Rising Tides | 2

01

—

Dust. It clouded her vision. The smell of salt water burned her nose. No, not dust. Sand. All she could see was sand. It swirled around her, stinging her face. The wind tore at her clothes, grey and damp from the humidity. Her dark hair whipped at her face, hiding her scared expression. She sat curled up in the sand, head ducked, waiting. She waited for everything to stop.

The sand continued to rage around her. The woman cried. Tears ran down her pale skin. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Her heart. That wasn't supposed to be there. She was scared. Confused. Hurt. Alone.

Finally, she gathered the willpower to tell the wind to stop. A weak command. It continued on. She gritted her teeth.

You will stop, she thought more forcefully. Stop!

And so it did.

When it had settled, she looked around. Still, all she could see was sand, but this was different. It was piled up around her so she could see nothing beyond it but the sky. She could hear waves crashing in the distance but could not see them.

She was sitting in a giant crater of sand.

Nothing made sense.

The woman carefully made her way to the top of the crater. She slipped and tumbled, the grains of sand leaving red burns on her arms. When she reached the top and climbed out, she stifled a scream. There, sprawled out along the beach, were bodies. Men in black uniforms. She covered her mouth with a shaky hand and stood. Walking over to the nearest soldier, she placed her fingers against his cold, pale neck and waited for the thumping pulse of a heartbeat. Nothing came.

Dead. They were all dead.

How did this happen? What was going on? Where was she? The woman looked to her right, questions flooding her mind. Buildings stretched across the horizon, all looking empty and sad. She didn't recognize this coast. It was not the ocean she was used to admiring.

With fear clutching her chest, the woman made her way towards the buildings. Towards the city, people, answers.