Panic

~6~

I woke to the sound of waves crashing up against the shore. The early morning sky was red, and I recalled the old rhyme.
Red sky in the morning,
Shepard's warning

Rain would be a blessing.

Despite having the massive body of water know as the ocean just a few yards away from where I lay, the lack of fresh water made it feel like a barren wasteland. Then again, I guess it wasn't far off that.

Every waking moment I was living in a dystopian world, my only frame of mind to make it to the next breath. It was a frightful way to live.

For a single moment I was confused by the weight that fell over my body, then heard the familiar breaths of Tommy, still peacefully sleeping, arms still wrapped around me.

When the real morning comes there would be answers I needed to give, but for now I leant against him and let myself embrace this odd feeling of comfort.

***

"Was he your man?" I was startled out of my daze and ended up breaking apart a stale cracker that was serving as my lunch.

"Who?"

"Gibson. Was he your boyfriend?" Alex was blunt with his way of going about things, even if his intentions were kind.

"Not exactly, no."

A puzzled look crossed his face, my words not satisfying his interest.
"What do you mean 'not exactly?'" I shook my head.

"No he wasn't. He was my-" I stopped short in my sentence, unsure of whether to continue. I couldn't lie to Tommy forever. I looked discreetly over to him, and was met as always by those beautiful hazel eyes and dark brown hair. What ever consequences came from this, now was my chance to be truthful. "He was my brother."

An emotion contorted Alex's face into an ugly expression and I found myself cowering away. "Y... You're a.... Frog?" He faced towards me, fists clenched. "You're a fucking frog? You mean to say I've risked my life to save a frog?!" He moved towards me, the rage on his face scared me. I curled away, waiting for him to hit me or hurt me in anyway. Nothing happened.

Tommy was stood between me and Alex, arms stretched backwards to shield me.
"Come on Alex, what makes the French so different from the English? We're all stuck in this god forsaken place and all only have two options out of here: death or England." Alex was still giving me a look of contempt.

"Do you know how much struggle I've gone through to find her, to bring her back to you? To comfort her? To keep her alive?" Alex drew out a small revolver and a choked gasp burst it's way out of my tight throat. A knot of writhing snakes was beginning to form in my stomach.

"Alex! Put the gun down. No one here is going to die today." Alex laughed, slightly hysterically, as he clicked the bullet into place.

"But they are, aren't they? We're going to be bombed by the Germans, drown on the boats or just fucking kill each other. There's not a single weapon left to defend ourselves! We're all going to die." He said definitively.

His whole body was shaking, rocking back and forth on his heels. Alex was shell shocked, no doubt about it.
I rose slowly to my feet. Still careful to not do anything that might provoke Alex.