illphated
Old Enough to Die
Published on: illphated.com
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The city once known as Houston now burned in silence, wrapped in the fluorescent fog of a war no one remembered starting. Neon signs flickered over broken windows, casting pink shadows across the charred bones of buildings and boys alike. The sky, a vaporwave smear of electric purple and smoggy orange, loomed over everything—watching, judging.
Sixteen-year-old Travis stood in the ruins with a thousand-yard stare etched into his hollow face. His frame was wiry, his uniform too big, his rifle still warm. He hadn’t shaved because he couldn’t grow anything. And he hadn’t cried—not since he buried Marco under a pile of irradiated bricks three nights ago. The only thing keeping him upright was the tank behind him, still hissing heat from its last kill, like a mechanical dragon coiled and waiting.
In another world, Travis would’ve been worrying about acne, prom, or maybe how to sneak a beer past his dad. But in this one, he was a commander. Because the rules were simple here:
Not old enough to drink. Not old enough to smoke. Old enough to die.
When recruitment drones arrived at his foster unit, they scanned retinas, not ages. Paperwork didn’t matter anymore. If you could hold a rifle, you could serve. If you could walk, you could march. And if you could pull a trigger, you were a soldier.
The propaganda posters still danced on the derelict jumbotrons across the city: pixelated faces of boys with helmets too big, smiling while vaporwave tanks rolled behind them, plastered with slogans like “Serve With Pride” and “Duty Over Doubt.”
But there were no smiles left here. Just Travis. And ghosts.
He walked past Marco’s grave again. The stone was a scrap of tank armor etched with a nail. It read:
MARCO 17
DIDN’T SMOKE
DIDN’T DRINK
JUST DIED
Travis placed his hand on the cold metal and looked to the sky. No angels. Just surveillance drones buzzing like mechanical flies. No prayers. Just static on the comms.
Still, tomorrow, he’d get back into that tank.
Because boys don’t get to become men here.
They only get old enough to die.
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