Before Dawn

This is a short story that I've written for English class. It's nothing special but I rarely write and am pretty happy with it. So I thought that I'd share it with you all. Enjoy!!!

Before Dawn

Life, as they knew it, was being threatened. Standing in an abandoned train station, Caleb and Oreyana were at a loss for words. Their home world of Sencartha was under attack and everything they loved was being destroyed. They quickly had to flee or face certain death.

After a long silence, Oreyana spoke. ‘Caleb, what should we do?’ she asked.

Caleb was the leader; Oreyana always looked to him for the answer. However, the problem was that Caleb never wanted this role. Growing up he had been a loner; he never had any friends and never had anyone that he had to look after. In fact, there was never anyone to look after him. He was separated from his parents at a very young age and never knew or heard much about them. Rules, regulations and orders were all his memory served.

‘CALEB! Snap out of it.’ shouted Oreyana. ‘You have to find a way to get us out of here.’

‘But I don’t know which way to go. The Vermilion has every road out of the city blocked.’ said Caleb despairingly. ‘If we head south we’ll run right into it. However, traveling in any other direction leads us to rubble and destruction. There won’t be any help.’

‘So, what?! We should just stay here and wait for it to find us?!’ exclaimed Oreyana.

‘No, of course not.’ said Caleb. ‘I think it will be best if we can hold out here until it gets dark. Then we can move out under the cloak of night. That’ll also give me some time to think.’

Oreyana rolled her eyes and reluctantly agreed. While she did not like Caleb’s indecisiveness, she didn’t have any ideas to offer herself. So she sat down and waited for night to crawl in. After only an hour and a half, Oreyana was growing impatient and fidgety. ‘Why can’t time move faster?’ she thought. At the same time, she began to feel nervous, as if she was playing a pseudo game of “Duck, Duck, Goose!” Where it seemed like The Vermilion would come and tap them on their heads only for them to get up and run in circles again.

As the dark slowly began to cover the station, Caleb was trying to focus; he had to think, he had to figure out what their next move would be. He knew that if they could just survive until dawn, there was a possibility that reinforcements might arrive. What he didn’t tell Oreyana was that he had been able to send out a message for help earlier that day. But he did not want to tell her out of fear of raising false hopes. Even he had to control himself from developing grand ideas of rescue.

In the near distance, a loud explosion went off and startled Caleb & Oreyana. Both of them jumped up and stared at the now lit sky with sudden bewilderment. After the flash and the smoke had subsided, they could clearly see a squadron of fighter jets heading towards the station. Caleb didn’t wait to see how close they would get; he immediately grabbed Oreyana by the arm, nearly pulling it out of its socket, and headed south.

‘Caleb, you said that The Vermilion was this way!’ said Oreyana. ‘We can’t get through, not without any weapons or support.’

‘I know, but there is no other way.’ remarked Caleb.

Just at that moment, they both heard the one sound that they had almost forgotten. The undeniable thud of The Vermilion, the ominous rolling symphony of destruction. It would be a mere matter of minutes before it arrived. It also meant that they would have no hope of survival. Nobody had ever gotten past it, nobody.

Just at that moment, Caleb realized what he had to do. He had to sacrifice himself to save Oreyana. ‘Ore, you have to go on without me. I’ll draw The Vermilion’s attention and head west. Then you run south and get to safety.’ said Caleb. ‘Just run as fast as you can and DON’T STOP!’

‘But Caleb, I won’t be able to make it.’ The weight of that statement began to set in for Oreyana. She suddenly felt more alone than ever before. Caleb then grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her directly in the eyes. ‘You have to make it, Ore. You have to survive at least until the morning.’ Caleb said.

‘Why the morning?’ asked Oreyana, now confused.

‘I didn’t tell you before because I didn’t want you to get your hopes up, but I was able to send a message to Bhane. I don’t know if he got it or not, but if he did, well, there might be the smallest chance that you can get out of here yet.’ said Caleb. Just as he finished speaking The Vermilion’s pungent stench filled the station. It was now within viewing distance and Caleb began to make out the features of this grotesque monster. The pitch black holes meant for eyes, the rusting complexion that was only outdone by its sinister grin and the toxic smoke coming out of its nostrils. This creature seemed larger than the station; it seemed larger than life itself.

‘ORE! You have to leave now! If you wait any longer we’ll both be dead.’ Caleb now hung his head and his voice lowered, ‘Please, just go and don’t look back.’

Oreyana just stood there; she didn’t have anything to say. Finally, she turned and ran. She ran for what seemed an eternity. She wanted so badly to look back but could not bring herself to do so. Every memory she ever had flashed through her mind and the more she ran, the more she remembered. Once all of her memories were exhausted, she began to hear a faint yet recognizable sound.

Oreyana woke up in a cold sweat with the sun shining through the window and her alarm blasting in her ear. She sluggishly rolled over, saw the time and grumbled, ‘I hate Mondays.’