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This is the third installment in my NaNoWriMo challenge: chapters five and six. I have currently written 10,500 words (I've uploaded approx 6,800, including this post). So far so good, but I have a lot of work this month, so I am trying to get as much done as I can early in the month and then lower my daily requirements. But no matter which way you look at it, there's still a long way to go. Still, I'm enjoying the challenge, and I am happy with the story that I have produced so far. That's the extra challenge - produce something that's actually worth reading.
Chapters One and Two (Part One)
Chapters Three and Four (Part Two)
CHAPTER FIVE
It was still very early in the day, and Anastasia knew the journey to the coast needed to be started soon. The charity had contacts along the way, and she hoped to utilise their assistance.
“I'm sorry we have no vehicles, Anastasia,” said Demetrius, her supervisor since she had arrived at the charity supply centre. He had always been a beacon of support for Anastasia, emotionally resolute despite the turmoil all around them. But he did feel the terror, he did comprehend what everyone was going through. That's what lead him to the role. He just hid it well. Something that she too had learnt from him. But eventually everyone starts to show cracks. She just hadn't seen any from the Demetrius.
She never knew his story. He had somehow managed to skirt around the issue every time Anastasia attempted to delve into his past. A man of mystery, she thought. With a heart of gold. And endless amounts of energy. If there was anyone made for this job, then he certainly qualified. She knew she was going to miss him – miss his support. But it was her time to be the centre of strength. For Ruby, for herself. For their future.
“It's okay,” she replied. “I don't know how passable the roads will be anyway.” A vehicle would have made a lot of difference to their journey. But without a security detail it may have put their lives in even more danger. Desperate people do desperate things. And a vehicle without protection would be a beacon to every desperate person on the journey to the refugee camps.
“I've contacted the centre in Kirban. They are expecting you in a few days. From there they can help make further arrangements for you. Contact others as need be.” Demetrios had the gift of organisation. As soon as he was aware of what Anastasia was planning he got to work. He knew her well enough to understand there was no talking her out of this. It was why she was here – to help. It's what she lived for. It would put a dent in his own centre. But they would make up for the shortfall. Besides, he thought, how much longer will the rest of us remain here?
Anastasia called Ruby over. “You remember Demetrius?” she asked.
“You'll be in good hands, Ruby. Anastasia will look after you.” Ruby liked Demetrius. She had met him before, but only once. Although she noticed him many times. He had a way to make people feel safe. Ruby believed he had done a wonderful job of that up until now. But even he wasn't capable of stopping the bombs. Not forever. His protection would follow them, Ruby knew it. She took comfort in knowing that she had Emma, Anastasia, and the spirit of Demetrius to guide and protect her. Maybe I'm not so alone after all, she thought.
“I've packed some supplies for you. There's food for a few days. Enough to get you to Kirban. A blanket, for the night. When you get to Kirban you can rest and wash up. But until then, it's just the two of you.” Demetrius handed Anastasia a bag that she could sling over her shoulder.
“Are there others heading out?” Anastasia asked, referring to the long journey ahead of them, to the coast where the camps had been set up.
“A few groups left about an hour ago. There's a few more just outside preparing to leave now. You should join them. You'll be safer in numbers.”
Anastasia handed Ruby the bag to hold temporarily. She turned to Demetrius, and looked at him silently. Despite her best efforts to suppress it, a tear emerged and gently flowed down her cheek.
“You're a brave woman,” Demetrius told her. “May the gods protect your path.”
“I think the gods have abandoned us,” Anastasia replied, not wanting to dampen his blessing. She knew what he meant, and they were words meant to offer comfort.
“Perhaps we are the gods – in hiding!” he offered.
“From who?”
Demetrius thought about it. He had often wondered what the nature of humanity was. Why some excelled in cruelty, whilst others emanated something so vastly different. Beauty exists, even it it has been nearly wiped out. It's still there, hiding behind the eyes. Hiding behind the cage we have built around ourselves, out of fear of the truth leaking out. “Ourselves, perhaps.”
Anastasia smiled at the thought. Perhaps we are the gods, she thought. But if so, then why do we behave like this? Do we destroy ourselves? Or does something drive us to this destruction? She put her arms around Demetrius and embraced him, one last time.
Demetrius knelt down to face Ruby. “Anastasia will get you to the camps. You'll be okay.” He gave her a kiss on her forehead, and held her hand.
“I'll walk with you outside,” he said, as they made their way to the exit door.
Ruby turned, to see where Emma was. She doesn't like being around other people, she thought. That's my strength. Emma stood behind her. “We're going now, Emma.”
Demetrius looked at Anastasia. They had talked about Ruby and Emerald in the past. He understood the situation. “Look after each other. Be safe.”
They looked out to the road ahead. Ruby rarely saw what lay beyond the support centre. It generally wasn't safe to be out any longer than was necessary. But they had no choice now. They had to venture out, into areas that Ruby had never seen. She looked at Anastasia. She was grateful to have her to guide her. The coast is so far away, I would never know how to get there, she thought. And she turned to Emma. I am so grateful to have her to protect me. I would never had made it this far without her. She held both there hands as they started the long and dangerous journey into lands unknown.
CHAPTER SIX
There were about thirty people preparing to make the journey. Ruby recognised a few faces, from her visits to the support centre. After many visits she had started to see some of the same people. The ones that had remained, that is. She didn't see anyone that she recognised from her building, or the few around it. There was the lady who lived on the ground floor; she wondered what had become of her. She was one of the few who would actually talk to her. Most seemed too reluctant. Too frightened perhaps. Sometimes someone would tentatively wave, or nod at her. It was usually enough for Ruby. She understood. People always told her she wouldn't understand, but she did. It's hard to be friendly and cheerful when all around life was falling to pieces. No one mistreated her. Except the fighters. But they mistreated everyone. They seemed to revel in the overall destruction of everyone and everything. But her fellow civilians, they were all on the same side. And Ruby knew it.
She thought about the lady who lived on the ground floor. She never did know her name. She would say hello every time she saw Ruby. Give her a little smile. Ruby liked her smile. It was one of the genuine kind. She never talked to Ruby, except to say hello. But receiving her smile was like receiving a gift every time. Ruby would smile back, but hers were not capable of hiding the truth. That she was scared and wanted out from this place. Away from this world and it's addiction to misery.
There were several men going with the group. They lead the way. The city seemed to stretch out as far as the eye could see. Did it go all the way to the coast, Ruby wondered. The destruction was all around. She could see smoke billowing out from several building along the road. The smell was overwhelming. Ruby looked at Anastasia, but she was fixated on the recent destruction all around. Many people had died here, Ruby knew it. She didn't need to ask if that was true or not. She could feel it, smell it. She could see it etched in the bodies of all those in her group.
They had a long way to walk. Ruby was determined not to hold the group up. Fortunately there were other children in the group. She looked at them, at the confusion etched all over their faces. How much had they been told, she wondered. How much did they know about their circumstances? Like her, perhaps they too had been told they would not understand. That it was too much for a child's mind to comprehend. But she did comprehend. Everything was gone. It had all been torn down, and nobody was safe any more. At what point did people become this destructive, at what point in a human's life did they turn from being a child, to being the monsters that were doing this to them? Ruby wasn't going to ask that question to any adults around her. She knew that was something that they too did not understand. She turned to look at Emerald, walking quietly beside her. She grasped her hand even tighter.
“How far does the city go?” Ruby asked Anastasia. She had never been out of the city. Her father had promised her before the war to take her to the country one day. To see the green fields, and the trees. Maybe even to the see the ocean. But it had never happened. The war arrived before that could happen.
“It's not much further, see where those buildings are,” Anastasia replied, pointing towards a row of buildings in the distance. “There are a few smaller ones past there, but not many.”
“Then what is there? After the city?” Ruby had heard about the country side, but never seen it. Her father mentioned it to her a few times. But she found it so hard to imagine what it looked like. In her innocent mind she saw large swathes of green, a tree or two. Perhaps even a farmhouse. Just like a painting a child would create. It seemed so peaceful to Ruby. But before the war everything seemed so peaceful. She hadn't been in a hurry to experience the country. She had had her friends, family, and sunshine all around her. But those days were gone. Now she really wished she knew what it had looked like. It surely didn't look like that now. The war was everywhere, she had been told.
“Outside the city is the countryside.” Anastasia answered. “There are some smaller towns as well. At least there were, before the war. I don't know what remains now. Maybe like here – just shells, and rubble.”
They walked on, until they passed the last buildings. And continued further beyond the outer limits of the city. Ruby looked around, knowing she had left behind all that she knew. Everything that had defined her existence, had either died, been destroyed, or had been left behind. Except her sister, and Anastasia. She looked around at the open spaces around her. It didn't look like she had imagined. She knew it wouldn't. The city no longer looked like it used to either. There were still some green fields, or some sort of dying shade of green. But there wasn't anyone to tend the fields, they had been left alone for a long time it would seem. Overgrown where they hadn't been destroyed, or left with giant craters pot marking the terrain. It all looked more grey than green, Ruby thought. Everything now looked grey. Is that what happened when things die, they lose their colour. Is the world dying? Is life itself dying? Can life die? Ruby had no one to ask these questions to. They were hers, and hers alone, to ponder and consider, along the long journey that stretched out before them.
One of the men came and spoke with Anastasia. Ruby was unable to hear them. She studied their body language, but nothing she noticed told her to be frightened. Something routine, perhaps.
“We'll be stopping for lunch soon, Ruby. We've been walking for over four hours. How are you feeling?”
“A little bit tired. But I'm okay. So long as you and Emma are here with me I'll be okay.”
Anastasia smiled at Ruby, as they sat down on the side of the road. It had been quiet the whole time they had been walking. Ruby hadn't noticed anyone else around, except their group. Maybe all the fighters are in the city. She never understood why they fought where the people lived, and not out here where the wide open spaces were. Although the animals wouldn't have liked it. But now there were no animals any more. Were they all dead? Did they turn grey too, like the Earth? Ruby sat quietly thinking about these things, eating the food that Anastasia had prepared for her. She looked to Emerald but she sat quietly beside her, not wanting any food. Where does she get her energy from? Ruby thought. She's less tired than I am.
They were in a small village, with less than a dozen buildings huddled tight together. It had once been a lively little place. But now just ghosts walked these streets. Ruby noticed bullet holes in many walls. The fighters had been here. But why would they come to this village? Ruby tried to picture how it would have looked before, the colourful flower boxes under all the windows, framing the street in a sea of colour. The tiled roofs and the coloured walls. She couldn't tell what colours they once had been. Not now. Everything had faded. She would had liked to have visited this village with her father and her mother. Met the people who once lived here. Ruby wept quietly thinking about how the day this peaceful little village would have woken to it's own death and destruction. Is that what evil is? she asked herself. Did evil pay this little village a visit? If everything dies eventually, why doesn't evil die too? She looked around again and wished she could have help them. Then we could have all been happy, like Anastasia is happy, she thought. Because she helps people. She looked at Anastasia and smiled. Anastasia wiped the tears from Ruby's eyes, but said nothing. She understood exactly. She was trying desperately to keep her own tears on the inside.
This fiction is my own work, written for Steemit
Image Credit: Unsplash.com
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