers into his hand. As he glanced down at me, I gave a brief smile. My gaze shifted in and out of focus, but I saw him return the smile with a few tears added.

"I will...be...fine....but..... I'm sorry. I can't....stop....the blood."

A strangled sound came from Min and she turned away, opening the carriage door, looking out. Tom held my hand tighter; I put more pressure on the slice in my side. My mind flashed back to when the knife flew through the air.

It glinted in the sunlight. The path of the blade was reflected and mirrored in the surrounding windows of the modern skyscrapers, but Min didn't see it until too late.

The knife slipped easily into my flesh. You would expect if anyone was to scream, it would be me. But it wasn't. As I felt the impact of the knife, Min skrieked and pierced the still, hopeful atmosphere. The work that had been just completed, the lives that had just been lost for a purpose.....all that was undone in a second. It didn't matter that a government assassin was the culprit: the quietened battle spirits were flipped back into a frenzy. The war restarted.

‎I took a shuddering breath and a tear splashed onto my collar. Tom was shaking as well, with his face scrunched up and tears falling freely. We had hoped, we had all hoped, that today would mean the end of the fighting and our broken city could start to repair itself. And now that hope was lost.

Thomas, Min and I had fled the scene, stumbling through our retreating forces. Min supported me while Tom cleared a path and shot back at the raging oppositions. Despite the fact that our council had made the temporary peace, we were out numbered and caught in the crossfire, and the meagre amount of weapons we had brought would not have been enough to ensure our safety.

Our troops had wove through the battlefield and further into the city towards the station. We had boarded the council's train and set off to our closest refuge. I was not the only injury on our side. Three others died and a few had bullet wounds to their limbs. Mine was the only knife wound.

As we all had trained in first aid, as soon as we were in the carriage I focused on slowing the blood flow while Tom and Min tried in vain to find a thick enough, clean bandage and water. Once we had realised that there was nothing we could do, Tom had taken me in his arms and we all just sat there in numb shock. After a while, Min got up and started to pace.

Now she looked back at us and said "We're almost there."

Through the open doors I could see the trees and occasional buildings slowing down. I struggled to get up but the pain made me collapse again. Min came over as the train began to halt and she and Tom lifted me to my feet. I keeled over just as they caught me. They frog-marched me to the exit, but I tripped over every step. Shortly, Tom picked me up and we left the still moving train, jumping onto the platform. They took off at a run, heading deeper into the station underground. As we entered the tunnel, the dark washed over us, and I closed my eyes.

Sooooooooo, how did I do? Is it understandable? Is it engaging? Is it realistic? If you can be bothered, I'd be greatful for any feedback you'd like to give. And I hope you have a nice week! 😊