Chapter 3: Chapter 2: Raffle
It had been four days since Helix had returned home. Finding only a few cans and two bottles of water, his sanity running thin. It wasn't enough and he wasn't going to risk another day without food for his mother and younger sister, Henna. They were all severely underweight and who knows what disease they may have caught at this point. They were running low on supplies again, and so were his options.
They survived almost nine years scavenging the last bits and pieces off the streets. However without his father and elder brother to guide him, Helix grew anxious by the second. He was the new head of the family and he would do anything to protect them.
Henna had just turned eleven and they couldn't even afford to get her a decent meal, let alone celebrate. By day they were too busy scavenging for any small particle that you might be able to consider as food, and by night they were too scared to even sleep for a little, all while hiding in the dark with little to no light.
Like any other, as soon as the sun reached above the ground, Helix prepares himself for another search. He was smart, and he knew that there was no such thing as a 'miraculous prize' for surviving, and the only thing he could hope for at this point was any edible substance to eat. Today he was determined to find something, anything for this mother who was severely malnutritioned and sister who could barely keep her head up straight.
The bag and thick leather watch that Helix's father wore was securely tucked into his sleeve. His eyes wavering as it saddened each time he looked. He knew this day, a time when he would have to take over would one day come, yet he wished that it didn't come so soon. He raked his hands through his raven hair, feeling bristly and stiff to touch before slipping on his dark, ash covered beanie over his head.
With his had over his chest, he breathed heavily, eyes shut as he calmed the nerves that struck like bolts splashed with water. Going out each day was a risk, risk of being robbed, risk of getting taken away, even a risk of getting killed. His body was in a constant tense, his jaws tightened and arms and legs solid to the point that it ached. He was never ready, but he still found his legs reacting to the day-to-day schedule as he found himself turning towards the exit.
He was going to leave before anyone noticed, but that didn't seem to fool Henna's bright ears. Eyes half-lidded and drowsy, she spoke in a small voice as a yawn muffled each word. Her long brown hair that didn't get a chance to be cut, reached just above her hip. Her small dust cover hands reached over to her face, brushing the small strands of hair out of the way to see.
"Heeeeliix.. Whe-ere are you offff to?" her cute squeak slurred on her tongue, her small fragile fists rubbing her eyes ever so slightly as she watched Helix through her other eye.
A smile appeared on his face, just with Henna's presence. She had always been so delicate and sweet, never complained and always seemed to know exactly what to do to brighten anyone's day. She had grown so much, yet her body reflected that of a six year old. Her arms legs were so thin as if even a small gust of wind would shatter her to a thousand pieces, and her back and collarbones were so significantly out into the naked eye. Yet, she is able to pull on a smile through all the misfortune that she had to go through as a kid.
"Just out. I'll be back before sundown, kay princess?" Helix said as he pulled on a black mask that covered more than half of his face.
There was a moment of silence before she turned around to face her mother, sleeping silently as her eyebrows coiled in agitation. She took a moment to stare off, her mind wandering to something she couldn't quite figure out. Finally, she faced her brother with a small smile while her eyes reflected more than just worries.
"Be careful." voice airy and restless, her eyes drooping as she managed a small smile.
His eyes formed crescent moons as he watched Henna tuck herself back underneath the mother's arm, her eyes blinking a couple times before drifting off to sleep. Confirming that they were both asleep, Helix slowly stepped outside towards the city streets, his eyes wandering towards a certain destination.
If he weren't going to find anything, then he was definitely going to resort to stealing. Helix's mother hated the fact that he had to, but at desperate times, your morals was the last thing on your mind.
The streets of Keondime city was covered in broken cement. Often times there were corpses that never had a chance to be formally buried. The smell of rotting and burning flesh, disgusting. On one hand you pity for the families who are unable to care for their people. On the other, you feel as though it is an extra something to make this part of the city even more detestable.
As Helix walked, his feet tangled around the crevices of the ground that had split during an explosion not too long ago. The air was so thick from the morbid fog that loomed over the city, taking a breath without a mask was practically impossible. He searched every corner of the streets and alleyways, the abandoned mall, wrappers and scraps for even the half eaten bits, only to find that others have already took them. He doesn't blame the others who are just trying to survive just like him, but he couldn't help the feeling of agitation of loss of not being able to find anything.
Helix never liked the idea of returning home with nothing, still there wasn't much he could do.
His legs growing heavy like cement, he found it hard to stay focused.
10: 25 am.
It had already been three hours since he started. He had nothing. He grew hopeless and irritated, and his body didn't seem to want to cooperate with him.
Just as he forced his body to take another step, something caught his eyes. An abandoned garbage bin, dented and rusting to an orange hue. Out of instinct he jumped at the bin, as if he were scared that it would run away, and threw the insides out one by one.
His pride was practically eating him up alive, his fingers digging into the pits of the metal container. Helix had only one thing on his mind, food. His hands now covered in dirt and rotten fruits that reeked a heavy smell, his fingernails picking up every little bits and pieces along the way. He groaned loudly in dissatisfaction, nose cringing at the smell as he had gotten closer to the bottom.
He couldn't find much, small cracker bags that had been unopened and a couple water bottles with less than an inch of water, that could probably make up a little less than half of a whole bottle. It wasn't much, but it was something.
He hurriedly stuffed the items in his bags, his eyes frantically darting all sorts of directions in case someone had seen him. He knew he had to constantly be discreet, his motions cautious as anyone would jump at someone who had even the smallest essence of survival. Yet to his surprise, no one followed behind. Usually, a couple of men who had been roaming in the streets would try to get something out of you, if you managed to find something as close to food.
However, it seemed too quiet at his end of the street, deserted almost. On most days people crowded the streets with screaming and yelling, sometimes cries and sobs for a loss, but mostly complaints. He doesn't remember any events that may be going on, and if there were he hopes that it isn't anything important because it was very possible that he had missed it.
Ignoring something like this was easy, with everyone off the streets it would be a whole lot easier for him to go scavenging. As he continued his search, something inside him turned, eating him up from inside. He was curious. As much as he wanted to move on as his chance of finding something a bit more decent had increased, he wanted to know what had caught everyone's attention.
Curious, he packed up his bags and started to make his way towards what he thought was the source of the attention. Helix thought, if anything, they probably held something in the town square.
Last time, they gave out some survival supplies to make it seem as if the people on the other side cared. He ignored it that time, Helix's father knew better than to trust the people of the Golden Age. And just as his father predicted, when the people who accepted the kit was well enough, they took them away.
His old friend Ian had also taken the kit at that time, his face beaming with delight as he offered some bread to Helix's family. It was obvious that the elder's family did not trust many people, and specially those who have accepted gifts from the "Golden Age". Helix accepted it and lied to his family that he had found an abandoned bakery, not wanting to upset his friend.
One day he found Ian, his friend who always carried a smile, and an obnoxious but sweet laughter covered in sweat and mud as he ran towards Helix and his sister. He was crying and awfully terrified and he begged for Helix to hide him. If only he had instead of asking him questions. It didn't take long before heavily equipped men in black and several shades of gray came rushing towards the two, their hands painfully gripping on Ian before dragging him away.
There wasn't much that Helix could do. He wanted to fight back, but when he tried, it ended with a broken nose. He wished for his friend to return, yet he never did. A whole three and half years had passed since Ian had been taken, and Helix knew better than to trust those people.
Still, he had hope, a stupid wish that there may be at least one good person. With that in mind he found himself making his way towards the city square. Maybe there will good news for a change, or maybe bad news just as anyone would expect.
With knowing how to get around to almost anywhere in the city, it didn't take long for him to get to the city square. Like his intuition, a large crowd surround the center, each person turning and leaving with a frown or an expression of doubt.
Seeing a similar face in the crowd was Jenett, a girl a few years younger holding what looked like a porcelain paper with a shiny gold rim. Helix had met the younger when he had just turned fourteen and when Jenett was ten years old. This was before they were pulled onto the streets to survive.
Jenett's father was married to a rich mother who had not been the best at nurturing her child. Jenett was only a small child and didn't understand the concept of her mother's disapproval of her. That day, she ran away from home to a small park where she sat under a single tree. It rained really hard that day, and it left Jenett in a quivering mess.
Not been born in a very rich family, Helix's parents owned a small restaurant and he enjoyed the little things in life. On his way back from buying sugar for his mother, he found a girl, Jenett. He wordlessly held his umbrella over the younger's head, offering to walk her home, and they did.
Jenett could have lived in the "Golden Age" with her mother, however, just before the division begun Jenett's mother signed a divorce paper and left her only daughter and husband. Helix and his family continued to help and support the two when needed, and Jenett grew to look up to Helix.
Standing there in the crowd, the younger looked so evidently tall, her growth spurt over the past ten years made her a few centimeters taller than the elder. She looked quite anxious, as if she was scared or unsure of her thoughts. Pulling his mask down just slightly, Helix called out as he made his way towards the younger who looked up, eyes round and doe like. She looked so young, surviving in the harsh world with her father. She smiled widely, her eyes forming a half moon when she noticed who it was.
"Jen!" Helix called out as he rubbed the younger's back in a form of greeting. He was never too great at expressing how he felt, but Jenett knew the elder was just happy to see her.
"Lex!" Jenett gleamed as she hurried over to hug the elder in a short hug.
"What are you doing? You've just gotten raffled! Let's go get your certificate!" the younger exclaimed as she grabbed the elder's hand. Confused, Helix suddenly pulled away from the younger with a slight tug, eyes reflecting something close to uncertainty.
"Slow down, what do you mean by 'raffle'?"
"Stop looking at me like that, Lex," Jenett joked. "The raffle that had been going on this entire week. The one where you enter and if you get raffled, you get a chance for you and your family to live in the Golden side of the city!"
Right, Helix had forgotten all about it. The raffle that may be able to change his life forever. He had been so busy for the past few days scavenging and mourning over his father and brother's death, that he had forgotten all about it. His mother hated the idea, and Helix had been full aware of that ever since the announcement went out.
She never liked the fact that in exchange to live in the 'Golden Side', the family member raffled had to join the army to protect the 'Privileged'. That was the reason why they only accepted the eldest child in each family to be able to enter the raffle. That made him question something. He never entered because he never got a chance to, then how did he get raffled?
"Jen, did you enter for me?" Helix said, which sounded more angrier than he intended.
The younger was slightly perplexed with the elder's reaction, it didn't require the younger to say anything to answer Helix's question.
"Surprise~?" Jenett smiled dumbly as she watched the other sigh in annoyance. Although Helix thought that this was a stupid idea, at this point his family wouldn't survive another week.
"I'm guessing you got in?" Helix half chuckled as he rubbed his temples with his index finger.
"Yup! All that extra working out and training sure paid off! You're gonna do it too, right Lex?" Jenett asked sweetly for some odd reason. She would usually start gagging at the tone that she is currently using to talk to anybody, but right now it just seemed so natural to her.
"I don't know..." Helix whispered as he thought. He never liked the idea yet, if he did this it'll give his sister a chance to live a better life, a better future. It would give his mother a chance to finally sleep on a comfortable bed without hesitation or fear. His mother would hate him, but he would much rather have her and his sister be alive and healthy than be starving and in constant danger.
Helix thought for a moment longer before finally coming to his conclusion.
"Yeah, I suppose."
It didn't take long to get his certificate and tattoo which was what marked and confirmed them to do this. It didn't hurt much and looked weirdly good on his skin. He got it on the side of his neck going up horizontally, colors in gold and silver. Jenett got hers on the back of her neck.
The car that would take them to the 'Golden Side' was told that it'll pick everyone up at their 'home' at sundown. At first it all seemed like a dream, the realization of what he did filtering out making it hard to believe that it was true.
Once he got home, he told his mother and just like he expected, she was very disappointed in his decision. She refused to accept that he had decided to do this, risking his life for god knows what. He knew this was going to happen and he felt his heart fall from his mother's weak expression, but he didn't show that he was.
He stared at his younger sister, smiling a little as she demonstrate a little dance with her plushie that had far gone in color. She seemed oblivious to the world around her, smiling and dancing while the earth began to fall into the abyss. Helix let out a light chuckle, wishing under his breath that his sister would live like this forever, masked away from the troubles. Maybe it'll be better in the "Golden Age". She would grow up like a normal girl, braiding her hair and playing with dolls, before she grows up to learn how take care of herself. Helix only wanted what was best for Henna, and if that meant sacrificing a bit of himself, he would do it gladly.
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