Title: Abolition
Author(s): Kasei (Miss-Misconstrued) & Kara (AnonymousIceCream)
Full Summary: In the 24th century, time has started to reverse itself. Animals roam major continents, including the USA, which is now the UCLR; or, the United Cities for Lost Refugees. The remaining are Europe, Australia, Africa and half of South America. There's a war going on-- for food and survival. Only 2 million people remain on the earth, though numbers continue to diminish since the fight began.
When Europe bombs one of the refugee camps in California, and a group of teens are left homeless, they learn through the many miles of their trek that not every story has a easy fairytale ending, and sometimes you have to fight for it.
~ ~ ~
Chapter 1:
"Hey, look!" One of the kids tugged relentlessly on the others top, pointing at an object. "Look!" he repeated, his voice more forceful this time. He continued to dig with two of the others until they finally reached the paperbacks that they saw before. "What are they?" A kid questioned, rubbing his nose with a dirty hand as he curiously peered at the new discovery.
"I bet it's an address book." Another child hypothesized with a nod, a mock intelligent air around him that he certainly lacked at his young age.
"..address book?" The boy scoffed as his face twisted with disdain. "You're telling me that we dug for hours, and we only found some stupid address book?I mean, come on! There has to be more."
An older female, more likely a late teenager, slapped him gently near his temple, her expression chastising. "It's better than not finding anything at all." She scolded, picking up the torn books by their ends and holding them up to the sunlight. She examined the objects in her grasp. The cover was terribly worn and ripped, possibly once a shiny black. They both were of about equal volume and thickness, and she wondered if they were written at the same time. She flipped open one, and looked on the inside cover. She smirked at the boys, "And their diaries, you twits, not an address book." they flushed and looked at their feet as she continued to look the books over. "Hmm...there's something inscribed onto these things...Pandora and.." she paused and opened the other,"Hazel. Huh." She nodded to herself as she read aloud the names. She thumbed through the the first diary, eyebrows going up as she scanned the words. "They seem like interesting people." she mumbled to herself.
Her younger sibling snatched one away, "You shouldn't read just to yourself, selfish!" he cried out, frowning up at her.
She scoffed and flicked his nose with her thumb and forefinger. He winced, and while distracted, she easily retrieved the book he'd taken. "Fine," She re-opened the book marked 'Hazel', and begun to read as everyone circled, ears and eyes open wide as they hoped for an interesting story. Somehow, they felt, they wouldn't be disappointed.
” June 15th, 2413
Early dawn arose that morning…and it would be the last time we’d see our loved ones for good. Sunlight shined through the window panes as I woke; It was luminous like glitter on the dew of the grass. Of course, we didn’t live in ordinary housing. No one did. Multiple refugee camps closely-knitted together made up this city, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Ever since the war started, buildings were demolished with a careless ease, and people suddenly disappeared without a word or reason why. It didn’t matter anymore, i guess. As long as survivors stayed in the boundaries, things would be okay."
That was all I planned to write for today. After all, meddling around outside was more enjoyable than to sit and write things in a paperback. Resting the shiny leather book on my futon bed, I staggered to get up. Mornings were always hard for me and my friends, but we had to obtain food for the people in our camps. The majority of my family was dead, but I took care of my younger siblings to the best of my ability. As usual, I said my goodbyes and ‘I love you’s before heading off with a gun and sack to hunt for food. Things were scarce, and people could only get food if they hunted for it, like Indians. Happy to be an Indian at heart, it wasn’t too hard like most others thought it was, but I didn’t go alone.
My friends --Pandora with her young one, December, and Camilia-- were with me, somehow always by my side. Pandora was older then me by a year, therefore marking her as the 'elder' of the group, and was around my height. The little blond girl by her side was complaining about the summer heat, and having to get up early, and the onyx-haired girl was giving me a pointed look with her light eyes that clearly said 'I'm so going to hurt her if she doesn't shut up'. She, by far, had the lightest skin out of all of us, though it was mainly due to the insane amount of sun-block she used. There was nothing to do but be outside; exposed to the suns brilliant rays, and poor Pan's skin was easily susceptible to its light.
"I don't have anything against people with a tan," she'd said once, "I just don't want the tan on me."
Though the lotion could only go so far, and she soon lost her alabaster flesh to a more tan, peach color. It gave her features a more exotic look, helping her stand out in a crowd with her long hair, plush body and full lips. I admit, its strange to describe another girl this way-- but Pandora was strange, in all aspects of the word.
She picked up December and told her with a hard voice to stop whining as we walked, the air around us too quiet to be normal, but i seemed to be the only one to notice. The birds has ceased to sing, wildlife gone and no leaves crunched unless they fell victim to our own boots.
Then…it happened. As if i had know it would, though at the same time it left me breathless and confused.
Just on the outskirts; rumbles, like an earthquake, shook the ground and screams were muffled, to be replaced by chokes as a thick smoke settled over the camp like miasma. We could see a fire in the distance, the whistle of bombs as they fell like a light rain, and my mind went blank. After mere seconds of trying to grasp onto what was happening, I soon saw that our city was being bombed again, but this time, the Europeans made it more impaired. A thickness settled in my chest as i tried not to think of how many lives we would loose this time.
“Hurry!” I demanded before anyone else could speak, urging the three to move ahead of me. I had no time to watch as they turned and ran, December crying as Pandora clutched her tightly, shouting at me to be careful, to come back to them safe and whole. I had to go back and save my family before it was too late, heedless of what could happen to me.
By the time I got to the site, in burst in flames before me, mocking in a cruel voice that i was too late..that all i loved was lost to its molten heat. Tears flooded my eyes, and I couldn’t help but run in there, knowing how slim my chances were of helping. One of them, my sister, was pinned between the burning wood of a bedpost that fell over. She fidgeted and wailed, reaching her bloody arms out toward me when she caught sight of my form, screaming for me to get her out. I reached her, but the smoke was too toxic, i could tell. I stretched my arms out despite this, pulling at the wood that was slowly crushed her body, tears blinding my vision of her soot-covered face.
My palms burned with the sensation of fire and my lungs resisted to breath in the the poisoned smoke, but I didn’t hesitate to save her. More flames engulfed the tent, melting it away as if were ice, and I was afraid that we wouldn’t make it out in time. By some miracle, the wood gave way and i threw it to the side and quickly I picked her up, cradling her to my chest as she sobbed.
“Shh…it’ll be okay, I promise.” I whispered soothingly to her. She was still sniffling while I grabbed what i could; blankets that were scarred with charcoal and covered her with it. A boy --whom was my brother, and I'm ashamed to say i could hardly recognize his black-covered face-- ran over toward me as fast as possible with another blanket as we ran out of the structure we once called home. It collapsed to the ground as we moved, coughing wildly as we tried to take in clean air that no longer seemed to exist. More planes flooded the area with exploding torpedoes, so I picked up my brother also, and raced back into the forest to try and find Pandora and the others.
The terrain was rough under my burnt soles, but I managed 'till I reached my destination. I gasped for oxygen when i stopped, setting the twins on a mossy boulder shakily as i struggled to stay upright. “..P-Pandora…” I called out, voice rough, though she was less than a foot from me. “It’s gone. All gone. We can’t go back. It’s too--” i paused when i felt her hand my shoulder.
"Take a breather, Hazel. I.. I know what you're trying to say." Her voice was soft, gentle in a way as a small smile came across her face, but it was fleeting and filled with pain and regret. She allowed me to lean on her as Camilia walked up beside me, her tear-stained expression twisted with sorrow as she hugged my mid-section.
"What are we going to do?" she asked, starting to cry again. December was by my siblings, trying to amuse them even though she looked to be fighting back tears herself.
Pandora and I shared a sigh, looking at each other as we silently tried to go over our options. She spoke first. "We..we should hide here until things calm down back at camp."
"Then what?" i asked, and she looked away to stare at her feet. "We all know we cant stay there-- its nothing more then a wasteland now."
She glanced back at her, her eyes hard. "You're telling me things i know," she snapped, but i didn't blame her..everyone's nerves had to fraying at the ends, and i allowed her to take it out on me. Her next words were calmer as she took in my no doubt blood-shot eyes and black face. "We cant just up and leave though. With no food, water? Supplies..clothing. There has to be..something left back there...when things calm down, the oldest of us--" i.e: us, she was saying, "--will go and look for things we need.."
I could see her logic, no matter how much i wished she was wrong, she was indeed right..and we wouldn't survive long on the scarce weapons us two had, and without food and water...
I didn't allow myself to finish the thought as i nodded to the older girl, "We'll go at nightfall, when the smoke has cleared.." i could only hope no European soldiers would be scouting the area..they usually didn't wait too long before they checked the area on foot to make sure all were dead.
I was handed a bottle of water by a sniffling Camilia, and i eagerly drank up the liquid, though i winced and some dribbled down my chin as it hit my scorched, sore throat. But, i kept chugging until i was left sucking empty air, and i let the empty bottle fall carelessly to the ground as i took in a deep breath. I was asked if i wanted another, but i shook my head. "We need to save what we can," i answered when my breathing became normal. Pandora agreed, but gave me a concerned look, to which i just waved off.
"I guess I'll go scrounge around; maybe there's food somewhere." I muttered, moving away from Pandora and walking--limping, really-- off in a direction not far away from the group. While in the midst of things, I heard a rustle of leaves and instantly paused, frozen in what i hoped was false fear. My heart was racing much like my breathing, though I honestly didn't know whether to be scared or to be calm. While i was trying to remain serene, I felt a cold breath on my neck, and the stench of blood and death attempted to overwhelm me. Slowly, i looked over my shoulder with wide eyes, and I saw that what had snuck up on me was one of the evolved carnivores; a type i was unfamiliar with in name, but its body was short and stocky. Its scaled flesh was a strange brown color, and its eyes were wide, too large for its chubby elongated face, and bright yellow. It blinked one eye, then the other, and its mouth opened as it hissed, every tooth i could see sharp, and at least two inches in length. I couldn't hold back a blood curdling scream before i turned and ran down the hill i had been facing. It chased on after me, but its legs legs were short thankfully, and i was faster, though this breed thrived on its stamina, and I'd eventually tire. I was short on ideas; I was weaponless [my gun had gotten away from me in the fire] and i certainly couldn't take on this..thing with my bare hands. I kept running till a root snagged my foot and I almost tripped. But, out of nowhere, I was pulled into one of the bushes to my left and out of the monsters sight.
Turns out, the something that had grabbed me was arms. Rather muscular, very clearly male arms. I twisted in their grip on me, and looked up to meet the eyes of a boy who I'd never seen before. His hair was a short and wild, dirty blond in color [ but the ends were caked in mud, and i guessed it was probably lighter when clean], and his big, chocolate eyes made his face look younger, softened his jaw line and he appeared around my age now that i really looked at him. He looked back at me in confusion when i said nothing, simply staring at him with probably an equal look of perplexity.
"Uhm, you alright?" He asked, his voice telling me he was from Australia, or, at least from around that region. I didn't answer, as I was distracted again when I heard footsteps coming from not that far off. It wasn't the monster, but I knew who it was.
~ ~ ~
