Nightmares & Sunshine
HEARTBEAT
Dust and dirt everywhere. I could feel it—taste it—in my mouth. I tried in vain to spit it out but still it seeped down my throat and into my lungs-
HEARTBEAT
Pain. Burning pain in my shoulder and chest. A pulsing sting on the back of my neck-
HEARTBEAT
A painfully loud roar filled with rage rattled my eardrums. Howls of anger interrupted by erratic gunfire-
HEARTBEAT
I had to find her. How many times had I told her not to run off? And now this beast-
HEARTBEAT
A massive, clawed mound of flesh tore it's way toward me. A flash of crimson and silver blinded my vision but I felt no contact. A scream pierced the air as another splash of red flew before my eyes-
Eve shot up in bed, gasping for air, a thin layer of sweat on her forehead and neck. A hand clutching her chest, the other over her eyes, Eve's body shook with a mix of fear, pain and shock. Her eyes finally adjusting to her surrounding and her mind clearing itself, she finally began to calm down. Relaxing her limbs, she took in a calculated, controlled the released it—the sudden stress leaving with the exhaled air.
That dream again. Eve thought to herself, running a steadying hand through her hair. Taking a few more stable, paced breathes, the woman slipped her legs off the side of her bed. She took a moment to stretch her limbs, relieving a few of her muscles from their tension.
The soft, orange light illuminating her bed from the window adjacent to it told her it was past sunrise. The flashing green numbers on the clock on her bedside told her it was 7:24am, to be precise. A small groan escaped her lips as she got up off the bed and made her way to the bathroom to wash up.
Having perfected her morning routine, Eve was ready and dressed in her CRYSIS uniform within 20 minutes. Straightening out her collar she made the 5 strides it took to get to the kitchen and found a smaller figure with their head in the fridge.
"You're going to be late again."
"Mmhmm." Came the reply, accompanied by the clinking of bottles and plates within the large appliance.
"Alva..." Eve sighed. The teenager pulled away from the fridge, revealing a carton of orange juice in her hand. The taller of the two raised an eyebrow, motioning to the juice carton with her chin, "Are you going to get a glass for that?"
Alva grinned sheepishly before wiping her mouth and screwing the cap back on the box. Placing it back in the fridge and closing it she turned back to Eve and shrugged.
"Nah, I'm done." The younger girl practically skipped past Eve down the hall to her own room.
Eve shook her head and walked over to open the fridge herself. She was greeted by a few containers of leftover food from the night before, two cartons of milk and a rather impressive assortment of juice cartons. Alva's love for fruit juices still managed to impress her. Apple, orange, grape, mango-peach, strawberry-banana... A rather spectacularly colored carton caught her eye.
'Fruity Fiesta Frenzy-what in the-?'
Resisting the urge to read the contents, she poured herself a glass of milk and sipped it while waiting for Alva to finish getting ready. She took a glance out of the kitchen window. They were on the 2nd floor so the view wasn't spectacular-just the view of a small park behind their apartment building.
Honestly, Eve just felt lucky they were able to live in said apartment building. It was in a decent neighborhood, just outside the CRYSIS HQ district—a mere half an hour by foot to be exact. It also had a steady shuttle terminal where Alva could get to and from the orphanage where she attended school. A quick flashback of when Alva blatantly refused to take lessons from a tutor provided by CRYSIS caused Eve to shake her head again. Always so difficult yet sure of what she wanted.
A shuffling sound snapped Eve out of her thoughts. Alva walked into the kitchen, zipping up a backpack. She noticed Eve standing against the counter with the glass of milk.
"What're you doing? C'mon we gotta go!" She motioned for Eve to finish drinking. The taller of the two frowned before taking the last few gulps and rinsing out the glass in the sink, "See? Thisis why you skip the glass part." Eve turned to stare at the younger of the two who was grinning widely and waving in the direction of the front door as she opened it, "Now c'mon! You're gonna be late!"
"Cheeky little-." Eve muttered under her breath before moving to follow Alva out of the apartment, locking the door behind her.
Regardless of how early or late either of them were, Eve would always walk Alva to the shuttle terminal. While the two of them had been attached to each other since before they could remember, Eve's protectiveness when it came to Alva increased significantly when they moved out of the orphanage to live on their own. And though Alva didn't particularly have a problem with it, Eve had assured the teen that it'd only be until they'd gotten used to the neighborhood but it eventually became a habit they'd both grown accustomed to.
"So you think you'll be late tonight?" Alva asked, turning and walking backwards a few feet ahead of Eve.
"I don't know, I shouldn't think so, why?"
"Well I mean, haven't you been transferred? Or moved ranks or something?"
"Oh." Eve hadn't really thought about her transfer. She'd been through at least 4 different classes during her training at CRYSIS. Her eyes glanced towards her left shoulder where the light shoulder guard bore the her rank insignia. She'd been wearing her training gear the day before when she'd gone to check in with her new superior officer. She eventually learned that said officer wasn't scheduled to take over the class until the day after. Yet she stayed and managed to cause a scene with some of the recruits. Before her mind could fully focus on the events of the day before, Alva'd voice interrupted.
"Well if you do end up staying late, remember to call." Eve looked back towards Alva to see the teen smirking, wagging a finger at her
"Says the girl who had to be picked up in the middle of the night by my superiors-"
"Hey! I was perfectly fine! And I had told you earlier that day that I would be staying at the orphanage!" Eve almost laughed at the pout that appeared on Alva's face, "You have any idea how much lecturing I got after that?"
"Do I remember? I was there too!" Eve said, wincing. That night had been one of the longest she'd had.
"Gah! The shuttle!" Alva yelled suddenly before darting off. Eve looked down the street to see a shuttle pulling out of the terminal, "I'll see ya later!" Alva yelled over her shoulder while waving frantically to prevent the shuttle from leaving without her. Eve watched as she ran a good few meters alongside the vehicle before it eventually stopped and let her on. After a few moments the shuttle began pulling away again. Just before it turned the corner, she saw Alva making a face out the rear window. She raised an eyebrow before giving an awkward wave as the shuttle flew out of view.
Turning down a side street, Eve yawned as she pulled out her communication device to check the time. 8:32am. She made a face when she realized she may actually be late.
She had been a part of CRYSIS for years now but it didn't mean she held such a fondness for the Corps. that caused her to hate being late. However, the years of routine and training did somehow work its way into her own sense of self-discipline, it was more like a dislike of being late in general than being late for training with CRYSIS specifically. Slipping the device back into her pocket she broke into a jog as she turned onto another street.
As she began to cross it however, she suddenly felt the ground move. The communication device in her pocket began to buzz and small lights along the street began flashing. Eve stopped in her tracks when she felt another tremor under her feet, this time slightly stronger. She crouched to keep her balance. She heard a small yelp down the street and looked to see a woman clinging to the fence surrounding her house.
After a few tense moments the tremor stopped and Eve slowly stood up, throwing a glance over at the woman who seemed to be alright—if not slightly shaken. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the lights lining the streets cease to flash.
It was then that Eve noticed the tremor had affected her more than she cared to admit. For a second, it seemed like the world—no, time itself—had stopped. Slowly however, her senses began returning to normal. She acknowledged the small breeze on her cheeks; the sound of the leaves rustling in the trees; the patterns they were making as the sun filtered through them onto the ground.
As her eyes drifted to her feet, she shifted one of them and found a small crack under it. She made the small observation that the tremors were getting longer—longer and happening more frequently. Frowning, she pulled out her comm. device to call Alva but noticed a message already blinking up at her.
'Im fine, stop worryin & hurry up. Ur gonna be late.'
Breaking into a smile—the tremor pushed to the back of her mind—Eve put away her device and continued jogging down the street towards her destination.
A/N:
ZOMIGAWD? AN UPDATE?
NOWAIMAN!
...yeah, s'what I thought too... o_0
:::::OMAKE:::::
As the shuttle pulled away from her stop, Alva turned to head into the building behind her. As she did, she felt a buzz in her pocket. She pulled out her comm. device and checked to see a message from Eve. Sighing, she opened it and read it quickly. After a good long moment she frowned and snapped the device shit and shoved it back into her pocket.
'It would be "I'm" and "U're", FYI.'
"GRAMMAR NAZI!"