Page 107 of Mortala
The effort it took to yell takes my breath away.Already feels like it's being ripped out of the holes I sewed together, so let's make it worse by screaming.
"Mind who the hell you're talking to, Elias.You c...Babygirl, hold on a second."His voice calms to a soft shake when I hear Nadia in the background.They're miles away as I sit here camped out in my truck, but the cab still isn't big enough for the three of us.She has such a harsh personality and his is larger than life—they complement each other violently.I suppose the same could be said for me and their daughter?
"Baby, no...we're...fine.Nadia wants to talk to you.You make her cry and I'll rip your fucking head off."
Several parking spaces away, a car alarm screams, making me jolt and groan in my seat.Its loud wail echoes between the buildings and cars, close to the paths Sadie usually walks.Kace and Nadia exchange the phone while I hope to get a glimpse of platinum hair—in the windows, unobstructed, anywhere.Right now, I'd do absolutely anything to find her in this Godforsaken city.
Being here, sulking while I anticipate an argument with her parents, I die more and more inside.What the hell am I supposed to do if Sadie goes off the deep end while they burn precious time we don’t have?
"Elias?"Nadia's voice finally spills from the speakers.
She's changed so much from when I first met her—a long way from survival mode and self-preservation to a full-time mother and wife.Still, I don’t turn my back on her.Underneath all that happiness lies a woman who's done enough to make you second glance.
"I'm here," I sigh.If anyone will listen, maybe it will be her.
"Tell me what happened."
"The hell do I begin?"
"The beginning and make it quick.Kace is about to lose his shit.Also, where do you want us to start?"
"Last I saw her was at the apartment.She didn't take the Civic, gotta be on foot."
"Alright, we'll come in from the opposite side of town and call when we're close, but I need to know what happened."
I notice a crack in the windshield that splinters my thoughts and drags me far away from reality.Nadia and Kace's voices fade into the background as a velvety darkness takes my hand and leads me down a sweltering tunnel.Its walls pulse from all directions as if they're focused on the next breath.The rhythm’s soothing, though it deepens and transitions from the walls to my shoulders, my ears, my head.And a thick blanket of weight presses onto my chest where my heart beats strong enough for my dog tags to bounce over my sternum.
Fuck.
They're coming, the hostiles.I can smell them tucked inside their hiding spaces, preparing to ambush my team and I.To the left, my sergeant speaks but I can't focus on what he's saying.Distractions could mean death.At my right, a rookie mimics how I hold my rifle and stare down the scope—said once upon a time he looks up to me.Behind me stands an entire army and though I can't see them, I feel their icy stare slithering up my spine.
Movement six meters away has me locked in position, finger poised on the trigger and drawn to the edge of the friction zone—a hairs’ breadth away from my gun barking before the hostile drops.
Beneath us, the ground begins to tremble.Rocks and nearby debris jump erratically before the quake intensifies and hell’s mouth opens and demons explode from the gaping hole.Fire opens wide; my team doesn't wait for the go-ahead from command before we mow down the enemy as rank roars through our comms.
Their enraged tones blend with the carnage as they call for my name and court martial.I can’t stop, not even as the idea of the brig nags in the back of my skull.For years I have fought.I've put bad men in the ocean and others in the ground.I’ve done my job, killed to save the innocent and ones too proud to set foot on the battlefield.Yet, it’s not the weight of expectation that aims to crush me—it’s the absence of those who aren’t fighting at my side anymore.
The rookie takes a round to the helmet that throws his body to the side but I don't stop.It’s suppress fire or die while my team shouts and gurgles in blood.I’ve never needed someone; now I choke on the notion as bullets blur past the fogged windows of my truck.
"Elias?"
Nadia's voice interrupts the metallic punch of slugs meeting iron.Little does she know, her soft tone has become my life raft.Tug after tug, I haul myself from the frontline to safety.
"Y...yeah?"Gravel crackles together in my throat, alongside my pounding heart, preventing me from a decent gasp.
"You were going to tell me what happened but went quiet.Are you alright?"
No.
I'm not okay.
I'm the furthest thing fromalright.I’m so far gone, sunshine can't break through the clouds to meet me on the ground anymore.I’m without night vision in a desert and surrounded by things destined to kill me.
"M...fuckin' fine," I lie.
She's not my wife—lies between us don't mean a thing.
"B...been keeping tabs."Numbly, my arms lift and my fingers tangle in my salt-and-pepper strands to ease the crash barreling for me.An unfortunate byproduct of the attacks—I have to get to Sadie first.Chain her to me so she can't go anywhere when my brain does a hard reboot.
