Graveyard

Remma could feel her heart pounding in her chest, slamming against her ribcage, threatening with each beat to break out of her chest and abandon her body all together. Her mind was a sea of white, stretching out into the distance, nothing but dull blankness with the sound of static ringing in her ears, consuming all of her thoughts and memories. She felt as though she was dead inside. Were it not for the beating of her heart, she would be convinced that there was nothing left of her inside. That she was empty and already dead, and that this was merely what it meant to be going beyond this world.

But each painful pump of blood wracking her body was a horrible, terrifying reminder that she was, in fact, alive. And that she was the only one left alive.

She had fallen back to base camp some hours ago, as the fighting was dying down, numb with pain, her ears ringing with the sound of explosions coming in every direction, and her eyes half-blinded by the constant flash of muzzles. It was a dull haze now, but she knew that she had pulled a bullet out of her leg after she had arrived there, before curling up in a ball and waiting for the other survivors of the battle to return. But no one had.

If they had lost the battle, the enemy would have surely come to their base to raid it and steal their supplies. And finding her there, they would have killed her without a second thought. She was no one important. Taking her as hostage would do no one any good. She would fetch no sweet ransom, or be able to be tactically abused to gain the upper hand in the war. She was useless.

But no one came. Not enemy, not friend. She was alone. The sounds of battle had long since subsided, and if she had made it back with a bum leg, surely any other survivors would have been able to get back by then.

She didn't notice when her feet touched the floor, or when her hand pushed on the doorframe as she left the building. She didn't realize she was back on the battlefield until she was already there, surrounded by corpses that had not yet had enough time to begin to reek. But the smell of iron was strong in the air, and the moment it struck her consciousness she gagged and nearly vomited. She was no longer on a battlefield. She stood atop the middle of a graveyard.