Ryta stood from the castle, staring in horror of what was going on below her. A bloody battle was taking place between the government, and her people the' bloods'. For centuries, the government had been keeping her people as slaves to their work and experiments-ever since the nuclear apocalypse occurred and almost wiped out humanity. Only the people who took the purple pill-a science experiment forced on many, survived the Apocalypse. These purple pills genetically changed the people who took them, making them immune to the nuclear gases that killed everybody else. After this, the government became obsessed with their experiments, locking these people up as slaves. Many were abused, tortured and killed, and the ones who lived were left to die, cooped up inside the city walls. They experimented for generations, on mothers, their children, their children's children... Although Ryta was just a worker, and had never been put through an experiment herself, she had seen things that nobody should ever have to see. For years now, her people had been slaughtered, tortured and starved, and they had finally had enough. Three children had died this week. Three. The adults and parents were rebelling, rioting against the government. Rita watched from the castle, where she had been working until the riot broke out. Flames decorated the city, houses burning and voices screaming. Her people had gathered what weapons they could use to try and fight, holding pitchforks and knives, and even
hand-made spears as they were brutally shot down and slaughtered by the guns of the government. Blood spilled like water, decorating the city in a river of red.
Ryta froze, fearing for her life as heavy footsteps quickly made their way up the stone stairs to her, and she turned and grabbed a stone from the ground to protect herself.
Dester's wavy dark brown hair bounced on top of his head as he rushed into the room.
"Ryta. We need to go, they're killing everybody!" The boy, her best friend exclaimed desperately, grabbing her arm. "But where are we going?" She questioned, rushing with him, adrenaline bursting through her veins. "The quarters. They're killing everyone who's outside in the open."
The two raced down the backstreet and into the stone, cell-like buildings that was known to them as home. they entered one of the cell structures, which homed sixty of them each. Their close friend Colen followed with thundering footsteps, carrying his six year old brother, Sidney, with a group of children aged 8-12 following him. He set his brother down, before barring the doors - a skill he'd learnt to do by watching the government soldiers lock them inside every night. "Is this everyone?!" He called, before doing a headcount to confirm. "We'll all be safe here. They won't kill us." He spoke confidently. Ryta stepped forward with Dester at her side. "What are we supposed to do? Just wait here and listen to the sound of people dying?..". Colen gazed outside the window, the sight of smoke and flames and blood greeting him back. "I'm afraid it's all we can do." He said with a sigh.
Nobody remembered falling asleep, but they all awoke to the government soldiers smashing their way inside, gas masks shielding their face as always. Before anyone could even move, they were being pulled and pushed and nudged with guns. Ryta squinted as her eyes adjusted to the bright morning light. Had the battle lasted all night? As they left the quarters, a smell struck from nowhere. "What the hell is that smell?" Dester asked. "Death." Ryta replied as they were marched in like dogs. She knew. She expected what they'd find. As they were marched through the town square, blood stained the paths and dead bodies were scattered everywhere, the horrific smell of death itself lingering strong. They were marched around and over the dead, the soldiers kicking a few bodies out if the way. Ryta tripped as she jumped over a body, the freshly killed corpse turning as she knocked it with her foot. What she saw when she glanced down was enough to make her sick, enough to make her scream. But she couldn't. The only thing she could do was keep walking, she was that frozen by her shock. The woman's long, blonde hair was a horrible mess and her beautiful blue eyes froze widened in horror. Her usually perfect, kind smile was replaced with a red smile painted on her neck, stretching ear to ear. Her mother. Ryta was used to the death of her people. They all were. They were all taught not to cry, that it was a common aspect of their daily lives, yet it was so much more difficult when it was someone special to you. Children had begun to cry at the sight of the town, the sight of the people, their friends and families...but the soldiers pushed them on until everyone reached the courtyard. The soldiers instructed them to line up single file, and then began separating everyone into two seperate groups, one to the left side of the courtyard and one to the right. "What the bloody hell is going on?.." Colen hissed under his breath, holding Sidney on his hip as the intimidated six year old clung to him. "If anyone knew, I think we'd mention it." Dester replied, gritting his teeth with hatred towards the soldiers. A soldier approached Colen, and then instructed him to join the right hand side. Colen went to move but the soldier stopped him again. "Not you." He said loudly, before reaching out for Sidney. "He stays with me!.." Colen objected, ripping the boy away. "Give him to me now, before I bury a bullet in his brain." The soldier barked, pointing his gun. Colen glanced between the soldier and his brother, the last living member of his family, before hesitantly looking down at the boy. "Sid, you're going with him, okay? Listen to everything he says and keep quiet. I'll come get you when whatever is happening has finished." He told his brother, before reluctantly handing him over. Soon enough, everyone was seperated into the groups - the teenagers and young adults on the right and the children on the left. Ryta kept quiet, begging to herself, begging the gods to not let what she thought was going to happen be true. Guards lined up in front of the teenagers for restraint, which could only mean the worst. Dester and Ryta's gaze met. They shared a knowing look, a horrible feeling washing over them, bubbling in the pit of their stomachs. "Why are the soldiers gathering in front of them?" Colen asked hesitantly, his voice cutting the silence. Obviously it hasn't struck him yet. "Colen..." Dester called, but couldn't bring himself to say it. "'Raise." The soldier general commanded, and the soldiers raised their guns to the children. "No. No, no, no! Sidney!.." Colen called out, a desperate, dying cry. He tried to thrash his way through the soldiers, but they held him back as she helplessly watched. "Aim." The general boomed, his powerful voice echoing through the eerily silent courtyard. Nobody could watch. Everyone hung their heads. Everyone except Colen, who desperately searched for the sandy curls of his brother's head. The general turned to face us, lifting his head. "Kill."
The gunshots fired, one after another. The children hit the ground, blood covering the walls and the grounds. Colen saw his brother fall. He saw the soldier shoot a bullet right into his skull. He couldn't cry. His pain turned to rage, and he remained silent, a horrible scowl plastered on his face. He swore that moment - he would get revenge. He didn't know when, or even how, but he swore it. He swore it on behalf of his family. He would get revenge for their slaughter. His mother, his father, his older brother Pyke, and Sidney. He would avenge them all. The soldiers continued to match everyone to the hall, where the head of the government, Henri Redleaf sat on his 'throne' as he liked to call it. "Welcome, welcome my fellow citizens." He began. "As you may have realised...there have been some issues between your people, and my staff. Unfortunately the adults insisted on sorting out these arguments with violence, but that didn't work out, did it?" He said with a hideous chuckle as they all stood in silence, hatred burning through their veins. "Let me tell you. You are no longer needed, therefore you will no longer be kept under our protection. You will be released from the safety of the walls, and you will live your own life - if it's even possible to live out there... You will remain outside, and far away from us. And don't think about trying to act out in violent behaviour towards us. We have taken the lives of your parents, we have taken the lives of your children and siblings. Let that be a reminder. You may take whatever you can carry on the way out, and you are to leave - right now. Don't ever underestimate my government. We invented the thing that enabled you to still be breathing today, after the apocalypse, and don't think that we can't invent something to take that life away, because we can. And we will. Off you go now." He said with a wave of his hand. "Fuck the government." One of the boys said, spitting on the floor in front of Henri Redleaf's throne. Henri gave an amused look before turning towards his soldiers and giving the nod. The boy stood strong, and the soldier stepped forward, putting a bullet in him and spraying the front row of the prisoners with his blood.
The prisoners were marched by the soldiers to the gate, each one carrying what little items they could to help them survive in the lands beyond the walls. Each individual person was forced out of the gates, before the soldiers returned and the gates were slammed closed on all of the former prisoners. The prisoners looked around them in awe. The ground was filled with dead grass and dirt. The Sky was hidden by a thick, black fog of smokey radiation. Everything was abandoned...Nothing remained but ashes and skeletons. They had finally discovered what was outside of the castle and the walls. They had finally seen it, finally set foot in it. And now they had been shut out and left to die in these lands. The wastelands, where no man was ever found living. The land where nothing else remained, but blood and unavoidable death. Perhaps the last land any of them would ever see.
"We are going to die." Someone spoke, cutting the silence.
Ryta didn't see who had spoken. She hadn't managed to sense where the voice had come from, but that didn't matter. She knew that the voice could very well be right.
