Bethany Underwood: Victims of Conquest
PLOT 11A - RESIDENCE 165, C-DISTRICT, HUMAN RESIDENTIAL QUARTERS, CRUGI-OCCUPIED SAN FRANCISCO.
An alien aircraft, probably a shuttle, soared overhead the roof, its familiar sound startling her. Despite the countless times of experiencing the droning sound of the aircraft, Bethany still felt she would never get used to the extraterrestrials and their presence on Earth.
She turned to look at the framed photograph, hung on the sitting room's wall. It was the same picture her step-father had forbidden in his house, until he died. The picture was taken months before the occupation at her brother's graduation. She was a girl of five, grinning cheerfully in her white cotton dress. Her father's arm was draped over her mother's shoulders while she carried a young infant in her arms. Bethany's elder brother, Gregory was beside her, frowning as he stood there wearing his graduation attire.
It was a perfect picture and a perfect family, but it all changed when they came. Everything she ever loved or cherished, vanished.
The very next year, the alien warships emerged in the skies and civil unrest began. Her father got shot in the chest when he unluckily found himself in the middle of a crossfire between federal troops and an angry mob, while returning from his workplace. This is just after the BlackOut, and the masses were demanding the return of the internet, while the warships skimmed the skies.
Their home was blown up during the TakeOver, and they became homeless refugees in their hometown for two years. The Crugi set up new residential areas for human civilians, after capturing the city, but the areas were overpopulated and had little living space. After living two years as refugees and laborers, Mrs Hannah Underwood, Bethany's mother, 'married' again to get the children off the streets. Her new husband was a drunk abusive fellow, who just happened to be one of the fortunate ones assigned separate residences by the occupation. He accepted to house the Underwoods in exchange for children to do the chores and a woman to open her thighs and warm his bed at night. It was a win-win for everyone as he saw it; the Underwoods left the streets while he, in turn, reap a few benefits. Short-tempered and frustrated with his job for the occupation, Malcolm was often plagued with fits of anger and rage which he directed on the Underwoods, especially their mother and Gregory. He was arrested and executed for killing a Myrix guard, during one of his drunken bouts.
With him gone, it would have been a relief for the family, but it was quite the opposite. Malcolm had been the breadwinner of the family and despite his abusive manners, he was the one who made sure they were fed, and his income sustained them. Mrs Hannah searched for a job constantly, but the demand for workers was very low, with the fact that available jobs were taken by the massive population. She was caught stealing by some Myrix guards and was shot as she attempted to escape. The Underwood children were now left to fend for themselves, and the responsibility of catering for the family needs fell on Gregory's shoulders.
Bethany remembered the days when he would come home with supplies, late in the night, with no explanation of how the goods came about. Thinking he stole the goods or got them from illegal acts, she would reprimand him but Gregory always ignored her and told her to either eat from the 'harvest', as he called it, or leave it for him and Scott, their younger brother. Convinced he wasn't in on anything that could cause an arrest and investigation, she would let the issue and forget about it. She was then shocked when she heard the news that Gregory was a member of the Resistance and had been arrested for his involvement in several acts of treason against the invaders' authority. He died in one of the Crugi interrogation camps, according to the source who gave her the news. His body wasn't even released to her when she demanded for it from the local Crugi barracks. She was told that the body was cremated, according to their customs and besides couldn't be released to them as he was a criminal. The Crugi officer told her the reason she and her brother were spared from the interrogation was because they hadn't attained the age of eighteen yet. The last time, she laid eyes on her brother was that fateful morning when he left the house, to go bring back the 'harvest'.
The Underwoods were now down to two, Bethany and her sixteen year-old brother, Scott.