Refinement: A War of Europe

Chapter Thirty-Four: West: Surprises

Eloise~ West (England)

"This is your bed." Grayson motioned to a slab of mattress positioned on a brittle metal frame. The pillow looked as if someone put rocks in a pillowcase, and the blanket was paper thin. I glanced over at Grayson's bed, and he was in much better shape as far as rest goes. The room was decorated with maps, and books of all different colors and ages. One book looked so ancient, that the pages fell from the white book shelf that held it in place. There was a map adorned with vibrant colors, delicate handwritten letters, and lines crisscrossing over countries, continents, and cities. I walked over, and traced a gold line from India to North America with my middle finger. I had almost forgotten other continents existed. Europe was the only problem in my mind. Grayson walked over, and crossed out west North America, and all of South America with his thumb.

"All gone." His fingers then dragged to East Asia, and recreated the same motion. He did the same to Australia. "They are all drowned. Whole civilizations dragged to the depths of the sea, and the unforgiving amount of corrosion we have created." My mouth clamped shut. My tooth ground itself against his brother.

"Why didn't we help them?!" I had tried to keep my tongue contained, but the hurt and sense of betrayal forced the words to roll out into the air.

"We couldn't. That was the day that we were bombed. Too many died that day, for anyone to think about the other continents, and I HATE IT. Every time I look at this map, I am reminded of the time we left millions to die. But there was nothing we could do." Tears grazed the outskirts of Grayson's blue eye.

"We should go to bed. You are helping my mom out with the house tomorrow." He turned, and threw his shirt on the ground. His bed squeaked under his weight. I gulped, and took a stiff white gown from a gray bag given. I glanced at Grayson to make sure his eyes were closed, and I slipped the gown on. I took my dads letter from the bag, and read it. His hand writing was robotic. I read the words diligently. I had already memorized it, but his handwriting is what I loved most. To know that he wrote every letter with his own hand, was amazing. The comfort that seeped from this page, is what lulled me to sleep.

~~~

My eyelids pulled themselves apart when I felt a hand grab my arm. My vision took three seconds to sharpen, and once I saw who it was, I snapped my neck upward. 

That hurt.  

It was Lex, in his underwear. My emotions turned from confusion, to surprise, to anger in a split second. Lex was in his underwear, in my room. No- in Grayson's room-

"WHY ARE YOU HERE?" I demanded in a whisper. He pulled my arm towards the door, and my body followed unwillingly.

"I am sorry, I had to. There is something I need to tell you," I rolled my eyes, "IT IS IMPORTANT, ELOISE GRACE." My eyes drifted from his face to the rest of The Base. It was surprisingly nice, though it was in the dead of night. There were lights that descended from the ceiling, creating an orange illumination. It actually complimented Lex's eyes.

"What did you learn?"

"I learned about you." My eyes questioned this.

"What-"

"You are not the only one who got to live because of their smarts, and most of those people go on to be a strategizing soldier."

"Why is that bad?" He gulped, not wanting to break this news to me.

"Strategizing soldiers stay here. You wouldn't be able to go on the field. To find the people who killed your sister. To fight." My jaw released itself. In a panic, I searched my mind for any comfort it could give me. That kid. That I met on the way to Russia, he was on the field! I could be like him!