Awakening

From the depths of the darkness I hear screams resounding. Women and children crying, the sounds of people shouting to each other. "hu…u ... .do…now!...I….S…F….." Words inaudible, but yet loud. I feel myself struggling to come to the surface, to see what the sounds converging in my ears are saying. I struggle to see what people are doing and why there is so much noise. It feels as if there is action everywhere, almost like I'm being drowned below the darkness struggling to surface.

I hear the echo of guns being fired, the shells falling on the concrete. I can hear squeals of tires hitting the pavement, thumps and white noises as they blend into my ear. Following the mesh of sounds is a strange smell. The smell of smoke, gunfire and decay. There is a strong smell of iron permeating the air, there is even a smell of burnt skin. I can smell musk, medicine and also the smell of people who have not cleaned up in days. There are also many things I cannot name, smells that make me want to gag and bring tears to my eyes from just the stench. I struggle to see clearly what is going on around me as my heart starts to palpate. I can hear the fear in the voices of those around me, "NOOOO… HEEELLLLLPPPP!" I can almost taste the tears that have started to wet my eyes because of the confusion. The fear is so palpable that just the noise around me, the heart wrenching tears and screams echoing across the darkness have my heart jumping as the sound of hysterical voices bounces around me. 

"What is it?" I say to myself, "what is going on?"

I feel as if I'm drowning, struggling to grasp what is happening around me. I struggle to see, to ease the darkness that has encapsulated me. I struggle to awake from a fear of the unknown that is gripping my heart. A fear of something I do not know, but something that feels like my heart is in their grasp, it's being squeezed, causing me to wheeze and gasp for breath. A part of me wants to run away, a part of me does not want to see what is causing the chaos around me. Still, I struggle with myself to open my eyes until finally my eyes open. The first thing I see is darkness, as if my sight is focusing. Slowly after the darkness, as if in slow motion I see gray, it looks as if all the colors are drained from my surroundings.

 I think I am ready for what I see, instead what awaits me is horror. Smoke is billowing across the horizon, Grey flakes falling from the sky as it rains down on us. Unease settles in as I look around. Buildings collapsed with people buried underneath.Limbs from people can be seen under some of the broken buildings, bodies are littered on the ground and many people are dyed with blood and bruises. Some people are missing limbs, wearing tattered clothing, blood falling from different parts of their bodies. Some people are wearing makeshift casts, bandages and using anything around as crutches or to hold on to. Other people are holding items as weapons: a twig, a branch, iron, stones, and anything that looks like it could cause harm. There are a few people in the minorities holding weapons like their life depends on it. There are knife's strapped to the bodies, swords and guns in harnesses on them, makeshift weapon holders caressing their bodies.

People can be seen running around, screaming and shouting at each other. what looked like it was a city was laid before me in ruins: fire and explosion, blood, sweat and tears and more than anything else is the chaos playing before my very eyes. There is a combination of concrete glass and wood laying where buildings once stood. Some of the structures made of wood are standing half destroyed..

'What is this?' I think to myself. 'What is going on'. I think as I look around me.