One month writing challenge!

The cleansings (Day 24)

I remember hearing screams. They were yells of pain, bloodshed, and pleads to spare them and their children. That noise is ingrained in my mind, those blood-curdling screams of despair, desperate cries for salvation, those could have been me. If it wasn't for hiding, if those cruel murderers just looked a little harder, they would've found me. I would've died. My mother couldn't escape it though, she was fearless, selfless, and then she was gone. Her blood haunts my nightmares.

That day I ran, it was my first cleansing, a ritual said to please the gods and prevent overpopulation. The real purpose though was fear. The government has advanced technology, more people, and less to lose. They had magic, the blessing from the gods themselves. No one would fight back because they couldn't risk it. They wipe out half of all villages, what would happen if one of them tried to stop them. I was cold and alone the first night, I had no idea how to live without my mom, and as the sun was about to set, I was about to die. My vision went blurry, my stomach aching, and my mouth dry. My vision went black and I woke up on a bed, warm soup next to me.

That's when the resistance found me. A group of people who were fearless and selfless. They raised me, along with other kids older and younger than me. We traveled frequently and I never experienced another cleansing. The memories stuck with me every night. We were trained to move fast and think faster, sometimes it was overwhelming, I would throw up from the constant struggle, and go to bed crying. It changed me though, from a frail little girl to a soldier and I was happy with my life, my new family.

"Get ready, we've trained long enough and it's time to fight back. Tomorrow is the next cleansing, we'll travel at dawn and then, we strike." Sadly, they were fearless, selfless, and just like my mother, if we go on with this plan, they'll die.

(346 words)