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It is that day of the month again, to honour the fallen. Derek ran out of his bedroom to feel the sunset, an habbit that doesn't seem to grow old despite his age. Standing outside and watching the new day began the memories of the past brushed through his mind, It has been 47 years since November 19 1978 when the war began, ravaging every conner of the earth, with many dead and few homeless left to scavenge for scraps as the long cold war doesn't seem to leave anything behind apart from rotten corpses and shattered bricks. humanity has finally reached its end, humans don't seem to look like much just few people desperately wanting to survive. They hop around like kangaroos in games of hide and seek, unable to tell the difference between the day and night due to smokes that originate from nuclear chemicals clouding the sky and making it difficult to breath
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The few humans left have become victims of plagues caused by chemical waste, leaving a piled up of corpses both adult and children for the vultures to feast upon, they never seem to run out of meal, quite unfortunate as others misfortune has become an opportunity for other species to prolong their existence. There are no much animals left these days, gone are those days when animals where raised as pet and trained for sport. Humans never seem to realise that their unfortunate circumstances due to the war was slowly leading to the extinction of the wild animals, as the few survivals hunt and kill any form of living object they could lay their eyes on
Every day seems the same, Derek and his family stay on the look out from morning to night. taking turns to watch their neighbours because few of them have suddenly grown apatite for human flesh as their was nothing left to eat. those without such habit are not to be trusted either, they patrol their walls from morning to night looking for any opportunity to steal from others loots, they go about with cutlass and knives knowing that no one would willingly give up their loots without a bloody fight.This act of endangering each others lives has further reduced their population, there was no one left to govern.
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few opinion leaders left have isolated themselves at the capital, a city barricaded with iron bars and electric fence, boldly written on it Do not touch, beware of electric fence Some who are incapable of tolerating their new found reality, have made their way to the electric fence, holding unto it till their bones shattered. Not like it matters to those who live within the protective walls, it is now a source of entertainment for them to watch humans like them labelled as nomads roam about their perimeters in search for food.
Derek grew up without the ability to hear, he was born when the war just began, due to the sounds of the battling armoured tanks, cannons and high frequency nuclear weapons must have irritated his hearing or probably his mother inhaled some of the airborne chemicals, she wouldn't know for sure since there are no more doctors around to confirm the origin of his disability. Derek's Dad, Alejandro never allow him go beyond the walls of their cave, he is terrified of their neighbours who would gladly prey on an innocent child for food.
There were no special days In the year, everyday looks the same, they have no cause for celebration. Derek and his family were just grateful to see another day. they were days when Derek's curiosity of the world beyond the clouds would vloud his judgement, he would slowly climb above the wall to watch the sunset but Alejandro's (Derek's father) voice would be the nicest thing he would hear following by lashes on his buttocks. slowly it has became a soundtrack in his ears.
"Derek get over here, while I'm asking nicely", those were Alejandro's words never seem to change, it is like a signature tune of his.
He has never seen his father smile, his face has this elongated expression, his side eye is enough to send chills down Derek's throat. Alejandro was the giant of the family keeping their notorious neighbours at bay, till a day he became ill, it got so bad that he was unable to move. the famous giant slowly becoming a shadow of himself, Derek's older brothers had no choice but to step up and take over their father's duties it was hard at first but eventually they got better at it. Their neighbours tried for awhile to take advantage of their situation but only few of them escaped alive to tell the tales. it seems Derek's siblings are more territorial than their father was.
Few months passed but Alejandro doesn't seem to be getting better. their mum, Allen got worried and had no choice but to make use of the only option they had left, it seems Allen knew more about the illness but the ingredients doesn't seem to come easy especially the most important one that can only be gotten from the capital, knowing the fate of anyone that tries to get close, their mum (Allen) kept quiet about the cure, she wouldn't want to give anyone of her children the wrong idea. she was aware of their profound love for theur father and they wouldn't mind getting electrocuted just to get their hands on the ingredients needed for the cure.
As Alejandro sickness worsen, Derek's hearing abilities began to return, first thing he heard was the sound of a cricket, it sounded so fainted but he was sure he heard it. ran to Allen to inform her about his new found abilities. Derek was shocked when he noticed something on his mother's face, something he hasn't seen for years, it is a smile, she must have been so happy. His dad winked at him to acknowledge he heard the good news but he could barely say few words. weeks got by and Derek's hearing improved greatly, with his disability gone, he can finally hunt with his siblings it was tough at first but the lessons from the hunt was worth it.
The silence remain, No one said anything about the cure, till one Faithful night. Derek heard his Mom and dad whispering, an habit they have gotten really good at but not a match for Derek's new found hearing ability. they discussed vividly about how good Derek has gotten in hunting and performing his responsibilities. He could hear allen say "if only you weren't ill you could have taught him a few survival skills".
Alejandro replied with a fainted smile and said, "that would only be possible if I could get my hands on the needed ingredients at the loading dock behind the capital".
Allen sighed with tears rolling down her chins "if only that were possible".
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Derek couldn't wait till sunset before he made his way out of their cave and ran towards the capital like his life depended on it. it was easy for him to navigate through the waste land due to his limited height, how tall could a 14 years old boy be, just few feets from the ground. finding his way into the capital by getting under a loading truck. "Oh, it was easier than I imagined, he complimented myself.
Navigated his way to the loading dock, stach the ingredients in his jacket and waited till night before he sort his way out, immediately it was dark, Derek disguised himself as an officer made his way to the gate till he finally got out. that was easy till he was detected by the perimeter alarm and guns were set ablaze at his tail, Derek was shot at like an escaped convict and he ran like deer.
He could hear the guards screaming "the intruder has a sack of hibiscus flower in his jacket".
Hibiscus!! He exclaimed, what the hell does that mean?
Derek made his way up to a hill, before a bullet greased his neck and he rolled down lifelessly down the hill. I was so close, at least a bullet is better than being electrocuted, those were Derek's last thought before his breath faded.
"You better keep those eyes open, how dare you steal hibiscus flower from the capital alone", Derek jotted back to reality feeling all bruised up, he recognise that voice, it belongs to his old man Alejandro. this is definitely not heaven no Angel in heaven could sound so grumpy. "I guess they must have found me before the guards did", He whispered to himself.
oh!! Hibiscus flower that is what the ingredient is called, I could have died just for a couple packs of coffee, thankfully it was worth it", he murmured. He faked being asleep, he couldn't afford to face his angry father who has finally gotten back on his feet due to Derek's heroic act, "it is comforting to know I'm grounded for life", he chuckled
The war days are finnaly over, to honour the most memorable experience, a dry hibiscus flower is kept beside Derek's father photo frame, Alejandro who died few years after the war.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled "Tell us a story" in hive learners community.
