Chaos Era

I knelt down quietly as the drone flew by the abandoned house. I was aware of how quiet they could maneuver and carefully opened the kitchen cabinet slipping inside. I fit perfectly as I hugged my knees to my chest and closed my eyes hoping the drone hadn't detected my movements.

All Technology post chaos era was extremely advanced. Life was not like it was before everything fell apart. I kept my breathing as quiet as I could, unable to stop the silent tears that traveled down my cheek. If someone would have come to me five years ago that everyone was gonna lose their shit and everything would become chaos, I would've laughed.

But that's exactly what happened. It was slow. First, it seemed all the food started making people sick. The meat first, people just started dying; people were dropping like flies that would consume any kind of meat, then the vegetables became tainted and the water grew poisonous.

Things were completely collapsing, any kind of order and structure there was quickly disappeared as people became frantic. It got to the point where no one knew the cause of death anymore. You could just die and it could be a number of things; the food, the air, the water, bugs, the plants.

It quickly became known as the chaos era and the government moved quickly implementing so many rules. First, they told us to stay inside, because the air was so bad. Then they started evicting people from their houses when no one could pay their rent.

The next thing you know people everywhere were being moved to units provided by the government. When it first happened, the air and nature and the sky were all still real. You still could feel some part of freedom, of life.

But after the new rules, multiplied and became more restrictive. I tried to tell my mom things were bad. But she trusted the government and thought everything was for the best.

I wiped my eyes remembering her soft smile. I clung to the heart-shaped locket on my chest that I took from her dead body and tried to keep quiet as I sobbed.

Five Years Ago

"What do you mean we can't leave the house? That's crazy, we have to get groceries and go to school and work, they can't just force us to stay in the house!"

"Raina, do you see what's going on around you? People are dying, everything is poisonous people are losing their minds out there. It makes perfect sense that we've been banned from going outside. We could go outside and get stabbed right now."

I sighed and ran my hands through my hair pacing in the living room.

"Mom, this is wrong. Locking people in their houses like prison is wrong. Can't you see that? We should have a choice if we want to go out there and get killed or not. They're just scared because they don't know what's going on and they're trying to control everyone."

"Raina it's chaos out there! We need some control and order. "

I scoffed and went to my room. I hated fighting with my mom, especially with everything as stressful as it was. I was 12 but I was smart for my age, I read a lot and was always doing research on things just for fun. I checked on my 7-year-old sister and saw her clinging to her plushie. She was wide awake and looked at me as the strip of light from the hallway leaked through her cracked door.

"You awake?"

She nodded and I let the light flood in as I opened her door more. I sat on her bed and rubbed her back.

"Don't be scared ok, everything's gonna be alright."

"Why are the drones always flying around? I thought they were for us to play with?"

"Well they can be, but they're using the cameras on them to make sure no one leaves the house."

"So we can't ever go outside again?"

"No, we'll go outside again I promise, Rise," I said gently caressing her hair.

She smiled as I said her whole name and I tucked her in when she turned over hugging her plushie tighter. Rise was calm and quiet most of the time. She liked drawing and I was glad for the hobby, it often helped keep her mind off everything happening.

Little did I know though, that I would be the one looking after her. Mom got sick about a week later. I was almost positive it was being locked inside with no sunlight, but she had eaten that meal with pork and rice. I was vegan and refused to eat it and Rise didn't feel like eating. She hardly had an appetite.

For that, I was really grateful, because mom died a few days after getting sick. I wasn't sure what to do, I was only 12 years old. Under normal circumstances, I would've called someone, but the way things had been going, I didn't think it was a good idea to tell them anything.

"We have to go zeze, we can't stay here," I said with a tear-stained face.

Rise was still crying, holding her little teddy bear by the paw.

"We can't just leave her here."

"We have to, they'll only take us away if we stay and they might separate us. We have to go."

I looked back at mom who eerily liked she was just sleeping. I gently unhooked the locket from her neck. She wore it all the time. She told us it was how she always kept her kids close to her heart.

I opened it and saw my picture on one side and Rise's on the other. My eyes watered and I clasped it behind my neck.

"We can't bring mom, zeze. But I have her locket, and it's how we can bring a piece of her with us. Remember just like mom kept us with her all the time."

Zeze sniffed and nodded wiping her eyes.

I kissed my mom's head and let zeze kiss her and say goodbye. Then I took her hand and we walked out of the house, carefully staying behind bushes until we could make a run for it into the woods. My heart pounded as I pulled my little sister behind me ignoring her sobs. I had to only focus on getting away from the city, away from all the drones and the smell of death in the air.

I ran until my chest ached and pounded begging me to stop. I was nearly dragging Zeze and finally collapsed. Zeze cried softly and crawled onto my chest. And that was how everything started. Us being fugitives, surviving off berries and lake water, running from any kind of machines.

As the years passed, the technology only intensified. I watched from the mountain cave people being migrated to government given units. Their clothes were stripped and they were given new ones.

I watched drones drop food, water, and clothes off at the units daily. With each passing year, new technology came out, until nothing was real anymore. The air we breathed came from a large air tank, the sky we looked up at was a huge holographic dome that displayed sunsets, moonlit nights, sunrises, and everything else.

We'd managed to stay hidden, stay away from the units and Zeze was easier to take care of as she got older. It got to where she could stay hidden while I went out and fetched for food and supplies to help us stay warm, clothed, and fed.

Present

I was about to open the small cabinet door when I heard whirring right by the door and I stopped breathing. A red light scanned over several doors and then flew off. I stayed clinching my mom's locket and felt my heart pounding hard on it.

I must have stayed there another ten minutes before I opened the door and finished packing my bag with things I could give Zeze. I hardly ate, but zeze was younger. She ate berries with me and oranges we'd find on trees, but she often complained of being hungry.

I packed a few more canned goods I found in the abandoned house and zipped up the bag. I slipped out the back door and made my way to the mountain we'd claimed citizenship on. It would be about a two-hour walk. I had my knife in my pocket, which was made from an old smartphone.

I'd found all kinds of things to make weapons out of that were no longer used. I looked up at the dome and just sighed seeing the fake twinkling stars. The graphics for the holograph were great, but I remembered the fresh air and the real stars. I remembered the moon and how bright it shone in the night. Zeze wasn't old enough to remember what true freedom was, to remember what everything was like before. But I tried every day to let her feel like we were free; like things were alright.

The dome had changed to the night sky by the time I made it to the mountain. As always, I checked my surroundings before beginning my climb. I met zeze in our little home cave and smiled at the little fire that crackled near her.

I let the tree's canopy fall over the opening once I came in.

"Rise, get up. I made it back."

She sat up quickly and smiled, "Yes I love these fruits."

I helped her pry the metal open with my knife made of a branch and smiled as she scarfed it down. She offered me some but I politely declined.

I looked around our little safe haven away from everything and couldn't help my eyes stinging and welling up with tears. My hand found its way to mom's locket again and I took a deep shaky breath. Sometimes my heart swelled with thoughts of her and I wished she were still with us.

At 17 I felt I was doing ok, but I missed my mom. Zeze noticed I was crying and she set her can down and came close to me hugging me. I hugged her back and wondered how long we would have to live like this. Hidden, starving, and isolated.

But anything was better than living in that controlled world. Leaving when mom died was the best decision I made for me and my sister. I opened my bag a little more and pulled out some water I'd bottled in the stream. We found if we boiled the water it was safe to drink, it was mostly the water supplied in the cities that was toxic anyway.

"Raina?" Rise asked after some time.

"Yes?"

"Do you think, we'll ever have a house again?"

"You remember?"

She just nodded and I sighed.

"Things will probably never go back to the way they were pre chaos era, but I do know that there's a bright future ahead. Nothing ever stays bad long. There's ups and there's downs. We've been down for a long time, so the only way to go from here is up."

I scooted closer to her and kissed her cheek and she rested her head on my shoulder.

"Positive thoughts are important. Even though it seems all is bleak, I know fate has something exceptional in store for us. We just must always be smart, stay alert, and be open to learn new things and question everything. Yes?"

Zeze smiled and nodded.

"You know why mom named you Rise?"

She shook her head and I laid my head on hers.

"She said, times were getting hard and she knew this new baby would be strong, intelligent, and would always rise. Mom knew that about you. So you see you're gonna be alright little sis. Even if something happens to me one day, you're gonna be alright."

But I have a feeling everything will be just fine.