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The Fall of the Innocent
An unreleased short story from the book:
Disconnected: Hyperinflation: Dark Tales of a Broken Economy
Lena had been too young to understand the world before. Before the chaos, before the collapse, before the streets became a battleground for scraps of food and shattered hopes. Her memories were still innocent ones—of her mother’s warmth, her father’s quiet hum as he worked, and the simple rhythm of life in the small apartment where they had once lived.
But all of that had changed.
The first time Lena had seen her father’s face twisted with fear, she had been confused. She was used to seeing his broad shoulders and strong hands, those same hands that had once lifted her up to touch the stars at the top of the Christmas tree. But now, those hands trembled. His eyes darted nervously toward the door, and when the doorbell rang, he flinched. She didn’t know why. She didn’t know what had happened to make him so afraid.
The economy had collapsed long before Lena could grasp what it meant. She had heard adults whispering in corners, heard them speak of food prices rising, of stores being emptied, of cities falling into ruin. The government had failed them, along with everything else. But for Lena, it was all distant, abstract—nothing more than an unsettling hum in the background of her life.
Her mother tried to shield her from it all, trying to keep their little home a sanctuary amidst the madness. But the hunger couldn’t be hidden. The food disappeared faster and faster. Their neighbors began to disappear too, their faces gaunt, their eyes dull. Those who stayed had become paranoid, desperate, lashing out at one another. There were no rules left. Only survival.
And then, one day, it all came crashing down.
Lena had been playing with her dolls in the corner of their living room when the banging began. At first, it had sounded like thunder, distant and rumbling. But then it grew louder, closer. The door shook violently under the pounding fists of the men on the other side.
Her father had jumped to his feet, his breath sharp, his eyes wide with terror. He grabbed Lena by the wrist, pulling her toward the bedroom. “Hide,” he whispered frantically. “Don’t make a sound. Don’t move until I come back.”
Lena had tried to ask why, but her father’s grip tightened, and his voice cracked. She had never seen him like this—he was always calm, always in control. But now… now he was broken.
The door splintered open with a violent crash. Lena peeked from the bedroom doorway, watching through the crack in the door as two men stormed into their apartment. Their faces were covered, their bodies cloaked in dark, tattered clothing. They were not the men her parents had once known. They were nothing but shadows now, creatures of a new world that had no place for innocence.
She saw her father on the floor, struggling beneath one of the men, who was holding a knife to his throat. The other man rummaged through their sparse belongings, tossing things aside with no care. It was all meaningless now. They didn’t need the things they had once cherished. They needed blood.
Lena’s heart pounded in her chest. She wanted to scream, to run to her father, but her body froze in place. Her father’s eyes locked onto hers for a brief moment, and he gave her a small, desperate smile—one that told her to stay hidden, to remain safe.
But Lena didn’t know what “safe” meant anymore.
The men took everything they could carry—food, supplies, anything of value—and then, just as quickly as they had come, they were gone. Her father was left on the floor, blood seeping from his throat, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.
Lena crawled from her hiding spot, trembling as she approached her father’s still body. Her small hands reached out to touch his arm, but there was no warmth, no life. Her world was breaking apart before her eyes, and she didn’t understand why.
The sound of distant cries echoed from the street below, the cries of a city that had lost everything. The sounds of desperate people who were willing to do anything, anything at all, to survive.
In the days that followed, Lena’s mother tried to shield her as much as she could, but it was impossible. They had no food, no water, and the streets outside were more dangerous than ever. The city was no longer a place of safety; it was a prison of broken souls and shattered lives.
Lena’s mother tried to keep her strong, but every day, her mother became thinner, more gaunt. Her eyes lost their light, and the smile she had once given Lena was now a faint, distant memory. The fear that had gripped her father’s heart now clung to her mother like a suffocating fog.
One morning, as Lena woke from her restless sleep, she found her mother sitting at the small table, staring at a bowl of cold soup—nothing more than water with a few scraps of vegetable floating in it. The woman who had once been her protector, her mother, was now a shell of herself, reduced to a fragile, hollow version of the woman she had been.
“We have to leave,” Lena’s mother said, her voice low and cracked. “We have no choice.”
Lena didn’t understand. She didn’t know where they could go, or who they could trust anymore. All she knew was that her mother was fading, slipping away from her. They were both lost in a world that no longer cared about the innocent.
As they made their way through the streets, Lena clung to her mother’s side, trying to ignore the violence that erupted around them. People fought for scraps, killing each other without hesitation. There was no law. There were no rules. The only law was the desperate fight for survival.
Lena’s small frame shuddered in the cold. She looked up at her mother, her face a mirror of the fear and confusion that had settled deep in her heart. “Mom… what happened to everything? What happened to us?”
Her mother didn’t answer. She couldn’t.
The world they had once known was gone, and with it, Lena’s innocence. There was nothing left but the desperation of the streets, the violence that awaited them at every corner.
And when the final blow came, it was swift. They stumbled into an alley, seeking shelter, but it was the last place they would ever find it. A group of hungry men approached them, their faces contorted in anger, driven by the same emptiness that had overtaken everyone else. They saw the fear in Lena’s eyes, and it was the only invitation they needed.
The world had stolen their innocence, and it would be the last thing Lena ever knew.
In that moment, she understood what her father had feared all along: the loss of innocence was the final blow—a death more cruel than anything else, for it wasn’t just the body that perished, but the very soul of a person, stripped away in the wake of the world’s collapse.
And as the men dragged her away, her mother’s cries echoing in the distance, Lena’s mind shattered into a thousand pieces, leaving her no longer a child—but just another casualty in a world that had no place for innocence.
The Fall of the Innocent was complete.
If you enjoyed this short story you will probably like our latest release available now:
Hyperinflation: Dark Tales of a Broken Economy
$3.99
In Hyperinflation: Dark Tales of a Broken Economy, the collapse of the financial system takes center stage, and the disturbing consequences of a world plunged into chaos unfold in brutal, unrelenting detail.
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