In the Midst of a Struggle

The City of Yan

The war had changed alot in Yan. The soldiers encompassed every aspect of the once bustling city. The art centers had been destroyed by raids and bombs and only a few of the original occupants remained. Hope was one of these such people, a musician amidst the chaos, doing what she could to stay alive and give the people still there her namesake. The soldiers disliked her though and harrassed her as she walked among them during the day. She was never sure what they had against her, maybe it was her eyes. The fierceness that she held behind them, the unwillingness to give in to their brash demands or their mistreatment of others. If her father had not been a Master Sergeant, she would have been locked away long ago.

Yan was a metropolis, even in its demolished condition and the past beauty of the place could be seen throughout the broken buildings. Yan found herself often in the steeple of the old church, long ago destroyed and forgotten about by the soldiers making it the perfect home for those in need of one. Rations, though scarce were freely shared here and it consisted of mostly women and children.

"Hope, can you help with the children," Mama Gertrude called up to her from her perch. Hope smiled and climbed through the broken beams to the ground brushing off her hands with zeal.

"Sure," she said brightly as she was handed a bar of soap and a bucket of 'clean' wash rags. She headed to the bathroom and the children filed in one by one to get as clean as she could get them. Two hours later, they looked less bedraggled and she was sent off with a couple of other teens to go get the rations for the week.

The streets were smouldering remains of what they once were, but even still the four of them joked around trying to keep their moods light. When they reached the ration station, their faces fell. It was a smouldering pile of ashes and a group of soldiers were laughing. LAUGHING! Hope went forward, ready to fight and her best friend Faith gripped her arm.

"No... your dad said if you fought once more you were on your own," she pleaded and Hope broke free.

"They destroyed the bastion of light in this city and they are laughing. My father can fuck off," she snapped back and marched over to the group of men who towered above her. "What the fuck! How are the women and children going to eat now?!"

"They can eat off of our scraps like the dogs they are," the highest ranking officer said with a sadistic grin. He had been there when her father had issued his warning. Hope squared up with him and stared into his eyes unblinking.

"The only dog I see here is you," she snarled. He smacked her across the face and it echoed. It only took a moment before Hope had broken her promise and was pummeling the solider with the butt off his own gun. Faith, Yuri and Grey pulled her off of him and they all broke off into a run as the soldiers went after them with angry voices.

"Scatter, meet at the spot in one hour," Hope called loud enough for them to hear and they split up. She knew they would come for her... and if they found her,  they would let the others go. She waited until they were out of sight and stopped turning to face the men barrelling towards her. They stopped as she raised her hands.

"Giving up?" The man named Dawls snarled with a wicked grin.

"Of course, you knew as well as I did I was fucked the minute you hit me, General Bitch Cunt," she said calmly causing him to smack her again. She grinned as she wiped the blood from her mouth and spit the blood pooling in her mouth in his face. She went black after that for she received a blow to the back of her head.

When she woke up, she was bound with sturdy rope and on a train with about five other teenaged boys and one girl.

"You know where we are headed?"

"Styx Barrow," a boy said and the younger boy started to cry. Hope easily broke free of her bonds and went to soothe him.

"Why there?" She asked as the boy quieted down, burying his head into her chest.

"It's where they train you to be like them," the first boy spat and the younger boy cried harder.

"If you can't, they send you to work in the mines, getting precious metals so they can make the Dysens richer and rob us Yurios of every bit of dignity we have left. They've already bought off our soliders...  even the Master Sergeant couldn't stop it."

"What of the Master Sergeant, he's not a corrupt man," Hope said defensively.

"No... but they told him if he didn't surrender his men they would take his daughter Hope to Styx Barrow."

"Yeah, and he wouldn't sacrifice his daughter for the good of the people... no one is that good." Hope dug around in her bra and pulled out a weathered photo. She showed it to the boy who looked at her and sighed.

"What?" The younger boy popped his head up and Hope showed him the picture. It was of her and her father at a ball for the King and  Queen of Yurio before the bombs fell. "Hope?" She smiled at him before untying his bonds and then the rest of theirs as well.

"Let's get off this bloody train... and we will figure out the rest from there."

The plan was simple, they would pretend to still be tied up when rations came and attack their guard. Then with his clothes, the eldest boy would assume his position and lead them out the nearest door. They would wait for the safest jump and Hope and the other girl would jump last, a chivalry thing on the boys' part.

Their plan started without a hitch, the guard was easy to overwhelm with the six of them. They took their rations and hid his body behind a crate before sneaking out the nearest door. The train was going rather slow which was good, but beneath them for as far as they could see were jagged rocks.

"We can't wait forever, they'll be coming to find him soon," the eldest boy said sternly and Hope nodded. She stepped onto the outside of the railing and started moving towards the back of the car, they were lucky in the caboose and had no worry of being seen. Everyone followed suit and soon they were on the back rail. The eldest boy jumped first, then the rest in order of age. Finally it was Hope and the other girl. They jumped off and watched the train amble on as though nothing had changed. They all then made the careful climb down the rocks into the valley below. They headed away from the way they had been in a south east direction, towards what they hoped was freedom.

Camp was set up in a clearing in a circle of trees, the fire kept to a low ember. Luckily it was summer and the need was not great for warmth. Hope came to know the boys by name, Eli was the eldest, Franco and Fritz were the middle two, who happened to be fraternal twins, Kline was the second to youngest and Vinny was the one she had consoled.

Hope was to bunk with Vinny who refused to stay with anyone else. The other girl had her own bag and the boys made due with the leaves and branches they could find. Hope let Vinny use her arm as a pillow and softly sang him to sleep. He snuggled into her and murmured, "Don't ever leave me Hope."

"I wont Vinny, I promise." She whispered back. She looked over at Eli who was taking first watch with the twins and he smiled at her. He walked over to her and sat with his back to her. Somehow he knew she wasn't going to sleep. Franco was watching the opposite end and Franz was patrolling.

"He was ripped from his mum," he said once Vinny began to snore softly.

"That's awful," Hope said back softly. Eli nodded.

"How'd you end up here?"

"I beat down a General with his own gun... the called him a Bitch Cunt." Eli snickered and Hope smiled.

"What did your father think of that?"

"He had told me he wouldn't stop them the next time they took me... said he couldn't.  Now I know why..."

"Were you harassing soldiers on a regular basis?" Eli asked incredulously.

"Yeah... I was in Yan... and they have been beastly there. They burned down the last ration stand and I lost it. My friends got away though." Hope said softly.

"You sacrificed yourself?"

"No, I gave them their best chance." They were quiet after that, and Hope watched over Vinny into the early hours of the morning. They made camp scarce early and continued through the trees towards their unknown destination. They spoke very little keeping an ear out for anything that may try and jump them while on this trek. Eli still had the rifle from the guard and Hope had taken his dagger off his belt, just in case.