Scene 1
Grit.
That's what fills your mouth when your face is smashed into the ground. It will be bits of bloody tooth mixed with the dust and dirt you inhale as you try to stay conscious.
Raith could make out the face of the kid lying next to him: bloody nose, one cheek caved in from a couple of stomps of a dirty foot. Dead eyes. The kid was probably alive, but Raith didn't care. He had his own problems to deal with.
A huge tug flipped Raith onto his back, the sun blinding his eye. It was a hot, dusty day. Darkness engulfed his other eye.
A shadow blocked the sun. Raith's stomach caved inward, and today's lunch exploded out of his face.
"ARRGGGGHHH!"
He heaved, trying to take a breath. It felt like there was a leaky cork stopper in his throat. It was becoming very hard to stay awake.
"Let's go! Leave these suckers here. Fatso's mama might come looking." a kid's voice commanded.
Raith finally managed to suck some air in, along with the vomit. His mind faded in and out as a coughing fit wracked his body. He wheezed and gulped like a fish as the dust around him settled. The pain was starting to fill his consciousness now. His temple felt like it was cracking open...no. His entire body felt like it was melting, bones and all. He blinked through searing pain in his eye as puke leaked down the side of his face.
There was another kid sobbing.
Ah, that's right. There were three of us.
His breathing eventually stabilized. Like a corpse turning in its grave, Raith pushed off the ground with one elbow and rolled onto his shoulder, then flopped onto his chest. Scraping his knees along the ground towards his stomach and pushing up, he managed to sit himself onto his calves. Raith attempted to make sense of his surroundings, desperately clinging to focus.
The kid next to him was still on his back, one side of his face bruised and swollen. Past him was a larger figure. Mickey was bawling his eyes out in a fetal position. That was bad. Arnold wouldn't stand for that. A trickle of dread leaked into Raith's deadened heart.
"Come on Mickey." he wheezed.
Raith dragged himself to his feet and staggered to where Mickey was, managing to stumble over the unconscious kid on the way. He reached down, took hold of Mickey's arm and gave it a feeble tug.
"We have to go...come on."
After a few more tugs, Mickey's sobbing hiccupped to a halt and he hobbled to his feet. He wasn't as tall as Raith, but he was much heavier. Raith wasn't looking forward to dragging his brother all the way home, so he needed some cooperation.
"Let go!" Mickey snarled, flinging Raith's arm away. "I can walk myself."
They trudged out of the alleyway, leaving the other kid groaning on the ground.
They didn't look back.