Collective Punishment - SCP Foundation

It smelled like victory

Today was a good day!

You've spent the whole day with your parents, preparing the gifts for your family members, helping dad carry the wood (okay, this part wasn't so fun) and tending to the Alkaa'th. Attaching its parts together was always the favorite part for you, will all the popping and cracking it did. The goo wasn't pleasant to the touch, but you could get over it.

Some of the other kids you know felt bad for them. Of course, your parents assured them this wasn't a living thing, that it was like growing a plant rather than raising a dog. You've always understood that. Besides, it didn't scream when you cut it to pieces, dogs would scream.

But oh well, it was time for sleep. Your parents tucked you to bed, didn't read you a bedtime story this time. Dad said you are a big child now, and big children don't need that. You've wanted to argue, but you're not supposed to talk back to your parents.

You wake up in the middle of the night. You can hear arguing, then yelling, outside the door. That's weird. Mom and Dad don't argue. Well, sometimes they do. But never before bed. You go up to your door and try to listen in. They're talking in Russian. Weird, they never talk in Russian with each other. They're saying that they live here, that they're not leaving for a "territory".

They're talking to someone.

As you open a door, you see a man dressed like a soldier. Unlike a soldier, he has a blue armband on his right arm. He looks towards you, confused. So do your parents. Your Mom walks up tp your room and closes the door.

"Shhh, go to sleep. It's all fine, Arsen. We're just having some guests. Please, go to sleep.

The man didn't look like a guest.

You're falling asleep again. You hear a door open, must be the man leaving. You want to ask your parents who that was, what did they want. As you're on the way to the door, you hear…

A scream. A very loud scream. Your return to your bed. You don't see the man again, neither do you sleep that night.

You forget about it the next day. You don't want to miss the bus to school, after all. You tell your parents goodbye, put on your coat and set off, reaching it just as it arrives at your village.

The day at the school is boring, as always. Math and Russian always bore you to death. Art class is barely better. You did have something to look forward to, though. Your teacher said a couple of days ago how you'll be meeting an actual soldier soon, and how he's going to show you his guns and tell you all about the army! You're looking forward to it.

You sit by the window as another of your classmates tries their hand at disassembling and reassembling a gun. You tried first, and failed, getting your finger cut. Your teacher was kind enough to give you a sticky plaster right after it. You think you put it on properly.

As the class ends and the soldier gets ready to leave, you notice something outside the window. You soon hear it too, the thunder-like sounds breaking through the air. It's a war plane, like those he showed you in photos just now. You smile and raise your hand.

"Oh, Mr. Ivanov, that looks like the one you showed us!"

He looks confused, then glances out of the window with a look of horror. He doesn't say anything, just simply leaves.

You are on your way home now. You can see smoke from the distance, surely from the chimneys across your village. It is darker and thicker than usual, you don't know why. You don't think much about it, though.

When the bus stops, you thank the driver and exit, then wave to your friends as they leave. A short walk across the woods and you'll be there. Mom wouldn't let you walk it alone if you didn't know the path.

There is nothing left.

The only thing that remains where your house was is ash and scorched remnants of your furniture. The Alkaa'th isn't where your father left it, only a mass of burnt flesh in its place. You call out, no one yells back. Not your parents, not their friends, not your Karcists.

Even the snow which used to cover your village is gone, reduced to puddles of water and mud mixed with ash. You see something among the mud. A figure. She's shaped just like your mother. You can't tell if it is her.

Suddenly, you hear a loud sound behind you. It starts of far away, sounds like a storm. It is getting closer and closer. You hear it as it cuts through air. The ground is shaking and the last dry pieces of ash are propelled upwards. The wave of air almost knocks you down as it impacts your back. As it flies above, you look up.

And then you become fire.

/

Mundus, Liberari

A Union of Nälkä