My feet pounded on the sidewalk, in harmony with the pounding of my heart. I ran up the street, whether towards my goal or away from my guilt, I couldn't tell.

That kid was run over wasn't he?

My feet pounded the sidewalk in a, thump-thump-thump-thump.

It was my fault. I should've helped him.

thu-thump-thu-thump-thu-thump, went my heart.

I warned him not to jump. It's not my fault.

I missed a step and stumbled. I fell for the second time in an hour, getting a close up look at the pavement, but I hardly felt it.

I hate myself.

Standing up, I smoothed out my shirt and finger combed my hair. If my hands trembled a little, it was because they were still aching from all that waving around I did earlier.

I took a deep breath and checked the time. It was 11:25.

I should've at least checked the red stain on the street. To confirm if it was blood or something else. If the boy was run over, there should've been a body or something. It doesn't make sense. Maybe the boy really did just board the school bus. It's too late to check now though.

I sighed. What's done is done. I should notify someone about the possible accident.

I was about to call the police or an ambulance, but then I remembered that my phone was acting up.

Looking around, I realized that I had gone quite the distance in my headlong charge up the street. The buildings here had a subtly different style compared to where I had met the boy before, painted in monochromatic colors. I couldn't be sure because at some point the sky had become overcast. Even at the best of times, I barely paid attention to where I was going, not to mention the past few minutes. The sight of those abandoned balloons was seared in my eyes no matter how far or fast I ran.

Why did I run?

I sighed. Now was not the time for this. This section of the street had was almost flat, and in the distance I saw a crowd of 20-30 people gathered on the sidewalk. A stiff breeze made me shiver and stumble back a few steps.

There are people here after all. I should get them to check on the child.

As I got closer, I noticed one of the street lanes was blocked off, with four huge vehicles idling beyond the barricade. I almost flinched when I saw their yellow color, then realized they were construction vehicles instead of school buses.

I paid them no mind and briskly walked up to the closest person. "Afternoon sir, can you please help me?"

I almost expected them to ignore me like everyone in this godforsaken street had, but fortunately the man turned around and smiled. "Hello there, you look like shit. What happened man?"

"I know," I smiled in relief. I injected a hint of urgency in my voice and said, "Can you please come with me? I thought I saw a child got run over earlier. I can't find him anywhere. My phone's acting up too, so I haven't called the emergency services."

The man gasped in shock. "Damn! That's terrible. Are you sure?"

I hesitated. "I didn't see it happen, but one moment the child was there, then a bus sped past, and the child was gone. There was a puddle of red on the street. I think it was blood. Please, could you just search for him? Or at least do you have a phone I can borrow?"

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The man smiled awkwardly. "Ah, sorry man, I'm a bit busy right now. See that?" The man pointed at the building the crowd had gathered around. "It's our home. It's about to be unfairly demolished! I need to stay here. Why, these damned bastards had-"

I interrupted the man, "But the child..."

"Yes, I'm sorry to hear that. But if like you said, the kid's gotten run over by a bus, then it's hopeless. What do you expect us to do?"

I stared at him blankly. "Could you lend me your phone at least? I need to call the emergency services."

"Ah sorry again, this is awkward. How should I say this? I don't have my phone with me. How about you ask someone else? I need to go prevent those bastards from tearing my house down. Sorry, excuse me." Without another word, the man walked deeper into the crowd.

A scoff of disbelief escaped my lips. I had no time to waste though, so I approached another person at the edge of the crowd and went over it all again.

But it was useless. One and all, they responded in the same way. That they were sorry it happened, and no, they were really busy and couldn't check. Am I sure I saw it right? Sorry, but they can't lend me their phones and had to go.

How could they do this? How could they hear about a child's possible death and just move on with their lives? What's so important that they can't spare the time?

With a jolt, I checked the time. It was 11:30. I bit my lips in frustration.

Can’t they even bother to lend me a phone? No one has it with them? Bullshit! Who doesn't keep their phone around in this day and age? They just don't want to get entangled in something they considered bothersome.

I paused.

Do I really want to borrow the phone to call emergency services? Was it really just for that? Not to call a taxi? Like they said, the child is dead. Even if he wasn't, he'll be dead by now. I ran and left him.

A bitter smile creased my lips. Ah, I'm the worst. I was so disgusted with the crowd. For their indifference and callousness. Am I any different? Aren't I worse?

Enough, it's too late for the child. If the child was really run over, then it was too late the moment I decided to ignore him. Nothing I can do for him now. If I really want to call the emergency services, doing it in half an hour will make no difference at this point. I should reach the Tower first. I can use the office's phone then.

I pushed my way through the crowd. I've wasted too much time here. At least it allowed me to recover and catch my breath a bit.

Once I got past the crowd, the rest of the street was revealed to me. I would need to go downhill from here. There's still a lot of ground to cover until the end of the street, but I could already see it now. The street ended at an crossroad branching left and right. Lining the end of the street was a series of two-story houses complete with lawns bordering the sidewalk. From my position at the crest of the street, I was able to look past these houses to the river flowing behind them. And there, on the other side of the river and just barely visible, the Stratos Tower stood tall and proud.

My heart lifted at the sight of my destination.

The bus driver didn't lie after all. I just need to reach the end of the street and cross the river. I still have half an hour. I can do this.

For a moment I considered asking the crowd behind me for directions on how to cross the river, but they were too busy arguing with the foreman of the construction crew.

I hadn't tried to talk to him earlier had I? Maybe he'll agree to lend me his phone or look for the child? No, it's useless to rely on others.

I left them to their argument and leaned forward, trying to make out details of the river. At a closer look, I saw a bridge I could cross if I took the right path at the end of the street.

Just then, I heard raised voices behind me.

"You can't do this!"

"Compensate us properly!"

"You're breaking the law!"

"Shut up! You're obstructing our operations. I don't care what ya'll think, just stay behind the line. I won't care if you get hurt otherwise!"

I was somewhat amused at the crowd's distress. I thought they were protesting the demolition of their homes, but it looked like they just wanted more money. A greedy lot who'd rather go after money than help a child.

I grimaced as my heart twinge. I rubbed my chest and turned around to watch the demolition.

I'll just watch for a bit. I'm probably still out of breath. I really should just jog from here on out. It'll be faster in the long run.

The crowd was gathering and shouting at a man wearing a safety vest and hard helmet. His face was red from all the shouting. "I've had enough! We have work to do! Do it!"

One of the construction vehicles moved, swinging a wrecking ball into the apartment building. It crumbled in an instant.

A piercing scream rang out from the building.

Was there someone still in there?

I looked around at the crowd, but they showed no signs of hearing it, still shouting at the foreman.

I should check that out.

I hesitated and glanced down at the time—it was 11:34.

It must've been the wind.

I turned around and jogged down the street, eyes on the Stratos Tower in the distance.