THE LIBERATION

"Drink this, you'll feel better," Anthony told Nina, handing her his flask.

"I'm not thirsty," Nina retorted, looking up at him briefly.

The young man sat on the ground beside her. He took a sip from his flask before placing it in front of him, looking thoughtful and weary.

"There's no one in my family left, Anthony," Nina exclaimed, turning a sad look.

"Me neither, Nina," he said softly. "They all died about a year ago."

Her face softened. She pursed her lips to suppress the tears that came to her eyes before questioning the young man in a barely audible voice:

"And how do you keep on living?"

Anthony gave her a faint smile; he looked straight ahead as if searching for his words before answering simply:

"I survive thinking first of all of those who depend on me to stay alive."

Nina scrutinised his face for awhile as if seeing him for the first time. Fine features, slightly swarthy white skin, long black hair tied with a string ran behind his back.

***

The next day, Nina woke up alongside Anthony and the other members of the group, all lying on the ground under a large tent. A strange noise came from outside above them: a great wind, metallic blades spinning rapidly. She propped herself up on one elbow to pay closer attention to the sound. She had never heard a noise like this except maybe in her childhood memories. The young woman got up to walk outside where the noise was coming from. Suddenly, she felt a light hand on her shoulder. Without jumping, she turned around with a smile; she knew it was Anthony. The two young people stepped out into the early morning light, their eyelids blinking away the glare and the dust blowing into their faces. A green helicopter was hovering slowly over their head as if about to land. From the window of the aircraft, they could glimpse the silhouette of a man in military uniform, his face as dark as ebony wood. The pilot was staring at them with a gaze filled with both sorrow and compassion.

The end