Famished

Famished.Copyright 2011 by Lauren Hammond. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except for quotations written in articles or reviews.

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or address S.B. Addison Books 32 Lincoln Ave. Niles, Ohio 44446

First Edition

Cover Design by: Joshua Longiaru

ISBN:978-0-9838681-9-4

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to real people, events, organizations, etc; are only used for authenticity purposes and are used ficticiously. All dialogue, incidents, and characters are drawn from the authors imagination and are not to be construed as real.

Chapter 1: Aftermath

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1

Vivid flashbacks of the day the asteroid hit had always haunted me. Not only because the asteroid demolished the world I knew, but because it led to The Great Famine, a deceitful murderer ten times worse than the asteroid itself.

Two things had circled around my mind in constant rotation when I thought about my last day on the earth I knew. The loud, deafening cry my mother let out, when the leader of our nation made the announcement that we were all doomed. And the actual sight of the asteroid, with the circumference of a small strip mall, when it breached our atmosphere. It blazed bright orange and muted yellows flames trailed behind it as it sailed across the powdery blue skyline.

Plopping down on my porch swing that day, I marveled at the asteroid. My mouth had dropped open and I kept my eyes on the cratered monstrosity, lost in a trance as it passed over
 
my house. Even though I knew the amount of destruction the asteroid would cause, I still found it beautiful. The bright colors reminded me of a brilliant display of fireworks shot off on the Fourth of July.

Our neighborhood was like an intersection in an overpopulated city. People were frantic, running from their houses to their cars, grabbing everything they could. Police officers were parked in between the cluster of people and cars, shouting from megaphones, blaring their sirens, and shooting off rounds of bullets into the air, trying to take control of the situation. But it didn’t matter, because nothing they did worked.

One of the men in the street clubbed a police officer on the side of the head with a baseball bat. Then, the people who didn’t have cars trampled all over the poor police officer, trying to evacuate. Terrifying screams played out like a song on the radio. And in just seconds, the amount of people in the street doubled.

My parents didn’t panic like all of our other neighbors. Yes, my mother had been
 
startled and yes, she had screamed. But my parents were focused and set a plan in motion. Only seconds after the President finished his speech, my father was out the back door in a flash with a shovel in his hand.

I’d glanced at my mother, confused. “Where is he going?”

“To build our new home,” she answered solemnly.

“Where at?” The President had informed us that the asteroid would have breached our atmosphere in six hours.

“Underground.”

As I watched more of our neighbors flee, I’d squinted, puzzled as to why they thought it was necessary to shout and carry on like escapees from a mental institution. Did they think panicking was going to help their situation? Would spouting off like lunatics save them? Now, as I looked back on that day, I understood.

Nobody expected a global apocalypse. Nobody expected a massive ball of molten, burning rock to fall from the heavens and disintegrate anything and everything we knew. And most of all, nobody expected The Great Famine to sneak in, like a thief in the night and leave the remainder of the human population, starving and mad.

Everything had been wiped out. All of the houses, buildings, and skyscrapers, that were once carefully crafted wonders had become heaped over piles of rubble. Cars spontaneously combusted as a result of too much radioactivity.

Plants died from the earth’s soil being tainted. And shortly after that, the animals died, leaving what was left of the human population to rot from the outside in.

At the time, I’d thought people would have been more educated on what to do if a catastrophe struck. But people weren’t educated. And because they weren’t educated, they weren’t prepared. They were ignorant. Now, two and a half years into The Great Famine, everyone is hopeless and lost, left to fend for themselves.

The following two months after the asteroid hit were dismal and depressing. My father had constructed this tiny underground home for us, but it wasn’t completed and we spent most of our time huddled together, wearing surgical masks, and going without food for days at a time. Honestly, thinking back, if we would have continued on like that, I was certain that within a few months, our carcasses would have been rotting on the side of the road with most of the other survivors.

The name of the state I used to live in was Nebraska. And the city used to be Lincoln, the capitol. Now it was nothing. There were only fourteen surviving families left. Fifteen if you counted mine.

It had been a long time since I breached the surface of the world above. My parents wouldn’t allow it. So, as far as I knew, the survivors that remained were savages. I’d seen a few things while our colony was being built, and most of the inhabitants left ran wildly through the bare, desert terrain, filth covering them from head to toe, bones protruding through their leathery skin, foam dripping from their mouths in search of one thing…

Nourishment.

A high pitched squeal pulled me from my thoughts.

“Georgie!”

My time reminiscing about the past was over the second my kid sister, Frankie waltzed through the door. I rolled over on my cot as she plopped down next to me, sitting Indian style on the concrete floor. “What’s up, Frankie?”

“Were you sleeping?” Frankie was short for Francesca. The name suited her. She was a short, petite brunette that made the word enthusiastic seem like an understatement.

I propped my head up. “No,” I commented. “I’m just thinking.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Thinking? About what?”

I let out a long winded sigh. “I don’t know, Frankie, just

things.” I didn’t feel like elaborating.

 
Suddenly, Frankie, shot up off the floor like a cannonball barreling out of a cannon. I flung myself backwards startled by her spontaneous gesture. “Did Mom let you have coffee today?” I inquired. She was hyper by nature. She didn’t need the added caffeine.

Frankie paced back and forth across the small room, then giddily clapped her hands. “No,” she squealed. “But I have the most exciting news!”

I waited for her to go on with the story. “Well, come on. Spit it out.”

She stopped pacing, faced me and giggled out in delight. “We’re all being invited to the council meeting tomorrow!” She went on. “Can you believe it? After all this time we are finally going to see what goes on inside of a council meeting!”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

Four months after the apocalypse we banded together with the fourteen other families. The members helped my father expand our underground home into a colony, with tunnels that led to each family’s household. Shortly after that, they formed our colony council.

Once a week, the heads of each household met for a council meeting. Only the heads of each household attended the meetings. They never invited any family members. So I found it odd that were inviting everyone now.

There were a number of reasons why the families could be invited. They may have learned of some advancement on new earth. Maybe there were less toxins in the air now. Or they could be calling us in to give us some bad news. That maybe our food supply was running low or that they caught someone committing a crime.
 
My gut told me, whatever the council was planning, wasn’t necessarily good. I sat up some. “Where did you hear about the families being invited?”

“I overheard Dad talking to Mr. Baker.”

My father’s involvement in the council worried me. He was so kind, trusting, and easily impressionable. I scowled at the idea of a weasel like Mr. Baker, a man who was always sneaking around, planting some stupid idea into his head. My father wasn’t a natural leader but, he did start this colony so he had to be included. I crossed my legs. “Well, what else did he say?”

Frankie cocked her head to the side. “That’s all I really got. Dad said and I quote, ‘we’ll have to invite all of the family members.’”

Seconds later my mother strolled into our room. “Dinner is in ten minutes.” She turned to leave.

Then I got up from the bed. “Mom, wait!”

My mother stopped, turned around and faced me and Frankie. “What is it, dear?”

I spoke up. “Frankie heard something about the families being invited to a council meeting.”

My mother turned away from me, looking sternly at Frankie. “Francesca, were you eavesdropping again?”

Spots of pink appeared on Frankie’s ivory cheeks. “Guilty.”

She stepped backwards, glancing between me and Frankie. “Well, as far as I know, the topic is all really hush-hush. But yes the families are being invited to the council meeting tomorrow.”

I narrowed my eyes. “And you swear, you have no idea what for?” Even though she said she didn’t know, I knew sometimes she lied about certain things. She said she did it to protect us.

She made an x across her heart. “Sweetheart, I swear. I have no idea.”

My mother turned to leave, giving Frankie another hard look. “Francesca, you better start minding your own business or I’m going to have to lock you in this room. You hear me!”

Frankie rolled her eyes. “Yes, mother.” Frankie glanced at me as my mother walked out of the room. “How is she going to lock me in? We don’t even have a door.”

“Believe me,” I harrumphed. “She would find a way.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
* * * *

On the way to the mess hall, I brushed passed MayVickers. “Sorry, May!” I shouted apologetically.

May kept her eyes on the floor, lost in a trance and didn’t look up. She hadn’t been the same since her daughter, Monica disappeared.

The council had set up some rules for the rest of the colonists to follow. They maintained their importance because it made our new life underground operate smoothly.

Rule number one: You could not steal another colonist’s food.

Our supplies underground were limited and greediness was not tolerated. In fact, if you were caught stealing, the punishment was severe. First, you were kept in solitary confinement in a little room called the hole. You had to stay in that hole, submerged in complete darkness without food or water for three days. The punishment was created to remind the guilty party what life outside of our little world was like.

Second, after you were pulled out of the hole, you were given lashings. One for each item that you stole. Dylan Edwards once stole three eggs from the Baker family. After he received his punishment, he lifted his shirt to show me the deeply rooted lashing marks that stretched horizontally across his back. As I fanned my fingers across his scarred flesh, I shuddered. There was no way in hell I was stealing anyone’s food.

Rule number two: You could not, under any circumstances, leave the colony and venture out into what remained of earth unless instructed.