Journey Of The War

The River

Two steps out the back door and the ground shook again. My feet subconsciously wanted to flee back into the comfort of our home, but the strain of my hand being yanked by Max told me otherwise. The air grew thicker outside of our insulated walls, And the cloudy smoke around us didn't help to see our way through. We raced behind our house and Max began to fill a few canteens of well water, and stored a smooth stone in his backpack. I felt small, and dependent on him although he was younger than me. I couldn't help but feel useless.

A little over two months ago, Our Dad prepared Max for the upcoming war, while my mother taught me how to cook for large groups with little amounts of food. Besides a few basic cleaning and repairing skills, and some harvesting techniques, I didn't know half as much as my brother did in a situation like this. Our Dad was once a spy for the military and knew quite a bit about the upcoming war and about the enemy. My mother always loved and supported him and the rest of our family, and would always learn and do anything possible to help everyone out. But that didn't stop her from disappearing a little over a month ago. She was nowhere to be found and we were all worried. A few cases like this happened within our village, and none of the victims were ever found. Our father told us that we shouldn't expect any activity from the war for a few months and that he was going to go find our mom. He instructed Max on what to do if he didn't make it back in time and left.

Three weeks later, we awoke in the middle of a terrorist attack. That is today. The day that everything would change forever...

I looked around me trying to calculate our best route to escape but at every corner, there was terror being spread around the town. Men dropped at every gunshot and the women were shoved into the alleyways. children who were separated from their families were filling the streets with screaming and crying as they ran away from the sand colored vans that were collecting them for unknown reasons. No one ran very far as the impact of every bomb shook everyone to the ground. Huge ashy clouds of gray formed around the houses that were set on fire. We knew that soon, nothing would be left standing. I was horrified.  

Suddenly, crowds of people were rushing past us and a van swooped by. Max threw me three canteens of water and began to fill the last one. behind us, a crackling sound began to form and I realized our house was set on fire. Then it hit me.

"MAX! I FORGOT SOMETHING IMPORTANT!"

His face was confused, then terrified at what I was about to do. He ran behind me but was too far to catch me before I ran inside our burning house.

Past the door, the scent of burning wood greeted me followed by a large puff of smoke. My eyes began to water as I sprinted to the stairs. everything around me felt hot and dry.  I slipped into the loft and ran towards my old worn down dresser and pulled out a small wooden lock box. The air around me quickly turned gray and sweat dripped from my forehead. I Headed over to my mother's old vanity and opened an antique Jewelry box. I dug through the accessories hidden within it, trying not to prick myself with the loose earrings. Finally, I took grasp of a golden key. meanwhile, every breath felt like I was breathing hot sand and my lungs felt swollen. I began coughing profusely and my head started to spin.

I trotted down the stairs but tripped mid-cough. I fell forward, trying to hold onto the air front of me, but rolled down each wooden step until I hit the bottom. curled on the floor and in pain, I carefully tucked the box inside of my backpack and slipped the key in the front pocket. I slid the bag over my shoulders and began to crawl towards the door.

My knees felt heavy, and my ankles were swelling up. Bruises quickly began to change different shades of blue, green, and purple on my arm. The smoke overthrew us from our house, and now infested every corner. Breathing became a task more difficult than fighting a bull. I laid on the cold tile floor like a lifeless body. The space around me slowly faded to black.