"Who are you?" I knew the sound of that raspy muffled voice from anywhere. After the death of his brother, he was thrown into the forbidden parts of the village after attacking another villager. He was no longer that reckless teenager that was chasing the herd throughout the village barefooted. He was muscular and older.

“Greg, is that you?”

“How do you know my name?”

“It’s me, Damir,” He pulled down his sword, “Damir, is that really you?”

“Yeah, I never thought I'd see you again."

“I’m sorry man, I thought you were those men that the other villagers were talking about,”

“The other villagers are here?”

“Yeah, they started migrating to this part of the village a few days now since the night of the attack," he responded.

“Marley, do you hear that?” She was sprawled against the branches.

"There's more villagers he—," the power of life stolen from her mahogany eyes sent chills down my aching spine. I reached for her body hoping to get a response, but her fragile body was cold at the slightest touch of my hands.

"Mar...Mar...Marley, why aren't you responding?" Marley was already fast asleep. The whole sky collapse over my shoulders when she didn't say a word no matter how much I called out her name. The fear of losing Marley was now a reality that stared me boldly in the eyes. We weren’t going to reach the ocean, the sound of her voice now a memory of a life I wished I could get back. The rain falling from the sky couldn’t come in time to save her before she lost hope. I always envisioned our remaining minutes together to be as fragile as a breath of fresh air, but this unnerving reality of having to lay her body to rest is the hardest thing for me to live with. I would surrender it all to feel the refreshing wind roaming through the beach, hear the folding of the waves of water brushing near the oceanfront, and taste the sweet coconut water with Marley. Everything inside me wished this was all a dream that I would soon awake from. Even as I gathered her body in my arms, no strength could bring her body back to life. As long as we had each other, we were going to rescue our fellow villagers and take back our homes from those men. As I stared down at her restless face, I knew no number of tears streaming down my face could bring her back to me. How could God let Marley leave me in this life all alone? I felt lost and hollowed as our last memories were of us running away from home. As soon as we reached his cabin, all the eyes of the villagers were on me. Their bodies were struck by grief; sorrow masked their dark eyes as defeat traced their long faces. To reach this point we all had to bury the life of another because the journey was so long. Wrinkles formed layers over their foreheads of what to expect moving forward. The time we spent together in the village became a passage of time we no longer have access to. Their faces were almost unrecognizable from the gloom as I stared back at their reflection. We were hopeless, faint, and unable to gather the strength to live. This village was our home and the only place I’ve ever called my own and to have that ripped from me in a span of a couple of days, set every bone in my body ablaze. Even if I were to lose my life, I would die defending the honor of my fellow villagers. I knew I wouldn’t be happy unless we fought for our lost loved ones. We were no longer going to hide while those men loot and destroy our beautiful village. We had to take back our own and fight for what rightfully is ours. Because no amount of money could purchase the life we’ve lost or give us back the time we’ve experienced in this village.