An Empty Promise

It was after the nuclear war that destroyed 99% of the world’s population. All the people who survived in the United States gathered in Washington DC as the President had instructed right before the war started. Towns and cities had been destroyed. Cars, homes, and forests had been obliterated. Since there were no longer gas stations, or people to run them, the families on the West Coast had to walk for months in order to make it to DC. Once everyone had arrived in Washington, we counted numbers. We had gone from over 315 million down to about 3000 in less than a year. Since there was no leader (the president had died, along with almost everyone along the East Coast), we started re-building. I was only 7 then, and I had no idea that life was about to change. The four years following that were terrible. Without any electricity or gas, everything had to be made by hand. My mother tried to cheer us up. She said it was like “living with the Amish”. I would cry and make a fuss because I couldn’t watch my morning cartoons on TV.

          Four years after the war ended, we had built 7 apartment buildings, all no higher than the 3rd floor. The rooms were small; one bathroom that had no plumbing since the water pipes had been destroyed, two small cramped bedrooms that could only fit a dirty mattress each, and a small living space. Currency was pointless, since most money had been destroyed, so the apartment choices were given to the family with the most kids. My family was lucky; we had lived in Minnesota, and we had all survived. I was the oldest (11), and had two younger sisters, Sydney (9), and Lizzy (5). We were number 10 for selecting our apartment. Many of the other families had once had children, but they had died during the war.

          My father picked us a nice apartment that had many windows. Unfortunately, there were only 50 apartments for 100 families, so everyone had to double up. The people that stayed with us were the Brant’s, who had a daughter named Hannah that was my age. We quickly became best friends.

          The other girls that were my age lived in other apartments. Maddy, Katie, Gabby, Hannah, and I spent almost every day together, telling our tales of the war and explaining what we missed most about our old lives. I told them about my puppy that we had to leave behind in Minnesota. Gabby told us about her sister that had been in DC looking at colleges when it was blown to pieces. Katie and Maddy had both lost their dads during the war. We all had loses, and we grew up together acknowledging those loses. They brought us closer.

          Each adult had a job to do. Even the kids had work. When you turned 10 years old, you had to become part of the community and work. Since the president was dead, all the adults had gathered together and decided the rules as a group. The town was called Tidwell.

          Tidwell was placed outside DC because DC was mostly rubble. We were closer to the Appalachian Trail. The male adults and the sons that were over 10 were given the job of hunting for meat and collecting food for the entire town. The female adults were tasked with the job of rebuilding. More and more children were born each year, so we needed more and more apartment buildings. Some of the women got together and started a school for the children under the age of 10. Since they didn’t have any books or supplies, the women told stories of the old world to the children so they wouldn’t forget the United States’ history.

          The rest of us (the girls over 10) were quickly taught how to sew and weave. Since we didn’t have electricity, we had to sew the old fashion way. We made clothes and shoes for the children and adults who had lost all of their belongings in the war. We even made a point to sew a new stuffed animal every time a new baby was born. We sewed quilts and blankets for the winter, and curtains to help keep out the heat in the summer.

          Right by Tidwell was a large stream. We collected water from there every day and brought back jugs and jugs of it to the chef. Chef was really Mr. Garrett, but he told us to call him chef. Chef was given the food and water collected each day. He was amazing at coming up with new recipes. The boys and men would come back with deer, fish, berries, and squirrel. Chef, along with the help of some of the men and boys would cook up new meals and stews each day. He always made enough for the 3000 of us. Everyone loved chef and his creative dishes.