war was over || camren

sixteen

update
a/n: don't be confused, i cut fourteen into 2 parts so what was chapter fifteen is now chapter sixteen
—
Same time as last- Lauren's pov

I landed in a disoriented heap on the basement floor, surrounded by dust and suffering only a couple of minor aches. I groaned lowly, rubbing at my head and opened my eyes, seeing the same man from before at the top of the stairs I had fallen down.

"'There's a thin line between confidence and arrogance. It's called humility. Confidence smiles; arrogance smirks.' I heard that somewhere, though I feel like it could help you out, soldier." The man spoke, his accent clear as day. I wouldn't say he was from the same area as Zayn, but if I had to guess, I would assume that he was from the same country.

I scoffed, standing up. I felt a head rush, and swayed imperceptibly, and silently praised myself for not showing weakness. "Yeah well, 'people need to realize the difference between being arrogant and confident.' I heard that somewhere too." I tensed up as I watched him slowly descend the stairs.

He walked to the center of the room, which was about 10 feet away from me. I didn't see the crowbar in his hands anymore, but that didn't mean I was any less on edge.

"I don't understand why you ran into this store, or how you found this doorway to the basement, but it's only a matter of time now until the authorities realize you're here and come and get you," I say, my chin up.

"Does that mean I get to have fun with you until they come? Because look at all of the toys," the man speaks again, almost gleefully, pulling the chain to turn on the lightbulb.

I saw a lot of pool supplies and chemicals stacked, and what were undeniably flash and frag grenades.

"What the hell are you planning? And who are you?" I ask, knowing that bombs could be constructed with these chemicals easily.

"I'm planning to bring attention to an issue that Americans are choosing to ignore. Europeans are constantly falling victim to random attacks and being subject to homeless Middle Eastern refugees and criminals invading our space!"

I frowned, my eyebrows creasing. "Who are you blaming for this? Who is guilty to you?" I ask again. I could tell he was a bit of a loose cannon; he was young, but he was angry. He was a bit like my father in that way.

"Islam, the Muslims, of course--"

"Okay, that's fucking ridiculous, first off. And second, you can't condemn a group of people or a religion for the mindset of some violent radicals. Have you not heard of radicalism? Or al Qaeda? They would be the ones you could get angry at. Not some innocents in an airport, and not some refugees from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, et cetera; those people are lucky enough to have made it to a more privileged and safe haven with their lives," I ranted. I hated people like this. The ones who are so quick to judge, so quick to call anyone a terrorist. You can't just look at a Muslim person and do that; it's fucking wrong, and I wanted to put a stop to it.

It was a reason I was glad to be deploying. I might have to hurt people, probably kill people. I knew that. But I also would be able to save lives of innocent civilians we encounter while we take out our enemies to meet our objectives. While the war was only spreading, and it felt like we were on the brink of a Third World War (this definitely isn't ending any time soon, as if the delusional man with the rope tattoo wasn't a clear indicator), I was hoping that maybe anti-Muslim mindsets can slowly start to die.

It was like I had said to the man, who had pulled off his mask, we can't condemn that entire group of people, their religion, or that geographical location for the radical and terroristic acts of a fraction of the people. No, because then how different would we really be from Hitler? Germany was already down on its luck and crippled from World War I, and was in a depression; their unemployment rate was very nearly an abhorrence. It was awful. The majority of Germans were without work, and the country could not afford resources to be imported from other countries, so they were cut off.