"Get in!" shouts as my Father tells us to get in the car. He twists the key and we speed up as fast as it can. The tires screech against the asphalt as he drives to the limit. I look in the back window and watch the city unravel—buildings crumbling, fires spreading, people running in every direction, desperate to get away. What was once a safe haven turned into a warzone, a place in chaos.
The car races. Explosions were just right behind us. The roads were bumpy and full of cracks, forcing him to swerve and turn to avoid them. People were desperately asking for help, but we ignored it, driven by the instinct to survive. We were running low on gas and needed to conserve what little we had left, but he kept going, until the car sputtered and eventually broke down in the middle of the road. My father curses under his breath, slamming the steering wheel in frustration. "No... no, no!" he shouts, pounding the horn thinking it could bring it back to life.
"Hurry! Move out!" he commands and we scramble out of the car. I grabbed my little sister's hand, holding on tight. We started running desperately, the sound of explosions coming closer and closer. Just as we thought we got away, a missile hits nearby. The ground erupts, the blast throws us off our feet, sending us tumbling in the dirt as the world turns to havoc.
I hit the ground rough, pain radiating through my body. My head, my ribs ache. The world felt like it was spinning. Miraculously, none of us got injured, though we were exhausted, my whole body giving up. Mother's faint but urgent voice reached me. "Bennett!" My mother's desperate voice. "Get your sister!"
I forced myself to withstand it. Without hesitation, I sprinted towards her. My legs feel tired—every step gets more difficult than the last—but I eventually reach her. I gather her in my arms and cry in despair, her sobs hurting me every single time.
"It's okay. Don't worry." I whisper, but deep down I knew that it was a lie. I hand her her teddy bear. "Here's Cloud. I promise everything will be okay." She sniffles, her tears slowly subside as she hugs her bear. For a moment, it felt like it was back to normal again.
Then it happened—another missile.
The blast sends a shockwave and everything goes white. The last thing I hear is my mother's scream—a terrified sound that echoes through my head. Then everything goes silent—pitch black.
When I woke up, the world was eerily quiet, but the pain still lingers, radiating in each and every part of my body. I just lie there, pressed against the cold dirt. Maybe if I just close my eyes and open them, it's normal again. Maybe I'll be back home, reunited with my family eating at the dinner table, laughing and having conversations.
But when I finally sit up, reality hits me. Everything was in shambles.
The car was turned over, I still recognized it despite the damage. Buildings are reduced to rubble and roads are cracked wide open. The smoke was rising up into the sky, and the smell of death wavers.
My family...
I turned around, my body trembling as I rummaged through the wreckage. My heart dropped at the sight. My father, mother, and sister, all lie motionless on the ground, their bodies limp and lifeless.
"No." I whisper, shaking my head in disbelief. I grab my little sister's hand, squeezing it to try to bring her back to life, but to no avail. "No no no... This isn't happening. It isn't!"
I collapse beside them, my body tightening. I struggled to catch my breath as tears filled up my eyes.
I knelt down and I looked at the sky, screaming, as I shattered the silence. "Why?" I shout, my voice filled with grief. I gripped my fist and pound the dirt, cursing everything. My sobs shake me, but no amount of screaming can ever bring them back to life.
For what felt like hours, I sat there, holding my sister's lifeless body in my arms, in grief... I just wanted to stay with them. I wanted to lie down with them and let the world swallow me whole.
But... I don't want to.
I know I can't just sit there, waiting for death to take me. My family wouldn't want this to happen. They fought for us, to get this far, to keep us alive. Giving up everything would be betraying them, and I wouldn't wanna look like a wimp.
I wipe the tears off my face, but the tears still come. My hands are shaking as I search through the wreckage. I found a worn-out backpack tucked under a piece of debris—a miracle, if you ask me. I kept gathering whatever supplies I could find—water bottles, cans of food, and an extra pair of pants. It's not much but it'll have to do. Complaining won't do anything.
I try to stand, but my legs are weak and unsteady. I take a glance at the horizon. A forest—a dark and unnerving place, but it's the only option I have. If there's a chance of surviving, I'm taking that chance and delving in.
With one last glance at my family, I whisper a quiet yet shaky goodbye. My throat feels dry, and the weight of the trauma pushes me down on the ground even further.
"I'll survive, I promise. I'll keep going, just for you."
I turn away, each step I take is heavier than the last. The forest seems far, but I force myself to walk forward. It's the only way to go, I know I can't go back.
As I move further in, I feel every single memory I had slipping away. The person I was—so careless about everything, so full of energy, always ready to finish school—dies along with my family.
And something replaces it. Something new. Someone formed by anguish, loss, anger, and the powerful grip to survive. A strict, cold persona takes its place.
I take one last glance at the city I once knew, the city of my home, full of joy and pride, was now reduced to ruins, filled with smoke and rubble.
With the pain in my heart, I turn back to the forest, unsure of what to expect, the weight of my loss following me, creepily, like a shadow.
