by Adam Moon
Kara said, “I sure hope they accept our money or else we’ll have to steal them. And what if theft is punishable by death or something on this planet?”
Neil took the fuses to the front counter and pulled his wallet out, hopeful they didn’t need to resort to theft. But the counter was unmanned. He waited patiently while Kim and Kara joined him but no one came out.
Kara called out but the store was deserted. She said, “Just leave the money on the counter and let’s get out of here.”
Neil pealed off twenty five dollars and left it near the register. Still no one came out to greet them. They walked outside and showed the others the tub of fuses. “These might work. Let’s go back to the diner and see if any of them are compatible.”
“What about food and water? Shouldn’t we stockpile?”
“If we get home we won’t need to.”
They walked past an older couple. It didn’t dawn on them right away what was so odd about them until they got close. They were both sobbing. The woman wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled at them. “It’s a privilege. We’re so happy.”
“For what?”
“To make the sacrifice.”
“What’re you talking about?”
Her face drained of color. She said urgently, “If you’re not supposed to be here today, you need to get out before the lock-down.”
“What? Why?”
“Because they’re going to kill all of us. We’re the sacrifice. Our loss ensures the continued survival of the race. We’re dying for you so you’d better not get stuck in here with us when the sirens go off.”
Neil’s heart hammered. He just knew this world was too good to be true. But it explained why the store was empty and why people kept saying, “It’s a good day for it,” so wistfully.
They started to jog to the outskirts of the city. The locals noticed the panic on their faces as they raced to escape. Everyone they passed yelled after them things like, “Hurry up if you don’t belong here. The sirens are coming. You don’t want to be here if you’re not supposed to be.” A crowd started to follow after them, pointing them in the right direction once when they lost their way.
It was only then that they noticed that Steve was missing. They stopped and waited to see if he’d catch up but he was nowhere to be seen.
Neil said, “I’ll double back and look for him. The rest of you need to get back to the diner.” To Kim he said, “Go with them. I’ll be right behind you.”
Jack stepped toward him. “Let me take the device. There are more of us and there’s a chance you might not make it.”
He was right, of course, and it was almost cathartic for Neil to finally see Jack’s cowardice because he knew it was there, hiding beneath the surface. It was refreshing that he took off the phony mask, even if his true self was so ugly.
Neil handed the device to Kara and said, “Wait for me as long as you can.”
Then he turned and went after Steve.
It wasn’t until he turned the first corner that he noticed Kim had ditched the others and followed after him. He was going to chastise her for it, but time was already against them so he took her hand and gave her his best stern look before turning back. Screw Steve. He had to get out of town as soon as possible now that Kim was with him. He had to get his little girl to safety.
The serene looks of the natives gave way to astonishment at the sight of Kim. Perhaps no one had noticed her when she was with the group but now they all did.
One elderly lady said to Neil, “You should be ashamed of yourself. If you were chosen to be sacrificed, you should do it alone.”
A man yelled, “Get that girl to safety, for God’s sake. What are you thinking?”
Neil averted eye contact and kept heading out of town, even when someone threw something that hit him in the back.
And then the sirens blared. The natives panicked and Neil’s heart felt like it’d gained weight. They were in trouble now.
He gave up trying to flee. It was time to hide. He found an entrance to a department store and crept inside, hoping to ride out whatever nightmare was about to descend on the city center. Kim was shaking and the sirens still blared ominously.
Neil wondered what kind of world was so desperate that it had to resort to outright slaughter to achieve equilibrium. Was overpopulation the problem, or were those chosen for eradication infected with some sort of incurable disease?
They walked up a disabled escalator to the second floor. Up there they came across a couple in their mid forties, holding each other tightly as they peered through the window at the street below.
Neil announced their arrival as soon as he saw them so he didn’t frighten them. They turned and started to greet him when they saw Kim standing off to his side.
The man asked, “Why did you bring a child? They’ll kill you both now.”
Neil told the truth. “We didn’t know this was going to happen and by the time we found out and started to try and get away, the sirens went off. It was an accident.”
“You’re a fool, then. Everyone knows about the cleansing today. How on Earth did you forget?”
“I don’t know. Is there somewhere we can hide?”
The woman laughed heartlessly. She said, “They have all the gadgets in the world to sniff out human life. A few people have second thoughts and try to run or hide but it’s futile. In the end, you get what’s coming to you.”
“Why do they do this?”
“It’s not an us verses them thing. We do this to ourselves. We agreed to all of this long ago. They offer too much money for some of us to turn it down. We’ve both lived great lives as a result of the cleansing and today is our chance to repay society for the wholesome lives it has afforded us.”
“They pay you to do this?”
Both of them looked at each other and then turned on Neil like he was an imbecile. “They helped us get our families off of the streets and into homes. They’ve been paying us for our sacrifice for years. It’s very strange that you don’t already know this.”
Neil changed the subject. “Who’s coming to kill us?”
“The military uses the cleansing as live practice. They’ll make it painless as long as you don’t try to run from them.”
Kim pointed at a row of mannequins and said, “We could dress up and stand next to them. Maybe they won’t see us.” Her innocence made Neil wince. She didn’t deserve this. He wished he hadn’t tried to go after Steve.
The couple looked at her sadly and then they gave Neil a look that could kill, like they thought he was the lowest life form on the planet.
The male said, “It’s only now that we wish we would’ve taken an easier way out, but the money for this was too great to pass up.”
“What do you mean? There’s an easier way?”
“Firing squad and lethal injection are easier but they pay much less. By doing it this way we get the most reward plus our heroes in uniform get to practice on us.”
“That’s awful.”
“It’s life.”
The woman pulled a bottle of pills from her pocket. She emptied half of them, handing them to the male. Together they swallowed the entire bottle. She apologized to Neil, saying, “I only brought enough pain killers for us. Sorry.”
The man then pulled out a bottle of vodka and they both took turns drinking from it. It was surreal to watch as two otherwise normal people committed suicide right before his eyes. If the military did find them alive, they’d be so deep into comas that a bullet to the back of their heads would be merciful.
Neil took Kim by the hand and they went back downstairs. He couldn’t stand the fact that his daughter had to witness that. They were halfway down the escalator when they hear
d the first shots ring out from outside, followed by screams.
He saw a camera crew, clad in military fatigues, run past the store front, capturing the slaughter for the enjoyment of the masses. It turned his stomach but he didn’t have time to contemplate; he had to act fast if they had any chance of surviving this.
They were ten minutes from the edge of the city center but he didn’t know if it was safe to go back that way. It was easy enough to get in but he was sure it wouldn’t be such a breeze leaving the same way. Selfishly, he wished he’d kept the dimensional device. At least then he had a guaranteed way to get Kim to safety, even if it was at the expense of everyone else.
Doppelganger
✨
A UNIFORMED MAN walked slowly down the street, directing armed men this way and that with a mere wave of his hand. His men rushed off and Neil could hear their rifles firing rapidly once their quarry was found. The man looked forlorn, like his job was just as reprehensible to him as it was to everyone else.
Kim stood up to get a better look and her movement attracted the man’s attention. Neil snatched her around the waist and they both fell to the floor beneath the window. But there was something about the look the man gave them that was heartbreaking, and yet familiar. Neil knew in that moment that they’d been seen. Maybe the look of devastation on the leader’s face was there because he knew he’d have to order a child’s death. Neil didn’t know or care. He had to act now or his baby girl was going to be murdered.
They crawled across the floor, out of sight, but the sound of a squeaky door hinge brought reality into sharp relief; they were about to be found and killed.
He heard boots clomping across the floor. The boots were getting closer and they had no way to escape. If they stood up, they’d expose themselves and get shot and if they kept crawling, the man would catch up to them within a minute. Neil found a wooden pole that had once had clothes hanging from it. He gripped it like a club, knowing fully how ridiculous his only weapon was.
He decided against using it as a weapon and threw it across the store as a distraction instead, watching it tumble end over end as it sailed through the air. It clattered on the floor at the opposite end of the store and the sound of the boots stopped. When the sound resumed, it was still coming towards them, though. His distraction had failed.
In his final moments, his mind dwelled on home and of Kim. Surprisingly, to Neil home was the diner. They’d had many adventures and endured many setbacks but it was the closest he’d felt to being a dad in a very long time. And Kim had changed too. She’d broken out of her self-made shell. It was a shame it all had to end in such a stupid way. Of all the days to visit this world and all the places to explore, they had to pick today and the city that was to be wiped out. It was like multiple universes were all conspiring against him.
The boots were right behind them now as the wearer came to a halt.
Kim turned around first and squealed but it was a squeal of delight rather than terror. She said, “Dad, it’s you. There are two of you.”
Neil turned and looked up at their pursuer. There was a reason the look on the man’s face had seemed so familiar; he was an alternate Neil. Alternate Neil flinched at the sight of his other self and took a step back, training his pistol on Neil as he did so. A dozen looks flashed across his features and they were all fearful. Alternate Neil came to some sort of conclusion about his other self and lowered his gun, for the time being.
He said, “What is this? Who are you and how is this possible?” He turned to Kim and his eyes welled with tears. He whimpered, “Is it really you? My baby girl died last year of the fever.” He held his hand out and Kim instinctively took it before her real father could stop her.
Neil stood now as the aggressor. “Kim, come away from that man. We don’t know who he is but we do know he kills innocent people.”
Kim let go of alternate Neil’s hand and he didn’t try to stop her. She walked back to her father and Neil asked, “I’m guessing your name is Neil, right?”
“Tell me how this happened.”
“We’re from an alternate reality. Our universe must have been very similar to this one up until recently because much is the same. I’m interested to hear why you decided to pick a career in murder, though. Care to enlighten me?”
Alternate Neil looked over his shoulder and then checked his watch. Then he explained hurriedly, “It’s not a choice. The cleansings are necessary. We’re chosen to carry them out whether we agree with them or not. When Kim died and my wife committed suicide, I was lost. I lost my job and nearly put a bullet in my own head. Then one day I woke up and joined the Army. I wasn’t cut out for it but it kept me busy and kept my mind off of all that I’d lost. As time went by, I became a pretty fantastic soldier, despite joining up so late in life. One thing led to another and here I am, in charge of this mess. Tell me about Peggy. Is she your wife in your universe?”
“She was.”
“Did she die too?”
“No, she’s just a junkie.”
Kim asked, “What’s a junkie?”
Both Neil’s said simultaneously, “It’s nothing, honey.”
There was evident envy in alternate Neil because he had lost everyone he loved and the other Neil hadn’t. He said, “Tell me more about your universe.”
“I would but we’re being hunted like animals. I’d feel better if we could talk somewhere safe.”
Alternate Neil bit his lip as he thought. It was obvious he wanted to spend more time with Kim, no matter the cost. He looked around the department store and said, “Come with me. We need to find you both clothes. I’ll disguise you as reporters until I can get you out. You’ll need to dress like the rest of us.”
As alternate Neil picked clothes and boots out for them, Neil and Kim filled him in on their world and the mechanism that had brought them to his world. They told him about their fellow travelers, as well as Henry and even the dog men they’d seen on two worlds that were chasing them. They described who they’d lost along the way and how.
When Kim wasn’t nearby Neil even described the state of his relationship with Peggy and how he’d been forced to resort to applying for full custody because of her habits, introduced to her by her asshole boyfriend. Alternate Neil asked for the boyfriend’s name but Neil knew better than to supply it. Alternate Neil seemed like the type of guy who’d look for the man in his own universe and hurt him. Neil wanted no part in that.
By the time they were dressed, Neil and Kim were decked out in fatigues like the military wore. Kim was adorable and Neil looked almost like his alternate self. He was just missing the helmet and handgun.
Alternate Neil handed him a pair of sunglasses, saying, “Put these on. My men will spot you a mile away if you don’t.”
Neil put them on, hoping it would be enough.
Alternate Neil said, “I can get you out of here but you have to follow my lead. Grab a couple of pens and notepads and if anyone asks, tell them you’re from the local newspaper. No one will believe that Kim has clearance but I’ll convince them that it’s true.”
Before they exited the store, Neil asked, “Why do you do this?”
“I told you that I don’t have a choice.”
“No, I mean why do your people do this?”
“Oh. Overpopulation.” He shrugged and then elaborated. “We have something called global warming on this planet. We also dealt with rampant disease because we all lived so close together. Our waste was polluting the planet and our appetites were killing off entire species. We dealt with all of these issues to no avail. But we knew all along that the underlying cause of them all was overpopulation. If there are less people, there will be less pollution. Less people mean fewer bellies to fill. It was the root cause of all the other problems, so several countries be
gan to address the issue, starting with China and India. When we saw the dramatic effect the reduced numbers had on the global environment, we had no choice but to involve ourselves too. Not only is pollution and disease down, but crime is down now too.”
“When did this start?” Neil already knew it had to be a recent development.
“I think Peggy and I had just had Kim when the programs cropped up.”
“How are you chosen to die?”
“Believe it or not, some people actually volunteer for it at no cost. They see it as a great sacrifice, and it is. But most are bought out. They are given a small fortune as long as they will give their lives in five years time. Mostly the poor end up succumbing to the temptation.”
“Couldn’t you just take the money and run?”
“Nope. If you accept the money, you get an implant. If the implant is removed, you will be taken out even sooner than was planned. A few months ago a guy tried to remove his implant the day before his cleansing. It probably seemed like a smart move to him but he was cleansed in the end anyway.”
“I assumed you only had these cleansings once a year or something.”
“Ideally, we want to end the cleansings but that day is far off in the future. They’re performed once a week around here. This is my first, and my last. I personally dread the day when no amount of money will buy a life because then people will probably be killed at random. You should thank your lucky stars that your world hasn’t adopted our brutal ways.”
Neil pondered that. Periodic cleansings sure would alleviate many problems facing his own world but it wasn’t worth it. He knew that now, first hand. And using money as an incentive was a poor choice. It meant only the underprivileged would be exterminated which was unfair, even as part of an unfair system.