Silence is Survival

Silence Is Survival

Three-hundred years ago, our planet, Earth, was met with blazing stars in the night sky. Though, these were not the ones in which you wish upon.

Nations across the globe had refused to keep their mouths shut. Simple disagreements turned into disputes, disputes turned into conflict, and conflict into warfare. Soon, they resorted to sending glamourous fireworks to other countries, not as a symbol of peace or celebration, but of discord. Innocent civilians fled to underground bunkers designed like cities in hopes of preserving humanity once doomsday occurred. If the explosions hadn’t wiped out those who weren’t able to make it in time, the radiation definitely did.

Now we live in what’s left of our broken society: These monotone, quiet halls that echo moments of… comfort.. and claustrophobia.

Bang Bang! I jerk awake, the familiar sound ringing in my ear.

Immediately, my aching body began to shiver and my heart became numb. I sat–paralyzed in a resting position, though in this situation I knew no comfort.

Bang Bang! It pierced through the room again. I hesitantly stood up and began slowly shifting to my bedroom door, the wooden floor creaking beneath my feet. Curiosity was not what controlled me–It was a sense of fate that had brought forth my activity. It was no use waiting in the quiet for what was to come.

As quietly as I could, I creaked open my bedroom door as narrowly as possible in order to gain a clear enough view of the front door.

I propped my eye on the margin and stared intently at the front door, anxiously waiting for something to happen. My lips were clenched tight, not a single breath able to escape. My heart pounded loudly, so I jolted my hand to my chest in an attempt to ease the turmoil that was spreading in my mind. It pained me to wait so painfully long. Another knock.. Someone please answer the door.. Anything… Please put my mind at ease.

BANG BANG! This time, the knocks were significantly louder. These slams were embodied with impatience and anger. Someone needs to answer right now. Please.

Finally, a faint figure swiftly moved to unlock the door. I could clearly hear them panting.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

The voice was a trembling mumble, though I could clearly identify it as my mother’s voice. Her feeling was infectious, as my body began to tremble worse than it already had. My mind kept racing. Words continued to be thrown around, yet all of it was a blur.

THUD! The sound shook me, though it let me come back to a slightly clearer state of mind. Immediately, the man at the doorway caught my attention. Tall, with a build that could level towers. Scars all over his body, and a face that reflected the bloodshed he wanted to commit. Then, my eyes moved down towards my fallen mother.

I could tell she hesitated. I felt her lips clench as did mine. Then she widened her mouth.

“I just need a little more time. Please. I promise, I’ll get it to you by-”

The man had raised his hand as if he were Zeus with his lightning bolt. It came flying down like a missile that exploded with vicious intent.

THUD! I could see faint splatters of saliva and blood fly across the room as my mother sobbed like a newborn baby.

My breathing stopped for a moment. I stared at the blood on the ground, then I grabbed my chest even tighter than before. My eyes shifted to the vicious man, to my suffering mother, and lastly to the bruises on my body.

A clock ticked slowly within me. I knew that soon my time was up.

The conversation was getting fainter and fainter, and so I opened the door slightly more.

CREEEAK!

The man’s head twisted towards my direction.

I fell on my back, backing away as quickly as possible from the door. I froze.

“Who’s there?” yelled the man

My mother stayed silent.

I could hear him grumble in a sadistic, condescending tone, “Was that your daughter?”

The man chuckled.

”Look at you. You are in no shape to work. I could kill you right now, but that wouldn’t help at all. Would it?”

The man laughed once again, then I heard what seemed to be him kicking my mother as she groaned.

What he said next was faint; I could only hear him asking for his money and the words ‘before’, ‘child’, and ‘take’.

Though the blur of the conversation had not changed the fact that the words had translated perfectly into my mind. I knew what was coming.

I stayed still like a statue, staring at the gray, sullen ground. The door slammed, though I had not flinched. I stared into the void of this murky room. It echoed a certain deafening silence that fogged my brain and filled it with what felt like static.

An eternity had passed, or so I felt, as I was slouched and curled up.

The stillness of the world felt awfully serene. Time had seemed to stop and with it were my fears and worries. It seemed as if, for a good while, that my body was safeguarded by a warm, nonexistent breeze. Though my body still ached, covered in splashes of dark and unsettling blues, purples, and reds, I still felt safe. I felt secure.

Are these the means to our survival?

I questioned this in the silence for a minute until I heard vague, sluggish steps rising in volume as they approached closer and closer.

The door groaned open, revealing my mother in a faint, glowing darkness. She stood at the doorway, limped on one leg with one eye partially closed as it was surrounded by a pool of black, blue and purple.

She approached me and knelt down to my level. Her eyes seemed to have a slight glimmer that was dwindling. She tilted her head and attempted a smile, but she couldn’t help but to let it fall.

She opened her mouth and began to speak with broken words in frequent pauses and stutters,

“I-I want you to know… I love you v-very much.. And th-hat i’m sorry.”

“Please l-l-listen to them… my love. It is for the best. I p-promise you…”

I looked at her broken, bleeding lips, then back at her. I nodded and forced a smile.

A day had passed. The man had come back, except now it sounded like he was accompanied by the sound of more footsteps that weren’t his.

This time, there was no knock.

CRASH!

They broke down the door and began yelling for my mother.

Amidst the violent screams for money and the calamitous stomps, I patiently waited in my darkened room; my mind twisting and turning and my heart beating as fast as lightning. There was nothing I could do. There was nothing I should do except wait.

They slammed open my door and flooded in. Six hands grabbed me from all over, dragging and carrying me out.

I did not fight back. I knew if I did, it would only make things worse. I laid my head down, allowing it to happen as if I opened my arms wide open to them.

As I was about to be dragged out of the doorway, I pulled my head up one last time.

I saw my bruised, bleeding mother laying on the floor. My vision was a blur, but I could see her mouth wide open and her shaking arm exerting all of her remaining strength in order to raise it.

Though there was no noise. No screams, yells, or cries, only silence. That was the last time I would see her.

What happened next was hazy. I recall being thrown into a pitch-black van and passing out shortly afterwards.

I woke up after some time and the van was still on the road. I realized that there was another girl in the van with me. She looked like my age, maybe a little older, though it was difficult to tell. For a while, we sat in what felt like an empty void. The windows were covered up, though a slight gap was present; however, only a faint light entered our area, making it extremely hard to see. Nevertheless, the lack of vision did not change the fact that the girl across from me was also suffering.

Her head was tilted downwards, her body lifeless. If someone told me she was dead, I wouldn’t have been surprised, but I could make out her tightly clenched fist and eyes that twitched every so often.

I moved over to her side and sat right next to her. She didn’t react at all, though I still stayed next to her for the rest of the ride.

Finally, the van had stopped. I overheard the men talking about a nearby abandoned sector that contained an exit out of the bunker, though I thought nothing of this. On the other hand, the girl next to me sharply spiked her head upwards in response to the words spoken by the men. Her fists clenched tighter than before, though she never looked towards my direction.

It was a long while till a man opened the backdoor to the van, exposing us to the fresh air… or rather the suffocating atmosphere of the bunker. He attempted to grab the other girl, though when he tried, she immediately leaped towards him, punching him in the face with her hands wrapped with rope. Then she began running as fast as she could, yet it wasn’t fast enough.

He caught up to her and tackled her, both of them dropping on the floor. She cried out for help, trying to resist and escape from his grasp. I could feel her eyes glancing towards me, though I was incapacitated.

I opened my mouth, my body desperately trying to surge towards her and help, but with no use. I was immobilized, unable to move like a weak magnet attracted to its polar opposite, but unable to come together because it was being held back. I felt held back, I wanted to help but I knew that I would be punished; that it would make everything worse. If I tried to help, I knew I would be killed. I wanted to survive and right now, my obedience allowed me to.

And so I stood there, staring at her desperately trying to retaliate as my body was stuck in a state of paralysis.

Eventually, the other men came and restrained her. They threw her back into the van, this time with her legs tied up as well.

I looked at the girl, her body covered in bruises and her face stained with blood and tears. My entire body felt like it wanted to melt. My teeth and fists were clenched tight and I desperately wanted to look away.

But I didn’t.

I relaxed my jaw and opened my mouth. For the first time a sound escaped from my throat,

“I’m sorry. I should’ve helped you.”

She turned her head towards me, I paused, then I continued on,

“This time I'll be there. Let’s get out of here. Me and you, together.”

She smiled. She smiled a warm smile that did not embody acceptance, but reassurance.

I helped her untie the ropes that restrained her, and she did the same for me. We waited until the man had come back once again to open the backdoor, but this time, we both tackled him.

We were able to successfully disable him, and we took a set of keys that was stored in his pocket. We began running as fast as possible. We spotted a doorway in the far distance which we assumed was the exit. We ran as fast as possible because our lives depended on it.

I looked behind and saw the other men had come back, and saw that they realized just what had happened. They began blasting towards us.

My heart raced, thousands of thoughts began flooding through my brain. There were so many risks that were tied to what we were doing right now. Getting caught meant certain death for us. But I no longer cared. I knew I was being choked down here, and I willingly let it happen. I knew I would eventually suffocate if I continued to abide by this society.

I continued to run, desperately gasping for air.

We finally reached the doors. The girl quickly took out the set of keys and began trying each one. Then it hit me.

Who’s to say the outside world isn’t radioactive anymore? For all we know, we could be running straight into our certain deaths, breathing air that is worse than what we are breathing now. But I shoved that thought aside. There was no way we could go back now. I was willing to take this risk.

She finally got the doors to open. We rushed through and closed the doors, locking it tight, narrowly avoiding the men. We hastily ran up the stairs and rose to the surface.

When we finally got to the doors, I took a deep breath.

We pushed it open and were stunned with what we saw.

The landscape was lush and full of life. The air was fresh and a light breeze hugged us. The night sky was vibrant and glowing with the very beaming stars that we could wish upon.

We walked a little further, then we stopped. I laid my body down on the fuzzy grass and took another deep breath.

This is what it means to truly live, to truly survive.