Valentina

Mortars whistled in the distance. The sky lit up with each explosion that shook the ground and buildings. Cerberus looked around him. The roads were filled with abandoned cars. England flags hanging in the windows.

"I never did find out who won the Euros" Cerberus said out loud with a chuckle, disappointed no-one else was around to hear his joke.

People left town in a hurry. It was obvious from the destruction that they weren't prepared. The streets were littered with empty shell casings. The buildings, riddled with bullet holes. Every sound put Cerberus on edge. A veteran medically discharged, he was more than capable of taking care of himself in the most hostile of environments but there was something unsettling when it was on 'home turf'. He couldn't believe that the war was caused by the emergence of an unrecognised virus and governments all over the world wanting to place blame on only one nation. Each country had a differing opinion. Thus leading to one attempting to silence the others.

Eventually he came to the end of the road leading out of town, he was heading for home. A quaint little village in the hills. He was wanting to go home to keep his family safe. However it had been about six months since Cerberus had been home. Too many memories.

"Cerberus!"

Quickly Cerberus stopped in his tracks, he recognised the voice, it was his childhood best friend and love of his life.

"Annabella? Where are you?" He shouted into the darkness.

Suddenly there was another loud bang and the sky lit up. It was so bright Cerberus had to cover his eyes with his hands. When he finally had the courage to look, he slowly moved his hands away from his face.

What he saw brought an uncomfortable heaviness to his heart. The air was smokey, ash was swirling in the wind and he could see flames, bright orange and lighting up the darkness in the distance.

"Annabella!" He shouted.

He started running towards the flames as fast as his legs could carry him. His mind raced with images of the destruction he was convinced he would be facing. Finally he was at the edge of the village that was burning fiercely.

His heart pounding, breath heavy. He glanced around. Suddenly he spotted Annabella, she was lying still on the ground, surrounded by debris.

"Annabella?" He whispered as he dropped to his knees beside her.

Suddenly there was a loud crash. He quickly rose to his feet and scooped Annabella up, as he heard timber creaking and saw the crackling fire getting closer to them. He carried her towards the riverbank.

Gently he placed her on the ground and propped her against a tree.

She opened her eyes. Bright blue like the sea. She reached out to touch Cerberus. He bowed his head. As he looked down, he saw a small bundle of blankets. He looked back at Annabella, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

Flinching in pain with each breath she finally whispered,

"Cerberus...my faithful, loving Cerberus…This is our daughter."

Cerberus was surprised, he felt guilty as a wave of disbelief washed over him. He had no idea that Anabella was pregnant. Was the child really his? She had left the village a year ago to study History and Sociology. He remembers the pain it caused when she announced her decision, and the conversation they had where they decided to spend as much time together before Annabella left for University.

Suddenly he has a flashback. It's the day before Annabella left. On this particular day they had enjoyed a picnic lunch on the beach, listening to music and paddling in the water. As they packed up the picnic basket she grabbed his hand and pulled him closer. She hugged him, but the hug felt different to the hugs she had given him before. He remembers taking a step back to see her beautiful blue eyes smiling back at him, he gently stroked her cheek and ran his fingers through her long blonde hair. He paused gazing into her eyes. Eventually he leaned in to kiss her. She stood on her tiptoes to meet his lips. It was this kiss that led to a night of passion.

Cerberus was immediately brought out of his flashback as he heard Annabella shriek. Clutching her chest she gasped,

"Cerberus…please take Valentina, care for her like you did me, I love you…"

As the last word left her lips her grip of their daughter loosened, her eyes closed and she took her final breath.

Cerberus picks up his daughter, he holds her close. He takes a deep breath to slow his breathing and heart rate. He pulls the blanket from around the baby's face. He takes his first look at his child.

He is taken aback when he sees she is the double of her Mother. Bright blue eyes framed by beautiful long eyelashes, full pink lips, a cute button nose and a full head of blonde ringlets. As he is attempting to take everything in, he notices something gold glistening around Valentina's neck.

He recognises the gold filigree heart locket. It was a leaving gift from him to Annabella. He held the locket in his fingers, running his thumb over the beautiful deep red ruby. He flipped the locket over. He had a message engraved on the back

"My beautiful Anabella, keep this locket with you always. All my love Cerberus xx"

Suddenly his phone vibrated in his shirt pocket. He moved Valentina to his left arm as he pulled his phone from his pocket. It was a government notification. The military are evacuating the survivors from the burning Village. The aftermath of an airstrike. The notification contained information for the nearest shelter. He opened up the phone's map app and entered the location of the shelter.

Valentina began to cry. She was hungry.

"Shhhh shhh my little princess, soon we'll be safe" he soothed.

He bounced her in his arms as he followed the spoken directions coming from his phone. Her cries were getting louder, piercing the silence of the abandoned road.

He approached a small shop, he saw someone leaving and starting to pull down the shutters.

"Excuse me mate?" Cerberus shouted.

The young man turned and waved.

As Cerberus got closer to the young man he recognised him. It was Ralph Cummings, they used to play rugby together.

"Hey Cerb, how are you doing mate? It's been a long time!"

Cerberus glared at him. Ralph slowly looked down from Cerberus' glare and spotted the bundle of pink blankets.

"Woaaaah, mate! I had no idea you had a kid!" Ralph exclaimed.

"Neither did I, buddy. Long story" Cerberus replied curtly.

Ralph turns back to the shutters. It was halfway down. He was a relatively short man so needed to stand on his tiptoes to reach the lip of the shutter.

Cerberus was considerably taller. He realised that he was being rude to his friend, with a deep breath he asks

"Sorry mate, do you need a hand with that?"

Ralph turns to his friend. He had never seen him looking so defeated (well not since the day he found out Anabella was leaving anyway).

"Are you heading to the shelter mate?" Ralph asks softly, placing a hand on his friend's arm.

"I am buddy" replies Cerberus, tears in his eyes. He wants to tell everything to Ralph, but there is no time.

"Ralph mate, before you shut up properly, is there any chance I could get some baby formula from your father's shop? My poor little princess is starving"

Ralph looks at Cerberus and then to the screaming Valentina. He reaches out and takes the baby from Cerberus' arms

"Of course you can! I would never let a child go hungry. Be quick though, we need to reach the shelter before it's full."

Cerberus pushed the shutter back up and took the keys from Ralph. He didn't bother switching on any lights, he knew the shop well. He went straight to the rear of the shop and picked up a pack of baby bottles, baby formula and a few pouches of baby food. Walking to the front of the shop, he paused. He had spotted a silver photo frame glistening in the lights from the chillers. The frame contained a class photo.

A ball of grief rose up in his throat, he was fighting back the tears, he touched Annabella's face and whispered

"I wish it was me instead"

Cerberus heard a noise behind him. Letting out a relieved sigh as he turned to see Ralph had stepped into the doorway. Valentina's cries echoing throughout the shop.

"Cerb, mate...are you ready to go?" He says shakily from bouncing baby Valentina.

Before answering Cerberus took a second to compose himself. He used the cuff of his sleeve to wipe away the stray tear rolling down his cheek.

"Sorry buddy. Yeah I'm ready just need to grab these protein bars and I'm done."

After putting the essentials in his backpack. He assisted Ralph with the shutters and they started the long walk to the shelter.

Ralph looked at Cerberus as he was feeding Valentina. He had so many questions whirring around his head. Uncertain if he should ask any of them, he looked down at his feet.

Cerberus felt Ralph's eyes burning into him, he knew Ralph had questions. Cerberus was unsure where to start. He needed to explain what happened but was afraid he would cry. Aware that only Anabella had ever seen him cry, the knot of grief began creeping back into his throat. He composed himself, took a deep breath and turned to look at Ralph.

"Ralph" Cerberus says shakily.

Ralph lifts his head up, he didn't respond. He knew Cerberus would prefer that Ralph wasn't looking at him. .

Acknowledging Ralph lifting his head up as a sign that Ralph was listening. Cerberus began to tell Ralph what had happened. From the moment he had heard the whistle of the 1st mortar right up until the present moment.

Finally Ralph looked up at Cerberus. Tears rolling down his cheeks he sniffled,

"Wow man, I'm so sorry. I...I… have no words."

He reached out to his friends arm. Cerberus pulled away and wiped the tears rolling down his cheeks. Immediately he turned to Valentina

"Mama?" She babbles.

"Oh my sweetheart, how will I ever tell you what happened to your precious Mother and how much she loved you?"

"Mama?" She babbles again

Cerberus pulls his daughter closer, he squeezes her into a hug. Still wrapped in the blankets she looks up with her big beautiful eyes. She smiles and nestles her head on her father's shoulder.

"Dada…" she babbles contentedly

writing...Mortars whistled in the distance. The sky lit up with each explosion that shook the ground and buildings. Cerberus looked around him. The roads were filled with abandoned cars. England flags hanging in the windows.