Refinement: A War of Europe

Chapter Fourty: West: A File Worth Fighting For

Eloise~ West (England)

His face was hard, and sad. His skin permeating pain and suffering. His green eyes, almost an exact replica of my step father's, Kyle. His body was hard, muscles bulged in places that I was almost sure wasn't natural for a fourteen year old.

Nothing here was natural.

Four days as a soldier, is a lifetime of pain.

His emotions were almost completely replaced by the hard robotic ones that come with being a soldier.

And he hadn't had the worst of it.

"Today is our first break." His face was a forest of darkness, one that was so clouded with horror, that you could see nothing. I nodded, as I scooped a spoon full of blueberries.

"What's your plan?" He shrugged, inhaling his hash browns.

"I'll hang out with Jason, some. He totally has an inappropriate crush on you, by the way. Something about being hot and intimidating." Gabriel's head lurched forward in laughter.

"Grayson's face when he was talking about you, man. I thought he was going to strangle the kid." A girl beside Gabriel pitched in, "He is the scariest person here."

"Oh, this is Delilah. She is a dork." Her green eyes keel towards her forehead in annoyance. Boys. She had flaming hair, and round wire-rimmed glasses. Freckles swarmed over her pale complexion, without a blemish.

"Hey, Delilah the dork." I mused. Gabriel smirked.

"A stepsister after my own heart." Delilah stripped herself of her glasses, and rubbed the lenses in small round motions. A nervous habit, it seemed.

"So, are you nervous? With the sorting ceremony tomorrow, I mean." I pondered the question that decayed in my heart that very night.

"No," A lie sprang from my lips, "I am going to live. It doesn't matter what job I get." I pursed my lips to keep the truth from bursting from my cheeks. Gabriel shot his eyes into my skin like a dagger. Is that what I had become? Has Refinement even changed me that much to where I feel compelled to tell a lie? I cleared my throat.

"I have some work to do." I pushed up from the table, and walked over to Grayson, who sat awkwardly at a table with the rest of the Lieutenants. I pulled my head sharply towards the door. He nodded, and stood, sharing a few words with the other soldiers. He grabbed my arm, and pulled me into a hallway.

"My dad did it. He found the code, and I- I don't get scared often, Eloise... But, this? This changes everything. I mean, I had my suspicions, but-" I stood still, not daring to speak. My flesh crawled with anticipation and horror, hanging on to Grayson's every word. He pulled me into his arms, and took a shaky breath. "I didn't know- I feel-" I pushed my head away from his chest, and looked up into his blue eyes.

"Grayson, what did it say?" His arms let go of my waist, and searched his pocket for a peice of paper. He handed it to me.

First, let me say how sorry I am. I am so, so sorry. I am sorry for the lives I took under deceit. I am sorry for lying to you, and your mum. I am sorry for keeping this from you for so long. I am sorry you lost your father because of this.

This war is nothing but a manipulation by the evil hearts of those betrayed. The Evicted, a race that cannot be controlled, England and Russia decided to shun them to America. At the time, America was still a place that could still be inhabited. But, little did we know, that we sent them to their death. The majority of America sank, and that that still was above sea level, is a swamp teeming with wild animals, and thousands died. Of course, our ignorance is beyond a play in this mishap. We did not care to look and see how America was doing. We just sent the people who didn't agree with the way we were living, to set their own rules. No harm done.