To Begin Again

Aria chewed on her lip as she headed through the rubble, looking around her. She knew things would be different, but she wasn't sure what she expected. Spending several years in a prison camp and tortured for information, she didn't really give her much time to keep tabs on how everything had been.

She had planned to go home, and see her family, but after spending just a few hours walking after being freed, she wasn't sure they'd be there, much less survived. She had nothing, and nowhere to go. The soldiers who had saved her set her up in a camp for survivors, she didn't see that she had much other choice but to stay there considering it was her only other option.

She had been put in an old hospital which they used floors to house people until they found a place to go as well as help the sick. She shared a room with a guy, she didn't say much to him when she saw him, she didn't know what her voice even sounded like when it wasn't screaming or begging for water.

Mina looked around at the others in the camp, she wasn't the only one who bared scars from the war - and she was sure there were others who carried burdens much bigger than her own. Her disfigurement was one thing, but her vision had failed after a few months from the blast - luckily she didn't die from infection. She had been able to bathe, given clean clothes and was finally feeling better than she had in a long time. The scars on her face were the only ones on her body - a rather deep scar pressed into her hip and down the length of her calf.

Sometimes the pain came back, it reminded her of the day it happened. Her world flipped upside down, and she was forced to sew her face closed - she had never imagined that her for herself. She laid on the cot that was provided for her then closed her eyes, she ran her fingers over the scar on her face - things were going to change, and she was sure of that but not how sure she was going to cope with life being easier.

---

Chanyeol laid on the cot, he stared at the to of the tent every loud noise had him on edge - was it a bomb? a gun shot? were they under attack? Five years in a active war zone had him on edge, he was at war since he was twelve but in active war since he was eighteen. They shoved guns in the hands of anyone who could hold one - they'd been getting desperate.

The guy on the bed hadn't moved, but he couldn't keep still either. She sat down on her cot, watching him silently. She couldn't bear being around people, so she sat on the cot and immediately watched him. Every time he heard a crash, as was normal around there he jumped. She didn't trust him, and she felt more comfortable with her eyes on him. She didn't know him or where he was from, for all she knew he could have been one of her torturers.

---

Luhan sighed as he walked into the room, carrying a change of clothes. Walking up to the room was long, the place was packed with people filled in rooms or the halls. He was desperate for a place to stay, he wasn't a prisoner, or soldier but he had lost his family from the war and it left a toll on him. He headed into the room and sighed, setting his stuff down and sitting on the bed.

Mina sighed and got up, she knew they'd release her soon once she was cleared but they wanted to make sure she had no internal injuries. She sat up and pushed a hand through her dark hair - she hadn't worn her hair down in such a long time, when she realized she was able it was almost foreign to her.

She looked around the tent then rubbed her eyes.

Luhan sighed a little, sitting on one of the benches and looking around. He saw a girl sitting by herself and stood, walking over to her and handing her a cup of water. "Would you like some water? There's a canteen just over there," He murmured, pointing to where he had gotten it.

---

Aria sat still as they came to check her, looking at the bruises and cuts on her and sighing. The nurse asked her how she was mentally to which she shrugged. She wasn't sure how she felt. Apparently she was free, and safe but she didn't trust much that anyone said.

The nurse moved onto the guy who's name was apparently Chanyeol, asking how he was feeling. I wasn't sure what he was there for, but physically he looked fine.

She looked at him,"Is it clean?" she asked as she sighed a little, "I'd rather not catch the plague after surviving the war," she said to him lightly. Mina was very cautious of people, having been attacked several times, nearly raped and murdered - she didn't feel very trust worthy of men.

---

He looked at the nurse and nodded,"I'm okay," he whispered, "I just wish the screams would stop, and the loud noises,"

The nurse sighed and rubbed his shoulder, "IT'll get easier, here take this - it's medicine it'll help you sleep," she told him.

She sat back against the wall, watching quietly. Screams and loud noises were extremely common, with the injured and buildings constantly collapsing. There were still explosions though the war was supposed to be over.

"Do the noises scare you?" She asked as the nurse left, leaning against the wall.

---

He nodded a little, sitting down. "It is... I don't mind getting you another if you don't want this one..." He murmured, looking at the cup.

"Ill even drink some to show you it's safe," He smiled slightly.

"No.." he said looking at her, "They pain me," he whispered as he closed his eyes, "It cripples me,"

---

She took the cup, "Thanks," she murmured softly, "Sorry I just... I haven't seen many nice people in a long time," she told him.

"I'm not so bad," He smiled a little. "Everyone's had difficult experiences, and most people don't remember what it is to be nice or have a nice experience. I want to try to find that again," He said.

---

"Why?" She asked him, still watching him. Being held captive for close to five years made her skeptical of just about everyone, but she ended up having to help care for a lot of the others around her as well.

She sipped the water then ran her fingers over her scar, "I guess, most people didn't have it so easy during this war," she said to him lightly as she looked at him,.

---

"They say its mental," he murmured, "Not something under my control," he said to her.

"Did something happen?" She asked him curiously, taking her water and holding it in her lap. She looked at the sleeping pills her nurse left for her and sighed, she didn't feel comfortable sleeping just yet.

---

"That's also true, I spent the war mostly away from it. I lost my family, but I was young, so it was a while ago," He explained, looking at her scar. He was curious about how she got it but knew better than to ask.

"I was in active war for five years," he said to her, "What didn't happen should be the question, I've killed too many people to even count, I've had to do things I didn't want to for the betterment of this country, and it's haunting me,'

---

She nodded a little then sighed, "I was caught in an explosion, it killed my entire family - I was left to tend my wounds on my own - I sewed up my face and went blind a little over two years ago as a result of the blast,"

"Is that why you don't sleep well?" She asked him. "I've noticed, you're restless when you sleep. I don't sleep, so I've noticed." She mumbled softly.

---

"You survived though," He murmured softly. "Despite everything else, that's reason to be... Well... I'll get back to you when I think of the right word."

Mina looked at him, "To be alive is all survival of the fittest," she murmured gently, "I survived because I had no other choice and because my instincts led me here," she told him softly, "Were it not for instinct I'd be dead,"

---

He nodded a little,"do you need one of these?" he asked holding up a baggy filled with pills.

She shook her head, holding up her own baggy filled with sleeping pills. "No, I don't like them. I'm afraid to fall asleep because I don't know what might happen, so I don't. I get maybe an hour or so on an off, but I feel better when I'm not asleep."

---

"Thats how life is. Our world has become an active ground of natural selection, and the weak don't survive." He murmured, sighing a bit. "You've probably been through more than anyone should ever have to deal with,"

"Sleep is good for you, you could die without sleep," he said to her sighing a little.

---

She shrugged a little,"I managed right?" she said to him.

"I could die if I fall asleep too," She murmured, remembering how theyd come for them in the middle of the night. "I suppose I get enough sleep to survive," She murmured.

---

"You did," He nodded a little, looking around. "How long are you planning to stay here?"

He sighed,"It's better to sleep, at least if you die in your sleep you dont suffer,"

---

She sighed,"Probably till nightfall,"

"I always suffered," She whispered before holding up her sleeping pills. "You can have mine if you'd like," She murmured.

---

"Where would you go after?" He asked her. "If you don't mind me asking you?"