This scene is from when Ehab dies. 

III. Yasmine's POV.

I didn’t care how impulsive my decision was. I kept on running and running, until my lungs felt like they were about to burst from the pressure and my legs were burning. I just couldn’t sit anymore. I had to see for myself the damage that had been done. 

When I was only a few metres away from the collapsed and burnt building, my running steps slowed and my eyes widened at the sight before me. I staggered forwards, nearly tripping on a piece of brick debris that had probably flown off the building, before I righted myself. I felt sick to my stomach as I absorbed the destruction that lay before me.

A wave of nauseousness plagued my body, just for a second, as I took in the crying children and the men who were running to and fro with limp bodies in their hand. Tendrils of smoke wafted into the air in scattered areas, turning the sky an ominous brownish-black. I could hear the ambulance sirens in the distance, yet as I looked at the carnage before me, I wondered what could possibly be salvaged from this, human or not. 

Ya Allah, please protect us. Please let there be many survivors. 

An outraged cry snapped me from my distraught daze and I immediately pulled myself together. You need to help! my mind yelled at me. I pumped my legs forward again and before I knew it I was in the centre of the wreckage, grabbing any liftable junk in sight and flinging it off. Only Allah SWT knows the amount of people that are buried under here right now, some still possibly alive!

I felt the sweat form from the heat of the day and from the labour of lifting items that I knew were way too heavy for my fragile body but my heart wouldn’t let me stop. Relentlessly, I heaved, grunted and lifted until my arms were numb. 

“Sister! Sister!” I turned to see a man frantically running up to me. He was much older and had soot and dirt all over his body. A bloodied cut was visible at the top of his eyebrow as well as on his arm. “Go and survey the opposite side for any bodies, I’ll do this!” he exclaimed, out of breath. He pointed to his left and I nodded my head, running off without wasting another second. One second could cost a life in these circumstances.

I tried as best I could to thoroughly inspect the area for any bodies, although the large masses of brick and wood made it quite hard. Nonetheless, I continued and once I had arrived at the end I spotted a figure hunched over something that suspiciously looked like a body. 

That same figure also suspiciously looked like Zach. 

I power-walked towards them until I was just a few centimetres away. His forehead was against the head of the figure in his arms and I could hear the anguished sobs being released from his mouth. 

“Z-zach?” I called unsurely. He lifted his head up slightly to look at me. When I saw his face - eyes red, his expression contorted into one of absolute sorrow and pain - goosebumps made their way all over my body and my heart thrashed against my ribcage in fear and anticipation. Since I was still standing behind him, too scared to move forward, I couldn’t make out who was in his arms, although I could see it was a child. “W-who is it?” I asked shakily.  

There was a look of alarm in Zach’s eyes as I took two agonizing steps towards them. I moved forward until I could finally see who Zach was clasping onto so tightly and crying over. 

At first, I didn’t recognise the boy. His face had so much dirt and blood all over it, you could barely make out his facial features. It was his open eyes that identified to me who exactly was in Zach’s arm, and when realisation hit - it hit hard. 

A loud strangled scream emerged from within me and I began shaking uncontrollably. “N-no. NO. He isn’t. He isn’t d-d-,” I choked, falling to my knees right next to Zach. 

“I’m so sorry Yasmine. He’s gone,” Zach whispered miserably, staring down at the four year old boy in his arms. 

The pain constricting around my chest was so tight, I felt like I would pass out any moment. My eyes were stinging and I was seeing red. “NO!” I suddenly yelled, grabbing Ehab from Zach and hauling him onto my lap. His blue eyes were still open - open, yet lifeless. “Wake up baby, please,” I sobbed, moving his face from side to side. Any moment, I knew he would wake up. “Come on, please.” After a few minutes of whispering and shaking him violently, my brain finally registered the fact that he wouldn’t be waking up. Ever. Again.

I squeezed my eyes shut and began rocking back and forth. My body convulsed with tremors and shakes and I felt light-headed.

Not him ya Allah, why him? He’s so young, he still had so much to live for! No, no, no!

Opening my eyes again, I snapped my head towards the sky and let out another guttural scream. I screamed and screamed until I thought my head would explode but I didn’t care anymore. This pain, this blow, was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before and it was demanding to be let out. I faintly registered the F16 flying over our heads again and this time, I wished it would drop something on me, so that I could be rid of this wretched world. Then maybe this ache would go.

“Yasmine! Yasmine!” Zach yelled, but I barely heard him. I hugged Ehab to my body and cried until I felt numb. When Zach tried to pull him out of my arms, I pushed him away stubbornly. I couldn’t let go of him. Not just yet.

“Noah! Yasmine, she’s hysterical, you need to get her out of here!” Zach yelled again, but I didn’t understand what he way saying. All I heard was white noise. I didn’t care. 

“Ehab, please don’t leave me,” I whispered, tears slipping down my face and onto his unmoving body. Just then, I felt two hands slips beneath my underarms and pull me up, just as Zach grasped Ehab’s small body and moved him off me. “NO, STOP!” I wailed, trying to break free from whoever locked my arms behind my back. 

“Yasmine, it’s me, Noah. You’re going to be alright. Can you look at me?” I thrashed even harder in his arms, kicking my legs out and bending my body to land any blow I could so that he would let me go. I helplessly watched as Zach walked away with Ehab in his arms.

“NO. BRING HIM BACK,” I pleaded. I could slowly feel the energy flowing out of me, my eyes drooping despite my mind begging me to stay awake. “Please,” I whimpered defeatedly, as Zach disappeared around the corner in the distance. I sagged against whoever was holding me and before I could find the effort to let out another scream or move a muscle, I felt my eyes roll back into my head before reprieving darkness consumed me. 

_____

A/N

Let's take a second to think about how parents feel when they loose a child. Think about how much it would hurt to know that someone you loved was ripped forcefully from your life for no other reason than the cruelty of man. This is what people suffer through every day, so be thankful.