Civilized

Ch. 1

I ran out of our hut to the village center where the Chief and his wife stood before foreign men I'd never seen before. They bore a military style uniform I'd only heard of from mom back when the military took base near our camp.
"What should we do? They're demanding to take us away," said the Chief's wife. He shook his hand at the soldiers, indicating that we weren't moving. The men, who stepped closer, tried to communicate again. The one on the left had a very stern, serious visage and didn't seem like he wanted to back down. The other man wearing glasses seemed to be pitying us but wasn't budging either. The Chief, who understood what they were asking refused again. Now, the serious soldier lashed out yelling at him, or more like shouting without emotion, to hurry up and move us out. At least, that's what I conceived was happening.
"Fiera!" I turned around, and so did everyone else in the village, to see my mother running towards me.
"Fiera, this is no place for you. Come," she hushed tugging my arm toward her whilst warily looking at the men.
"Mom, did you hear them?" I asked as she pulled me away, "They're trying to get us to move out of the village." I said worriedly. Mother's face drained of color slightly as she turned back to men who were continuing to shout, though now they seemed to be getting more and more violent as their hands swung about.
"Chief won't let us move right? The men will go away for sure, right?" I asked as if I was back to being eleven years old. She eyed me with a creased brow. Her hair fell from the small bun she'd made after cutting off her ends. She complained they were becoming a hassle to maintain. But I loved her long jet black hair that framed her face. Now, her hair was left in an uneven bun that left stray hairs in odd places. But she was content, so I chose not to complain.
"I'm sure we'll be fine," she answered me smiling kindly. The wrinkles of her eyes appearing as she did so.
Suddenly, a loud bang shook the village and forest around us. I felt my ears ringing and the frantic eyes of my mother. She covered me for a split second before grabbing my wrist and dashing us to the hut. I ran by her side as shouts from the village center echoed after us. One voice louder than the rest in our language.
"Protect the children and woman! The Chief is dead! Take cover!" His voice repeated this over and over before another shot rang out silencing his cries. Woman screamed and children cried but me and my mother continued running to our hut that was more secluded than the rest.
"Fiera, come here," she heaved pulling me off the trail. I wanted to ask where we were going, but was too tired to ask.
"Your father built this for us before he left knowing something like this would happen," she said stopping in front of a rotted wooden door. It's surface was covered with dirt and old age and was spotted with a few areas of moss.
"I didn't believe him, but now, I wish I did," she pushed a large branch aside and opened the door from that side. She shoved me inside, and I was surprised at the small size of it.
"I'll distract them," she whispered as shouts and more shots started sounding their way towards us.
"Stay here, ok?" She bent down and held my hair in her hands, then my head. She kissed my forehead before giving me one last smile.
"I love you. Your father would be proud of you," she whispered with her smile. Suddenly, my ears started ringing again, and Mother had a shocked look on her face. Her eyes shook for a moment, and her grasp on me tightened for a second before falling by her sides. Her stricken face fell with her body as she landed on my lap. I placed one hand on her back and felt a warm stickiness that flowed between my fingers. I'd placed my hand right on the gunshot wound on her back. The gunshot that had just killed her.
The men in front weren't the ones from before, but had the same uniform on. So there were more in hiding.
"How could you!?" I shouted in my language although they couldn't understand. They rushed me in the crawl space pushing my mother's body aside. I held onto her hand not letting go as they dragged me out of the crawl space by my legs and shoulders.
"I'm not leaving her! Let me go! You did this, now let me go!" I shouted. They showed no pity for me, and finally, forced my hand out of Mother's. I watched as they pushed the door closed. I was to never see her again.
I weeped as they dragged me out of the forest and back onto the trail. There were a couple puddles of reddish brown dirt that I chose not to look at anymore. They tossed me harshly onto a wooden wagon in the village center. I peeked with my eyes at my surroundings.
Other children, boys and girls, and woman old and young, crowded the remaining space behind me. There were more in another wagon. I looked beyond at the village where I saw the cloth of the Chief's clothes, his back facing me. Other men lay sprawled near him, probably attempting to protect him. But the guns the soldier's held allowed for no error against our manual way of fighting back.
At sundown, they hitched the wagons and began their way to who knows where.