by Gary Martin
“No, you’ve just woken me up,” I say.
He squints his eyes at me for a few seconds then moves to the next bunk and asks the same thing. No answer, just a head shake. I let out a quiet sigh of relief and watch as the guards slowly make their way to the middle of the room, asking everyone the same thing as they go.
“As no one is talking,” fat guard says, “it means we’re going to have to pick one of you at random. It would have been so much easier if you’d just given them up.”
He waves his shock stick around a few times and then points it at some poor kid on the far side of the room. The guards walk over and stand either side of the kid’s bed.
“Are you sure you won’t give them up? You’re about to get two shock sticks in the chest. You will soil yourself.”
“I didn’t see anyone kissing, honestly. It was dark. I couldn’t tell you who they were even if I wanted to,” Joe says, panic rising in his voice.
“That’s unfortunate,” fat guard says. He then clicks something on his shock stick that makes it buzz loudly and raises it in the air.
“It was me,” I say, catching myself by surprise. I get out of my bed, stand up, and half raise my hands. Everyone in the dorm is now staring at me. Again. A kid two bunks up from me also stands up. Then two or three others do also. Shit, I think I may be having my own little Spartacus moment going on. The closest kid to me turns to the guards. I smile. He then points at me.
“Yeah, that’s him,” he says. My smile leaves as quickly as it arrived.
“You again. Who were you kissing?” fat guard asks and walks over to me. I realise that he’s the one from my first day. I quickly glance in Joe’s direction then back at the approaching guard.
“No one. I was alone,” I say
“That’s not what I saw. But it doesn’t really matter now. I knew you were trouble from the second you arrived. Do you have anything to say for yourself before we shock you?” he says.
Knowing the inevitability of the situation, I smile to myself.
“I do, actually,” I say.
“Spit it out then,” fat guard replies.
“Fuck you, you fat piece of …”
The pain of two shock sticks is almost unbearable. All the muscles in my body feel like they’re contracting to the point they’re pulling themselves apart. I fall helplessly to the floor. The pain running through me seems to go on forever. Finally, though, they stop and my body begins to relax. I’m not sure how or why but I’ve managed not to soil myself. This appears to infuriate fat guard. He twists the dial fully up on his shock stick and clicks it back on. The buzzing is louder than ever and he raises it high. I have no strength to stop him.
“Michael!” a familiar voice angrily shouts from the door. “That’s enough. What on earth do you think you’re doing?” Mister Jelvus then quickly walks toward the guards, who are now looking quite sheepish.
“Turn those sticks off, now,” he says with all the authority in the world. They do it without question. He then kneels down next to me.
“Are you okay, John?” he asks.
“Yeah, I guess. Everything just aches,” I say.
Mister Jelvus stands up and looks at the two guards.
“Help John back onto his bed and then get out of here,” he orders.
Fat guard grabs me under the shoulders and thin guard grabs my feet. Gently, they place me back on my bed and swiftly leave the dorm without another word.
“Sorry about that, John. Sometimes the guards like to go on a little power trip. They need to be swiftly knocked down and remember who’s actually in charge. I regret though, the whole situation was my fault. I forgot about curfew when I arranged that lesson. Next time I’ll make it earlier. So, Thursday at nine?”
I smile at him. “I should be there, if Miss Brown remembers to finish her lesson,” I say.
“I’ll make sure she does. Good. I will now leave you in peace. But study the book I gave you.”
He walks to the door and turns the lights out as he exits. With the aches and pains flowing through my body, I don’t expect to get any sleep. But the darkness quickly takes me, and the next thing I know, the six-a.m. alarm bell is going off.
7
The next few days go along without any real incident. Joe is still a little distant, but I’m pretending that the kiss last week didn’t happen, and it feels like I’m winning him over. We now walk to all of our classes together. We don’t say much but I feel safer knowing he’s on my side. Also, in the last couple of days, the teachers have complimented me on my new found focus and enthusiasm in lessons. I hadn’t really noticed myself, but I guess when you feel less stressed things start falling into place.
It’s nearly twenty-one hundred hours on Thursday night. I almost don’t go. The dark blue and black marks on my stomach and back still ache, and I really don’t want to be out past curfew again. But the curiosity is still there, and there’s no reason it should go on for more than an hour.
At five minutes to twenty-one hundred, I get off of my bed and decide to make my way to Mister Jelvus’s classroom, not sure what I’ll be walking into.
Last time, Joe was waiting for me outside the dorm. I look around, but he’s nowhere to be seen. Maybe he’s already there.
I head down the path, through the thicket of trees and towards the main building. I hear something; raised voices in the trees. I can’t make out what they’re shouting but one is definitely Joe’s. Not thinking, I run into the bush. Joe is being held against a tree by his throat by Blonde.
“Let go of him!” I shout.
Blonde drops Joe and turns to me. I have no idea what to do now but my heart is pounding at a stupid speed. Blonde then laughs and just runs off. There’s no sign of his minions.
“Are you alright, Joe?” I ask.
“I’m fine,” he says.
“What did that prick want?”
“Umm … I don’t know. You drove him away before he could ask. I guess, thank you?”
“That’s fine. You’re my friend, Joe. I have your back.”
He smiles weakly.
“Come on, let’s get to Mister Jelvus’s class before he comes back with reinforcements.”
“Welcome, John, welcome, Joe,” Mister Jelvus says as we walk through the door. I nod my head.
“Did you learn anything from the text?” he asks me.
“I honestly don’t know,” I reply and head to a free seat. Joe, oddly, sits away from me and the five other students here.
Mister Jelvus picks up a controller and presses a button. I hear the door lock and see the windows tint. New security. A bit worrying. We can’t see out and, more importantly, I guess, no one can see in.
Mister Jelvus moves to the centre of the room and claps his hands once.
“You all know why you’re here,” he says. “You want to learn about the truth. You want to know what happened before the Virtual war, before they shut down God.”
I suddenly start to feel uncomfortable.
“Everything you know is a lie. The world isn’t living in harmony like you’ve been told. No. It’s pretend. It only seems that way because anyone who wants change vanishes. There was peace, once. For maybe fifty years. The world governments had managed to get together and started working for the benefit of the planet and mankind. But as always, a group, hungry for power and control, slowly swayed sections of the population into believing peace was against their best interests. They appealed to the idiots of society by pedalling hate and the idiots lapped it up. To help stop this, the leaders of the major religions made an unprecedented move and joined forces in the hope to quell this rise. Unfortunately, it all got very messy after that. Lots of in-fighting between the extremists, who violently felt there was no way to mix and match their faiths, and the casual believers, who didn’t like it, but liked peace and were willing to give it a chance. This fighting gave the fascists more support and they somehow got into power. There was huge government re-structuring and, instead of every country w
orking together, a world President was appointed. You’ve all heard of him. The President of Peace, President Calluna. He was, in fact, a dictator. Because of the in-fighting, the main religions once again split up but, rather than live peacefully, they started wars against each other. These wars started destabilising the new order and Calluna took a very big decision. Information is patchy after this, but it’s believed that every holy city was systematically wiped out by nuclear strikes. With no religion, and faith outlawed, the world would be led how the president wanted it.”
Joe puts his hand up and speaks, “Information is patchy ‘bout everything you’ve just said. There ain’t no proof. Nothing that you’ve said is any more believable than what the government tells us. You could just be making this up,” he says. I look at him, confused.
“The nuclear strikes did happen. It’s documented. Just not in anything you’re allowed to read. There is proof. The books I gave you are proof of another way. Religion was abolished, and anyone found to be practising it was either killed or institutionalised.”
I see Joe shaking his head. Mister Jelvus carries on. “At this time, the Internet was heavily restricted and basically a propaganda machine. A few hackers managed to get through the restrictions, hard copied, and hid as much information as they could. For millions of people faith was ruthlessly taken away from them. They needed something to latch on to. When a rumour started to spread that the Internet had become self-aware, it was what they needed and new cult religions based on this started to pop up. For the people left with no hope, it was massive. They took this as meaning the Internet was God. It didn’t take long for the government to find out and be very unhappy about this. That led to the Virtual war. They sent in military robots and the same thing happened. Leaders executed and they found a way of pulling the plug.”
“But the world isn’t bad. I’m starting a business with mates of mine after I get out of here. I can basically do what I want,” Joe says.
“But what rights do you have? What happens if you commit a crime? It’s either electronic behaviour correction or death,” says Mister Jelvus.
Joe looks down at his desk.
“We are now living on a precipice. Can’t you feel it? Evil people have all the power, all the weapons, just itching to use them. The world will soon come to an end. The books I have given you may seem childish but they point the way forward. We need the ark. Not for a flood, no. But for the best of humanity to have a chance. There’s an abandoned space station orbiting Jupiter. Just left there after they realised there was no money in collecting gas from the planet. That will be our ark. That is where we will make a new life. It’s so far out that we won’t be governed by the Earth. We can live. We’ll be free.” He then smiles and looks at the class.
“I guess you’ll be Noah then,” Joe says.
“I don’t have the beard,” Mister Jelvus replies, to a small amount of laughter.
“Your other classes, they were interesting, if badly informed. This one is just treason,” Joe says slowly.
Mister Jelvus’s face changes and he steps back.
“Powerful people have had their eye on you, Mister Jelvus,” Joe says.
I look around the room and realise I’m not the only one who’s worried. What the fuck is Joe doing? I’m here because I’m curious. I thought Joe was too. I’m not a fucking dissident.
With a crack, the door comes off its hinges and lands loudly on the floor, the glass smashing. Two men, all in black, with guns and helmets burst into the room. From their shapes, I can tell that it’s the fat and thin campus security guards. I dive to the floor. There’s nowhere to run but Mister Jelvus tries anyway. He heads for one of the windows but gets shot in the back with an electrical pulse and falls to the floor writhing in agony, foam coming from his mouth.
“Everyone out!” one of the enforcers shouts. Joe grabs my arm and pulls me up. I quickly follow him out into the corridor.
“What the fuck, Joe?” I shout at him.
“I’m sorry, John, I had no choice. You were in danger of being radicalised.”
“No, I fucking wasn’t. I was just curious. I thought you were too. I don’t get it. Why would you do that?”
“I’ll explain everything later. I promise. I’ve got to go, but there’s a shortcut back to the dorm through the science block, it opens in the small thicket of trees. That way. Go before the guards grab you,” he says and points.
“Okay, Joe. I’ll see you later. But I want an explanation.”
I half run down the metal stairs of the science block and into a corridor.
I should have known better. What was I thinking? All I want to do is keep my head down and not be noticed. Getting in with an anarchist is exactly the opposite of what I should have been doing. I only listened to Mister Jelvus because he’s the only teacher so far to be nice to me. What the hell is Joe doing? I don’t know him that well but that was completely fucked up. Would I have been radicalised if this hadn’t happened and I’d kept going to his alternative history class? Am I that weak minded? There was something to his version of events. It seemed a lot more realistic than the official version where Calluna single-handedly brought the world together with an army of military androids.
I’m feeling lost and confused and just want to go home. But I don’t have one. My bed in my dorm room is the closest thing I have now. And it’s a sad substitute.
I continue down the corridor to the fire exit that Joe said opens into the thicket of trees between the main buildings and the dorms. The door opens with a beep, and I walk out into the cold autumn night. The door then slams closed behind me. There’s no breeze, the door’s not on a spring, so out of instinctive curiosity I turn around to check it out. I realise quickly that I’ve just fucked up.
“John, John, alone in the trees, we’re gonna fuck you ‘til you bleed,” sings Blonde in a whispered creepy monotone, his silhouette in front of the closed door. I freeze up momentarily and then take a small step back. I furtively scan for either of his henchmen, while taking a few more careful steps backwards. I can’t see them and realise I’m far enough away from Blonde to make a bolt for it and not get caught by him before I get to safety. I turn and run as fast as I can toward the dappled light of the dorms. I’m almost out of the tree line to safety but someone kicks out my legs and I fall over on my face. My hands and forearms are grazed badly from the fall, but before I can scream anything a cloth or sock is shoved in my mouth and I’m dragged kicking back into the trees.
“Are the drones all set to film it?” I hear one of them say, not sure which as I now have a bag on my head and can’t see a thing. I’m dropped down on to the ground and I try to crawl away but someone puts a foot on my back and holds me down. I wriggle, writhe and move my arms and legs as much as I can. I’m not going to make it easy for the fuckers. It works for a small time but two of them hold me down while the other cable-ties my hands behind my back and then ties my feet together. I’m turned over onto my back, and the bag is taken off my head. Blonde is standing above me, either side of him are his two lackeys, and above all of them are three small floating silver discs which I guess are the cameras.
“This is going to hurt you far more than it’s going to hurt me,” Blonde says, then grabs me by the hair and pulls me to a large fallen log. I’m in agony and I know this is only the beginning. His minion’s pull me up onto the log then turn me onto my stomach so I’m bent over it. All three of them are laughing. This has to be some sort of horrible nightmare. I haven’t done anything to deserve this. But the small comfort of this being an awful dream comes crashing down all around me as my trousers are roughly pulled down. I still try to struggle; I try and shout out but I gag on the sock that’s in my mouth touching my tonsils and slowly choking me. It’s futile. I’m being held down; I can’t move at all. I’ve got no choice but to accept it. I don’t want to accept it; I shouldn’t have to. I feel tears burning down my cheeks and I try to make myself feel as far away as I can.
Suddenly,
the trees light up and I have to squint my eyes. I hear a hollow metallic clank and I’m not being held down anymore. I hear three more clanks and I quickly throw myself over the log into the nettles on the other side. They sting my arms, legs and face, but it’s infinitely preferable to where I was.
After a few minutes, I try and stand up to find out what’s going on but, with my hands and feet bound, I can only writhe uselessly on the ground.
A tubby, dark skinned kid with glasses and an Afro pulls me out of the nettles and awkwardly manoeuvres me into a sitting position on the log. He slowly pulls the tape from my mouth, I spit out the sock and take in a lungful of fresh air. He then cuts the cable-ties around my hands and feet, and I quickly pull my trousers up. He doesn’t say anything but sits next to me and points to his friend. I watch in awe as a tall, athletically built kid is walking in circles around Blonde and his friends, who are now curled up and quietly moaning in foetal positions on the ground. Anytime one of them tries to move, he either kicks them as hard as he can in the stomach or taps them on the head with the end of the aluminium baseball bat he’s holding. After a few minutes, campus security turns up. I don’t hear what’s said but the tall kid passes them the three drones that he’s knocked out of the air, and the security guards cuff and drag away the three would-be rapists.
The tall kid then also comes and sits down next to me.
“I’m Jacob and that tubby wild haired bitch sitting next to you there is Terrell,” he says and offers his hand. I take it without a thought. Jacob then pulls out a bottle from his man-bag and passes it to me. I take it, pop the lid off and take a large swig. It burns my mouth and throat, and I cough and spit most of it out. Jacob and Terrell both laugh.
“What the fuck was that?” I ask and scrunch up my face.
“My own special mix,” Jacob says and smiles. “Vodka, whiskey, tequila, gin, and some other awful things I can’t quite remember.”
“Wanna hang out for a bit?” Terrell asks quietly.