Hopeless Starts

A Chapter by LizzieTheLizard

“More news just coming in, the Whitevale and the Thaxton departments have become allies! They are now set to attack our beloved sector, Harigold, to claim the large land mass the city currently has. The exact attack dates are unknown, but is there anyone left?” The male reporter’s voice became unprofessional, he sounds scared.

He goes hysterical, sobbing, “I want this to stop! I want my city to be safe. I... I want my son back... Have mercy... Have mer-”

The radio station went to static, uncertain if the radio man on the other side would ever be heard from again. He often spoke in weird rhymes, speaking of things that people called wisdom and mercy. The whole unit of Harigold called him ‘The Mercy Man’. For he usually yelled for mercy of Harigold. He had speeches on mercy. He wanted the people of his section to give mercy to others, to help others in need. Clarity, sitting at an ageing table, has no feeling for the simple radio man. After all, the war started when she was only nine. Her father is a natural survivor, but her mother thought different. Clarity’s mother died when she was ten.

Her mother, Persephone Gardelia, was stunning. She was kind, caring, and beautiful with shining blue eyes and long, blonde hair. Her hair always smelt of roses and she always had a smile plastered on her freckled face. Persephone had gotten shot by soldiers after she rebelled against them because she wanted through the gates to help a child at the age of 30.

Her father, Brian, has a brown, comb-over haircut. He has dull green eyes and had medium stubble which is now a full beard. He is 38 now and tanned. Looting old buildings in the day with the chilly air of winter’s approach made him sick. He stays inside more, feeling confident they have all the supplies they’ll need for winter. Brian is stupidly fearless, but strong willed. He taught Clarity how to shoot a rifle, pistol, and shotgun so far, but to only use guns when they are needed. Clarity is a master at pistols and knives. They both used to go building from building looting for food, water, and clothing. Almost all the buildings in their deserted area of the city got looted, but no soldiers usually come their way.

Brian came into the room, with Clarity sitting emotionless at the table while the static grew louder. She is carving drawings of flowers into their table with a switchblade. He flicks off the radio, heading towards the cupboards. After rustling around in the cupboard, he huzzahs. He pulls a pair of rusty scissors from a pile of useless items. Brian ruffles Clarity’s long hair before wrenching out an old hairbrush of Persephone.

“Clary, we need to cut your hair.”

“But-,” She whined.

“No buts. It’s way too long and could be dangerous.”

Clarity pouts, but nods her head. Brian ruffles her hair and her once long, amber brown hair transforms into a choppy mess. Her hair used to go down to the middle of her back, but Brian cut it to be up to her chin. After a few more snips, he sets the scissors on the table. Clarity stands up, looking around for something to see her reflection. She walks down the hall to the bathroom and comes back with a broken piece of mirror in hand. Clarity holds the mirror up, trying to see her hair from every angle. She frowns, touching her hair with an empty hand. She carelessly drops the mirror piece out of her hands and sighs.

“Dad, I look like a boy.”

“Don’t say that, you’re lucky you are a girl. I’m not much of a barber. It looks cute on you, though. Also.. you should have your mom’s brush.”

“Really?” Brian nods to this and hands her the brush.

Clarity examines the brush. It as if it is made of gold, with a fancy mirror on the back. The bristles are straight as can be and the brush looks like it is old. Perhaps the brush had been with previous relatives. She smiled, carefully stashing it in her jacket pocket. She plops back down in her seat, drawing her mother into the table with the knife. Clarity whistled as she carved, the brush is something her mother had loved and it makes her feel closer.

Brian leans on the wall, looking out the dusty window. His keen, blue eyes scanning the outside. The abandoned apartment buildings surrounding the one they are in were covered in plant life and ashes. Ashes from the bombs that fell upon their city in the previous battle. Brian feared more bombs would be coming, but they were unpredictable. All cities in the world are in the war. The walls that confined them would not have been able to protect them forever. The war all started when the section of Maxonville started a riot. The leader wanted more land since he got the least amount of it. The citizens took over the main units one by one; Yuliam, Techizan, and Lamyi. These units controlled all of the tiny departments. Their military, their food, their water, their clothes, their houses, the things they buy in stores. Every division fell into a panic without the three major leaders.

All sections’ leaders ordered their unit’s military to destroy the others for food and supplies for their people. Harigold had seen most of the war, with a leader as ‘great’ as Kane Zinimont. Kane’s face has never been seen by any of the citizens of Harigold. He is a cruel leader and abandoned most of his territory. Each sector was cut into territories, those territories get labels from A-Z.

Brian shakes the thoughts out of his head, the war gives him horrid flashbacks. Flashbacks of the gunshots that flew through the sky, the bodies of people that dropped in the streets, the sky as bombs exploded buildings so close to their own hide-out. Sometimes, flashbacks made him think of the good days as well. He lives for those flashbacks of the time when it was the start of his marriage. His wife was too beautiful for the world, like a flower. That flower wilts eventually and so do people. She didn’t die peacefully, which drove Brian insane day by day. Brian’s eyes quickly focus on figures heading towards their apartment building. He sighs and taps his chin in thought.

Clarity’s head perks up, “What is it? Military? Bad people?”

“I don’t know,” He stated, “But I think they are heading towards our building. I don’t like how they’re holding guns like that. Clare, can you go hide for me?”

Clarity nods, making her way to the pantry. She sneaks the pair of scissors off the table into her grey jacket’s other pocket. She cautiously climbs in and closes the doors. She can only see through thin horizontal designs in the door. Her differentiating blue and green eyes wide with terror of losing another loved one. Her blue eyes are sharp and quick, observing everything within minutes. Brian calmly sits down on a chair, waiting for the group to come. He can hear the faint sounds of their boots stomping up the stairs. They ram into the door twice, busting it open with a third lunge. A boy about Clarity’s age with curly, dark brown hair and greyish eyes regains his balance from the sudden crash of the door. He takes out a revolver and points it at Brian, trudging closer. An older girl with faded pink tips of her oddly long, blonde hair came in behind him. The boy stood by the cabinet, giving Clarity an advantage. She takes out the pair of scissors into her hand and gets ready to act.

“Come out of there, now!” The boy yells, breaking the door open.
Clarity silently curses and slowly walks out of the cabinet, secretly slipping the scissors into her back pocket. She raises both of her hands halfway in the air. Brian clenches his jaw, but not acting. If he let anything happen to his only daughter, he’d go 100 percent insane. The boy's arm trembles as he stares at Clarity, but he still points the gun at her. He walks towards her, holding the revolver with only one hand, he starts to check her pockets. He glares as he yanks out the scissors and puts them into his back pocket. Clarity holds her breath and forces her eyes close. The girl behind him puts a hand on his shoulder and he put the gun in another pocket.
Brian stands up and walks to Clarity, “Don’t ever touch my f*****g daughter again. Now, who the f**k are you?!”
“Yeah, yeah, sorry. It’s weird seeing someone who’s not ugly and not covered in s**t, okay? I’m Lucas, this is Echo.”