Forget Me Not

Part 1

Survived

I remember waking up to loud blasts of what I thought was an intense thunderstorm. I peered over to my younger sister, Cora, and noticed she was still slumbering through the obnoxious booms. I grabbed my phone from the nightstand, 2:43 A.M. I could still hear the rumbling, which was getting closer. I slid out of bed and drew back the curtains, it was pitch black. “Hm”, I said aloud. It must have just been the tail end of a storm. I crawled back into my assortment of blankets and closed my eyes. I started to drift off when suddenly, BOOM! My body was thrown from my bed, ringing started in my ears. I could hardly see through the rummage the enormous shake had caused. I could hardly hear Cora screaming over the ringing sensation. Dad rushed through our doorway, first picking Cora over his shoulder and then me. “Shhh Cora, we’re going to the basement.”

I groaned, “Dad what happened.” I was starting to come back to reality. He was rushing as quickly as he could down the stairway. My mom a waited for us at the open floor doorway to the basement. She took my sister in her arms and headed down to the cool and clammy cellar. Dad shut the door behind him. Mom turned on some battery-operated lanterns while Cora and I sat on an old love seat. The blasts could still be heard outside. They jolted us with every impact. Mom kissed us both and embraced us in her arms, “Are you two alright?!” She started examining us head to toe. I’m not sure if that was the mother or nurse instinct in her. Cora wrapped herself in a flannel blanket and tried to maintain her not-so-great composure, “What was that? Is there a tornado outside?” That was my rational thought as well. I mean, what else could it be?

Mom gazed over to Dad. I could tell she was trying not to cry, keep her sanity for Cora and I. He finally sighed, “I’m not sure girls, but I think it was a bombing.” My heart sank and fear rushed through my veins. A bombing? We lived in the United States, the U.S. doesn’t get bombed. I mean don’t we have the most high-tech and glorified military? There’s no way it could be a bombing. “Dad, but there’s no way it could be a bom-“

“I am sure of what it was, or still is, Lacey.”

I immediately fell silent; it was rare my Dad ever raised his voice at us. I knew I needed to only be seen instead of heard in this moment.

We four curdled up on the love seat until the bombings had stopped. Each blast caused dust to fall from the ceiling, one could also hear a different structure fall with every burst. The smell of smoke was thick even though it was unseen in the cellar. None of us said a word during this time. I was in a state of shock. There were no words to be said at the moment, just fear surrounding us like a thick invisible fog.

It had been an hour since the last bomb had gone off. Dad told the three of us to stay in the cellar until he got back. Even though it felt like an eternity, he opened the hatch back up and signaled us to come back out. Cora was the first, and she gasped. Once Mom and I caught up to her, we understood why. Our two-story home had become one. The roof was completely gone and most of the walls on the second floor were either caved in or gone. The barn was flattened and only a few of the cows had escaped its claws of destruction. They wandered about just like we did. Dazed and confused, what was to happen next. Craters had formed where the bombs had hit the ground. Smoke was crawling through the surrounding fields. The corn around our land was completely flattened. We had very few neighbors, but now, it appeared we had none. All of the homes around us were blown to a billion pieces laying among the turned soil. Mom and Cora rummaged around the house to see what was left. The only vehicle left was his pick-up truck and Dad dashed towards it. I knew where he was going, Nan and Pop’s, his parents, that lived down the road. “Let me come with you!” I grabbed the passenger side door and leaped in. He turned the key, “No, its too dangerous. Get out and I’ll be pack.”

“Its dangerous no matter where you go or stay right now. Please let me come.”

He sighed, there was no arguing that point. We slowly drove over the rubble of the road and a half a mile later, made it to the small ranch home, or what was left of it. He pulled into the drive slowly, we had both already known, the feeling of death was thick in the air. We surveyed their property. Like many of the others, the house was completely gone. A black hole was in its place. Sizzling and expelling smoke from its depths. Dad melted to the ground, sobbing. I don’t know why I didn’t have the same reaction, I guess I felt God’s strength reside in me at that moment. I grabbed his shoulders and tried to grasp the remaining memories we had in that house.

As we started to head back to the truck, we heard rumbling planes over head. They were hard to see with the smoke, but it was very apparent they weren’t American. “Hurry Lacey! Get in! We’ve got to get back to your sister and mother.” It felt like he was leaping over the pavement debris. Panic instilled into me when I saw foreign military jeeps parked at our house. I could see 2 men pointing pistols at Mom and Cora. Dad swerved into the field to try and get to them, but the truck couldn’t make the turn and flipped. I flew out of the dash-board into a patch of erect corn stalks. My adrenaline kicked in but I knew to stay put. I saw Dad bust the driver side door and run toward them. “No, please! Stop!”

I could hear the men speaking in a foreign language, maybe Mandarin? There were about 5 of them that had appeared, each one had a different styled military uniform. One of them gave a loud order. The pistols were now pointed at my Dad and he was riddled with bullets. Mom screamed and held Cora close to her. One of the men spoke up, “Want to disobey orders? You will end up like him!” I could tell he had a Russian accent. With their arms up, Cora and mom made their way into one of the Jeep’s. When the last one left, I analyzed myself for any major injuries. I could only see several small cuts on my arms and legs from the broken window glass. I got up from my crop barrier and headed towards the house.

There wasn’t any sign of what happened or why. I looked around for any clue. I honestly meandered because I didn’t know what to do with myself at this point. My dad was dead, Cora and Mom were gone to who knows where. Honestly, probably dead now too. I sat on a tree stump and looked at its rings. I stroked my fingers at the circular patterns. I remembered the day Dad cut down this tree. It was a large dead oak. He wanted to cut it down immediately, but I barricaded myself against it because a nest of owls had made its home there for years. Finally, he called the nature and wildlife department of Ohio and they re-homed the family of owls. I finally gave in to my battle and he cut down the old oak. Mom had made a picnic that summer day and we used the stump as our outdoor table.

I felt myself start to go limp. I fell from my perch onto the ground. I could feel myself drifting away…

I woke up in the back of a utility van with two people looking over me, a man and a woman. I had an I.V. inserted in my left arm. I believe I was receiving a blood transfusion. The man was bandaging my legs and the woman was shining a flashlight in my eyes. “Looks like no concussion,” She said. The man sighed, “She’s lost a lot of blood, but the gauze should at least hold up for the rest of the trip.” Another woman and man were in the front seats of the van. “Hey, hold on back there! We’re going to have to off road. The pavement is completely gone.” I could feel every bump, thump, and jerk. The hydraulics equipped in the van were obviously lacking. The man tried to shake me, I was going in and out of consciousness, “What’s your name? I need you to stay with me.”

I grumbled enough to say. “Lacey and where are we going.”

“You’re safe, Lacey. We are headed north.”

Part 2

Survival

It has been 5 years since that awful day. I was 16 years old. Today would have been my 21st birthday, but those luxuries are in the past now. Megara, Kellin, Foster, and Noah were driving past when they saw me faint. Megara wanted to keep going and argued the lack of medical supplies, but Noah fought for me. He said no one should be left behind. We found our way to the upper peninsula of Michigan. The boarders have been shut to Canada, but we stay here for the hopes of that changing. We set up a camp within the thick forests near Lake Huron. Someone must have escaped just in time leaving their 5-bedroom lodge. Noah nursed me back to health and said what had happened that horrid day of the bombings. China, Russia, and North Korea attacked the Eastern boarder of the United States, it is mostly occupied by these invaders, but the West edges of our country is still fighting. Most of the world was in ruins now. China nuked almost every country besides the most fertile, like the U.S. Megara said those captured were being placed in work camps. I can only assume that’s where Mom and Cora ended up.

Foster and Kellin want to leave and fight in the West. However, there’s no logical way there besides through enemy territory. Noah and I took up the responsibility of gathering crops and fish when available. During this time together, we spoke of our previous lives before the attack. We kept only drawing more near to each other. He was 10 years older than me. At first, I was skeptical of our age gap, but does age matter in the dealings of love within a war?

Every evening, we sat on the old dock watching the water splash against the old wooden posts. Once the sun would set, we would make love under the stars; it would then be followed by our long talks. One evening, the moon was so full, one could see beneath the water. I saw a silver object glistening that was in the shape of a heart. I got Noah’s attention and he leapt down in the water to retrieve it for me. It was a heart shaped locket. My eyes began to swell. My mom had one just the same that Nan had given to her for Christmas. I opened it; a small piece of paper was folded within it. I unraveled it, in small letters it composed forget me not. I held the locket close to my heart. I thought to myself, I will never forget my past life, my family. I am not sure what my future holds, but I will never forget.