To Hell And Back

Part 1

A young group of children run through a war zone. The guns had stopped firing only a few minutes ago and there were still people aimlessly walking around, some injured and bleeding out. The children had decided to go for a mad dash in the confusion of the immediate aftermath. If they could just get to the other side they'd be able to go on the trek to a village about 18 miles away, a supposed safe haven from the war, or at least that's what they heard from some people in the town they had lived in. "My cousin lives in this village on the map and war never happens there! If a war really does break out here, I'll just go there."

There were 5 children together, all young girls. The eldest was just ten years old, wearing only a dark green coat that trailed on the floor, far too many sizes large, and a bright green necklace and bracelet. She had gotten them from her parents before they left as soon as the war was declared. She doesn't know why they left, but she likes to think that they didn't abandon her. She was also carrying a large backpack, slowing her down her significantly. She couldn't leave it however, it had lots of resources that would help them through the journey and she doubted that they'd get far without it. In her left arm she was holding a little two year old wrapped in a rag, loudly crying, attracting some attention from nearby scavengers.

With her right she was holding the hand of a little 5 year old struggling to keep up with her, her tiny legs practically dragging across the floor. She was wearing a diamond dress that was now completely ruined and barely kept together. She had had other opportunities to change into more suitable clothes, but she refused. The diamond reminded her of home, and when people had money to have luxuries like diamonds. Her mother had a diamond ring which she loved to play with. Next to her was a 8 year old girl, wearing a long skirt she found and a half destroyed top. She was also carrying a child of only one years old. She was wrapped in a rag like the two year old, however she was asleep, tightly gripping a pink ribbon in her hand, looking pale and sickly.

They were almost across, nearing the edge of the zone that led to a wasteland, when they were cornered. A group of about 5 bandits of a sort were around them. The 2 year old started to cry louder while the 5 year old burst into tears, gripping her older sisters hand as hard as she could. The 8 year old looked up expectedly at the eldest, she was filled with fear but her sister always managed to get her out of any problem. She'd be able to get her out of this, surely? The eldest however, didn't have a plan. She had two pistols, but ammunition was hard to come across and both were empty. She also had a knife, but how was she supposed to take out 5 fully grown adults who were likely armed with worse weapons with just a small knife?  She started to shake as she went through all her options.

From somewhere around the rubble surrounding them, a man dressed in something that reminded the eldest of those posh men in suits that she had seen at restaurants and the like. Next to him was a man who reminded her of the doctors she had seen in hospital when her mother gave birth to her two youngest sisters. She missed having the luxury of a hospital when her family was sick. Now she's got to deal with any illnesses by herself with the little knowledge of medicine she has. The youngest seemed to have come down with an illness, and she wasn't fully sure whether she'd be able to survive much longer or not. Although, she wasn't fully sure whether any of them would survive the hour now that they were surrounded by the group.

The man dressed like a doctor spoke first, who had been eyeing each of them up closely. "The girl in the green coat and the one in the red skirt are too old for any use. I have more than enough of their age. We don't have enough supplies to sustain any more of those rats." The doctor says, with a particularly cruel and slimy tone to his voice. The posh looking man simply glances at him and then booms out "I'll host an execution for the age range of 6-9 soon. The cells are too overcrowded to keep many of them strong enough to work. We'll have a slight clean up for them soon."