From Within

Aftermath

It's dark and raining, an old man steers his boat back to his hometown. A young boy lies unconscious in one of the rooms below deck, unaware of the happenings that have come to pass. The old man gazes upon the horizon and sees a glimmer of light starting to shine through the distant dark clouds. His heart pounds, he doesn't know what to expect when he'll finally reach the docks. In the freezing cold morning air his shirt is drenched with sweat. The old man is feeling more anxious than he's ever felt before. He knows not what to think, thoughts are making their way into and out of his brain. His own self is fighting against his ego in his mind, full of uncertainty and guilt. He finally spots the docks, the dim light leads him closer...

"Oh, no..", he says as he spots his hometown...

He lands and silently looks onto his town. Dozens of buildings on his right line of sight are now lying flat, destroyed. The boats that were docked are now meters deep below the surface of the water. The fishermen are pulling their floating belongings out of the water. But there's no one among the ruined buildings.

"Maya... What have I done?"

The old man heads below deck to get the boy. He's still unconscious. The old man picks him up and carries him out.

"Grayson! Where were you?! The boy.. is he alright?!", a fisherman calls out.

"Out cold... I need to get him to the medical center. What happened? Is everyone okay?", the old man says.

"Freak storm, many got hurt. Medical center... The others are already there... Come on, get the boy in my truck. I'll take you guys over.", the fisherman says.

The old man lays the young boy down on to the back seat of the fisherman's truck. They all head to the medical center together instantly. As they are riding past the ruined buildings, the old man stares and ponders. The home of his old friend Maya, caretaker of Ava, also lies flat alongside the others.

"A damn shame, really. No one saw it coming. The houses suddenly started trembling and shaking in the harsh wind. Then I heard people call out, yelled they were flooded.", the fisherman says as he drives.

"Damn..." the old man says..

"I headed out immediately... Before I even got to these houses here, they were already flattened. The others and I searched through the rubble to find survivors... We've been up since around past twelve. Seeing what happened to these people was the hardest sight in my life to bear witness."

"That house over there... Did you find any survivors?"

"Oh, lad... You should check with the medics. Miss Maya was unconscious when the others found her. Her girl is fine though... She was the one screaming for help, they found her and miss Maya together. The girl was holding tightly onto her caretaker when they found her.", the fisherman says.

The old man looks down and wipes his hand across his face. All his emotions started to boil up inside of him... Guilt, anger, regret and sadness... All being suppressed, as the old man was trying not to give himself away.

"You alright there, lad?", the fisherman asks.

"Yeah.. Just feeling tired. That's all."

"What happened to the boy? He's not looking too well.", the fisherman says.

"I don't know what happened... We were out at sea for the whole day and night... He might have... been dehydrated."

"Aah..."

The men finally arrive at the medical center. They stop right in front of the gate. The whole place is crowded.

"It's this bad huh?", the old man asks.