Easy, Soldier.

Chapter Eight

Another bad dream...I'd woken up with a loud gasp, sitting up quickly as my eyes danced around the room; I hadn't woken anyone up, thank goodness. A sigh escaped my lips as I stood up, fixing my shirt while tiptoeing to the front door, opening it slowly so as not to make any noise. I stepped out, closing he door upon exit, feeling the chilled night air hit my bare arms. I shivered, crossing my arms over my chest as I walked over to the porch railing, leaning my top half against it as I looked around; the street was dark, dimly lit by only a few street lights that were spread out around the town.

"Can't sleep?" a gruff, familiar voice spoke from my right, and I turned my head to find Abraham sitting on the porch steps. How had I missed him? I nodded, even though he probably couldn't see. "Yeah, you can say that. You can't either?" He cleared his throat, taking another sip of what was presumably alcohol from his metal flask, and I waited patiently for his reply. "You can say that," he repeated my words, looking over at me with a soft chuckle, and I found myself smiling for no particular reason.

He looked out at the empty street, going silent for what seemed like forever before he spoke again. "Did I tell you I had a family, when all this started?" I knitted my brow together, replying with a soft 'no' as he sat up a bit. "We ended up with a group of people when shit hit the fan; they seemed like good people at the time, but they started to change...get violent. They...the men took turns raping my wife, Ellen, and then went for my daughter Becca-- made my son watch." My eyes widened as he told me what happened, and I stayed silent as he continued.

"I killed them all, every single one. And my family, well, they were terrified of me after that. I can understand why, now that I think back on it." I pushed off the railing, moving to sit down next to him on the steps. "What happened to them...after all of that?" I asked him softly, and he sighed. "They ran off while I was asleep, but they didn't make it far. I found them outside that next morning, or what was left of them at least."

I studied my shoes as he answered my question, unable to look at him. "I'm so sorry, Abraham." I whispered softly. He cleared his throat, "I was about to kill myself, when Eugene showed up, talking about his save the world shit." My eyes met his when he turned to look at me, his blue eyes filled with sadness. "Why did you tell me this?" I asked out of curiosity, and he thought it over for a moment. "Because we all have nightmares, Jones. And we don't have to face them alone now."

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Author's Note: So, this book will be connected to a few others. I'm quite proud of what I have in store for you guys