Now here's part 12! For those of you who aren't up to date, here's the PAGE where you can read the story in its entirety.
Memoirs
From the End of the World
Entry
#12
The girls left the bedroom so Peter could get his rest.
Though it made little sense, the similarity between his name
and her brother Pete’s name made her shiver.
She knew it was ridiculous, but the odd feeling stuck with her all the
same. People were bound to occasionally
have the same name, and just because someone happened to share a name with her
deceased brother didn’t mean they were alike in any other way. Yet, the knowledge that she’d have to use
that name when the little boy woke up didn’t settle well with her. She voiced none of these concerns, though. Sheera’s story was far more important at the
moment.
“We set up camp
outside the city, and we even grew food in gardens, and the adults hunted,”
Sheera continued once they reached the living room. She smiled, though her eyes were already damp
with the impending tears. “Life outside
the city was better than here, because we didn’t have to worry about patrols as
much, though my parents were still super protective.”
“How did you even get out of the city?” RC asked. From what she knew, each road leading to the
country was heavily guarded with patrols and artillery. No one was allowed to travel outside the city. The official reservation included the city
plus several surrounding towns.
Residents from these other towns were only brought in when it was their
turn to breed, and after their term of service, they were shipped back
out. By keeping the communities as
separate as possible, the overlords made it more difficult to pool resources.
“My father worked for the city before the aliens came. He knew about a series of tunnels that were
dug out by a local cult that believe World War III was coming. They planned to live underground. The aliens don’t seem to know about the
tunnels.” Sheera looked wistful. “Secrets like that can be worth everything.”
That much was true.
Secrets, food, and water. The
only currency worth a damn to their survival.
Her mind ran ahead to the possibilities.
So far, she’d struggled for basic sustenance, but the hope of getting
outside the city beckoned. There would
be no way they could make it outside the official reservation boundary, but if
they could find the right secluded place, they might actually be able to make a
go of it for awhile. It certainly
sounded better than keeping up with the same old routine.
Then an obvious, sinking reality hit her. “If you had it so good out there, why are you
here?” RC asked.
“There were fewer patrols, yes, but only if you didn’t
accidentally wander too close to a main road.
A bunch of us snuck out one night to have a look around. We were sick of being so careful all the
time, and we thought we could handle it.”
Sheera’s shoulders started to shake.
“It turns out we couldn’t. We
were rounded up by a couple of soldiers when we strayed too close to the old
highway. If that was all it was . . . it
would have been better.”
RC felt awkward as she watched Sheera shrink in on herself
in response to what must have been a powerful memory. Uncertain what to do, she guided the girl to
the couch and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. “What happened?”
Sheera wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her
hand. “Someone must have woken up and
realized that we were gone. My dad and
several other adults caught up to us as we were being forced into the van. They tried to fight, but they didn’t have any
weapons. The soldiers killed them all
within seconds. I saw my dad die, and I
couldn’t do anything!” Then, with that
admission behind her, she broke down completely. Sobs wracked her wiry body.
“I know it’s hard,” RC said softly. “I saw my brother die, too. They’re hoping these things will break us,
that we’ll stop fighting to avoid the pain.
No matter how much it hurts, we can’t give up. If we do, they win.”
Now Sheera studied RC’s face for several long moments. “You sound a lot like my mother.”
This admission threw RC off more than anything. She shook her head. “I’m no mother, but I do the best I can.”
“When we got back to the city, we were put in an orphanage. Since my sister was old enough to be a
breeder, they sent her straight to the facility.”
“I call it a meat locker,” RC interjected. “You know, because people are treated like
animals there.”
Sheera nodded. “That
makes sense. Once my sister and another
older boy from our group were taken away, our new caretakers said we were
programmed with dangerous ideas by our parents.
That’s why we had to be kept apart from the other children in town. They made us admit that our parents were
traitors. When one boy refused, a
caretaker shot him.” She lay back
against the arm of the couch as she spoke, the exhaustion of reliving this
nightmare having visibly robbed her of her strength. “After awhile, several of us escaped. We just couldn’t take it anymore. Then Peter and I got caught. I have no idea where the rest of our group is
by now.”
“Why don’t you get some sleep? There’s nothing else we can do about finding
your friends right now. I’ll be awake to
keep an eye on things, so you don’t have to worry.”
“Thanks.”
Though it took almost an hour, the girl managed to relax
enough to finally fall asleep. RC
understood the apprehension. Being
older, she accepted responsibility for Peter’s safety. Probably for several of the other children as
well. Sleeping felt dangerous. Even irresponsible.
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