Dead Silence

Silence, a rare occurrence in this world. The silence weighed on my back almost like a heavy blanket. I found myself waking to dirt in my nose and mouth. How had I survived the attack? Taking a moment I turned and found that a piece of rubble had created a pocket for me. Gunpowder and smoke still choked my breath as I shifted up to get a better view around me. The crumpled buildings that usually hid soldiers or guerrillas were empty. The war had gone on far too long for the line between soldiers and guerrillas to remain clear. In the end there were no heroes, only people trying to survive or kill.

I waited holding my breath for a little longer waiting for something to happen. I wasn’t sure if I should trust my eyes anymore as the smoke made shapes of ghosts. Of people long departed from this world, or perhaps, those freshly departed. The wind let out a wail mourning the many losses. I coughed no longer able to hold back the pain as the ash burned my lungs. Fear gripped my chest as my cough broke the silence. I ducked low hoping to remain unseen. However, it remained silent. In the distance I could see tanks against the red sky. They seemed to be part of the landscape, great mounds of war as if they had never moved. Nothing moved. As I slowly got to my feet the broken earth dug into the bare skin. My memory was blurry, nothing made sense. It had all been so loud.

I remembered running, explosions, fire burning my skin, crashing into the ground, then the blackness. My heart pumped, reminding me I was alive. I gripped the small locket against my chest. It was the only thing I had left of my life before the war. My shoulders trembled as I worked to control my breathing. I looked at my locket. Blood caked the heart shape of it and perhaps the chain. I took a moment to try scrubbing or scraping the blood off. Was it my blood? It could be from someone else. I opened it trying to assess the damage. Inside was a picture of my mother’s parents. I had never met them but the necklace reminded me of my family even if it was vague.

I was alone. That thought burned in my brain as I shakily rose to my feet. I slowly stepped out expecting something to move, to come at me. Nothing. I painstakingly stepped forward cautiously. Still nothing. I walked out in the open, the orange red sky fading into darkness and only the wind moved.

My feet ached as I continued into the wasteland. Broken glass, metal, and asphalt all pressed at my callused feet but I didn’t stop. The emptiness pressed in more and more as I walked. The darkness of night blinded me, with heavy clouds preventing even the moonlight from reaching me creating an absolute isolation. I continued walking, as if pulled by some unknown force. The desperation and isolation blurring my thoughts and burning my chest.

I stumbled and often would fall, rise back up, ignoring the pain and weariness. I had to find someone, anyone. What little vision I had blurred as tears streamed down my face. I passed death, destruction, and scars of war as I continued walking the sun rising and falling. Days blurred as weariness overtook me.

I fell blackness enveloping my vision. There was no food or clean water, the very air I breathed poisoned my lungs. I gripped my locket with the last of my strength and felt a gentle warmth as if arms surrounded me, lulling me into the blackness, finally at peace.