It was sudden, the loud boom

erupting in the air, indicating an end. The end of my struggles to achieve a perfect life, of following my passion to go to Paris and become a recognized fashion designer, make a name for myself. There would be no more care for exams, college and career. There would be no more friends, no family, and possibly no

more life.

It was the end of many things, but it was also the beginning.

It was the beginning of a war that would last longer than anyone could have predicted, it was the beginning of an

incredible amount of destruction and death no one had ever witnessed before, and it was the beginning of our new life, filled with terror and lost hope.

It was also the beginning of something I had never saw coming, something I could have never have foreseen,

something I might have wished had happened under better circumstances, but something I did not regret.

It was something that brought me hope in the midst of all the misery, it was a light that shone between all that

darkness, guiding me to safety, protecting me from harm and showing me happiness in a situation that was anything but.

I had lost everything I had loved, everyone that I loved, everything I had owned, but I found him among all that.

 …

The war had been predicted to happen for the past three months, when the relations between the super-power countries worsened.The world was about to face another World War. The World War III. All countries had been preparing to deal with its consequences. However, no one was prepared for the destruction that was about to take place.

My family was fortunate enough to be one of the ten-thousand families to be selected to enter the underground facilities, which were built for the purpose of protection from the war. My father, fatefully, was extremely

close to the Army General of Blaunx, General Shah, who, as one of the prestigious and well-respected members of the society had been given a pass. However, General Shah did not plan on accepting the offer. He had lost his wife to cancer and had no children or any close family living in the country. Therefore, he believed he should maintain his responsibility to protect his country and decided to give his pass to my father, his closest friend since they were children. After all, my father needed the pass more than he did, since he had a wife and three young children: two girls and a six year old boy.

My father accepted the offer without any hesitation. And, I am glad he did, because otherwise our plan would have been to hide out in the basement of our house, which might have led us to our deaths in a day or two, either due

to the bomb, nuclear radiations, or most likely, a break-in by some rowdy people, for whom money was the goal regardless of the situation. Unfortunately for us (in that situation), we lived in a big house, in the good part of town.

I guess the people would like to, at least, get a taste of luxury before they eventually died. And, under circumstances where law was no longer in power, we were particularly vulnerable.

Hence, I was happy we did not need to stick with our former plan. However, getting to the containment area was not an easy either, and involved hours of travelling, and through a war zone.

There were four facilities and in four different cities, but not in ours, therefore we had to travel by an army truck to go the nearest city where one of the facilities was located. The trucks were supposed to pick up a few people in our area where the rich lived. The 1% of the society that had the money to buy their way into the protection facilities, while the poor and most of the middle class people like us, who could not afford the cost, were left out to die. That is right, though we lived in a good part of town, we not exactly rich rich, and we definitely could not afford to get into the protection facility even if we gave out all our wealth and sold all our organs. That was how expensive it was! Which explained the small number of people who were not selected by the government themselves, to actually get in.

Therefore, I was extremely grateful and thanked the lord to give us the opportunity to escape, but dreaded what was to come at the same time.

“Grab your backpacks, put on your joggers, and don’t forget to grab your jacket. The trucks are outside, we need

to leave!” My mother called out making her way into the hallway and slipping her socked feet into her joggers, while my father helped my little brother, Niall, zip up his jacket.

My sister, Hania, came out of the bathroom in a hurry, grabbing her backpack, looking at our shared room for one last time before making her way to the doorway. I sat on my bed staring at the whole scene from my open bedroom door that looked out into the open-floor plan of the house that my mother had thought over so prudently before getting it re-built. The house that held so many memories of us growing up might go down to dust and we

might never see it standing again. The only thing that was going to matter from here on out was to stay alive.

I grabbed my bag off the chair and walked out the front door behind my family and came to stand on the gravel road

as a few army officers checked the names of people on a list, before letting them climb on-board.

It was three in the morning and there were still a good four hours before the sun came out. I realized that the

trucks were sent over to pick us up in the middle of the night, possibly, to avoid the people who had not managed to get a pass to go the protection camp. They would have certainly made a huge fuss, and begged to be let on. But, as unfair as it was, there was limited space in those underground camps, so not everyone could be saved. I would have been sad for them, but at the moment everyone was thinking about their own selves and their own loved ones getting to safety.

As another family boarded, I moved closer behind my parents to the truck. My father identified himself to the

officer and after he found his name on the list, we were allowed to get on. My father boarded the truck first with my brother in his arms. Then, my sister climbed in behind them, leaving space for a single person.

They’ll manage it.I told myself. We can just squeeze in, right?

“One more person” The officer announced.

I looked at my mother, who was next in line to board and was already looking at me.

“We are one family.” I told the officer. “We have to go together.”

“You need to go on the other truck. There is no more space here.” He replied in a tired voice.

I did not bother to say anything, because I knew it was not going to matter. There were other families on the

truck as well, who would not agree to be split up either. So, we had to sacrifice one person from our own family to travel alone.

I turned my head towards my mother, who appeared strong, but I knew that was just a façade. I could see the terror

in her eyes. But, she still smiled at me, reassuringly, wanting me to believe everything was okay.

She gestured for me to get on, saying: “I’ll get on the other truck.”

I shook my head strongly, gently pushing her shoulder to get on the truck. There was no way I would let my fifty

year old mother to go on her own. It would be better if I was the one who went. I was younger, stronger than her, and I could manage much better on my own.

“No, I’ll take the other truck, you should stay here. Niall needs you.” I nodded my head towards my little brother in my father’s arms, who was yet unaware of our family possibly splitting apart.

My mother’s face reflected her conflicted thoughts as she looked between me and my brother.

My heart sped rapidly in my chest as my mind registered how this situation will likely end. I will probably have to

split up from my family and go on my own. I was absolutely terrified, but I calmed myself by remembering that we were all to go to same destination. Right now I just needed to reassure my mother that I would be fine on my own, so she would get on.

 The officer had an annoyed expression on his face as he urged us to make a decision quickly as we needed

to set off.

I took my mother's hand in mine and squeezed it.

"Don't worry I'll be fine, we'll all be going to the same place. The truck I'll be in is right behind

yours."

 My mother did not say anything and continued to hesitate, tears filling her eyes as she held my hand between both

of hers.

“How can I leave you on your own? You are a young girl. Do you realize how dangerous this situation is? What if

something happens to you?” My mother asked, in a hurry.

 As I desperately racked my mind for something to convince my mother, a tall shadow appeared behind me.  I looked behind me to see a tall man, with a lean muscular figure standing incredibly close to me, and turning around had made me come to face his chest. He was wearing the camouflage uniform of the army soldiers, which hugged his body, defining the shape of all his incredible muscles. It was too dark to observe his features clearly, but he seemed young. His face was clean-shaven and his voice, I noticed, was low pitched and heavy, as he began to speak. He was looking straight at my mother, over my head.

“Ma’am, I am the captain of this squad. I am assigned to bring the citizens to safety. You don’t have to worry

about your daughter; she will be travelling in the other truck alongside me. I am responsible for the safety of you all and I will make sure to keep a close eye on your daughter.”

My mother looked at him with desperate eyes, as she nodded quickly while rubbing my arm. I realized that he

probably had been standing close by and had grasped the tricky situation I was in.

“All the trucks leaving this city are going to the same containment facility, and you will be reunited with your

daughter there. I promise, I will not let her get harmed in any manner.” He said in calm, reassuring tone.

“I-Will she really be okay on her own?”

“Of course, you can trust me for her safety.” He smiled politely, speaking in a soft voice.

“O-Okay then”, my mother said after a long moment, her gaze shifting from the Captain to me.

She held both of my arms and spoke to me is a soft hurried voice. She instructed me to stay vigilant and not to

worry, even though she was panicking more than I was. I reassured her that I would be fine and said my tear-filled goodbyes to my family before being led by the tall soldier towards the other truck.

As we were walking, the soldier turned his head slightly, looking over at me and suddenly stopped in his tracks,

making me almost crash into his back. He turned around and raised his hand and lightly touched my cheek. I realized he was wiping away a tear that had escaped my eyes. I quickly turned my head away from him, leaving his hand in the air as I wiped my tears, taking a deep breath to pull myself together.

I was on my own now, and I could not let anyone see me like this, vulnerable. I needed to appear strong so I could

protect myself, but it made me feel so suffocated and scared. My emotions must have been written on my face, since the soldier took a step closer, raised my head up to look at him, and placed his hand on each of my shoulders. It was nice, like a protective shield around me. I suddenly felt secure and wanted to stay there for as long as I could. However, we did not have long as I heard someone announce in some distance that we were about to take off.

The soldier took his right hand off for a moment touching his ear-piece. He turned his head away from me and spoke something to someone on the other end. Then, he turned back towards me, placing

his hand back on my shoulder.

We were both standing beside the truck, where there was no one around and I suddenly began to shake. Was it a

panic attack or the cold? I assumed it was both as the soldier soothingly rubbed my shoulders and stepped back for a moment to go to the truck and retrieve a camouflage jacket, putting it over my shoulders.

It was a little weird, a stranger being extra nice to me. He did not even know me, yet he seemed to be caring too

much. But, at the moment I was too scared to push away the only company I had. He had promised my mother to take care of me, and only that made me want to rely on him and believe his words.

“Hey, you’re okay. It’s going to be okay.” He continued to rub my upper arms with his hands, slowly.

I felt I could not breathe and started taking larger than normal breaths, filling my air with as much air as

it could take. But, no matter how many times I inhaled or how fast, I felt the air was becoming lesser and lesser. It was as if all the air in the world had escaped.

The soldier crouched down to come to face to face with me and raised my head with both his hands and just held my face as he began to instruct me to breath slowly.

“You need to calm down. I’m sure you are scared right now and you have every reason to be. But, I’ll tell you that

you are not alone. I’ll keep you safe, okay?”

I blinked my eyes and more tears flooded out of eyes, going straight to his hands that were wrapped around my

face. He moved his fingers a bit lower and covered my ears, blocking out the noise of the world around me and making me feel as if we were the only ones

there.

I instantly calmed down, my breathing regulated and I stared straight at his face. With the tears not

blocking my vision anymore, I was beginning to see more clearly. The moon light illuminated his features; incredibly handsome features that made my breath catch in my throat. Now, over-breathing was not a problem. I looked at him as if in a trance. He had beautiful brown eyes, bordered by thick, long lashes; his face was sculpted to perfection, his complexion fair, which was further highlighted by his black hair. A perfect nose, perfect lips, could a person be

that perfect? Was I hallucinating? Maybe, I was already dead and had gone to heaven. He looked young, possibly around my age or a few years older. Was it possible for someone to become a Captain at such a young age? I was getting all these random questions in my head and in the worst moment possible, but at least they were distracting me from the unfortunate reality.

He was also looking at me, with his deep brown eyes, possibly waiting for me to say something, while I stared at

him like an idiot. His lips slightly curved upwards as he moved back a step,moving his hands to my shoulders again.

“I think you’re better now, so we should probably get going. You can talk to me anytime, okay? I need to keep an

eye on others too, as I’m responsible for all of you, so you need to stay strong and don’t panic. We’ll get to the containment facility in a few hours and you’ll see your family again. Now, come on we need to leave before

sunrise.”

I nodded and muttered a thank you, while he turned away his head talking into a walky-talky, ordering someone to

move out.

He brought his arm around my back, resting it between my shoulder-blades and moved me towards the open backside of the truck.

I looked behind me one last time before climbing the truck, to the place that I had called my home for the past

twenty-two years, and filling the only free spot left in the far end of the truck.

Usually, I loved sitting in the corner, however in these circumstances, I knew the best place to be sitting

would be as close to the exit as possible, where two soldiers, including the Captain, sat. But, I chose to ignore all the negative thoughts, and prayed that this journey would be smooth and that I would be reunited with my family soon.

I looked over to where the Captain sat to find him already looking at me. He gave me a small smile and turned to look outside the truck. I wrapped his jacket tightly around myself and leaned my head on the

wall beside me, looking down at the ground where my backpack lay, on top of my feet.

The truck took off and the panic finally set in. Reality was becoming clearer now as the sun rose. My country

had become a war zone overnight, I was all alone, and who knew what I would encounter on this eight hour journey.

…

The Captain of the troop had been checking up on me quite a few times from the other end of the truck. I could

feel his eyes on me from the corner of my eyes, but I kept my eyes down and ignored the heaviness of his stare.

I was so tired, but I did not allow myself to fall asleep, not in these circumstances. I moved my legs occasionally, to keep the blood flowing in my veins and to remain awake. The other people, I had noticed, had all fallen asleep, probably because they were with their families and felt secure. A little girl had her head in her mother’s lap and was calm asleep. Looking at her made me miss my mother, but at the same time made me relieved that at least my younger siblings still had their mother with them.

The truck my parents were travelling in was far ahead of us, that I could not even see it anymore. It made me

anxious, so I kept telling myself repeatedly that we were all going to the same place and that we were all going to be fine.

I sensed some movement and shuffling from the corner of my eye and turned to see the Captain making his way to the back of the truck in a crouched position. He came straight towards me, not looking at me in the eyes, while apologizing for disturbing all the sleeping people and making the people on my side of the truck shift so he could sit

beside me.

I looked at him, a mixture of confusion and intrigue. He was staring hard at a guy who was sitting across from me. The guy was looking down at this lap and after a moment began to talk to another guy next to him. They both looked close to my age.

I moved my gaze back to the soldier; he looked even more handsome in the daylight. The sunlight made his hair look golden-brown and the light on his face enhanced his features. He looked like a Greek God (Except he was not Greek).

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

He finally looked over at me and smiled, making my heart do a flip inside my chest.

“I think I should be asking you this question. I noticed that you did not sleep at all. You look tired.”

“I don’t really feel like sleeping at the moment.”

“No one’s bothering you, right?” He spoke in a low voice, his head leaning closer to mine.

I took in a deep breath and got a whiff of his incredible scent, a mixture of earth, rainwater, and something

else that made me want to sit closer to him. It was the same heavenly scent that I had been wrapped up in: his uniform jacket.

I checked myself and moved back a little. Why was I acting like a pervert? I was never like that. I cleared my

throat to answer his question.

“Um-No, why do you ask?” I followed his stare back to the guys sitting in front of me, who were now laughing their

lungs out, clearly not bothered by the war situation.

“Nothing, I’m just making sure you’re alright.” He looked back at me and smiled.

I returned his smile and turned back to stare at my feet.

“I don’t think I’ve introduced myself properly. I’m Danial.” He brought his hand forward for me to shake.

I shook his hand and smiled. “Nice to meet you Danial, I’m Alizeh.”

He held my hand for a moment, staring into my eyes holding my gaze, until I looked away.

“Nice to meet you Alizeh, are you feeling better now.”

“Yeah, I think so. Thank you, by the way, if it wasn’t for you I would’ve been panicking still. I had an anxiety

attack and you really managed to calm me down.”

“Of course, I’m glad you’re okay.” He spoke in a low, soft voice, which was almost a whisper. “But, I think you

should sleep for a while, we all need to conserve our energy. I don’t mean to scare you, but these situations are completely unpredictable. Who knows what we would have to face, so it’s best to have a good rest when possible.”

I swallowed, not sure what to say. I knew he was right, and though he made me feel secure, I did not know him well

enough to feel completely safe.

“I’m alright. I’m not sleepy at all.”

He smiled patiently and turned towards me a little more, his knees touching mine. I tried to ignore the feeling,

keeping my eyes on his.

“I know what you’re thinking.” He said in a calm, quiet voice. Cautious, as though I was a little bird sitting on

his hand and he was trying not to make any sudden movements that might make me fly away.

“What am I thinking?” I asked, raising my one eyebrow, curious to what he would say.

“You’re thinking that you are all alone and that you can’t go to sleep in case you get left behind or murdered.” He gave me a smug smile, it was so ridiculous that I couldn’t help but smile myself. But he was not wrong about my thoughts and that made me a little sad. It was true though. I was all alone.

I didn’t reply. I turned back forward and lowered my eyes back to the ground.

“Well?”

“Congratulations, you can read minds.” I turned towards him, nodding my head in appreciation.

He smiled and nudged my shoulder a little. That small contact made   my breath hitch. I returned his smile and turned away again.

“Why are you here, anyway?” I asked. “Shouldn’t you be sitting on the other end of the truck?”

“I should… But, I wanted to make sure you were alright. You looked so sad earlier.”

I pressed my lips in a thin line and then turned my face toward him.

“I- I never thanked you for helping me out with my mother. If she had come here instead of me, I would have felt

even more anxious and scared.”

“Now, they’re the ones who are probably anxious and afraid for you.”

I gave him a small smile.

“At least they’re together. That’s all that matters, and I just hope they stay safe.”

He nodded, staring at me with an expression that seemed to be a lot like admiration. He was smiling, looking at

me, lost in thought.

All the attention I was getting from this handsome man made me nervous, so I turned my face away from him and

lowered my head. I suddenly felt incredibly dizzy with sleep. I felt like I was in a dream. He was right; I really needed to sleep a little if I wanted my body to function properly.

Danial noticed the tiredness on my face and patted his broad shoulder.

“Rest your head here. You should sleep a little.” He advised.

I stared at him for a long moment before shaking my head.

“Ah, no it’s okay. I can just lean my head against the wall.”

“That won’t be comfortable; your neck will become sore. Come on.” He patted his left shoulder again. “I promise

I won’t bite.” He winked, catching me off-guard and making my heart skip a beat.

“I-I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” I whispered, avoiding eye contact with him.

“I won’t be uncomfortable. I promise. I’m a little sad that you underestimate my strength. I’m sure my

shoulders can bear the weight of your head. It doesn’t look that big.” He teased.

I looked over him, finding him pouting like a child, looking at me expectantly. I could not help smiling and

let out a breathy giggle. I shook my head at his ridiculousness, hesitating for a beat before laying my head on his shoulder. Even though, I could not see his face I knew he was smiling.

My eyes caught the two guys in front of us, staring at us and whispering back and forth. The guy sitting in front of

me, who had black hair which was a little longer in the front, hiding his forehead, kept his eyes on me. I met his eyes as I lay my head on Danial’s shoulder. His eyes moved between the two of us, suddenly turning hard.

I wasn’t dense. I knew that guy probably held some evil intentions towards me, and Danial was getting in their

way. He was one of the reasons I was uncomfortable sitting there, and why I refused to sleep. Thankfully, the Captain had noticed and come to save me. But, I felt guilty for keeping him all to myself, when he probably needed to take care of other things. He was the Captain after all. But, resting my head on his shoulder made me realize how tired I was, so I decided to ignore those feelings and everything around me.  I felt so safe, with him beside me. I closed my eyes, inhaling his intoxicating scent that enveloped me, giving me a sense of security, and faded into a deep sleep.