Tick, tick, tick. The sound wouldn't stop, but he knew it would. Abdul sat on a toilet in a bathroom at a public college. His heart was racing, but the bathroom was empty. He was alone. No one in sight.

Abdul stepped out of the stall, and looked at himself in the long mirror. He had brown skin with thick facial hair. He wore a thick jacket that made him look like he was preparing for a winter storm. His breathing was out of control, and he felt like he was going to pass out. He couldn't think straight, not one thought stayed in his head so he could think twice. Except for one, his "destiny". It's what they told him, the virus they put in his mind. If he didn't cooperate, there was someone that would do it for him.

Suddenly, a door opened, and Abdul froze, beads of sweat running down his forehead. He looked over, and saw a young man wearing glasses, struggling to keep together his binders in his grasps. He set them all down on the marble sink, and fixed his glasses, blinking a few times. Abdul just watched him look through his papers, his heart racing even more. He knew he had to leave. He couldn't stay any longer. Abdul tried to walk around the man, but the man looked up from his books and at the mirror.

"Hey," he said, hoping to stop him. Abdul stopped right in front of the door, and sighed impatiently.

"Yes," he tried to hide his foreign accent, deepening his voice.

"Can you help me with my papers? I dropped them while trying to get to class, and I need these in the right way so I could turn them in for my final grade." He asked, also sounding like he was in a hurry.

Abdul couldn't stop just to help him organize his papers. It couldn't be done in the bathroom. But he saw the man's face, and he knew the man genuinely needed his help. He groaned, and rushed over to his papers.

"Okay," he said, "how can I help?"

The man smiled, and started telling him the order all the papers went in. Abdul did just as he was told, and the process was rather quick, which was good for the both of them.

"What are you majoring in?" The man asked while they finished up. Abdul broke out of his thoughts, and his question was the only thing he could think about. He was stunned, speechless.

"Uh-I-no. No." Abdul shook his head, and continued to organize the papers. He tried to keep silent, but the man continued to talk.

"I'm majoring in business. Graduating this year too." He said excitedly.

Abdul stopped. He couldn't move one muscle, but his heart was slowly tearing for some reason. A wave of guilt washed over him. He looked at the man, saddened.

"Just a few more weeks, and I'm off to New York City." The man smiled, grabbing the stacks of papers and putting them all in a binder.

"My girlfriend is gonna watch me go, but what she doesn't know, is right before I take off in the plane, I'm gonna ask her if it could not just be my journey, but ours." The man made himself blush.

Abdul felt a tear run down his cheek, and that's when he knew couldn't stay. The man looked at Abdul, concerned.

"Hey, you alright?" He asked, closing his binder.

Abdul ran out of the bathroom, and entered the commons area of the college. The commons area was packed. Hundreds of people around his age were eating and having a good time with their friends. He saw couples sitting alone at small tables, looking at each other with love. He saw the smiles of the Men and Women around him.

Abdul was on the verge of crying, and the sounds of the people laughing around him crossfaded with the sound of laughing women and children.

Abdul was seven years old. He walked with his friends through the crowded market, a bright smile that showed how he was missing several teeth, just like all his friends. They came back from a long day of school. Abdul was excited to learn new math equations. He loved every bit of math, whereas everyone else just wanted to play ball. His teachers thought he was really smart as well. He was so glad he was able to go to school. He knew how much his mother sacrificed just for him, and he couldn't be anymore thankful.

The street he was on smelled awful, but it was a scent he'd grown used to. He saw men covered with dirty rags, wielding big weapons that his parents always told him never to carry. They stood by large military trucks, yelling at mothers to back off so they could get their oldest children on the truck. Abdul and his friends strayed away from them so they couldn't be seen. His group of friends soon split up through alleys, and Abdul was the only one left. He was walking home when suddenly, a loud continuous siren cried in the sky.

People knew what the sound meant, and without panic, they rushed into the nearest building. Instead of trying to hide, he dropped his book bag, and ran down the street for his house. It was the only place he knew where he would actually be safe, because his whole family was there. He was getting close to his house when he heard a jet closing in behind him. His heart started to race, and he ran as fast as he could. He made one more turn, and he was on his street. He saw his house at the end of it, and he managed to crack a smile, before the jet soared past him.

Abdul watched as the Jet lowered just a bit more, and rained a set of bombs on his street. The houses leading up to his, blew up into a million pieces, all flying at each other in the thick smoke created by the explosions. The explosions played out like a set of dominoes, and ended right at his house. The last bomb to hit was his house. The bomb went through the roof, and exploded in the center of his house, blowing away all four walls into different directions. All there was left was smoke, and the American Jet flying away. And that's when the people started to panic.

Abdul stood in the middle of the large crowd of students. While they were all loud, he could still hear the ticking beneath his thick jacket. He kept his hand in his sleeve to hold on to the detonator. He kept his thumb on the red button, strained so much so that if he to push just the slightest, the bomb would go off. He got a few weird glances from the people around him, but most just ignored him. He looked at every student carefully.

He was going to be a student just like everyone else, learn about Physics, literature, and hopefully be a math major. But there he was, surrounded by people that didn't have to go through the tragedies like him. His future ended the day his house became debris. And looking at all the students, he was scared. None of them knew what was coming for them. Then he asked himself, why them? There were plenty of people that deserved it more than the students. They were just like him. People with dreams. Their dreams were still alive, while his died a long time ago. He had no right to take it all away. He couldn't do it.

Abdul cried, and started running through the crowd, pushing several people out of the way. They cursed at him, but watched him leave the commons. He exited through the doors, and ran as far away as he could, away from the people with futures. He had no future. The men in rags told him his destiny was this, but what good destiny could affect people's lives so horribly? It was a destiny not worth living. He didn't care. He cared more about their futures, and since he had nothing to lose, there was nothing to fear.

As he ran on the campus away from the building, the students all crowding around the windows to see what Abdul was doing, A gun fired and echoed in the sky. The bullet went into Abdul's shoulder, and he cried, falling onto his knees. Everyone in the commons gasped, and the security came, telling everyone to move away from the windows. They all backed away, except for the man from the bathroom. Instead, he watched as Abdul was on his knees in the middle of the empty campus.

Abdul touched his wound, and grunted, letting blood spill from his mouth. He looked up and towards the buildings outside the college. He knew this would happen. He closed his eyes, and waited in silence.

"Allahu Akbar..." he muttered, then, another fire sprung. For a split second, he heard a fire crack, and everything stayed black.