Code of Honor

I watched the skyline.

Once one the biggest cities in the state sat beautifully on the horizon. It had been the first thing I’d see every morning as I got out of bed and glanced out the window. It always had its own beauty to it. Now it had been replaced with black smoke billowing into the darkened sky. The remains of some buildings still stood high but I knew they’d be gone by morning. Crumbling to the ground following the rest of the city.

Slowly I looked away from the horizon. The sight here wasn’t much better. Most the houses were still standing. Some had their windows boarded over where some people had tried to stay. A few still looked normal, some had been leveled by fire or bombing. The ash still floated around my head, evidence of the spot fires that still surrounded us.
The stench of death and decay was still strong but after so long you forgot about it. It was better if you didn’t think about it. It was an inescapable part of life now. Everything was gone. Our homes, our families and friends. Our way of life up in smoke like everything else. It ended in a split second and it wasn’t changing anytime soon. This was the end.

“Grace.”

Slowly I turned around and pushed my unkempt dark hair behind my ear. My father was kneeling in the dirt amongst what remained of our home. Ours was one of the many to go up in flames. I seen the flicker of fear in his eyes but he held a strong facade. Mostly for me I think. His face and arm were burnt and still dripping blood slowly. I to was injured but thanks to him not as badly. A few burns, some scratches and bruises. But I was okay, I’d live. Compared to most I was a picture of health these days.

I walked over and dropped to the ground beside him. Something dug into my exposed left knee but I ignored it. We had lost everything but each other. What happened to the rest of our family I didn’t know and a part of me didn’t want to. If I didn’t know I could believe they died peacefully or they were alive somewhere. Maybe we’d be reunited one day...it was a long shot but hope was all we had left.

Slowly I started to shift through the rubble that had once been our home. We were looking for something, anything that would help us. When you have nothing the smallest thing can mean the world. Something to remind us to fight on or remind us of our family and one good life. Eventually my fingers encountered a thin chain. It didn’t belong in the mix of dirt, glass and rubble. I pulled it out slowly and dusted the dirt and mud off it before holding it in my open palm. My mother’s silver necklace. The one she always wore. I showed it silently to my father. He took it slowly in his calloused hands and stared at it. The grief on his face was undeniable but he hid it quickly before I could see. He turned slowly to place the thin chain around my neck.

“Keep it safe,” he whispered and I nodded.

It was then we heard footsteps coming from behind us. We both looked back quickly and my father’s shoulder squared defensively. There was no doubt in my mind these men were soldiers. Whose I couldn’t tell. Not that it mattered. No one could be trusted. They could be our soldiers but with the way everything was now they could be worse than our enemies.

Even if they were working for our up-turned government they could easily shoot us. I’d already seen some soldiers slaughter people so they wouldn’t have to live this life, so they couldn’t spread the disease they carried or because they were against the new ‘government’. If they were enemy soldiers they’d no doubt shoot us dead as an example, if we weren’t taken as slaves. Death was quickly becoming the best outcome for us.

We didn’t know who our enemies were anymore. When the war first broke out it was the same was always. Everyone took their sides with their usual allies, some chose to stay out of it. Propaganda littered the streets and radio stations. At first it was barely noticeable but soon every second add, every wall was promoting the war.Looking for more soldiers to replace those dying overseas.

But so quickly it seemed to turn into an all out war. Alliances soon meant nothing and it was every one for themselves. Smaller countries were wiped out for resources and to prove a point. Every government told there people they were safe, they were winning the war and that it would all be over by Christmas. But now it looked like the world would be gone by then.

My father quickly turned back to me, took my face firmly in his hands as his bright blue eyes bore into mine. There was a strength there, laced with fear and concern. I could see everything laid out in front of me. His feelings mixed into mine. If dad was scared so was I.

“Silentum Vel Mortis,” he whispered. I nodded slowly.

He only let go when the soldiers behind us spoke.

“Stand up.”

I knew from their accent. They were our soldiers. Slowly we rose to our feet. I eyed the large weapons in their hands wearily. If you had a gun around here you were the authority now. Some people let that go to their heads. I knew my father had a gun on him. He wouldn’t go anywhere without one. But it was two on one. It would be stupid of him to try and take them. Our hopes rested on their mercy. Very slowly and discreetly dad put his hand on my arm and pushed me back gently, so I was standing behind him.

“What are you doing?” the taller man ordered.

My father took a step forward.

“Were just looking for what belongings we have left,” Dad answered in a confident voice. “This was our home.”

“Do you have the right to be out here, it’s past six,” he replied.

My heart dropped. We were out past curfew. This meant one of three things. Either the soldiers could be nice and let us go with a warning. This probably wouldn’t happen but it was a hope. They shoot us dead for disobeying a strict law. We’d become examples to anyone else who dared step outside past six. Or they’d arrest us. Honestly I’d rather they shoot us.

“I’m sorry,” Dad said defeated. “I didn’t know. We have no way to keep the time and we turned away at the shelter.”

I guess he wasn’t really lying. He had been turned away at the shelter before. But we weren’t homeless and we really had lost track of the time. Slowly an annoying tickle crawled up my throat. I tried to hold it back but I couldn’t. A muffled cough escaped me. The soldier’s eyes instantly turned to me and dad’s shoulder’s squared as his fist tightened.

“Who are you?” the man ordered. Turning the barrel of his gun onto me.

“My daughter,” Dad answered quickly. “She’s sick...not seriously but she’s lost her voice.”

It meant I could keep silent. Their eyes stayed on me but one took a measured step back. I tried not to smirk. Not only did dad’s lie mean I could keep silent it meant they’d keep away from me. Chemical warfare was big now. Diseases were wiping out entire races and countries. All were deadly, and most were highly contagious.

“Is it catch-able?” the second asked in a long drawl. Speaking for the first time.

“No,” Dad said confidently putting his hand on my shoulder for effect. “She’ll be fine in a few days. We’ve been turned away several times and had to spend nights in the cold.”

The first man frowned, his eyes on dad’s arm. I glanced down to where his eyes were and panic rose in my chest. I quickly shrugged my father’s hand off my shoulder hoping his sleeve would cover the red cloth tied around his wrist again. I watched his sleeve slip down but it didn’t completely cover the red. I took a step back as the first soldier lifted his gun.

Dad glanced down and noticed his band was showing. Quickly he pulled his sleeve down and I pulled mine down out of fear. There was no way we’d be shown mercy now. They knew. Dad stumbled over his words for a moment but there was nothing he could do. So he turned to his last resort. He turned to me quickly and yelled.

“Run!”

I didn’t think twice about it. I turned and ran as fast as my legs would take me. Dad had already drummed it into me not to look back...ever. We knew this may be the scenario one day. I could still hear his voice pounding in my head.

“If I say run, I mean run,” he said firmly. “Don’t stop no matter what, I don’t care if something happens to me but you will be safe. Keep running to the nearest safe spot and I will come find you. If I don’t come within an hour go back to the safe house carefully. I mean it Grace...never look back.”

I heard gun shots echo in the background. The adrenaline pumped hard and I ran faster again. All the pain I felt before was gone. I just had to get away. I begged in my head, please be safe, please be safe. I’d be lost without my dad he was all I had left. I tried to have faith in him. He knew how to look after himself and there’s no way he’d leave me without a fight.
I did everything I could to stay out of sight and off the roads. The army still patrolled the area. It was safer for me to avoid them. I jumped fences into backyards mostly.

At first I used to worry about running into a mean dog but that wasn’t a worry anymore. If the animals hadn’t of escaped there yards they were dead. Disease and starvation...just like us. It was sad but it was the way things were now. But soon I realized going in a straight line over fences wasn’t going to get me where I needed to be. I had to think quick. I had no idea if the soldiers had followed me and if so how close they were. They wouldn’t let me slip by easily. The red band around my wrist was an instant death sentence.

I was going to have to make a dash across the street if I wanted to get somewhere safe. It was risky putting myself in the open but so was running in a straight line. It was a risk I had to take. I jumped one last fence and with heaving breaths for air I crawled through a broken window, into the house. I stopped for a moment. Leaning against the wall trying to catch my breath. The house had long been abandoned. Household objects littered the floor, it looked like they’d left in a hurry. A small teddy bear, wearing a blue shirt had been left by the front door. It was a sad sight.

So many families had been uprooted by the war. I wondered if this one had made it somewhere safe, or were they dead to. Maybe they like so many people had run for the safety of the hospital. It once stood as a safe area, an evacuation point. Now it was nothing more than a ten story high mass grave. The first bomb to be dropped over our city was chemical. It spread a horrible disease and most ran straight for the scarce resources of the hospital.

Some nurses and doctors had already fled. Knowing the danger they were in if they stayed. Some had stayed behind to try and help the sick and injured. Of course in the small space with so many people the disease spread rapidly. Taking more lives. Then as more bombs dropped, more ran for the hospital to be evacuated or treated. They all died to. The stench of death covered all the surrounding blocks around the hospital.

“This way!”

I jumped. I didn’t know if that was the same soldier I was running from but I wasn’t risking it. I kept low as I moved across the dirty ash stained floor. Thankfully the front door was already ajar. I crawled out keeping cover on the porch and dead plants. A lot of plant life had succumb to the chemical warfare to. Though if it wasn’t the chemicals that killed them, it was the lack of the sun. It didn’t seem as bright anymore but I guess that was expected. It had disappeared completely for three days after a nasty bomb was dropped two states over. I could only imagine the damage that bomb had caused where it had hit.

I pushed the thought from my head and peeked over the top of the wooden porch and scanned the area. It was all deserted. Only a blanket of white ash blanketed the road and dead grass. I swallowed the hard lump in my throat and pushed myself up a little. So my feet were beneath me. I scanned the area one last time. There was no movement so I took off. I pushed as hard as I could to make it across the street as quickly as possible. I jumped the curb and sprinted up the closest driveway.

“Hey!”

The yell echoed through the empty street made me run harder. I looked over my shoulder to see the tall solider I was running from. My heart skipped a beat and it didn’t feel good. I turned around and tried to run faster but was quickly brought up short. A boy stood before me. He was tall though he only looked to be my age. Unfortunately he was dressed in Army uniform from head to toe and was holding a big gun. I had nowhere to go. There was a fence to my right, a wall to my left and soldiers back and front. I was dead. I hit the brakes and skidded in the loose dirt.

“Grab her Rawson!”

The boy looked at me. His eyes didn’t hold the same coldness I’d grown accustomed to seeing in the soldiers. He looked scared, but he looked scared for me. His eyes flickered to the red cloth around my wrist. It surprised me he looked hesitant. I knew he had orders to kill anyone wearing a red cloth for what it symbolized.

I backed into the fence not sure what else to do. I had nowhere to go. The larger mans footsteps echoed closer and closer like a timer to the end of my life. I looked down into the dirt knowing I was going to pay the ultimate price for my mistake.

There was no mercy for the resistance.