"Hah! Hah! Hah!"
Miguel's panting voice echoed in his own ears amidst the chaos all around him as he ran towards his home.
'The direction of that explosion seems to be coming from back home.' He could feel his heart threatening to bust out of his chest at that thought.
The situation in Santa Ricardo favela was quite different from the other favelas.
Most favelas were usually lorded over by one gang. But Santa Ricardo was like a war zone, a field of battle for two rival gangs fighting for monopoly and supremacy.
The Axe brother gang was one of the ruling gangs in the favela. There were a gang formed by migrants, people who weren't born in Santa Ricardo.
There were a bunch of ruthless fellows who specializes in illegal drug pushing, thuggery, child trafficking, forced prostitution and various other crimes. Their main objective was to be the local overlord of Santa Ricardo.
However, their rivals the Santa Ricardo Eses, were a gang formed by the natives resident of Santa Ricardo.
They are also involved in the crime world just like their opposition and they believed it to be a disgrace to them for a gang formed by outsiders to rule over their favela.
The rivalry between these two gangs was common knowledge in Santa Ricardo, with occasional conflict sparking between them and even rare gang wars.
It was already past sunset and the night was slowly creeping, the booming sounds of explosion and sounds of rapid gunfire resounded marking the evening as an unpleasant one.
"Run! Run quickly, those gangsters are at it again"
"Louis! Louis where are you! Louis!!"
"Help! Somebody please help me my child is still in there, please somebody!"
It was absolute chaos as Miguel ran through the streets, screams echoed in the surrounding as people were running helter skelter trying their best to get away from the area of the battle.
Buildings were already on fire with people even trapped in some of them.
While everyone were running from the scene of explosion, Miguel on the other hand was running towards the direction.
As he approached his apartment location, the smell of gunpowder assaulted his nostril and the occasional explosion momentarily lighting up the place.
As soon as he turned the corner, Miguel's figure halted and his heart nearly leaped out of his chest.
Right before his eyes was his apartment building which he left not long ago, but now it looked dilapidated and was currently on fire.
"Please be okay mom, dad, big brother" Miguel prayed in his heart before running into the flaming building.
The guts it would take for a ten year old boy to run into a flaming building was something only a favela kid would possess.
Miguel bursted into the building to be stopped by the smoke and heat of the flame.
The crackling of burning wood and the acrid smell of burnt plastic and charred flesh filled the air.
Braving through the flames, smoke and collapsing building, Miguel arrived before the door to their apartment.
Without pausing, without thinking, he bursted through the door. His eyes scanning the room for any signs of his parents. However, his chest tighten even more at the view before him.
The upper floor had already collapsed into their apartment and the smoke from burning wood assaulted his face making his eyes burn and tear up.
'I'll get a blanket from mom and dad's room, soak it up and then leave. Thank goodness they aren't here." Miguel's mind felt relieved as he pushed through the door to his parents room. But his world instantly froze in that particular moment.
Right before the door was his mother lying lifeless on the floor.
Many parts of her body were burnt badly and there was a bleeding hole on her left shoulder.
Not far from there was his father, lying lifeless in a pool of his own blood.
A piece of heavy concrete from the ceiling was pressing down on him with a few broken rods impaling his chest.
Miguel's breathing caught in his throat as he stumbled backwards, his eyes fixed on his parents lifeless body as tears blurred his vision.
Creak! Creak!!
A creaking sound from the surrounding into his ears quickly jolted him out of his semi-conscious state and he hurriedly knelt beside his mother while shaking her body.
"Mother! Mother get up quickly the house is about to collapse" he called out in a panicked state, yet he got no reply.
"Mother please get up, father, mother isn't responding please say something"
He kept shaking them and calling out to his parents but got no reply. The final sliver of hope he held was violently dispersed by reality.
His parents were no more.
The metallic scent of blood mix with the smell of smoke and ash filled Miguel's nostril as he knelt beside the lifeless body of his mother.
The cold floor beneath him seemed to seep into his bone as his body convulsed from sobs, his tears falling on her lifeless hand.
Even though he was just a little boy of ten, the life of exposure in the favela coupled with his elder brother's teachings and instructions had made his mind more matured than his age.
"Mother, father please say something I beg you" Miguel pleaded amidst sobs.
Kneeling and crying, a piece of burning wood fell beside him, jolting him back to his current situation.
'Let's calm down, Julio said to always try to remain calm. Brother! Where's elder brother?!' as soon as this thought crossed his mind he remembered that he hasn't seen his elder brother.
Miguel's heart pounded in his chest like a drum as he called out for his brother. His palms were slick with sweat, and his voice trembled with fear.
"Julio! Julio where are you?!" Miguel shouted as he stood up to look for his brother.
However, his yelling echoing in the already creaking building was like the final straw.
Due to the tiny vibration of his voice's echo, a fist size piece of concrete broke off from the ceiling and smashed into the back of his head.
The force of impact pushing him to the ground and his consciousness gradually fading.
The last thing Miguel saw was the lifeless bodies of his parents forever etched in his mind.
***
A/N: Phew, it ain't easy but I'll try to keep the fire burning. Please let me know your thoughts.