The Nameless Army

.::Erica::.

The fire was hypnotic, its crackle and dull glow sending me into a short of trance. In this state, I started remembering times spent beside our fire at home, with Mom singing lullabies as we drifted to sleep. I could almost hear her humming and caressing my face, the memories so fresh and so strong. I was shot back to reality before I could really dark her absence.

That's what Eli had always told me. They were just memories.

I looked down at the object placed on my knee by my new little friend Lily. It looked like a bracelet, interwoven with blades of grass and flowers into a beautiful pattern.

I held it up to get a closer look. "You made this? All by yourself?"

Lily pointed behind her. "Julia helped me."

"Wow." I breathed, amazed that two little girls could create such pretty jewelry from scratch. "Thank you."

"Lil," Peter squatted down beside us. "Is everyone in bed?"

"Yes."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Everyone?

Lily turned to me. "I wanted to give her my present first."

I showed Peter the bracelet as proof after he looked at me expectantly. He smiled a little, but maintained his role as parental figure. "I need you well rested for tomorrow, remember?"

She nodded obediently, squeezing her feeble arms around his solid neck. She waved to me before skipping into her bed beside Julia, located below a window in the wall.

I waited until Lily was out of earshot. "She's so precious."

Peter nodded, tossing another log in the fire. He wasn't much for conversation, though I could tell he didn't mind the company.

"How old is she?"

"About six."

I tied the bracelet around my wrist. To be so young without any parents...it begged the question of how they all got there.

"How long does it usually take to set traps?" I peeked out into the rainy darkness and worried for Eli.

"They'll be back shortly." He cleared his throat to break the silence that followed. "I never really apologized about your cat..."

I surprised myself with a smile. "You could have shown some sympathy."

"I'm not really an animal person."

I played with my fingers and watched the fire again, wondering how much he would let me ask him. "You take very good care of the kids."

He shrugged it off, leaning against the log beside me. "Somebody has to do it."

"All of them are orphaned?"

"Every last one." I could see the flames dancing in his pupils.

I swallowed roughly. "Even you and Michael?"

He remained composed. "Like I said, all of our parents are dead. Killed in an ambush by the Militia."

I stared down at my boots, picking at the laces. "I'm sorry."

He continued on hesitantly, like it was the first time he was sharing this with anyone beside his brother. "I think all of them knew what would eventually happen. It wasn't a matter of if the Militia came -- It was when."

"So what did you do?" I scanned my eyes over each little pink face, fast sleep about the room. "All of the kids...how did you survive?"

Peter spoke evenly. "We were each kissed goodbye and sent down to the basement."

I could infer that all of these children were residents in the building of Rebel parents. I could only imagine the rest of their story.

"We waited for hours. The Militia was gone, but they had killed all of our parents before leaving. Didn't burn that flag, though."

I looked over at the dangling cloth, the sole purpose of why the building was ambushed. "You kept it?"

His lack of emotion concerned me. "I might not remember what the United States was like, but I know it was a hell of a lot better than this."

I struggled to work around a lump in my throat. "How old were you when they were killed?"

"About Michael's age, maybe a little older." His jaw stayed straight and even, a level of composure he needed to have with his position as guardian of these children. "So what about yours?"

I shifted my legs anxiously. "My parents?"

"You said you didn't have any. What happened to them?"

Eli wouldn't have wanted me to give that short of information away. But how could I withhold the truth after what Peter revealed to be about his parents? "My mother was taken. I don't know if she's still alive."

Peter scowled, aware of what happened to women when they were taken by the Militia. "And your dad?"

We were interrupted by one of the older boys, pressing his hand to his forehead. "Peter,"

Peter jumped up. "I'm sorry, Ben. I completely forgot. Go lie down, I'll be there in a moment."

The boy responded with a sickly coughing fit. Peter was already searching through a plastic box for something.

"Do you need some water?" I asked, reaching for my own bottle to offer to him.

He took it and pressed the brim to his mouth. I pursed my lips, realizing that I wouldn't be able to drink out of that bottle anymore.

"Here, now get back in bed." Peter offered the boy two pills which I assumed to be some kind of medicine. I didn't think pills existed anymore.

"I can't sleep." He said in his scratchy little voice.

"You won't get any better if you don't rest." Peter warned him. The boy still pouted. "Go on."

Ben took my water bottle with him and wrapped himself back in his blankets. I watched Peter sift through that plastic box again, a look of concern striking his features.

I moved closer to discover the box was filled with different types of medication, all organized in little bottles. By the way Peter shook each bottle separately, I guessed that they were all empty.

"That was the last of it," Peter mumbled to himself. "That kid has been sick for over a week."

I studied the foreign bottles. "Where did you get those?"

"We had them saved up from before the blackout." He shoved the box away. "But now there's nothing left."

"Our mother used a special combination of herbs when we were sick." I blurted. "She bought them from a woman at the market."

"What did she trade for them?"

"Corn."

Peter sighed. "We all can't be so lucky."

I looked around. "You must have something here to trade."

"They won't take just anything. We've tried." He nodded toward Lily. "Tomorrow morning I'm taking Lily with me to the market. We need more supplies, and she's going to try and trade those bracelets for some valuable vegetables, like corn."

I touched the bracelet on my wrist, but I didn't say anything right away. Eli would be so angry with me...

"We can get you some corn." I said.

Peter just stared at me.

"We can go back home and gather some corn, and then you can use it to get all the herbs you could ever need."

Again, we were interrupted. It was Skip, chatting away about some nonsense that happened in the forest. Eli pretended to listen, and Michael trailed close behind.

I took an extra step away from Peter to avoid any suspicion from Eli.

My brother approached me, peeling off his soggy jacket. "Did you have fun?" I teased.

He grunted, tossing the jacket on a log beside the fire to dry. "Did you?"

I accidentally glanced in Peter's direction. It barely escaped Eli's notice. "Sure."

Eli sighed in relief as his bottom hit the ground by the fire. Peter was listening to Skip's latest adventure, but seemed to sense my eyes on him. He smiled, but I couldn't tell if it was for me or just a reaction to Skip's story.

I kind of hoped it was for me.