As Ash stepped into their house, his mother greeted him with a worried face. Her eyes weren't directed to his face but to the bluish-green injury on his right eye.
"It happened again, didn't it?"
"Why? Does it even matter?"
Placing her hand gently on his face, Ash's hard expression vanished and in its place, was one of being hurt. This was visible in the sharp eyes of his caring mother.
Suddenly, from the corner of the house, his father came wearing the same concerned expression as his mother.
"Honey..." his mother turned to his father who signed heavily as he walked towards them.
"Son."
"I get it, Dad. I'm sorry"
Shaking his head lightly, his father placed his hand on Ash's shoulder.
"Son, violence can only lead to more violence. The further you walk down this path, the deeper it engraves itself to your soul."
"But Dad, if I don't do it, they will keep on looking down on us."
"Then let them." his mother interrupted. "Your father's work and mine are not widely accepted right now only because it is being misunderstood. However, we believe that one day, everyone will recognize us as pioneers and true scientists."
"I know Mom. I'm sorry" Ash Signed
"Anyway, how many were there this time?" His father asked with a sly grin.
With a shy face, Ash glanced at his father before raising some fingers
"Damn! That is almost twice the amount as last time. To think you fight with seven other boys and come out on top. You truly are your father's blood" His father chuckled proudly, but an elbow to his stomach along with an icy glare from his wife wiped out the smug smile from his face.
Rustling noises suddenly came from behind them, and as they all turned to the source of the noise, their expressions became soft.
There, four-year-old Noah, Ash's baby brother was dragging his stuffed toy bear in one hand and rubbing his sleepy eyes with the other which formed quite an adorable expression.
With a quick stride, Ash picked up his baby brother and put him on his shoulders as he carried him back to bed.
"Brother, why is your eye blue? Did you fight again?"
"Yes."
"Then...did you win?"
"Of course. Nobody can defeat your brother."
"Wow...you're so strong. When I grow up, I want to become as strong as you..."
Noah yawned as he rubbed his sleepy eyes again. Gently, Ash pulled up the blanket on his brother who kept on rumbling things in a sleepy state.
"...tell me about your fight...everything"
"Well, it all began at school when.."
Ash started telling his story to his brother until he fell asleep. Even as he slept, he continued with the story to the end when he won. Finishing it, he fixed his brother's blanket once more and turned to leave only to see his parents looking at him with a sweet smile.
"Your father and I have decided to take the two of you for a nice family vacation this weekend."
Looking back at his sleeping brother, Ash turned and smiled back at them, "A break will be nice for all of us."
Unknowingly, this memory of them all would soon turn into the most precious memory for Ash.
...
The next day, they were already in the midst of their car travel by mid-morning. Sitting on the back seats of the four-wheeler, the two brothers enjoyed the outside view from the car window as they traveled along the highway to their destination.
As Ash turned to check on his little brother, his eyes widened in horror when he suddenly saw a cargo truck that was near them go out of control and hit the railings on the road. This impact created a spark that caused an explosion which turned the cargo it was carrying into flying projectiles.
His father tried to steer them to safety but before they could get far, a large flying shadow befell their car causing it to be flipped upside down more than three times, rocking all those who were inside like a violent whirlpool. The screams of his mother and the painful cries of his baby brother quickly woke Ash from his shock.
He tried to turn towards the source of the cries, but another car which had suffered the same fate as their own, suddenly exploded near them burning all those who were in it.
Two more explosions occurred filling the highway with death and chaos.
Onlookers, video freaks, and image junkies soon started crowding the area. A few called the police but none of them lent a helping hand.
In a painful state, Ash tried to move his injured body towards Noah and soon found him lying unconscious with blood coming from an injury on his hand. After confirming that his brother was alive, he signed in relief before turning to his parents. What he saw immediately made his entire world collapse.
While holding his wife's hand, his father was stabbed by a piece of railing which went right through his head. As for his mother, she had suffered an even worse case as she was crushed by the car that collided with them after it exploded.
Tears streaked down his face as the cruel image burnt itself in his mind.
He tried calling them, hoping they would reply, but none came.
Despite there being nothing he could have done to prevent their death, he cursed himself for agreeing to a vacation. If he had refused, perhaps they would still be at home. But no amount of denial was going to bring them back to life.
Crawling in the broken pieces of glass, he managed to reach them and touched them both as if to say his goodbyes.
"Mo..m..Dad..."
His voice shook. His body was starting to fail him as the pain was slowly creeping its way ob his skin. A piece of metal was stuck on his stomach creating a faucet of blood.
As his vision started turning hazy, he moved back to his brother to save him. He tried removing the seatbelt but it was stuck and he couldn't reach the lock. Gritting his teeth, he took a broken piece of mirror and started cutting it.
The sounds of a liquid dripping somewhere made him quicken his pace in fear of the worst.
"THERE ARE PEOPLE STILL ALIVE HERE!" Ash heard voices shouting outside.
"Hel...p!" He tried to scream but puked out blood instead. He tried to swallow the one in his throat but the pain was becoming greater.
With hands filled with blood from using the broken glass, he finally managed to cut the belt. Quickly grabbing his brother in a tight hug, he checked to see if there were any injuries. Confirming that he was fine apart from a single injury, he turned to the door only to find it jammed.
With all the strength he could muster, he started kicking the back window. As it started to crack, a new surge of adrenaline rushed into him increasing the strength of his kicks.
With a bang, the window shattered. Luckily, the sound of the glass shattering attracted a nearby firefighter who quickly came to their aid. With a pull, he managed to get them both out of the car and carried them to safety while shouting for a medic.
As his consciousness faded to darkness, Ash watched as their wrecked car suddenly exploded with his parents' bodies in it.