Purge Like no Other

I

Mika, Crescent, capital city
Two hours before the purge

"Ladies and gentlemen, citizens of Creskent!"

The loud voice of the new ruler rang out through the speakers around the stadium, and everywhere else around the planet.

Piper Ventiq stood at the back of the giant crowd, watching and listening closely to the words of the ruler.

"Who believes our laws aren't fair?" He shouted. "That our punishments are too strict?"

The crowd screamed. Piper could make out some of the words, some shouting, "yes!" And others yelled, "me!" The screams and shouts were so loud Piper covered her ears. Alone, in a crowd of thousands of people listening to the ruler of Creskent speak.

"For one week straight, there will be no laws!" He continued.

What? Piper thought with panic. What does that mean?

"All crime, including murder, will be legal." He said calmly. "No rules. No laws on the entire planet."

Piper panicked.

No laws? Legal crime?

We're all gonna die and I won't last five minutes.

"Just two hours from now, you'll all be free to do whatever you want, wherever you want, to whoever you want."

With those words, the crowd went silent. Some had smirks painted on their faces, mother clutched their children to their chest, and others ran.

"Don't trust anyone." He said in a deep voice. "This is gonna be a long week."

Creskent
The purge

The two hours were up. Piper ran to her shelter first and picked up two daggers and tucked a knife into her pockets. She snatched food from the corner and tucked that into her shirt.

Then, she ran.

As she ran, she came to a stop when the city's speakers came to life.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Citizens of Creskent." The ruler's voice said over the speaker.

"It's all for one and one for all, kill or be killed." He said. "At the sound of the siren, the purge begins. May the gods guide you."

And only a moment later, the high pitched, bone shrilling siren rang throughout the speakers everywhere on the planet.