4 Allergic Reaction: 03

Didn't take long for my eyes to get heavy again. To avoid it I reached for my phone right when a sudden break moviment made everybody lose balance for a second. The bus had stopped in the middle of the street halfway to the next station. Beyond the front window there were lines and lines of cars and buses ahead of us, all trapped in an intersection. The traffic light was broken, switching from color to color non stop, causing the cars to bump into each other until they blocked the avenue.

People inside the bus soon started to panic. Some were shouting as if there was actually someone driving the thing when it was only a recording telling us to remain calm until the situation could be resolved. Others began to hit windows and doors even though they were all bullet-proof. I don't like crowds, that's why I roller skate everywhere so I don't have to be in contact with strangers.

After 5 minutes in that nonsense I pushed myself through the sea of people until I could reach the closest door and press the emergency button. A loud alarm went on telling us to stay away from the doors before they opened. As soon as mine did I jumped out.

On the sidewalk I sat down and started to plug the skates on my sneakers. Using voice command I searched for the fastest route to the station, calculating how long it would take to get away from that mess caused by the hacked traffic light. Incredible how the rebellion always picked up the perfect days to ruin everyone's lives. What a damn traffic light would do to improve their cause. That mystery would have to remain unsolved since I had to move.

Just when I tried to be a normal citizen and travel along with society the skates pulled me back in. As I rolled past the cars and the angry people inside them shouting at each other I remembered why skating through the city was so much better than being trapped inside a metal box. Reaching the intersection there was an ugly accident between four cars that collided with each other from different directions

Not to mention the other cars that crashed behind them causing a domino effect.

Leaving all that mess behind, I saw the cops and ambulances on their way before getting trapped in the traffic jam, buzzing impatiently at cars to move out of the way. Since all tracks were full it would be complicated to get through.

I was moving from the street to the sidewalk to make it left on the next corner when a car trying to make space for the ambulance drove over to the sidewalk and into my way. With a fast reflex I jumped over the car hood at the last minute, scaring the driver who stepped on the brakes cursing at my back while I skated away. Everyone was on edge, they knew they wouldn't get home so soon.

In my head I had the route I looked up and my map of the city. I knew the train stations better than anywhere else, that included knowing paths that weren't exactly streets. Blanding them together I came up with a plan that would require a lot of energy but would get me there on time. If I didn't make it before the last train I would be sleeping on a bench somewhere and that meant waking with a kick in the stomach from a cop. Unfortunately, I could still feel the last one.

Running through the city at night made me think about my first pair of skates. The owner of a restaurant to make deliveries gave it to me when I was fifteen. Even years later I still remembered the moment, he didn't mean it like a gift, still it was just the first time somebody gave me anything. It was an old model with the skates attached to the boots, you had to wear like shoes and couldn't switch the wheels. My knees had open wounds for weeks before I learned how to effectively skate around without falling while doing deliveries. Those wheels were stuck on my feet for a year. That's how long it took me to gather the money to buy a newer model with detachable skates I could put on my sneakers and take off whenever I needed to enter a building to drop a package. Doing deliveries saved me from starving and gave me a place to sleep. The restaurant was open 24h, I worked the night shifts and the owner let me sleep in the small storage during the day.

To think that such a simple thing changed my life, they got me so much and would get me home. There was only one thing standing in my way, stairs. Half way through there was a bridge that would save me time from contouring the highway but it had a lifetime of stairs to get to top and God I had a bad lung.

As I arrived I sat on the first steps, took off the wheels and began my escalade. While in the first case I was proud of my pace, strong, two steps at a time a real champion but as I looked up and saw nine more, divided in five levels I saved my breath and accepted defeat. While climbing the infinite steps to elderly life I pictured the short footbridge. Then down another set of stairs, leading to more half a mile west and I'd be at the station.

At the top I checked my screen, 15 minutes to the last train. I plugged my skates and rolled as a lighting to the other side, took them off and ran down the stairs as if the cops were after me. Back on the ground after plugging the wheels for the second time, one last check, 9 minutes to the train. I could do it. Going as fast as I could with the last bit of energy I had I watched the train arrive at the station. On my left I had the highways that connect the four sides of the city, on my right residential buildings. The only light came from three light posts lined up from the footbridge to the station, painting everything blue below.

With all my strength I was skating towards my goal when sparkling red lights popped up in front of me. I started to slow down the closer I got, already cursing the Gods in silence.

- Hands up!