Sixty Flashes of Life

Chapter 13

Chapter 13.

[23:30]

They drove through other ruins of another place that was a year ago a blooming city, as well as many others. Their tank matched the surroundings perfectly: shelled with bullets, debris, and a hole of an RPG-7 shot in the armored skirt of their little baby. It had gone with them through so many battles that they started to call her Mommy as she was always near and ready to give her life for them.

The city around was in much worse shape than their Mommy: there were no unbroken buildings left, most of them lay in ruins and only a couple of low, one-story houses still fought their way to survive.

Eliot lay on the top of the tank, propped against his battle-brother's shoulder with his back, head dangled in the space according to the jolting movement of Mommy – rapid and jerking motions that would throw anyone off, but not them.

He had been slumbering for the last hour as they started to draw nearer the city. It should have been completely liberated by the attack team that chased the enemy out of the city towards their own borders, so Eliot's team could feel a bit at ease there.

However, no one knew how many of those inhuman monsters were hiding in every possible hole, cellars, bomb shelters, and just amidst of those few remnants of local people who seemed to be as scarce as blue wales nowadays, that were only to fight for their existence.

Someone gently clapped him on the right shoulder, dragging him out of that sweet dream about his ex-girlfriend, who was not ex in the dream yet. He would have had sexual dreams in any other situations probably, but this time he dreamed only of holding her in his hands, tightly pressing her head into his chest. The only three words were on his lips that did not want to come out.

"Huh," he mumbled, his head ached as if he had a bachelor party the day before, and turned his head. That happened to be Kraken, the man whose real name was Steve, but it was used as often as diskettes nowadays. He was Kraken, and no one really wanted to see him fly off the handle.

Kraken had a nice, calming face of a young boy, probably around twenty-four years old, but no one dared to call him –nor anyone else there in their team– a boy anymore. Kraken himself had been through hell and back so many times that if he was to be buried, they would have needed to build a new cemetery for him only.

"Look," he snapped, his voice drowsy and hoarse as well, and nodded towards the sidewalk along which they had been driving for the last couple of minutes.

Two silhouettes caught his eyes right away as he turned around. Although his head still felt dizzy, and the feeling of the gone dream did not want to let him go, he immediately made the connection of what was going on.

The roar of the tank was so loud that anyone would not be able to hear the man's, who knelt down near the sidewalk, weeping; but even though Eliot did not hear it physically, he could imagine hearing it from the shivering of the man's lips and shoulders.

Eliot knew the man was weeping, and he also knew why. The person stood on his bare knees, as his trousers were too ripped off to be called clothes anymore, and hid his face underneath his palms.

There were no dead children, wife or any other person lying in front of him that the man could mourn for. Eliot had seen too many of such situations that seemed not to surprise him anymore.

However, that man was different. He simply stood on his knees, like a samurai who was to be beheaded, mourning for the horrors of existence.

Behind him stood another silhouette that took no participation in that picture. That silhouette seemed to like staying aloof, watching the whole scene, and indulging on his position of an observer.

The silhouette seemed to be familiar to Eliot, as if it was someone from his childhood, but he could not wrap his mind about who was that exactly. He wanted to jump off the tank and trot to the old friend of his, but they were driving too fast and in a line with other troops to do so.

He would have been run over with another tank if he dared to do so.

No one seemed to care. Even Kraken turned his head away, and looked forward. After this city, they will find others not in a better shape. Those monsters had been in them, and the result was inevitable – they always left ruins after themselves.

Eliot closed his eyes again. There was not much time for them before another battle rage out in a new place. He had to get some rest to be the leader for his team, as they had seen him for months already.

There were only two things that were on his mind at that moment: no mercy for those damn monsters, and—

her gentle feeling of body, which he could not grab with his hands.