created by andrew chung

epoch 2

dog mai afternoon: chapter 6

"if we find my dog, i can take you and aasim to eat at my house."

she looks back at him as if he were merely a child with unusual manners.

he notices something in the corner of his eye to his right. he points at a crumpled cylindrical hat embroidered with shield-like shapes all around. it is lying in a narrow passage between two buildings. "what's that?"

kafa turns toward the cap. "a taqiyah." she frowns. "that's aasim's taqiyah - how did it...?" she runs to retrieve it, and continues to move through the alley. he quickly follows without a word. as they reach the other side of the buildings, they catch sight of boys and girls running from a schoolyard in terror. mysteriously, two cars are parked in the yard.

she runs in the opposite direction of the children in panic. "aasim!!"

he starts to pursue her, but stops abruptly, too afraid to continue. the alarming commotion invokes a terrible shock inside of him. a few women are running with the children, and begin to scream at kafa when they notice her running the opposite way. but kafa continues to run toward the school persistently.

the first thing his mind registers is the deafening boom. the next is the intense heat radiating from the vicinity where the school once lay. then the sharp pain in his back from colliding into a wall. and the suffocation from the smoke entering his lungs. and the sight of lifeless bodies, some dismembered, surrounding him caked in dust. the dust and debris rain relentlessly. he finds himself forced to shut his eyes from the revulsion.

epoch 2 chapter 5 | joe dreamer | epoch 2 chapter 7