Burnt to the Ground

Our entire world is a wreck. Fire burns everywhere; it's all I can see. I can smell the humid air, hung thick with heat. A metallic taste of blood hangs in the air alongside it. It seems the world is void of oxygen. I can taste the heat too. Dirty. Scary. Screaming. That sound rings in my ears. It never stops. A forlorn mother, her dead child limp in her arms. A child, orphaned and confused, screaming for their family. A dog, howling at the moon. I walk forward. The dry mud underfoot cracks and crumbles. I touch the floor. Crisp and dry, like overcooked or burnt bread. That's what the village seems to be now. Burnt to the ground.

What did we do to deserve this?

Our once proud village is now desolate and crumbling. The long dirt road is now strewn with bodies, alive and dead, searching for loved ones and loved ones long gone. The homes that used to stand tall, whitewashed paint and strong infrastructure each side of the path, was now collapsed and a dirty grey colour, any hints of the old paint reduced to dust. Any hint of happiness stamped out like a light.

Why did I let this happen?

I stare at myself in my mother's pocket mirror. The only thing I was able to save. My normally pale white face has smudges of ash and soot on it. My brown hair is tangled, and sticks up in places. It's greasy too. My face has odd scratches and cuts on it. The rest of my body is dotted with black and blue bruises and scarlet cuts.

I slam the lid down. What's going to happen next?

I grit my teeth. I know what will happen next. I need to get everyone out.

How?

I run to the top of the street, and grab the nearest person. "Go south. Grab the supplies and go south"

I stare at them. "Please. Don't let us fall again. I will stay with some others. Please run"

He obeys.

Grabbing almost all of the supplies, he gathers the living, old and young, and run into the eerie blackness of the night.

And hours pass in the cold night. We stay. Waiting.

But that's when we hear it.

A soft marching. Unhinged. Formless. From the old silence of the night.

It gets louder. WE can't leave the village deserted. An uneasy feeling settles in my stomach.

Louder. I can't leave.

Louder. Creaking comes from behind me. Some of us are abandoning our city.

Louder. I can't leave

Louder. I can't leave

Louder. I can't leave.

Louder. I can't leave! Even if I wanted too. They've arrived.

Sneering faces. Sly like Foxes. The wind howls like a wolf. I stand there, waiting.....

The bullets rain.

Run.