Humanity's End {ON HOLD}

Chapter 1: He calms

As Sawyer jogged on the soft sand, his flippers and mask in hand, he could feel the phone in his pocket. It would not stop vibrating and he gritted his teeth every time he felt the buzz against his leg.

He slowed to a walk when he feels the water at his ankles, the wind biting at his skin. Sawyer slipped off his shirt gracefully, chucking the dreaded phone onto the ground with it. He sighed, putting on his mask and flippers before diving into the water.

They always say not to run from your troubles and to always deal with them face on. Sawyer knew this and most of the time, he believed it. It's probably why he felt so shameful about doing this instead, he had work to do and problems to face and he wasn't doing them.

I shouldn't be put under this stress, he thought sourly as he swam deeper, deeper into the unknowns of the water surrounding him. Below him was coral, colour filling his vision. It was meant to calm him; he needed it to calm him. Whenever he felt stressed, which had been happening a lot recently, he had always come to the reef, it was the one place he could completely forget all his troubles, even if it seemed that there was far less coral and far less fish than when he came a few days ago. 

How many more missed calls would I have now that I've been in here? Jaydn will be mad. He's always mad. The breaths he took through his snorkel gear were short and shaky. He was stressing out, even more then before about this stupid task he was set to do.

Below him swam several butterfly fish, their yellow scales moving up and down, up and down. He tried so hard to focus on the rhythm; hoping it would soothe him. Why'd he set me on the task just one day before anyway? I'm only 22, I should be in school like a normal student, there are so many other army trainees who would be better and I won't be ready to start the task tomorrow. I'm not enough.

He shook his head and took a deep breath before diving deeper into the reef. His snorkel was clogged up and he spat it out of his mouth, mindlessly chasing the trout swimming past. Sawyer felt his lungs getting tighter and he slowly swam back up, breathing in a deep breath when he broke the surface. He stuck the snorkel back in his mouth, blowing out the excess water. He was shivering, his teeth slowly starting to chatter.

I don't care about any of it. I want a normal life, I want more friends and I wish my parents were still alive. As soon as the thought was created, he knew he was lying to himself, it wasn't true. He did care; he desperately found serenity in his training program to be in the army, even if he was one of the youngest there. He loved the feeling of power it gave him; it was great to feel different to other people his age. If he did complete that task, the reward was amazing. They'd give him a trial run in Pakistan; he could score an amazing opportunity. He wasn't lying about wanting his parents back though; he needed them now more than ever.

He sighed and rubbed his mask as it fogged up before diving back under the water just in time to see a Wrasse swim lazily along. He smiled into his snorkel as he swam towards it and resisted the urge to touch it with his fingertips, as he knew he could. With its big lips and tiny eyes, he felt a loving for the fish; it was not like the others where it would just swim faster away at his touch, but he knew that it was only because the fish couldn't.

He reached out to it again, but it was already gone. I can do the task, he suddenly thought. Jaydn is almost like the father I never had, he gave me the task because he trusts me. Somehow, he completely relaxed into the water, ignoring the cold as he swam on. If he was looking closer, he probably would've noticed the abnormally large, red claw coming through the sand, only slightly moving the sand it found itself under, almost like it didn't want to be seen. It succeeded well; only its claw was above the sand, the rest of its body hidden away.

There are a lot of things people would notice more, if they just looked a little closer, a little harder, though sometimes our minds are distracting and controlling.

He didn't know how long it was after that he resurfaced onto the shore, Sawyer saw a figure sitting beside his shirt and instantly knew who it was. Of course she'd know he was here, they'd been together for nearly two years and she probably knew him better then he knew himself.

As soon as Sawyer was standing properly out of the water, Alexis came up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, laying her head against his chest. She didn't flinch against the water staining her shirt and dripping on her dark hair, she embraced it. Sawyer immediately enveloped her in his arms, relaxing against her touch and pushing his head into her shoulder.

"I've been worried; you were in there for nearly an hour." Her voice was muffled because she spoke into his chest, but it didn't keep Sawyer from hearing the concern in her voice.

"I'm sorry, this task just has me all stressed out. You should have seen me, if I'd come home you would have freaked." Sawyer chuckled, but she pulled back, frowning, her brown eyes full of concern.

"You haven't told me what you have to do for the task. If it has you that bad, I need to know," She pointed out and he sighed, pulling a hand through his wet, brown hair. He always knew she'd have to know, obviously, but he was scared she'd completely freak. She already wasn't fussed in the idea of him joining the army, even if he wasn't to go into the field for a while.

"Well, I know Jaydn had said that he didn't want me to do anything too grueling because of my age, but he wants to send me over to the hospital for soldiers in Canada for a week. He says that when I'm there I need to learn about the soldiers wounds, I need to know how to treat them or I'll have to start my training again..." Sawyer trailed off, pointedly trying not to look into Alexis' eyes.

Sawyer was always used to being put into situations like that. He had only joined the army training program 6 months ago, after one of his teachers recommended him. He was taken straight out of school and put into the program, the youngest person they had ever had.

Alexis stared at him open-mouthed before her eyes narrowed. "Of course Jaydn would send you on a task like that, the no-good bastard. You've put so much effort into this, sacrificing so much and he's threatening to make you start-"

"Hey, hey. It's okay," Sawyer said softly, inching closer as he seized her fingertips. "I know I can do it and Jaydn's only doing it for my benefit. I bet you he doesn't even mean it. Let's go home," he assured her, tugging her along the sand before draping his arm around her shoulders. He picked up his shirt and phone and they walked back along the beach.

For a second, Sawyer swore he saw something race through the grass out of his peripheral vision but when he looked, he saw nothing.

I've finally done the first part of my story. Obviously there's not much plot here, but it'll come. If you have any feedback, or there were any moments you frowned at, please point them out to me, it's the whole reason I'm on Wattpad