Mental Fiction Follows Me

“You’re going to die here, you little bitch! Do you hear me?! They all think you’re dead, and you’re going to prove them right! You’re going to die in this desert without ever seeing them again! You’re just a walking corpse!” I’ve heard of verbal abuse before (I took a workshop on it since us women soldiers can be mistreated or whatever), but this was taking it to a whole new level. For the past two days the sandman has been screaming at me. I’m starting to wonder if he has a throat, because it doesn’t sound like it’s getting sore or anything. I fall asleep listening to him rant, and then I wake up to insults. He even made fun of the way I look!

“I like corpses. They’re awesome because you can’t kill them. Shoot ‘em once, twice, three times! And guess what! They just keep walking, like this,” I said as I continued to walk.

“That’s good, Syd. Don’t pay any attention to him,” Lillian said encouragingly.

“I wish he was real and standing in front of me. Oh, the ways I could torture him. And think, no one would hear his screams, because we’re the only ones out here!”

“Easy, Sage. It’ll be alright,” I said quietly. Sage had been wound up for the past two days, and it gave me a constant headache. I couldn’t get mad at her though, because she was just releasing my anger. Which is probably why I was able to stay so calm.

“Nothing’s going to be alright, you brainless whore!”

“Has anyone ever told you that you need anger management? Did you have a bad childhood?” I asked and looked down at the angry face.

“You insignificant little bitch!”

“I’m guessing that Daddy pushed you around and Mommy never loved you.” I wasn’t sure if sandmen even had parents, but what I said was still enough to piss him off. Majorly.

For the first time since I had started walking, a strong gust of wind pushed at me. I staggered back a step and closed my eyes against the stinging wind. Wait, wind doesn’t sting. Does it?

“No, genius, wind doesn’t sting. But sand in the wind does.”

“Thanks, Sage,” I mumbled. I instantly regretted parting my lips as sand flooded the inside of my mouth. I quickly closed my lips. Most people would try to spit the sand back out, but I’m not most people. And I know that if I open my mouth to spit out the sand, more will just come in. I searched my pockets and eventually foundMatt’s my sunglasses. They weren’t as good as goggles, but they’d do. I slipped them onto my face and hesitantly opened my eyes.

Most of the wind had died down, and I was now stuck in the middle of some tornado. There’s only one small difference. Most tornados don’t have faces that are laughing like maniacs. Oh, I really pissed the sandman off this time. I pissed him off enough to turn into a sandstorm-tornado, with me stuck in the middle and wearing stolen sunglasses. In spite of everything, I laughed back. I threw my head back, decided that I didn’t care if I choked on the fucking sand or not, and laughed. The laughter around me instantly stopped, but the tornado didn’t.

“Do you think one little sandstorm and tornado is going to scare me?! I don’t know anything about all of your other victims, but they sound like a bunch of pussies to me! You! Don’t! Scare! Me! You! Old! Fuck!” I yelled.

“Someone’s got a potty mouth today,” Sage taunted.

“Now is not the time!” Lillian reprimanded. I ignored them both and listened to the silence. It was almost magical, and I felt the famous Haner smirk stretching my face.

“What? Run out of things to say?” I asked the whirlwind.

“I’ve only just begun, little Sydney.”

“Is that supposed to scare me?” I asked and pointed to myself. The face laughed, and things got worse.

The wind picked up again, but I still didn’t care. The wind was now so strong that I was starting to get pushed back and forth from the force, but I continued to laugh. If I was going to die, I might as well die happy, right? Right! I laughed and laughed and laughed, and the sandman-turned-tornado laughed with me. He gave one last evil cackle as something hit me in the back of the head, and I dropped to the sandy floor unconscious.

Jimmy’s POV

“Brian, can I talk to you about something?” I asked. Brian and I were sitting outside on his deck, which had a beautiful view of the ocean. Zacky had gone to his parents’ house for the day, so it was just me and Brian. Brian had his feet kicked up on the deck railing and was drinking a glass of iced tea. I was sitting across from him with my elbows propped on my knees and my head in my hands.

“Sure. Something bothering you?” Brian asked.

“Kind of,” I mumbled. Yes, something was definitely bothering me.

“Well, spit it out,” Brian said and took a sip of his drink.

“I had this really weird dream the other night—”

“Like Alice in Wonderland?”

“About Syd—”

“You can stop now.”

“Let me finish!” I yelled. Brian jumped a little and then relaxed.

“Sorry, man. Keep going.” I sighed, ran my hand through my hair, and continued.

“In my dream, I was walking around in a desert. I don’t know how I got there or why, but I was there. I saw someone sitting up ahead of me, so I started walking faster to see if they could help me. But as I got closer, I realized it was Syd. It was her hair, the way she sits, her tattoos, and Matt’s sunglasses were even on top of her head!” I said and leaned back in the chair.

“What happened next?” Brian asked.

“She was shaking a little, like she was crying, but she stopped when she heard me call her name. She turned around so that she was facing me, and she looked glued to the spot. I walked over to her and bent down, and I smiled at her. I touched her face, and it was scorching. My hands felt ice against her skin. I asked her what she doing just sitting there, and she told me she was tired. She said they her legs hurt and the sandman was after her. Then I asked her to come home for me, because we all missed her. She said she would, and then I told her I’d see her soon. Then I woke up.”

“What are you trying to say?” Brian asked. I looked over to see that his feet were off the rail and he was leaning towards me.

“I don’t know, but it was different from any other dream I’ve ever had. Yes, I’ve had dreams about Sydney as if she never died, but this was different, Brian. And I don’t know what to make of it,” I said honestly.

“I don’t know either,” Brian mumbled after a few silent minutes. I leaned forward again and licked my lips.

“Do you ever think, that maybe, Syd didn’t die over there? That maybe she’s still out there somewhere?” I asked. Brian sighed, and it looked like he was pulling his hair as he ran his fingers through it.

“I went to the base the day after they told us. I didn’t believe it either. There was no body and no real proof. They showed me pictures of the site; the one where they all died. No one could have survived that,” Brian said. I nodded my head, but something still picked at the back of my mind. I didn’t realize exactly what it was until later that night after I laid down. I barely heard the whispered words right before I fell asleep, but I hung onto them like a life-vest.

“Syd isn’t like no one…”

Syd’s POV

“I think there’s something wrong with her,” a woman whispered.

“We found her out in the middle of the desert. Of course something is wrong with her,” a guy said back. Whoa, someone’s speaking English? Where the hell I am? Why does my head feel like it weighs a hundred pounds? And, once again, what is that smell?! I’m really tired of waking up to puke-worthy smells.

“I think she was in the military, Chase.” That was the woman again.

“That’s impossible. There isn’t a base anywhere near here, especially not in walking distance.” The man, Chase, didn’t seem like he thought highly of me.

“How do you explain her clothes?” I struggled to poke my tongue through my dry and cracked lips, and I loved the feeling of the slight moisture on the hard skin. Neither of the people must have noticed, because they continued talking about my clothes.

“Private Sydney Haner, at your service,” I mumbled and finally opened my eyes.