Chapter 4 - Alex
I'm sick and tired of living with Morgan, er, my uncle. Over the past 4 or 5 months, he is never home, and he can't provide for me. That is his job. When my dad died, a letter was sent to my uncle. The letter said that he was to take care of me.
He was my father now. He would probably kill him if he knew the way he treated me now.
Since he's never home, I don't have any food. I've had to resort to theft to keep myself alive. Now don't you look down on me, it's not like I enjoy taking undeserved food from people, but I have no choice. The only other option is to hunt, which I can't do because I have nothing to use as a weapon and I don't know how to track or anything, or trade at the market at the hub, but I can't do that because I have nothing to trade. I've also heard the market is a breeding ground for kidnappings.
I actually thought tonight might be different. I thought he would come home, but apparently he is too busy doing whatever it is he does. If I had any, I would put money on it that he drinks, and is too afraid to come home and face me. Oh well, I have some left over bread from yesterday's expedition.
As I rolled off my "bed" my hair caught on the frame. This day just keeps getting better. As I looked back to release my hair from its metallic jaws, I noticed it ripped out a small chunk of my hair.
"Awesome. Just what I needed to really get this day started." I thought out loud to myself.
My hair annoyed me. It always got in the way. One time, I missed grabbing a steaming bowl of stew because my hair got caught in a door. Sometimes I think about cutting it. I wonder what I would look like with short hair. I'll have to try it sometime.
As I blankly stalked to center of our "house", an idea popped into my head. What would a boy think of me?
"HAHAHAHA!" I burst out as soon as that idea came into my head. A boy, what is wrong with me? Nobody has time for a boy. Even I did, like I would get one. One, that makes them sound like possessions. I MUST OWN ONE. Oh sorry I got distracted.
I suppose it's only natural to think about it though. I'm certainly not the ugliest girl in our district, but I'm also not nearly one to drool over. Maybe, just maybe, I'm pretty, but far from stunning, like my mother was. I'm just average.
I decided to stop thinking vein thoughts, and to eat. Just as I bit in to my first hunk of stale bread, Morgan came bursting through the door.
"Look what the cat dragged in." I sarcastically remarked
"Alexandra..."
"Alex." I cut in. "The names Alex."
"Fine, Alex, we need to leave. There are NASR soldiers coming to get us and if we don't leave then they will throw us in jail. I know I haven't exactly been the best uncle recently, but it hasn't been because I wanted to abandon you. I've been working with a group, the resistance, and we want to end the government oppression. We want to restore the old world." Morgan pleaded.
"Whoa whoa whoa, what? You have soldiers chasing after you? Look, I don't want any part in this."
"Alex, you already are a part of this. And I'm not asking for your approval. You are leaving, now."
Out of all things, I did respect Morgan. He has been the crappiest uncle ever the past few months, but before that, he was an okay guy. He would work as a medic, apparently before the war he was a doctor, and he would provide for us. Not only did I respect him, but I knew when he was serious. Right now was one of those times.
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I was not ready for what was coming up. After he told me we were packing up and leaving, we started running. I didn't even know where, but when I asked him where we were going, all he did was ignore me. After the first 15 minutes, my legs were aching. I'm not the kind of girl who just likes to take a little run now and then. So after 30 minutes, which felt like 3 days, I was panting.
"Shut up! Someone might hear you." Morgan hurtfully commented.
"Well, sorry, but running for 30 minutes straight isn't exactly my favorite activity. Besides, we are miles into the woods by now, who would hear us? In fact, why don't we stop here and rest. We are plenty far enough." I coughed out between breaths. I was seriously out of shape.
"No. They will follow us up to here. We aren't as far as you think. Just because you have that watch doesn't mean you are all powerful. All you can do is tell time, something useless now days."
Apparently, before my mother left us, my father gave her a beautiful silver watch. When my mother cowardly left us, she apparently placed it around my arm. I was just a baby when that happened, so I obviously do not remember the event. I've always kept it though, throughout my 16 years of existence. It gives me a comforting feeling, like a memory of the past.
"Where we are going, no one will ever think to look. It's where the resistance met, somewhere far away from here."
Yeah, right, somewhere no one will ever think to look. That is a sentence that is too simple to come true. Where ever this place is, I hope there is food there, because I'm starving.
