Open Case File [COMPLETED]

Leaving It All Behind

This is before Donovan left to work with Link! Enjoy!

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There was a foghorn in Donovan's room, blaring at him. It was a side effect of sharing a room with James whose snore could alert the coast guard hundreds of miles away.

It was a snore that Donovan had grown up with and learned to sleep through. It was a sound that a small part of him knew he would miss, but right at that moment all he wanted to do was smother James's face with a pillow.

Curbing the desire for the sake of his mother, Donovan crept to his window and opened it. There was no need for subtlety. James could sleep through the apocalypse without stirring. Donovan dropped to the ground and slid the window shut. Overhead a silvery moon watched over the Marine base and lit Donovan's path. It was late enough that he only encountered the gate guards who nodded at him.

At the beach, Donovan tugged off his shoes and dumped them onto the sand. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he crossed to the water's edge and stared out on the endless expanse. The moon shivered in the ocean's face, rippling on the waves. Letting out a breath, Donovan sank onto the dry portion of sand, draping his arms over his knees.

Tomorrow his life changed.

Tomorrow he left his home.

Tomorrow he left his family.

His brothers.

It would be the first time Donovan had ever traveled to the East Coast. There it wouldn't even be warm, it was still in the heart of winter. He would face so many unknowns. He didn't know what snow was like to live with. Cold was a thermostat that dropped down to 30 degrees at the worst. City life was nothing he had never experienced beyond a week's visit here and there.

He was about to deal with things he had never imagined he would deal with and he was doing it all on his own.

Donovan's throat tightened. He was alone, in the dead of night, if he was going to let himself feel anything or break it was now. Because he couldn't let himself break down around his brothers.

They had been raised around Marines, Marines didn't cry. They didn't show weakness. Fear. Or trepidation. His mom would say that crying was a way of releasing emotions and was good for him to do but he knew he couldn't. He couldn't cry.

Still, Donovan felt himself on the verge, overwhelmed by a weight of uncertainty that he would never admit to. What had been asked of him was a huge honor. It was a task that he should feel proud about. But all he felt right then was alone.

Before Donovan could give in to his weakness, he heard the shuffle of footsteps on the sand. Swallowing, he buried his emotions, blinking to keep from betraying himself. Clint plopped onto the sand beside Donovan, gazing out on the water.

The two brothers sat there, silhouettes in the night.

"I had to get out of there," Donovan said. "James was going to kill my eardrums if I didn't. I will not miss that."

It was a lie they both knew but Clint didn't point it out. Donovan dropped his gaze, digging his heel into the sand, making a deep grove.

"He's been such a pain lately," he said.

"He's jealous," Clint said. Donovan scoffed, disbelieving. "It's true. Of all of us are, you're the youngest yet the one to leave first. To have a job that any of us would love to have."

Donovan scowled, continuing to digging through the sand, not wanting to think about tomorrow. "It's only because I can pass as a twelve-year-old. I'm not sure that's something to be jealous about."