Race to the Next World

We’re so close, but it means now its brutal. With the new planet in sight, no one is taking any chances.

Russia has finally overthrown us, and we did let their Mother Ship go and once we did that, our Computer no longer responds in their ship, which also means that their people won’t survive much longer. Europe has proven to not be a very useful ally to Russia because they won’t even help them. Picses has been making these decisions, and I thought that it could have been done a different way.

We aren’t fighting against Africa just yet. We are still recovering from that large hit we experienced with Europe. We’re not outnumbered but the stress is too much to handle. Everything just happened so fast, we thought we would have more time to deal with it.

Europe will fight back again like before. Japan’s nations are split between us and Africa so they’ve chosen to remain neutral in this fight.

Everything is unorganized.

For a period of time, the American nations didn’t attack anyone. We’re right in the middle of a war zone and Picses just thought we were going to make it by unnoticed. Its hard to not notice us. We’re just right here.

I thought it wouldn’t be this bad, I thought we would make it out okay. I thought a lot of things but I have been proven terribly wrong. I haven’t seen this much difficulty in a while, and its worse than before.

I was glad that we were pausing but that could cause damage to the Mother ship. I know we can sustain a lot, but soon it will become too much that we can’t avoid. We’re not going to slip by easily like Picses thinks we will. We will be a big target soon. If Africa wins out, they will come at us with the strongest attack we have ever seen in our lives. Russia is slowly falling to their demise because their computer system has been crushed by ours so they can’t do anything. Europe, in all honesty, will stomp all over us if they do what they did before.

This is very unorganized.

I stayed with Sirus in the hallway near dispatch, being informed by what happens since I still had my headset on. Picses was giving out information, and I would just roll my eyes and make comments about it to myself because I know there’s a better way to handle all this. Coordinators really need to be under his control now. This is no longer a one to one army.

“How bad is it?” Sirus asked.

“It could be better.” I said quietly.

We aren’t moving. Captain Iris has stopped us from proceeding because of how we are positioned or will be positioned if we do keep moving. Europe and Africa are going all out with each other, and we would be right in the middle of it if we keep going. We can’t go around either. We know they’re watching. They might not be attacking us, but they’re watching to see what we’re doing.

“Hopefully they don’t call for you as a Flyer.” Sirus said bitterly. That’s what I’m hoping, but anything can happen. At least I know I won’t be the only one out there who has little experience.

“We just might make it out of here,” I said but I don’t believe it. Neither of us do.

I hated how quiet this was, or how empty the halls were. All Flyers are in their ships, waiting for their command to go. Sirus stayed with me because he had nothing better to do. I didn’t have anything better either.

Picses was still giving orders but I was tempted to take off my headset and throw it so I couldn’t hear how stressful this was. This is too much to listen to. I’d rather just talk to Sirus.

“I didn’t think it would get this bad.” I covered my face. Its been so bad for weeks now. I don’t know what to think or say. Its too much. Every incident came after another and it didn’t stop. We’ve had to deal with so much.

I’ve had to deal with so much.

“I saw it coming.” Sirus said as he toyed around with his helmet.

“You see everything coming.”

“Who wants to hear from an idiot.” he said, being sarcastic.

“You aren’t as dumb as people think you are.” I said to him and I meant it. Its really hard to trick him. Usually most Coordinators can get passed their Flyers, but with Sirus, he calls out all my...bullshit...and gets me to get straight to the point. He’s always watching too. He knows how to do a lot of things. I would say that he doesn’t need a Coordinator for the most part.

He really isn’t stupid.

“I knew that too.” he said. Of course he did.

“I’m pretty sure we couldn’t get any prepared for this. It would have happened just as its happening.” I sighed quietly as I heard Picses say something about a code red and using a strategy that really might get people killed. “Oh my God, what is wrong with him?” I groaned and rubbed my face, getting frustrated.

Sirus shook his head. “I’m sure if we didn’t do the things we did, it would be worse.” he said.

“You were the one against all the treaties and neutrality.” I looked up at him.

“No one listens to Flyers anyway so it doesn’t matter.” he shrugged. I looked the other way, wondering if there was someone coming. No one. Everyone is probably doing something important while I’m standing around here secretly with Sirus.

We have nothing better to do.

I crossed my arms, looking down at the ground. This really isn’t our day. We’re so close but now we’re stuck because of this whole war. I want to believe this nation will come out on top but what if we don’t? What happens then?

“You know, this wasn’t totally terrible.” Sirus said. I looked at him because I didn’t know what this meant. He had a smug look and I scoffed, looking away as I leaned more against the wall.

“I wouldn’t have been saying that a year ago.” I said to him. As I look back on it now, I would have said it was a nightmare. I had never hated Sirus so much in my life to be honest. And he knows that.

“I think you were better to toy around with then, now you love it too much.” he nudged me, pulling on my cheek. I got his hand off my face. He shouldn’t even speak to me anymore. “What, I was just-”

“Can’t you think of something more meaningful, Sirus?” I asked quickly, getting upset with his behavior.

“So thinking about you isn’t meaningful?” he asked, being sly since he knew where he was going with this. I knew where he was going with this and I didn’t want him to go there. He’s so disgusting.

“Thinking about me naked isn’t meaningful.” I snapped.

“But its a very nice thought.” he said as he put his arms on the wall, blocking me from going anywhere. Why does he think its okay to corner me? “Admit it, Aurora. You love it just like I do.” he said lowly. “Come on, say it for me.” he urged when I didn’t speak.

I might like it sometimes, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. He doesn’t need to know that sometimes, I get so weak that I don’t mind begging him to do whatever he wants. If I admit that, he will never leave me alone again.

“You disgust me, Sirus.” I said and meant it.

“I’m sure I do, baby. Now get mad so we can do something about it.” he said, getting excited. I wanted to shove him away but I didn’t. I sighed and looked away, keeping my stance despite how close he was to me.

What? Does he want to have sex now? Doesn’t anything turn him off?

“You are so lucky I don’t feel like fighting you right now.” I said bitterly as he smiled wider. He came closer and kissed me. I still hadn’t moved for a while, but I wasn’t going to reject Sirus when he was trying so hard.

He didn’t put his hands on me which made this slightly tolerable. I know what I was supposed to be paying attention to but when Sirus’ kissing me, I just tune everything out and focus on him. Its like I could feel his smile on his lips as he pressed them on mine. I don’t get it. There’s this war going on, but he’s having a wonderful time kissing me.

I’m not going to say that I wasn’t enjoying myself.

And with everything that’s going on, I don’t mind the stress relief.

I moved my arm around his neck, my fingers lacing between his hair as I held him to me. I was getting a bit overzealous but he seemed to like that. He still didn’t put his hands on me, and there was this small piece of me that was begging for him to hold me at my waist and pull me closer to his body. I can’t tell him that, but I can just show him.

My hands moved on his arms, and got him to get off the wall and put his hands on me. That was enough for him to get the idea; he laughed to himself which made me blush. I was hoping that he would just let it go and do what I want him to do for once. He did pull me closer and I kissed him until I was breathless. I lifted my arms back around his neck and kept my hands in his hair like before.

I could do this all day.

I wanted to forget that we were supposed to be doing something. It won’t be long before Sirus will have to leave. Its unsafe out there, and I just wanted to spend this time together before he has to go.

This was the only amount of bliss I’ve gotten, I wanted to indulge in it for a bit longer.

His hands were sliding down my waist as he pulled away from me. We both breathed heavily when we got the chance to. Sirus didn’t want to stop kissing me though. I felt his lips at my neck, kissing me roughly as his hands moved on me.

When I opened my eyes, I saw the flickering lights.

He has to go.

There was an unsettling tug in my chest. I didn’t want him to leave but I know that he had to go.

“Sirus...” I said quietly, my hands pushing on his shoulders. I really didn’t want to stop him. I wanted him to stay here with me, because here I know its safe. I know that nothing will happen to him if he stays with me. I don’t want him to go anywhere.

I can’t make him stay.

He has a job to do.

“When I get back, you’re mine.” he bit my ear and let go of me.

At least he says he’s coming back to me.

We both had to go and its not like we had a choice. I believed that he was coming back, that it would be okay, that I don’t have to worry. I’ll be sure to keep his life safe as possible. I haven’t failed him just yet anyway. We will do fine.

I walked down the empty hallway with the lights flickering, white and black. I kept myself calm as I walked down the hall to the Command room. I still have my spot there with all of the other high officials. No one looked at me as I walked in. I don’t think they noticed I was gone. No one said anything. Picses had stopped talking and for a while I hadn’t heard his voice.

This is where we stand up for ourselves

If other nations want to attack us, then lets show them what happens when they do.

Everyone was waiting on Picses. This room was silent, I bet other rooms were silent. We were waiting. I don’t know what its like out there. Picses is probably waiting on the greatest moment to release everyone we have.

I tapped my fingers on the screen, just waiting on Picses to tell us when. I should be calm right now but I wasn’t. I tried to not get paranoid. This is the part I was trained. When things get bad, this is when we have to fight through it. I’m responsible for one person and I have to make sure is that he makes it out alive. For now, I have that to worry about.

I’ve been doing this for years, I won’t mess up.

Picses finally let us go. Now its time for our Flyers to go all out. We’ve trained for this.

Africa wasn’t paying attention to us; we both decided that it was better to take out Europe first, then we can fight each other after that. So for now, Africa is on our side. Together, we can handle Europe’s large forces. This is the best way to take it one step at a time.

“Don’t attack Africa right now, just focus on Europe.” I said, marking out every single path he shouldn’t take. Some Coordinators had the nerves and probably the will to let their Flyers go into territory that might even be considered a death zone because of how much people are getting killed.

There are others that know better options. I would prefer to use those better options.

“What about Russia?”

“They will most likely crumble in a matter of minutes, don’t waste time on them.” I said. Someone will have to go out and help Russia. They can’t just let them go out like that.

But we have to think about how long we expect this to last. We are literally right outside the new planet. No one can move because of this war. Russia will get the help they need in time. Someone’s going to lose, someone will cave.

I was trying to keep myself busy by pulling up as much information as I could. Everything is useful. I also didn’t want to think too much about what was happening.

“Scared?” Sirus asked me.

“Are you?” I asked.

“Well, I see everything out here, and think a lot of things. But being scared isn’t one of them.” he said.

“If that’s a yes, then I understand.” I said and heard him laugh. He’ll come back like he promised me. Everything will be fine. I stared blankly at my screen as I replayed his laugh over and over again.

“You’re so full of yourself.” he said.

“Of course I am, Sirus.” I said. “But you know what you can do? You can focus and make sure you don’t end up in danger.” I said.

“That’s your job.”

“That’s true. However, I can only do so much when you don’t focus.” I told him.

He groaned. I could give him an entire lecture about how he has to pay attention or this will barely work. “Alright, lets just do this. Just give me stuff to use.” he said. He’s out of his mind if he thinks I will give him the big stuff again. Unless Picses tells me to, he’s not getting anything high tech.

“Or you can pay attention to your left.” I told him instead.

I paid attention to my, seeing so many things dispersed. Africa had finally disappeared from my screens; we can no longer see them, and I’m at a big disadvantage. We did try to modify our systems for that, but I would have to use a trial and method error to find them. Europe was just there, a few dots here and there disappearing.

As Picses said different orders, I targeted some of the enemies’ ships that Sirus could destroy from where he was. Marks were being removed from my screen but were being replaced quickly. That’s what Europe is good at, they come back quick. We can destroy as many as could, but Europe will always send people out.

This might take longer than I thought.

“Sir! We’ve gotten close to a few stars.” One of the Coordinators beside me said.

I saw them all, and there were more than just a few. This could really mess how we do things. The heat on those stars could melt the ships if any of them get too close.

“Be careful of the stars around. Try not to get hit near them.” I said.

“What if something hits a star?” Sirus asked.

Like what?

If any of our weapons so much as fires at a star, it could blow up everything.

Oh no.

I turned back quickly, “Commander Picses, the stars are keeping us from firing.” I said.

“All units pull back quickly.” Picses yelled.

“Get far away, Sirus, get very far away.” I said, hoping he understood how serious this was. Europe was still trying to fight us, but the stars were separating our forces from there’s. They advanced anyway, still firing as if they thought they were pushing us back. Almost all of them were about to get in trouble.

The stars were getting bigger on my screen and I saw the European forces disappear. It didn’t take them long to recover though. They brought back reinforcements to back up those that were left, using the stars explosion as time to get back out there. I pulled my lips in as I tapped the white counter furiously. They just keep coming back no matter what.

“Something’s coming towards us.” Sirus said.

“That’s Europe.” I said, noticing it.

“All of that is Europe?” he didn’t believe it. I can only see a ratio on my screen. If Sirus is stressing that there’s too many then this might be trouble. I put in every code I knew for every single weapon he could have because Europe is really about to fight back.

And it might be a repeat of last time.

“Don’t start unleashing everything when you feel like it. Use everything properly.” I said.

“You make it seem like I toy around with this stuff.” he said. He thinks everything is a toy. I sighed, tapping my screen as I got even more anxious. There has yet to be any major changes. No one is winning. This is what some of us feared.

What if we obliterate each other? What happens then?

I started to feel a little sick but I tried to get my mind back in order so I could focus. Marks around Sirus were being erased but so were our forces. I paid attention to his tracker the most because I was scared to lose him the way others were losing their Flyers. I hated thinking of it like this, but its basically life and death.

We’re so close but we won’t make it unless everything is unleashed. Something has to change. Someone has to come out on top. I like thinking of myself as an optimistic person, so I was going to hope that we’re the ones that make it. We have to. We’re not fighting this hard for nothing.

Too many people were gone from our side. We haven’t seen this kind of loss since last time when Europe completely crushed us. Its happening again, and this time it might be worse. The numbers were dwindling dramatically. I can warn Sirus of everything but Europe knows how to get around it. And even if we’re getting rid of a good amount of them, we will still have Africa to fend off.

I bit my lip and tried to hold in whatever outburst I had. What should we do? What shouldn’t we do? We’re dying out there. Now what?

We aren’t going to make it.

“All Coordinators assigned with a double occupation are to switch fields right now.” Picses ordered. Those were the words I dreaded hearing. I knew this would happen, but I didn’t think it would be this quick.

My heart stopped.

“Sirus...” I said quietly, trying to find my voice. “I have to go.”

“Where?” he asked. I couldn’t answer. My lips were trembling, I was shaking, my heart was beating too fast now, and I couldn’t breathe. I was freaking out. “Where, Aurora?” Sirus asked louder.

“I have to...I just have to go. I’m sure someone will take my place for you.”

“Don’t tell me-”

“I’m sorry.” I said quickly and took off my headset. Once I took his settings off this computer, he was transferred to someone else.

My hands were shaking. I was nervous.

This was really happening.

I ran down the halls with a bunch of other Coordinators who had to. I don’t know if we were prepared or not. I sure wasn’t. I know this will probably the harshest conditions I’ve ever been in but I have to get through it. I followed most everyone who was running, grabbing a helmet and getting to dispatch.

Over the past few days, Coordinators were living, breathing, and giving up their souls to make more ships. It was just engineering from day in and day out. Now we get to put them to use.

The plan has changed. There were some people that will not be getting a Coordinator. Picses has been changing his mind lately. Already, Coordinators have enough to deal with so a few of the people with double occupations will not get the help we need. I remember when Picses told everyone this. Taurus began to freak out because she wouldn’t be able to help me. I was just angry that Picses thinks its a good idea to leave some of us stranded out there.

I don’t know if this will work.

I can handle myself but then I have to think about everything else that’s happening. Will I be able to get through it? There’s a lot I won’t be able to see, and I’m not the type to always believe in my gut feelings.

Now that this is really happening, I have a different perspective.

I climbed into a ship as I put my helmet on. The system turned on when I pressed the button under the seat.

“Welcome, Aurora,” the computer said.

I closed my eyes. I really need something to go right for me just once. I’ve constantly been going out in space, and there’s always something happening, and I just want something right to happen for me. I took a breath and opened my eyes.

“Start thrusters.” I said and the computer activated the ship.

I saw the others getting ready to leave. The blue lights from the thrusters lit up around every ship. We’re all just going out there to fight. This is a first for all of us.

We all know enough. We should be fine.

When we got out there, we were doing just fine. We blended in fine with the other Flyers. We’re just as capable as them; sure, we haven’t been here long enough to do any fancy tricks, but we can manage.

Europe really was trying to destroy everything we stand for. Now that I’m out here, I can see the ratios. Its more than what I saw before, and they’re much more organized than before. They knew we were coming for them. My hands tightened over the handles and I bit my lip tightly. The computer did its best to show me everything around me, but without a Coordinator, I was at a big disadvantage.

I still don’t like being in space, but at least now, I can defend myself.

It was becoming a mess. Europe was splitting up, tagging all of us, and I could only do so much while I was trying to get them off my trail. I reminded myself that I was doing fine, that I didn’t have to panic, that I’ll make it through this. My fingers tightened and began to really get aggressive.

I would never let anyone get away with the things I was about to do.

I chewed on my lip harder as I pulled up on the controls sharply, feeling the ship drop in space. As I moved around, I saw the debris from the European ships that collided. There were more coming after me, but they knew that I would do what I just did again. There’s more than one way to stop them.

“Computer, shut off thrusters.” I said as I changed my path. The European ships collided with others just as I told the Computer to turn the thrusters back on again.

Doing a few petty tricks wasn’t going to help me, but I can last longer this way. The more Europeans that came towards me, the more I could get to collide. Its too much movement for me to try and shoot at them so this is all I can rely on for now.

I did fine, but then it got harder.

To have so many of them shooting at us and trying to defend at the same time, it took a lot of focus. More people were blown up in their own ships. I could see the crashes, the explosions, and I couldn’t think about it. If I did, I would just freak out.

I had to think.

There was the new planet. Its right there. It was right there. This was the solar system everyone talked about. This is what we’re fighting to get to.

We’re not done yet.

Europe really was putting up a good fight, and it won’t be long before Africa starts to turn on us. We were lucky that we could help each other when we needed it, but for the most part, we were going to have to get through this alone.

There were stars everywhere, and there were broken parts of burnt ships. The Mother Ships weren’t moving, and all of us were out here trying to fight our way through. No one is winning. I could see it. This was hard, and I was breathing too fast. I could feel the panic as my heart rate increased. The Computer was tracking everything. I was freaking out too much that it picked up on it.

I have to focus.

I can’t die in space. That’s my worst nightmare. But seeing all this made me feel worse. This is what its like, this is what Flyers go through all the time. I could never do this constantly, my hands would shake too much.

I got hit. The damage was one of the thrusters. I bit my lip hard, my teeth piercing my skin. I could barely pilot. I pulled up on the controls but I couldn’t go the way I wanted to go.

What was weird was that I was falling, like I was being pulled down forcefully.

The computer flashed red lights. Gravity was pulling me down.

I was too close to the gravitational pull of the planet.

Almost every function was lost. All the Computer could do was flash a danger warning in front of me. The backup thrusters weren’t working, and the engine was shot out. I could try and pilot but I wouldn’t be able to get out of this force.

The pull was too strong.

I already knew that I was going to hit the ground. I planned on limiting how much damage I had to endure. I still pulled up on the controls as gravity brought me down faster. I’ve never done so many calculations in my head at once. Physics has always been relevant in my life, but this was the moment I really had to think.

The Computer wouldn’t stop flashing its lights. The pressure was changing, the glass was cracking, and I could feel the heat on the inside. Its too much force at once. I couldn’t bite my lip any harder. I had to stop myself from screaming or freaking out. Its either I die or I don’t. I don’t want to so I’m going to try my best not to. I kept pulling on the controls as I got closer and closer to the ground. I was spiraling forward and I did everything I could to keep the broken ship steady.

This is not going to be fun.

I hit the ground and felt everything shatter and crumble around me; there were things piercing into my skin but that wasn’t the worst part of it. The impact was so strong that I was thrown out of the damaged ship. I hit the ground hard, rolling forward as I tried to stop.

My hands tried grabbing on to something so I could stop moving, but my fingers dragged against the ground because there was nothing strong enough I could hold on to. The only thing that stopped me was that I hit something.

I laid on the ground, my body writhing as I felt the pain surge through my body. I thought I was still spinning. My eyes were closed but I got the image of the spinning ground. It didn’t stop. My hands were filled with something, I didn’t know what. I tried to move up on my arms, but I barely made it. I lifted my head to see what happened.

There’s...grass between my fingers. Actual grass.

I was bleeding from the glass that had pierced my skin, but I could only stare at the grass. There was something hard pressing against the side of my body. I moved my head slowly, still getting a spinning image as I saw the tree I was laying next to.

This is what we were told about.

I closed my eyes and tried to breathe but I choked on my blood. My body was writhing in pain from the horrendous crash. I wasn’t the only one. I heard more crashes on the ground and I knew more ships were falling. I didn’t have the strength to look up. I was trying to get it, but I could barely move. I was bleeding so much; I’ll probably die from the blood loss.

My arms shook as I put my hands down on the ground, trying to get up. I coughed up more blood as I thought I was spinning. I kept my eyes closed as I tried to get up. My body could barely handle it; I could feel where I got hurt, where pieces of glass and metal had cut through me. There was so much blood underneath me. I couldn’t stop it. I opened my eyes and looked at the ground; more blood fell on to the ground from my head wound.

I used the tree as support to get up. There were more ships crashing on to the ground. As I looked up, I noticed how bright it actually was; its hot too, I could feel the sun’s heat on me. I haven’t been this uncomfortable before, but that’s because of all the blood that was spilling from my body. I leaned against the tree and looked up at the sky.

This was it.

This is what we were told about for so long. This is what its like being on an actual planet. It hurt that this is what I’ll always remember. All the blood, the broken parts and glass, more blood.

There were ships coming down, one after another, and they hit the ground, crashing and shattering Flyers inside.

Some of them made it, some of them didn’t.

More ships came crashing down and I wondered who was murdering our people. Why are they doing this to us? They were planning to shoot us down here but they don’t know that they just helped us get here first.

I took a step forward, feeling myself collapse under my own weight. I dropped to my knees when my legs couldn’t hold me up. I tried to get back up on my feet again. Someone was going to need help, the least I could do was that for them. I heard the crashes as I rose up, stumbling forward.

The stress made everything hurt worse.

My heart couldn’t take anymore of this. The sight was horrific. There was so much blood and I saw...I saw how people looked. Some climbed out of there ships, and others were already...they were...No one can help us. They’re too busy up in space.

I continued to walk forward, moving towards the closest ship I could get to. There was a body laying on the ground, a pool of blood forming. There was blood pooling everywhere. When I saw their face, I stopped walking.

Sirus was...

I ran over to Sirus.

I have never been this frightened before. I pushed over the bigger pieces of metal and got him from under it. His blood was all over my arms. It was on the grass. It was everywhere. There was so much that I thought he wasn’t alive.

I got this terrible feeling in my chest as I looked down at him. There was just so much blood and I didn’t know what to do. How am I supposed to get help?

He was barely breathing.

“Sirus. Can you hear me? Sirus?” I shook him lightly. He was going cold. If he loses any more blood, he will die. I continued to shake him, hoping he would get up. “Sirus please, open your eyes.” I started crying because I knew he wouldn’t.

He was bleeding too much and there’s no one that can help us.

He’s not going to get up.

We won’t ever get help because of how occupied the others are up in space. So I’m left here in a place I’m not familiar with, almost dying, with other people dying around me. Sirus wasn’t going to make it. I continued to shake him because it hasn’t hit me yet. It hasn’t hit me that he was just going to die. It hasn’t hit me that I was probably going to die. I wanted him to wake up. He can’t leave me alone in this. I don’t know what to do.

I cried miserably as I tried to get him to wake up, not even aware that there’s nothing more I could do.

There was so much blood.

There was just so...much blood.

I cried harder. I was supposed to make sure nothing happened to him, to make sure that he came back to me like he promised me he would. I can’t believe that I left him. I should have never accepted being reassigned.

This is all my fault.

Now what am I supposed to do? I don’t know how to get help. More ships were crashing and that was just more injured and dead people to deal with. I wanted to help, but I could barely move. My body was numb, and I could barely hold myself up anymore.

I cried over Sirus. I should’ve never left him. If only I had stood my ground, this would have never happened. This is my fault.

“Why...are you...crying?”

I looked down at Sirus. He had opened his eyes finally. He’s alive. I couldn’t find words to answer his question. I thought he was dead. I thought he...I was still crying, but I was so relieved. I didn’t know how to handle it. My heart was beating out of control and I couldn’t take it. Breathing was hard too.

All I could do was cry.

This was the worst feeling I’ve ever gotten in my life. There was so much that I went through and this is what happens. I hate this feeling so much.

I thought he died.

I was so tired. I couldn’t even hold myself up anymore. I kept crying as I fell over on him. My body was still numb. I couldn’t feel anything. Yet, I was drowning in all my emotions. I stayed over him as I cried miserably, not being able to breathe. I felt his fingers in my hair, he couldn’t move much but he tried to calm me down. I didn’t know what to think.

I was overwhelmed.

After all the fighting and the struggling, we finally won.