Region: Unknown
Nathaniel Alistair
Retrospect
(Part Two)
Nathan stood in a narrow hallway allowing time for his eyes
to adjust to the darkness. Over the past
few years he had grown very accustomed to moving around in the shadows and this
was not going to be any different. He
used to have a pretty nice set of NVGs (Night Vision Goggles) which would have
made tonight a whole lot easier but a short while back he was caught in another
dangerous situation where he was forced to flee without them. “Better the goggles than me.” He thought to
himself as he squinted his eyes trying to make out what was ahead of him. Always on the run, hiding from those who hunted
him, hoping to remain a free man for at least one more day; this is what Nathan’s
life had become. Each day it was the
same routine and Nathan was determined to find somewhere better. Someplace he didn’t have to look over his
shoulder every single second of the day wondering if it was his last. But
before he could find the freedom he so desperately desired he had to stop here,
at this house, one last time.
Now that he could make out all the objects in the room he
began to slowly move about the house making sure not to knock anything over or
make any noise. It wasn’t too hard for
him to move around. He had been there before; he knew the layout like the back
of his hand. The dirt and crumbled
remnants of the house cracked beneath his feet as he navigated his way stealthily
into what was the kitchen. He slowly
opened a pantry door and noticed a few cans of food and other various items
sitting untouched on the shelves. He slid
his backpack off his shoulders and without taking a moment to see what he was
grabbing, stuffed as much as he could into his bag. When he was satisfied with what he had, he shut
the pantry door and put the backpack back on his back and moved on.
He had made his way through the abandoned, house sifting
through this and that, taking what he found useful and what he could easily
carry. He was a skilled survivalist now
and knew not to waste his time with heavy objects or useless trinkets. Anything he took had to be easy to move
around with and easy to leave behind.
The world was no longer a place for sentimental stupidity. At least that is what he had convinced
himself. As he slowly walked down a long
hallway to another section of the house he paused and stared at the odd pieces
of art that clung to the wall covered in dust.
He laughed quietly to himself lost in thought and then moved on to the
end of the hallway. He opened up one of
the three doors that were there and stepped inside.
Nathan was standing in what was obviously a child’s room, a
little girl’s room to be more precise. On
this side of the house the moon shone in and he was able to see the pink fading
and flaking paint on the walls. There were
a few posters still hanging throughout the room that displayed unicorns, rainbows
and a once beloved hello kitty, again he laughed in spite of himself. Nathan had moved to the center of the room and
was turning in a slow circle looking at all that surrounded him. His breathing had quickened a bit and he
walked toward a bed in the room. He sat
down on it and a giant puff of dirt and dust escaped into the air around him. Nathan pawed at few of the pillows on the bed
and what once was a stuffed teddy bear, he turned placing his elbows on his
knees and buried his head in his hands. He
didn’t move for a while and eventually a small controlled sob escaped him as he
thought to himself how much harder this was than he could have ever imagined it
would be. When he looked up he caught his
reflection in the mirror and watched as tear, glinting from the moonlight, ran
down his cheek and fell into his clothes.
As he continued staring at himself in the mirror he noticed something
out of the corner of his eye sitting on the dresser beside him. He turned and reached out for a photo frame. He found it odd that in all this mess and
destruction it was clean and untouched by the dust and dirt that surrounded him. Upon further inspection his breath
caught. A picture of a man, woman and a little
girl no more than eight or nine years old stared back at him. The man was him.
As he stared at the photo of himself and his family the
anger and emotions that had been trapped inside him for the last ten plus years
came roaring out in one big wave. He
screamed and threw the frame across the room, breaking it against the
wall. It took a second for him to
realize what he had just done. Lights in
a few of the houses across the way came on and he scrambled quickly across the
room and crouched beneath the window sill.
“Shit, Shit, Shit. You dumbass” Nathan thought to himself. He sat in
silence hoping he had not drawn unwanted attention to himself or where he was. He was soon proved wrong when he heard
footsteps and voices in the street outside.
He slowly sat with his back against the wall hoping his foolish mistake would
not reveal him. Beams of light bounced
up and down the street and along the houses outside, some even pierced the
broken window that led into the room and peppered the wall across from where he
was now hiding. “Was that a man’s
scream?” he heard a woman say. “I don’t
know said another.” There were at least
another half dozen different conversations going on outside some of which he could
easily recognize as soldiers or some sort of security. “You have made mess of it now haven’t you?”
Nathan asked himself with a whisper. He
put head against the wall and slid down quietly into a sitting position while
trying to think. He paused when his hand brushed against the photo frame he had
tossed this way earlier. Nathan picked
it up again and slowly, ever so quietly brushed the remaining bits of glass
away from it. Very carefully he managed
to pull the photo of his family out of the frame. He then folded it and slid it into his front
pocket and then sat waiting in silence for whatever was going to happen next.
To Be Continued...
Region: Unknown
Nathaniel "Nathan" Alistair
Nathaniel "Nathan" Alistair
No comments:
Post a Comment