Anger burned inside of me, fuelled by the endless amount of lies about men and women being equal. I focused my mind on the dust, floating about the room. Glowing, as they drifted past streaks of sunlight seeping through the shattered windows. Focusing my thoughts on tiny details often distracted me from the harsh reality. 

A sudden sound of glass shattering turned my attention away. I whisked around in a panic, my eyes frantically searching for the source of the sound. There it was. The scrawny little village cat clambering through one of the broken windows. It's legs stretched out as I grabbed its bony torso and lifted it through the window. I winced as her claws dug into my arms. Under the ancient collar that barely hung around the starved cats neck, there was a note. Just as I suspected.

The cat leaped back out of the window as I turned my attention to the scrap of paper in my hand. I glanced around the room to make sure no one was watching me. I was alone. Nervously, I unfolded the note. It was hard to make out what had been scribbled down. "5:30pm" is what I read, the time of our next meeting. Meeting were usually held in any small village house, to make them look less suspicious. If anyone was caught planning an uprising, it would be punished by death. 

I don't care if I'm caught planning an uprising, as long as everyone benefits and gets women one step closer living the lavish lifestyle like men. Beyond the never ending, electrified fence was green grass, fresh water and abundant food. Just the thought of having a proper meal made my mouth water. Barely surviving off stale bread and dirty water gets boring after 12 years. I've always pictured what it would be like living in the capital.

Our country is divided into two unequal parts; the capital, full of powerful men with houses the size of a palace, and where I live. It doesn't even have a name. The capital tend to ignore us and  leave us to scavenge for own supplies. While they thrive, we struggle. While they, have plenty of money to waste, we trade in our prize possessions just for a meals worth of food. You can probably see why things need to change.

"5:26pm". It's already dark and there's 4 minutes until the meeting starts. I shuffle around to gather the few possessions I have, stuffing them into the piece of shredded linen that I call a bag. Carefully, I shut the rusted, iron door. It screeched as I balanced it on its last hinge. It called for help as I do, quiet but desperate. Making my way through the familiar streets of the collapsing town, dimly lit by flickering of nearby houses. I let out a shrill yelp as a calloused hand wrapped around my face and dragged me behind a brick wall. My heart raced as a turned to see an unfamiliar face of a boy. 

Somehow, we keep proving those impossibilities are actually possible. 

As we once thought living a life without death was impossible. Where I live, on the Orbit, a space station which is designed to mimic the ring of Saturn, believes that living immortally is impossible. Fifty years ago, all of us lived on Earth, in what Grandfather says “harmonious peace.” Laws were upheld, and everyone was happy. Until Imma came out. This drug could keep you alive forever! My grandfather says he first heard of it from his colleague that he worked with him on Earth, as he was the one to manufacture this poison. When my grandfather received it for the first time he didn’t know what to do with it so he put it in his pocket. Now it is in my pocket. The drug has been banned on the Orbit since 2110, when it was first populated. 

As the Order of Orbit says, ’no possession of illegal or untold items.’ Every time I touch it, a tremor runs through me. Like people are watching me. From where, I do not know. I can’t see at all, but I can taste the danger that contaminates the air every time I grasp Imma. The drug was becoming more mainstream. It turned into cause for rebellion, such as the movement my grandfather was part of, called Immortality is Death. 

He was so frightened of the possible outcome, he felt so cowardly that he thought that so he left to the Orbit without second thought, leaving his wife and loved ones behind. 

My year of freedom is so near, as soon as my peers and I all turn 19 we will begin our journey to earn the first stripe of wisdom. My appointment is tomorrow, the appointment every child has to go through before their year of freedom. No one knows what it is as you are not allowed to speak of it, even to your family. 

The ceremony is next week. My best friend’s appointment is the last as he’s the youngest. However, not by much. Everyone that was born in 2141 was born in January. My grandfather says he never got a year of freedom on the Orbit, but he says he was free when he was on earth. The stories that he used to tell me painted beautiful images in my eyes, using the vague memory of colour that I had from before I lost my sight. 

After he heard of my grandmother’s death, he became cold. Ashamed for leaving her alone, he dismissed every part of her that remained with him.  Fear also haunts him as he is past the age of life, he is 72. 70 is the final year of life on the Orbit, at which point the government cuts off your life supply. He isolated himself so he didn’t have to face the Force, so that he did not live the life of a coward and swim towards the mainstream once again. His final act of rebellion. 

It's bad enough that he forces us to live in these miniscule, barren houses without even proper tables while he lounges in a luxurious mansion. It's bad enough that most of us don't get quality education. It's bad enough that he's so cowardly that he needs his enforcers to rule us. The worst thing is that he makes us play this inhumane murdering game just for his entertainment.

Every year, he chooses 10 random teenagers to participate in the murder games. No one knows anything except that only one person makes it out alive. The participants are required by law not to tell of the details, but I suspect they wouldn't want to relive those horrors anyway. Anyone who tries to escape or interfere will be severely punished by the enforcers. The last person who tried to escape the games...we prefer not to talk about him.

And God help me, I am one of the players.

I had just come home from a day of playing with my best friend, Luna. At the time, I thought it was a happy day. For the first time in almost a year, I felt completely carefree and rule-free. I wish I knew how fast my joy could turn into horror.

I entered my tiny home to find my tearful parents. Before I could ask them why they were crying, I noticed two men dressed in the white uniforms of enforcers that stand out so much in our dusty little village. They told me that I'd been chosen to play in the murder game. I felt my blood turn to ice. When the enforcers grabbed me, I tried to struggle my way back to my old, relatively peaceful life. I couldn't. Their hands were like iron clamps. My parents, knowing the consequences of interference, watched helplessly as I was dragged away.

And then, I felt a strong impact on my temple. One of the enforcers had struck me on the head. I blacked out, my last thoughts being futile curses against my misfortune.

When I came to, I was in a white room about the size of my house. Its only contents were a clock, a bed, a table and chair and a door. I tried to open the door, but it was locked from the outside. Frustrated, I kicked the door and the table. When the table fell, a slip of white paper, covered with black lettering, fluttered to the ground. Curiously, I picked it up and read it. It took me some time to decipher the messy letters, mostly because my education was horrible, but I managed to make out:

THE GAME STARTS AT MIDNIGHT. RULES WILL EXPLAINED AT 8.

I glanced the clock. It read 7:55. How long had I been out? The games were nearly coming to a start. I'd woken up to a nightmare. I paced the room anxiously, questions and worry racing in my head. Who were the other participants? How long would the games last? Would I even make it out alive?

A loud buzz suddenly sounded. The door opened silently, revealing a dimly lit space leading to other rooms like my own. Tentatively, I walked out. I watched the door close with the same unordinary silence. 

Suddenly, I heard a horrified gasp behind me. I whirled around to find Luna staring at me, her legs trembling as she realized I was in the games as well as her.

I lived in this abhorrent world in USA. In this abominable world, we are bring control by the government, we never know what is going to happen tomorrow. We are living in fear. The government hates people that are more astute and more reliable than the government. No one can ever talk about him. The government wanted us to get a test when we reach to 18 to test how smart and strong we are. So, I had the test and my result was smarter than average. I could not tell anyone about it because I might die. The government will kill my families , my girlfriend. What shield I do? But, I told myself to not be panicked. Nevertheless, the government would use many different kinds of atrocious punishments to murder my family. No, I should not be thinking about this. I immediately grabbed myself a cup of coffee to calm myself down. I am authority, but my fear was my family and my girlfriend. I was really awed that one day they would be gone. I just felt bewildered. 

But I could not control anything , I just could bit let anyone know that I am smarter than average. I shocked because one of my friend, that punishment happen to her family before. The government threw his family into enormous and gloomy holes and the government put thousands of toxic snacks into the holes. The government wanted her family to fell the pain of death. They were all dead at the end. It was wrong! All wrong! I could not even imagined what will happen next. I could not believe this could happen to my friend’s family. I could not breath when I was thinking about it. 

It was a tough time and life for me. I could not live in this dreadful world anymore. I had thought about leaving this country but there was a gigantic wall in there so we could not escape. Finally, I decided to bring my family and Lora with me and leave this abhorrent world. It wad snot easy to run away from the government and the society. 

The day arrived, when I was about to pick my girlfriend to leave, something gruesome happened. I could not find Lora in her house. What happened to her? 

 I was unpacking my thing  in the new house  and my name neighborhood seemed pretty peaceful but apparently I wasn't too well informed… It was 20 December at about 4 AM when I was woken up by the sound of my phone ringing and vibrating like a catastrophe was about to happen... and it was. A missile launch from North Korea was flying over the small town and then… well I remember nothing after that just people screaming and a loud ‘boom’ then I wake up in a bunker if you days later.

I don't know how I got there but I had sufficient supplies to last a week, and safe from radiation but what I didn't realise at the time is that it wasn't days I have been sleeping but years. I don't know how I managed to do that without you in or drinking.

I exited the bunker to see what happened and all I could see was big grey buildings with North Korean propaganda posters attached to them. North Korea have taken over Japan. I looked at one of these humongous posters and it said: “print date: 15/7/2064. At that moment I started panicking as I did not know what to do and I fell to the floor unconscious. When I woke up I was starving and I started looking for food.

I was walking through the street I passed out in and I noticed dead corpse with missing arms and legs and all of a sudden a man jumps out of the dark gap between two buildings and tries to kill me by jumping on my back and biting my neck but I fight back and knock him out. He was a cannibal. Most likely not by choice but probably because he didn’t have anything else to eat.

At this point I was starting to feel like I was going to die any second but I started running as fast as I could and as I run I think about my family, what are they doing now? where are they? are they still alive? I was tired and my feet felt like an elephant was stepping on them but i kept running because if anyone caught me they would strip my skin off and throw me in the trashcan all I have to do now with survive and hope for rescue to come. Easier said than done.

My name is Joe Lange and today is 730 days after a North Korean bomb hit Las Vegas. Everything was completely different 731 days ago. The whole city is destroyed. The only people that survived the explosion live in a campsite in the desert of Las Vegas. Every morning all of the lower tier civilians go to a meeting at the centre of the camp. Here we find out what job we’re doing for the day. Today I have to walk to the dam to collect water with my sister. Her name is Jade. She doesn’t talk much, but when she does she can never let it out. She just stutters my name and starts crying. I think she’s just scared. Our mum died from the explosion and our dad has intense brain damage. I’m scared too. I’m scared of not having enough resources to survive.

I made it to the dam. I take a moment and I look down and stare at Las Vegas, astounded at what Las Vegas has turned into. All of the buildings burnt and broken due to the stupidity of other country leaders. It’s astonishing how much changed in one day. My dad, my sister and I left with nothing. Even the government make it worse. We have to wear a baggy, blue jumpsuit everyday and we’re not allowed any free time except sleep. I just wish things could change.  I wish we had more freedom.

I am walking back to the camp with my full bucket of water. An idea pops into my head. If I sneak into the government headquarters and steal one hundred dollars a day for two weeks, then our family would have enough money to eat for thirty four years. I start running back to my family’s tent. In the tent I start telling my dad about my idea. He doesn’t say anything. He just starts shaking his head in disappointment.

I don’t give up. The next day I wake up and quickly run to the government headquarter. I wait outside the main door for an officer to walk out the main door. After 5 minutes of waiting Officer Harold starts  walking out of the door I quickly slip through the gap in the door I start walking  casually and slowly towards the toilet doors. When I enter the toilets I stop and take a deep breathe. I’m safe. Sort of. I have to make a plan to enter the governments bank. Swiftly, I run up some stairs while checking behind me if security had spotted me. As I’m running I feel something clip on to me. I turn around and trip over. I had clipped on to a security guards jacket. The guard blurts out two words. “Intruder, Intruder!”. I panicked and try to struggle out of his arms, but he has me pinned to the ground. Three other guards walk up to me and hold me by the arms and start pulling me along the corridor. Their tight grip reminded me of the time I was being pulled away from my dead mother. We stopped at a door labelled ‘Torture Room’. As I walk inside the blood scented room I already overhead two guards with shotguns gossiping. Will those shotgun shells be piercing through my delicate head in a few minutes?

 

            Damon lives with his parents and his brother. But the relationship between him and his father were really bad. One of the reason is when Damon was young, he had a fight with his brother, Damon couldn’t control himself so he grabbed a piece of brick and smashed it against his brother’s head, and nearly knocked him out. Because of this fight, his brother had his right eye blinded permanently, and his father never talks to him again.

 

            Until he was 14 years old, Damon received a vert special letter from someone who is called Charlie Harts. 

“Dear Damon

My name is Charlie Harts, and I am the general from the Army. I wrote this letter because we need you to be part of this war. So if you read this letter, please go to the West Station as soon as possible, we have guards to pick you up. 

                                                                                                            Love

                                                                                                      Charlie harts”

            

Damon was shocked. He kept thinking in his head “Why would I get chosen into the army. I am weak, and the only thing I know is being a medic and help people” He walked back into his bedroom, lie down on his bed, thinking deeply whether he should go or not.

 

I was at midnight, he woke up and heard someone shouting and screaming against each other. He peaked through the doorway. He saw his brother getting shouted by his drunken father. But then, his father pulled out a gun from his pocket and pointed towards his brother. Damon couldn’t just stand there and watch, he ran up to his father, took the gun off his hands and pointed at his father. With Damon holding the gun, his father couldn’t do anything apart from punch him to the ground…

 

“Bang!” A gun shot fired. They both had the gun in their hands. But when he turned his head and looked at his mother, Damon saw her holding her stomach, and slowly kneeled down on the floor. Her hands were full of blood. When she was about to shut her , she touched Damon’s face and held his hand. “Please look after your poor brother, and don’t let your father go anywhere near him. Please.” Tears from Damon’s eyes were dropping like rain. His mother wiped off the tears from Damon’s face and slowly dropped her hand.

 

Damon woke up. It was a flashback of his memory. This is another reason why he only wanted to be a medic, because he still thinks that the death of his mother is all because of him. So he made a decision, “I am never touching any weapon for the rest of my life, I am not going to harm any more people, my only job is to save people’s lives.” And so his army training had just begun.

Perfect,  that’s what everyone has to be.  Society suggests that women have to have hair that is not unruly, eyelashes that are long, skin that is smooth and lips that are plump.  I think society is wrong, but of course I would never say that aloud, I would get killed there and then.  The fear of that ever happening to me has stopped those words from escaping from my mouth.  The fear has travelled through my veins for years, but it has never made it to my facial expressions.  

When I was little, it wasn’t like this, I could run around without a care in the world.  Without caring about the lump on my nose, or the scar on my leg.  But oh how the world has changed in the 17 years I have been alive.  It started in 2035 when I was just 7 years old.  Men had suddenly appeared in our living room using a new technology then called a blink,  it was a type of contact lenses that would help you teleport. The men were wearing big green suits that scared me at the time, and to be honest still scare me now.  Everyone used to say my mum was an inspiration to them, being a single mum and all, but she had a extremely rare medical face deformity called Craniofacial syndrome, but to me she was just being her, to me she was beautiful.  

That was the last time I ever saw her though, because the men with the suits took her away.  The government only wanted people to look ‘perfect’, the ones like me with bumps on their noses and scars on their legs could be fixed with a simple swallow of a pill. The pill company is called ichaparadza, no one knows what it means..

Except me.

Each pill of different colour has a different purpose, for example a blue one was called ‘bhuruu’ it fixed your eye shape to the perfect almond size, the yellow pill was called ‘yero’ that one made your skin smooth, with no scars, the green pill was called ‘girinhi’ it changed your hair colour and length to whatever you wanted, as long as society was okay with it.

The date now is 2045, not much has changed from that day, except I have no bump on my nose, no scars, and no mother..  Well technically I do have a mother.  And a father too, but they’re not mine, they belong to my step sister, Iona.  The day my mother was taken, I was taken too, by the same company that made the pills.  I was tested on and tortured for 5 years of my life.  I’m supposedly one of the most beautiful people in Babylon, and believe me, the old saying ‘beauty is pain’ is too true.  During those 5 years I was tortured I also had a lot of time to go to the city’s library.  I had used secret transportation called a hyabusa, (It’s basically a flying car). In the library I had found many interesting novels, one was a book which contained many languages which were long forgotten.  I had found some very interesting yet disturbing information about some of the words and companies we see today. 

Ichaparadza means ‘Will Destroy’ in a language called Shona.

That’s when I knew, we were all in trouble…