Let Me Call You Mine

Untitled Part 8

I watch the fire spread around fast.

Wild, unrelenting.

Distant screaming drowns the sound of crackling wood as the building burns down. Gunshot resonates through the night, joining the chaos that's slowly rising.

It's raining. I realised in the midst of the madness around me. If I listen close enough I can hear the distant roar of thunder and heavy droplets of water hitting the ground.

The weight of the gun lies heavy at the palm of my hand as I watch people run around, some on lying on the ground with wound shots and painting the floor red. There are screaming and more gunshots.

We're losing.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, feeling my eyes quiver at the sight before me. The feeling of hopelessness slowly seeping in the more I watch. It's like everything's happening in slow motion. The way people are running away from the enemy, the way people are being shot, the way they're fighting against each other.

It's all happening in slow motion.

Kind of like a trance.

"RETREAT!" Cal's voice cuts through the chaos just as another group of military men barrels in.

Retreat? I let my eyes wander back to the people, to our people. Some are already running away, some are still fighting, while some are on the ground, unmoving.

We're losing.

I involuntarily took a step back.

"RETREAT!"  I stared at the people on the floor, some have their eyes open. Unblinking and blank, face hollow of any emotion.

We're losing.

"RETREAT!" I glanced at the scene in front of me, letting my eyes look at the faces of these people that I know would be my last time seeing them.

Before looking away with a heavy weight on my chest.

"RETREAT!"

We lost.

"Zari" I sucked in a deep breath before sitting up. The look of confusion on Cal's face was the first thing that my eyes focuses on.

I swallowed hard, looking down.

"You were having a nightmare" I inhaled sharply, eyes quivering as I willed myself to calm down

"You okay? You were sweating and thrashing around" He pauses to look at me.

"It looked bad" I looked up to meet his gaze.

Bad may be considered as an understatement.

I held his gaze. For awhile, I considered seeking comfort and warmth from him but I decided against it.

"It's just a nightmare" I mutter under my breath, more to reassure myself than him. I hate how there's this invisible wall between us ever since that day. But I guess traumas and shitty experiences finds their way to fuck you up year after year.

Cal seems to notice whatever discomfort I was feeling or maybe he got the message that I didn't want to talk about it more. He leans back and gets off the bed.

My gaze softens, guilt clawing its way up my throat.

"I'm meeting up with some new recruits later" I looked at the clock, frowning.

"What time?"

"Around 9 ish" I hum, laying back down.

"I'll come over after" I hum again. I stayed still for a few more seconds before getting up.