Plot 155: War Stories (submitted by Aki)
Two bordering countries’ seething politics have come to a head. War has been officially announced and several battles have been fought by drafted soldiers. While each side struggles to fortify their borders and neighbourhoods near the epicenter of the fight are abandoned by civilians and families fleeing from battles, the countries settle in for what will be a very long winter.
a) Muse A is a single parent of two who managed to avoid the draft due to a chronic limp. Living on the edge of country A, they struggle to find a way to protect themselves and their children without the resources to move closer to the capital. Muse B, the eccentric recruiter for an emerging survivalist group, brings them into the group’s compound and begins to teach them how to use a gun and patrol the compound’s fences. While Muse A wrestles with distrust of the group’s overzealous leader, who preaches anti-government in entirety, and the need to protect their children, they learn to be a militia soldier. It’s only a matter of time until the battles begin. Optional: Muse C is a spy in the compound who tries to enlist Muse A as a saboteur.
b) An abandoned neighbourhood is converted into a makeshift hospital at the border between each country and is noted for treating soldiers and civilians from both sides of the war. Muse A, a nurse in much demand, and Muse B, a field medic who visits battlefields to find wounded and return with them, face the overwhelming number of patients and their needs. Between trying to find more staff, protecting wounded deserters from their militaries, and stopping fights between soldiers from opposing sides, the only options are sink or swim. Optional: Muse C lives in the neighbourhood and ends up with nothing to do but help the hospital and share their home while trying to save at least a few of their family heirlooms.
c) Before the war, the Holsen House orphanage accepted the parentless children from both sides of the border; as a result, it is at the center of dispute between the countries, especially as it continues to take children orphaned by the war effort. Muse A, a nanny who was at one time an orphan in the home, struggles with the weight of caring for a growing number of children and fending off predatory businessmen seeking to buy the orphanage and nightly visits from intimidating military negotiators. Muse B, the owner of the orphanage, is forced to contemplate the idea of learning how to fight in order to defend it while dodging the draft. Optional: Muse A actually hates kids.
d) Muse A is a drafted soldier who was wounded in one of their first battles, only to wake up in a town on the other side of the border after scavengers mistook them for one of their own. In order to survive they must begin a subterfuge, masquerading as a soldier from the other side, and somehow manage to fool Muse B, the person who’s been caring for them since they were saved. When the town is invaded by their own side, they’re faced with a decision: protecting their saviours or rejoining their country. Optional: Muse B found an I.D. on them initially and knew the entire time.
e) A newly-built barracks placed for border defense is faced with a unique challenge that has nothing to do with the other side: its soldiers are reporting sightings of a mysterious cryptid with red eyes that flies over them at night. When a member of the patrol disappears, rumours abound that he was taken while officers claim that he deserted. In the end orders are issued to hunt and capture the creature terrorizing the barracks, and Muse A, a reluctant researcher brought in by the military, is forced to try to track it down, while Muse B, a prisoner of war, takes the opportunity to pretend they know what the creature is in order to make a chance to escape. Together they make a quirky monster-hunting team. Optional: Muse C is a soldier who created the monster as a hoax to get out of patrol duty.
