Melody

"You can't do this! You can't take my baby away from me!" the woman screamed, her eyes brimming with tears and desperation.

I could tell by the weight of the Corporal's sigh and his tired expression that he had explained this all before, "Ma'am, I've told you that this is not up to us. The drafting for the vaccines is completely random. If you're chosen, there's nothing we can do."

"You know!" she choked out through a sob, "You know goddamn well that this vaccine will kill him! You expect me to allow that to happen?! You can't steal my baby! He's all I have left! Please!"

He sighed again, heavier this time, "Ma'am... I'm sorry."

She slid to the ground, defeated.

A darkness enveloped her—a darkness colder than despair in every sense of the word. This was the pain of a mother who had lost a child. This was a fate, to her, a thousand times worse than death.

"Bring her some tissues and water, and escort her back through Gate 4."

A few nods later, the woman had been picked from the floor and soon disappeared into the uneasy blackness of the hallway.

I clenched my rifle in my hands, the steel now warm and damp and sliding in my grip from sweat. It suddenly felt like lead in my arms.

Don't allow these things to get to you. At this point, the world can afford to lose a few angels. 'For the greater good.' Just as our motto says.

For those who wonder what Armageddon looks like, this is it. It lies in every waking moment: It's when you realize that angels and devils can no longer tell the difference between each other.

When the line is more than blurred between right and wrong. It’s when you don't even know yourself whether you are one of the "good guys."

In less than two years, the R31 virus had claimed the soul of the earth: Hope was dying, and the population was dying faster still. When more than 65% of humanity perished, there was a global realization that R31 had become more than just a virus. It was a symbol of our transgressions. Even more than that, it was a shared shared anguish that life as we knew it was over. All we could do was pray to whomever would listen that this punishment would be deemed fit as a price to pay for our sins.

The experiments are unethical. We know. Nothing that we've created is effective against it. We tried. The world is waiting. We're waiting with it.

Without warning, the intercom crackled to life: "Code Gray, all security personnel to Gate 9. Code Gray, all security personnel..."

As soon as I began shifting my vest to fit comfortably over my shoulders, the thundering sound of combat boots came from all directions at once.

"Let's go! Let's go! Move it!" Chief Harvey barked.

I raced past the iridescent lights lining the corridor, becoming more nauseous as I rounded the center of the facility. If not for the odd, semicircle shape that made the place feel like Death's merry-go-round, whatever took place in those labs was enough to make me hurl up my lunch in a heartbeat.

As I approached the other side of the room, the chants grew louder.

"Give us liberty or give us death! Give us liberty or give us death!"

A lone voice trumpeted over them, "You are not authorized to be in this facility! If you are not staff, armed forces, or drafted for the vaccine, leave immediately!"

"Give us liberty or give us death! Give us—"

A single gunshot sounded, and the protesters dropped to the ground, their screams of triumph became screams of terror. A few seconds later, Chief Harvey strolled up to the crowd from behind us, the pistol in his hand aimed towards the ceiling.

His shouts boomed over the quieted room, "When I say leave, I mean leave! That gunshot you just heard was a blank, but I promise you that if you do not get your asses out of this building, I will light this place up like the 4th of July!"

A frail, older man near the front of the crowd stood, and though legs were trembling beneath him, his gaze was fierce.

He steadied himself, his voice worn from suffering, and spoke "We... know what you're doing here. You think that because you're out of options, murder is justified." His lips quivered as he continued, "Th-That because the world is in shambles, what you're doing doesn't matter. What's a few more numbers on the body count?"

Suddenly, he grew resolute, as if the fire in his soul had been reignited, "But every one of those numbers are people. Living, breathing souls. People who are lost and afraid. People who have families to protect. People like you.

"You think that we don't know why you're doing this? Why any of us are doing this?" He scoffed, gesturing to everyone watching, "We all have one goal in mind. Save the people we love. The only reason you're here is because your families are guaranteed a spot on The List—the list of people who don't get killed."

Chief cocked his pistol, aimed it between the man's eyes, and spat, "Last warning."

"We represent the Heart Locket Campaign." It was only then did I realize that the entire crowd was wearing silver, heart-shaped lockets around their necks. "We speak for the people who died behind those doors, the people in our hearts," he clutched the pendant close to his chest, "We speak for the fallen... And we demand that all human lives are saved. Give us liberty or give us death!”

The pop and flash of the chamber horrified everyone: the crowd screamed as the man's body went limp and crumpled to the floor, a pool of crimson circling his head, the fire in his soul extinguished as the pink in his skin faded to gray.

I stood in shock, and so did the other cadets. The entire room stared wide-eyed at the fresh corpse.

Chief cocked the pistol a second time, "Anyone else?"

"Chief..." Private Nguyen spoke up from beside me, his deep brown eyes flashing. With what, I can't be sure. I knew that if anyone would stand up for justice, he would be the first. I admired that about him, but in that moment, I couldn't think of anything but the lifeless body on the ground.

Chief whipped his head around, his jaw tightened, the veins in his neck looked ready to pop under his dark skin, "We have a job first and foremost, Private," he said. "That is to save mankind. Not to worry about which man can afford to die, and which cannot." With that, he shoved the pistol back into its holster and turned to us, "Get these people out of here. If they resist, open fire."

Then he left.

The bated breath between us left a silence in the air that could hardly be broken, even by the campaign members' cries.

No one here wanted to die; that fact, too, hung in the air.

"You people... you should be the ones in that room," a woman spoke, tears trailing down her face. With that, she turned and left, and one by one, the crowd dissipated.

And the quiet they left behind,

Just like the protesters,

Faded away.

It was if nothing had happened. The drafted walked in as quickly as they walked out: some defiant; some in silence; some with blissful ignorance, as if they had faith that they would not perish.

I nodded along as the day melted into nothing, until the final draftee entered through the gate. My eyes grew wide. I recognized her.

Melody?

I could feel my heart as it tried to escape my body, tears welling in my eyes for the first time in years.

I thought you were...

Sun-kissed skin, messy coils of hair bouncing happily behind her, hazel eyes that shimmered to life when she laughed.

...gone?

But when she faced me, I met the gaze of a stranger. My shoulders dropped beside me, and my chest tightened. The tears fell.

Even if she it her, she was...

..."Too young! She's only thirteen! What do you-What do you mean she was drafted?!"

"I'm sorry, young man. This isn't our decision. I know how hard it must be—"

"You know? You know?! Then tell me, why are you taking her?! What am I supposed to tell our mom? She can't even walk without our help! Do you think she could survive without her children?" I screamed. The air felt rough against my throat. Had I been shouting that long?

The guard in front of me had sorrow laced in every word he spoke, "I truly wish there were something I could do. I have a little sister, too."

"Bullshit! If you know how this feels... then there's no way you could allow this to be happening! There's no way you could be human and—" I pounded my chest, "I'm her big brother! I'm-I'm supposed to protect her! She's—" I couldn't stop the tears anymore.

There's no way I could let them to take her...

"Come on!" she giggled, turning to face me, "Let's run away together! Let's run away from the world!"

I watched as she tore through the grass, shining like gold in the evening sun.

"Jackson, aren't you coming?" her hazel eyes pleaded...

I took her hand and smiled through the tears, "Let's go."

The little girl met my gaze in earnest, as if she felt it too. Around her neck was a silver, heart-shaped locket.

"What are you talking about?" Private Layla hissed, "Let go of her."

I let my rifle clatter to the floor, and with her hand in my grasp, we dove back through the gates.

"Hey! What the hell are you—Stop!!” I ignored the pounding footsteps behind us and pushed forward.

The sirens went wild around our heads as we broke through to the outside, fresh air filling my lungs, my heartbeat drumming in my ears. "Stop where you are!" the loudspeaker demanded, "or we will open fire! I repeat, stop where you are—"

I ignored the lightning in my body and clenched her hand tighter, "Run as fast as you can! Don't stop!"

The dirt shot up from the ground as the bullets rained down around us, the whir of hissing metal speeding past our ears.

I pushed through the exit of the facility with a quick flash of my ID card, and together, we ran. And we ran. And we ran.

Until the dust on the ground settled, until the automatic flash of gunfire ceased.

Maybe they even let us go.

Even so, we kept going.

It became clear that nothing in this world is free from fate's hands. Not life, not death, not today nor tomorrow. Nothing is guaranteed. We can choose to live in fear of that, or we can choose to face it. One thing is certain: though we are not promised anything, we can still make the most of nothing.

As for what would happen to us? Whether we would be caught and killed, escape and live, or die by the same disease that stole the lives of half the humans on earth... I have no idea.

When the little girl beside me finally asked, "So... what's gonna happen next?"

I surprised myself with a smile, looked off towards the sun, and replied, "There's only one way to find out..."