Nuclear Fallout

Chapter Two - Ellen

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~ SailingAcrossTheSea x

Chapter Two - Ellen

Crawling seemed like the best way to negotiate between the peices of furniture. As I crawled I contemplated on the past events that lead to my current situation.

My mother was ill. She was unable to stand and walk around to do jobs so she sent me on an errand to see if there were any cheap furniture to refurbish our new house. It seemed stupid that we bought a house in the heat of the war but it made my mother happy. My father had been killed in a traffic accident when I was 10. I was an only child and I guess the thoughts of having a younger sibling died in my mother's mind when the police arrived at our doorstep telling us the news that my father is dead. My mother never seemed the same afterwards. All of my father's friends accepted the fact and moved on in life but my mother was different. She seemed trapped in the moment when the news came to her. I've lived like that for 7 years, looking after both me and my mother. I cared for her but deep in my heart I felt disgusted at her neglect. However, I had loved my father dearly and he knew he would never forgive me if I neglected her. Then, the dispute between the countries of Aryshad and the New Kingdom seemed to bring my mother round. “There's always been a threat of a nuclear war," she'd said. “We just need to be ready for it." That was when we moved to the countryside. 5 months later, my mother was struck with an illness that doctors say was incurable. I didn't doubt them: the way she looked was as if Death was knocking on her doorstep.

So I walked into town, a quater of a mile away from our little cottage. I spent a few hours wandering round town when I saw a commotion in the Square. Four armed men dressed in the blood red and blue uniforms of the New Kingdom were shouting at an old man. The man was cowering and a loud CRACK filled the air. Screams of pain and agony issued from the wrinkled lips and tears pricked my eyes as I saw the red raw lashes across his bare back. I looked at the crowd that had gathered around him. A mixture of emotions showed on their faces: remorse, sympathy and disgust. I felt guilty. I knew whippings were common especially to those who were refugees from Aryshad. But the pain in the old man's face was too much. I had to stop them.

I pushed forwards but a tall man held me back. He studied my face and said in a low voice, “You can't do anything. I'm sorry, but I won't let them whip a young girl like you." There was a hint of regret in his voice but I answered, “I don't care! He's going to die!" The man smiled sadly at my outburst and pushed me out of the crowd.

I gave him a look and carried on walking. Inside I knew I would've caused more trouble if I interfered. Alright, Ellen, go look for furniture. Sighing, I walked through the small town and found a warehouse. There was a clearance and judging by the furniture on display, I knew that they would sell it cheap.

I've been looking round for the best of an hour and I just couldn't find anything I liked. My mind kept on wandering to the old man: shattered, in pain and helpless. I was still thinking about him when the first bomb exploded.

I was blown off my feet and screams filled the air. There was a terrible crash and I saw the building starting to crumble. Furniture toppled over and broke into pieces. Bits of plaster came from the ceiling accompanied with the beds that was upstairs. Dust billowed around and panicked people ran wildly. A few more series of bombings occured and I could see the infamous mushroom that issued from each one. They hit a few miles away but the aftershock of each affected a 10 mile radius. A wooden pole detached itself from the ceiling and crashed on top of me, pinning me down. I had hit my head hard on the concrete floor and all was black.