Maraia [1]

An unfinished life.

            It did not hurt as much as she thought it would.  When they did it, it seemed to hit them hard, but it was bearable.  It was not that hard to shoot a gun.  All she needed to do was point it and pull the trigger, tighten her shoulder to take the kickback.  It was just as they did.

            She stood still behind the potted tree and waited for his body to drop.  He was hit, and his body had tensed up that one last time as the bullet went into him.  His decent was slow, and he seemed to continue to fall for minutes.  When he hit the ground there was silence.  No one seemed to hear the shot, and she stood in hiding with a blank look on her face as she waited to make sure.

            Slowly, she stepped out from behind the tree and walked to the middle of the small plaza he was standing in.  Putting the rifle she was carrying down, she knelt and looked at the man in armor on the ground.  He was dead, and she had killed his killer.  She looked over to the man she had shot; to the alien she had killed.  Her eyes went dark as she looked at it.  She quickly looked back at the soldier before her.  She had to be quick.

            It does not matter if she takes it, no one will care.  It is not that hard to do.  So, she began to loosen his clothes and un-strap the plates of metal armor around his arms, legs, and chest.  Last came his helmet.  She took it off and placed it to the side, not looking once at his face.  She took off all of his outer clothing and placed it next to herself.  He did not need it anymore.

            The clothes were too big, but she had to make due.  She was too short, so she left the shin guards off.  Her arms were too short, so she left the fore-arm guards off.  Tightening the plates of protection onto her back and chest, she felt something metal poke her neck.  It was a pin with the number “39”.  She pulled it off and dropped it next to his body.

            She bent down and picked up her rifle and her new helmet.  Looking up into the night sky, she could see the sick, yellow-brown glow that the signs of the city made.  It looked like it was about to rain.  Slowly she looked forward.  The street ahead looked cracked and broken, just as the buildings on either side did.  It was in disarray, though she could not remember what it was like before.  There was nothing but tonight.

            Broken pieces of tile cracked as she stepped on them with her boots, leaving the small plaza.  She left their bodies behind, and slowly walked down the road.

Author's Note

The first part to a story to come (maybe).