Wardove [Psychic Civil War--Take Two]

[XionKuriyama]

Here we go again. This is completely different from my previous thread, and I'm much further into it. Be advised, themes of modern politics and political violence abound. Enjoy.

---

There were many things that Audrey Chance hated doing, and ration collection was among them. It involved huge crowds, long lines, talking to soldiers, and, most importantly, going in alone.

Her sister, Eve, had technically been assigned to collect things with her today. But they were both adults—Eve 20, herself 18. Thus, they had to go in one at a time. Which meant no backup for her if she had trouble handling it.

To be fair, for once, she did seem to be handling it fairly well. Get her box and get out, right? The box wasn't even that heavy. It was pasta with vegetables on the menu this week—a nicer meal than usual, actually, all thanks to Canadian hospitality.

As she was walking out of the building, even though it was raining right onto her long pink-dyed hair, she thought she was in the clear. She took a deep breath and looked up into the rain, watching the water splatter against the lenses of her glasses. "That wasn't so bad," she whispered to herself.

Then she heard an unfamiliar voice behind her, a man's voice. "Stop right there."

She looked down from the sky to see a man in military uniform, specifically a United Nations Peacekeeper outfit, all covered in UN logos, and complete with a big blue helmet. It was worn, a bit faded. Old.

Audrey's shoulders slumped. "Y-yes, sir?"

The man walked over, towering over her—as everyone did. Being 4'9" at 18 years old sucked. "I'm going to need to inspect that crate," the man said.

Audrey blinked. "…May I see your credentials?"

The man flashed a document in her face. "Colonel Samuel Neilson, United Nations Peacebuilding Commission."

Audrey bit her lip. "…The Commission is the advisory board, not the soldiers."

"What?"

"The soldiers are called Peacekeepers."

"What, are you saying I'm lying?"

Audrey stepped back a few paces. "…Yes, actually. If you're scamming me, I can report you to—"

Neilson rushed forward, forcing Audrey to back herself up to the wall of the building. He looked her in the eyes. "I don't think it matters when you're half my height."

Audrey shrunk her head into her shirt, staring up at Neilson with wide eyes and shifting on her feet. "Hey, hey, listen—"

"No, no, you listen to me," Neilson said. "Here's how it's going down, okay? You hand over rations, I leave you alone."

Audrey felt her heart pounding in her chest, her breathing quickening despite her best efforts to control it. She felt like she was stumbling over her own tongue as she tried to formulate a retort. "Uh, s-sir, I need—"

"You 'need it.' Listen, I'm not even taking all of it, all right? Half of it."

"I-it's designed t-to last a week, and-and-and—"

"Oh, God, please stop that."

Audrey jumped. "Stop what?"

"The stuttering. You sound pathetic and it's annoying."

Audrey gritted her teeth and shoved the box into Neilson's stomach. He was caught off guard, and bowled over, landing on his ass. Audrey made a break for it, running from him.

And nearly into her sister. She stopped just short of knocking her over as well. "Eve…!"

Eve's eyes widened, and she stepped back. "Whoa, there, other way, other way…!"

"Sorry, I-I was running from a guy…!"

Eve blinked. She looked around Audrey, and Audrey turned with her. Sure enough, the UN impersonator was still there, now crouched over and trying to catch his breath.

Eve shook her head and walked over to the guy, grabbing his helmet and pulling it off to inspect it herself. "No strap, looks like it's from thirty years ago…" She bent the front, and the helmet cracked down the middle. "Made of plastic. Who are you trying to fool?"

Neilson pulled himself up, brushing his fake uniform off. "Look, I've got to get fed somehow, all right? There's never enough for everyone."

"That's why you come early instead of intimidating people out of their food." Eve cocked her head to Audrey as she lifted her own box of rations back up. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Audrey ran to Eve's side, and the sisters started walking home, away from the building. Audrey shook her head and looked down at her feet. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. That guy was just a bully."

"I mean, I guess he was trying to get food or whatever…"

"Oh, I know that guy. He's saving up for his survivalist bunker near Mount Rainier. His sob story is bullshit."

Audrey cocked her head. "Are you sure?"

Eve nodded. "This war has created a lot of con artists. You need to be vigilant and look out for yourself."

"You'll look out for me, too, right?" Audrey asked.

Eve sighed. "I'll try my best. But you know I can't always be there."

"Like that situation."

"Yeah. I'm really sorry that you had to deal with that."

Audrey shrugged. "I got it done, I guess… felt like I was going to explode, but I got it done."

"You're stronger than you think, you know," Eve said.

Audrey looked away. "No, I'm pretty weak."

"Audrey, you can't be like that. You've got to learn to stand up for yourself."

"The only reason I got out of that situation was because I got an anxiety attack."

"Or because you got pissed off at him and shoved him?" Eve locked eyes with Audrey. "You can stand up for yourself, sis. You can, and you need to."

Audrey paused, taking that in. "…All right," she said, even though she didn't believe it.

---

When Audrey got home, she placed the box of rations on the kitchen counter, walked over to the couch, and plopped down onto it face first. The walk to the ration center and back wouldn't be far if her family had a car, but the last one had broken down and there was no way they could afford a new one until her father came home from fighting in Nevada. As it was, the walk was a bit of a ways, and the encounter with the con artist had made it outright exhausting.

She felt the couch shift as someone came down on it. Then, a hand on her shoulder, and the voice of her mother, Emily. "Everything go okay, honey?"

Audrey just groaned and pulled her denim jacket over her head. "It worked out."

"Headache?"

"Yes."

"I'm so sorry, Audrey." Emily pulled the jacket down just slightly so she could place a hand in Audrey's hair. "I wish we had some medicine for you."

Audrey stirred a bit as her hair was stroked. "Did we get anything in the rations? Everyone was just talking about the pasta, really…"

"Well, hopefully," Emily said. "You know how stingy they're being with meds lately."

Audrey rolled over, turning to look up at the ceiling. The light made her regret that, and she shielded her eyes with her arm. "I mean, I get it, we're fighting a war and all… soldiers and prescriptions get priority."

"You do have some prescriptions, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, and let me see…"

Audrey pulled herself up and got the box and some scissors from the kitchen. She placed the box gently down on the floor in front of the couch and pried it open. Three gallons of water, more boxes of spaghetti and vegetable mix than she cared to count with her head aching, some backup batteries, a pamphlet of the latest developments in the war.

She put one hand on her forehead. "Surprise, surprise. Yet again… no meds. No prescriptions, no nothing."

Emily pursed her lips. "I'm really sorry."

"Not your fault."

Audrey went to stand up, but as she did, she felt like all her weight was being shifted to the left side of her body. She stumbled, catching herself on the couch and bring herself back down to a sitting position. Her vision darkened, and though she could hear her mother saying something, it sounded like mumbled gibberish.

God, fuck, no, she thought. Can we not do this again? Can we not do this again? Can we not do this again? Can we not—

She gasped and thrashed her arms a bit when she saw both her mother and Eve looking down at her, close to her face. Eve grabbed her wrists, gently but firm enough to keep her arms still. "Shh, easy, easy. It's okay."

And we did this again! Second time this week! Great job, body, wonderful fucking job!

Audrey spoke in monotone, keeping her frustrated screaming fest inside her head. "Why did I faint?"

"You're probably tired, combined with the New York Flu stuff," Eve said.

"Eve, I had New York Flu ten years ago."

"And it infected your brain. There's no shame in—"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Eve bit her lip. "…Well, that's unavoidable, sorry. You did just tumble over onto your face, and I need to make sure you're okay."

Audrey resisted the urge to look away like she was in some romcom and thinking about her beloved. "Sorry."

"No problem."

With that, Eve and Emily—mostly Eve, the one with actual first aid training from school—got about to properly fussing over her. She could see straight, she could hear everyone loud and clear, and she showed no more signs of vertigo upon sitting and standing up. She would be fine.

Under normal circumstances, the fact alone that Audrey had fainted would be cause to seek professional medical attention. But all the nearby hospitals were already stretched to their breaking point, overfilled with refugees and soldiers. If they weren't turned away outright, they might be scheduled for an appointment in maybe three months.

Besides, they had been dealing with this cycle since 2025. Audrey would faint, she'd get attention for ten minutes, her caretakers (whether that happened to be friends or family that day) would determine that she'd be fine, and everyone would go back to their lives. Simple, clean, and while it was annoying, it was manageable.

Routine, almost. And Audrey Chance could handle routine.