The Blessed Lands - A novel maybe. (Preface)

Walls! Since I woke up I only saw walls. I do not know where the sun was and I do not know what happened, I felt as if I was somewhere in the wall of China but a thousand times higher, it seemed to have no end. I was in shock and the sound of my heart pumping blood agitatedly did not let me think well. The sun was on me brightly shining, by the position I calculated that it was 9:00 hrs, my throat was dry and I had nothing to hydrate, I did not remember how I got to that point until I saw the red parachute lying under me. The accident, I whispered to myself and in that instant flashes of quick memories returned to me. The war, of course! He was escaping from the city with the soldiers revealed. Pain, my head felt the consequences of lack of oxygen and dehydration, I did not know how long I was unconscious and needed to find water. For four years the life of the world had changed completely, my life had changed completely and everything I knew about it went to the deepest abyss of dream memories. The war came to destroy us, to take away happiness, dreams, family and everything we knew as life. Four years ago, the four biggest world powers entered into the most terrible war of the times, they attacked each other for a whole year until one of them decided not only to attack their enemies but also their allied countries, in that At the same moment life as we knew it was broken. Everyone hated everyone, everyone fought against everyone, everyone wanted to conquer each other, unleashing the most disastrous war in the history of humanity, a real world war where no country was safe. After two years things reached the maximum point, the nuclear bomb arrived that killed half of the planet's ecosystem, leaving the earth gray and removing blue from its sky. I have no idea how many people died, since there was no accessible communication, there were only some radio signals in which the soldiers notified certain things. According to the scant news, half of the world's population died, those of us who remained were exposed to radiation and continue in that circumstance. Many of the humans began to have mutations due to the effects of radiation, they were not so strong but they were significant, ruby ​​eyes, purple hair, extremely pale skin after being people of color and vice versa, it was a chaos in the that people were afraid of dying, not to mention the armed groups that wanted to create their little personal kingdoms. Things went out of control in only three years.

My life changed completely, everything changed completely. I no longer existed as a university student, neither having a father, nor being a girl who studied singing and dreamed of being a well-known plastic artist one day; there was only this new reality that stank, there was only me being a member of a broken family that was in a post-war community that was being submitted by armed groups without a heart. Although my reality was depressing, I could not succumb to the pain, I had Josh and I had to protect him. Jacob is my seven-year-old cousin, he came to live with my mother Miriam and me before the war broke out. My aunt died just like my father, so we only left the three against the world.

At the beginning of this year things changed for me, I got sick and did not spend a day without having high temperature, it was rumored that these were the symptoms of radiation but it was supposed that after two weeks it would be over but things were not happening like that I had a feverish month and my body was adapting to the high temperature which was not normal. I remember I was fixing the fabric retasos that we used to sleep in our little "house", a small shelter of boards and zinc, when Mom took me for the hug and took me to the bottom where the hiding place was to hide the little food we had and thus prevent the governor's guards from taking it as payment of taxes. Once there, his face became mysterious, he hated it when it became a mystery but this time it was really important.

— Layla, I know that your body is adapting to fever and that is a sign of an obvious mutation. I was talking to the laggards about it.
— Who are those mothers? Keep calm is a simple flu badly cured.
— The only people in town who have radio and are aware of everything. I do not have much time to explain to you, daughter, pay attention.
At that moment his eyes filled with tears, his voice began to tremble and I realized that he was about to panic. I did not know what to think, I had never seen her like this, not even the day one of the guards tried to take me with him.
— Mom, what do you have? I do not understand What is happening?
— Layla the symptoms that you have are of a big mutation, your body is developing some gift. The guards have already noticed and they seem to want to take you with them.
— That's ridiculous! How are you going to say something like that? It's silly and now the guards will come looking for something that does not exist because I have no gift and you know it well!
It bothered me but at the same time I felt alarmed because I knew it could be true. I started to sweat cold and feel warm at the tips of my fingers, the fever was increasing but without weakening, rather I felt a force that I could not explain, which led me to think that my mother was right and maybe if I was developing a gift but which?
— Layla, you must flee. One of the stragglers has contact with the resistance and they are waiting for you in the forest to protect you.
— Who are they?
— It is a team of people prepared in war who try to put order in the world and take us all to the only place where the air is still pure and where fresh water is also pure. They call it the blessed lands, apparently there is vegetation as we remember it, that's why we still live, the earth has a lung. You must go with them daughter here I can not protect you and I can not help you to develop your gift, however they can and will learn to defend you. That way you can return for us, my girl.
His words were like a thorn in my chest, what was this? Was not it enough to have to lose my life to now also have to leave my family? Tears ran down their cheeks as they laughed when their flow overflowed. I was afraid, what would life be like without Mom and without Jacob? How was I going to leave to be safe and leave them?
— We'll all go, I will not leave you mom. You're all I have, you ... I can not leave like that, not what ...
The roar of the guard's kicks made a strangled scream escape me. Mom ran to cover Jacob's mouth and began to push me towards the small emergency exit that we had hidden when the front door was opened and the headlights blinded us all three. I could see the silhouette of the general, a man of 1.90 tall and corpulent, no doubt a warrior but of the bad guys. He wore his characteristic military green suit with the seal of the governor at heart level.
— Wow, what do we have here? The whole family reunited.
— What do you want?
Mom asked without any hint of fear in her voice.
— We were told that one of the women here has been sick and we want to help. You know, the governor as always trying to fill his people with peace.
The sarcasm and irony in his voice made me nauseous.
— Nobody got sick here. We're all good, so they made a mistake.
Mom was in front of Jacob and me trying to hide in some way. The general looked at me with a lascivious and cold look as he replied:
— It seems to me that your daughter needs a ride with the doctors of the governor. Better let me take it by the good, I do not want to stain with blood the boots that I just polished.
His mouth curved with the deadliest smile. Impotence and anger bombarded me, I wanted to have a weapon, I wanted to be able to spread my hands and make them go away forever. Mama hid her arm behind her to take mine in a protective way and tell me in Morse code "WHEN THEY COME RUN".
Panic embraced me and impotence grew. He did not want to leave her, they would take her away, they would torture her, Jacob the same. I could not leave them, I did not want to do it, let alone a guess. I was so deep in my thoughts that the only thing that brought me back was to see how a guard grabbed my mom by the hair and kicked her stomach throwing her on the floor while another kicked Jacob. My nerves went crazy, I was in shock when I felt the general's hand get into my neck and pull my hair saying:
— You come with me doll.
I do not know how it happened, the impotence dominated me and I shouted to him, let go! while my hand went straight to his chest to push him, then the incredible happened. Before my hand touched his chest he shot off towards the wall breaking it and falling a few meters away from the house almost unconscious.
— RUN LAYLA!
Jacob yelled out of my amazement, causing my legs to mechanically begin to move towards the dead pine forest.

To be continue.