Akeldama | lrh

one - devastation

You were standing in the wake of devastation.
You were waiting on the edge of the unknown.
And with the cataclysm raining down, insides crying save me now
you were there and possibly alone.

Iridescent | Linkin Park

**

During the dark days of the demolition and soot, there is was hardly any color.

Everything was a different shade of black, or grey, or some faded version of a vibrant hue that no longer existed.

It started to drive me crazy. I was a biology student, I always saw the color and inner workings of everything. I loved the color green especially, nearly everything I had was green.

After the bombs hit, there was almost no green. No life. The trees were gone, torn apart and scattered. The grass, the leaves, the flowers. All gone. It broke my heart.

I eventually learned to look at people's eyes. No matter what happened, no matter how much destruction ones life went through, the color in their eyes never changed. They could lose their light, their life, but not their color.
Zay had beautiful green eyes, and they were my solace for the first few days out in the mess.

And then I saw his.

His eyes were the color of Robin eggs. They were the color of the Atlantic Ocean in mid morning. They were the color of the wings of the endangered Miami Blue.

And they enticed me.

****

"I'm so sorry I couldn't be there for dad's send-off." I say, twirling the pen on my desk. "Seriously. I feel so bad. Did you tell him what I said?"

"Yes, dear." My mom replies, sighing on the other end of the phone. "And stop worrying over it. Your father is so proud that you're focusing on your studies, he was insistent that it didn't hurt his feelings at all that you weren't there. It's just a routine mission checking base camps, nothing violent is expected to happen. He said he loves you and will see you soon."

I close my eyes, swallowing down the growing guilt. "Ok, I hope so. I love you."

"I love you too." She replies. "Now, study for your exam today. You said you needed to ace it. Goodbye, sweetheart."

"Bye."

Click.

I let out a long breath, laying my phone back down on the desk. My fingers come up to rub my forehead as I sit staring at the open Biology textbook in front of me, unable to focus. I should have gone to see my dad before he left. What if something bad happens to him? He was only drafted into the war near the end of November two years ago, and the battles that have been broadcasted lately have been nasty and relentless.

It's just a routine mission, Alex. I tell myself. Calm the hell down.

My thoughts are interrupted by the midday bell, and then the bustling of feet on the sidewalks of main campus. I should have closed the window. My eyes flit to the swirling curtains caused by the light spring wind, and then I get up.