Who follows the leader?

The world is going to end soon, and nobody seems to care. Looking back there were so many choices to avoid it, but in the end, we brought our destruction upon ourselves. I have chosen to record this for whoever survives what comes. I hope it’s somebody that I still know, but even if it isn't… Well they’ll be able to take this to the others. To my wife, so she knows what happened to me. It's funny, but the world seems to be easier to navigate if you live under the understanding that everything can be organized into groups. I’ve noticed that there are two basic groups of human nature that everybody follows: Followers and Leaders. Now, I’ve always known that I fall under the category of follower rather than a leader, since making decisions for others, let alone myself is something that I find stressful at the best of times. Despite this, I have never thought of myself as a sheep. I am capable of thinking for myself, and should I choose to follow somebody, it would be somebody that would be thoughtful, caring, intelligent and who sought to genuinely better the world we live in today. 10 years ago there was somebody who many considered to be this way. They were all wrong. I don’t dare say his real name, even as I record this. There has long been a taboo, ever since he declared complete control of the media and security. Nowadays, if you even say his name, he can pinpoint your location in a matter of seconds. Now he goes by the title: “The Leader.” The man they call the leader first ran for presidency as what seemed to be a dare. I remember his announcement, and it surprised me. A big shot entertainer deciding to run for presidency wasn’t unheard of, but what was crazy was the amount of people who were genuinely being supportive of his announcement.

On the one hand, I wasn’t bothered in the slightest, I mean yes, I lived in North America, but I lived in Canada. My first thought was that it was a complete farce, but not something I would ever have to deal with. So I elected to ignore it and go about my daily life, not thinking much about it for many weeks. I underestimated just how… magnetic he could appear. Not nearly enough for me to like him. No, his entire personality was one that personally repulsed me, but he was able to sway others in a way that the other politicians just weren’t able to. He was nonsensical, and so full of himself it truly baffled me that people were even letting him run for this. On national television he bragged about being able to commit murder in front of thousands and that it would change nothing. This was completely fucking insane- and there were still so many who supported him. One thing that made me feel shaken was that I was once friends with a man who did support him vocally. I remember the confusion and judgement I felt towards him when I learned that he was a fan of the leader. I should have been strong enough then, to tell him that he was wrong. That if he respected not only me, but himself that he should change his way of thinking. This man was not as the leader was. He was not white, for one, and was the ethnicity of those that the leader constantly ridiculed. If I had told him that he was a fool, and that I could not be friends with someone who agreed with someone I found evil, would it have changed anything? Maybe it could have, and I like to think that my friendship meant as much to him as it did to me. But the world was much different ten years ago than it is today. So, we let bygones be bygones, and continued our friendship. Over the following months, most people I knew spoke out, and rejected the leader, and they along with I were disgusted by the clips that the media would continue to air of him. The statement of him being able to get away with murder was quite ironic, going from bragging about shooting someone to being shot himself years later. Ah, but I’m getting too far ahead of myself I suppose. As time progressed and the election grew closer, most people I talked to were convinced that he would loose. That there wasn’t any way that he would win at all. Then the night of reckoning came. Nobody was laughing. Not even the leader, who honestly seemed stunned at the outcome himself. It’s easy to assume that he was helped, that there were people who went to the task of fraud, and cheating to get him in power. Maybe that was how it actually happened.. but I don’t think thats how it worked. I think he and I both underestimated the general stupidity and gullible nature of humanity as a whole. It came to be four years of the same day, over and over again. Four years of seeing a man bumble around, being completely arrogant, and constantly being proven wrong, despite his insistance that he was right 100% of the time. Then eventually four years ended, and there was a new leader. True, things were still what you would call rightly fucked, but slowly, things began to improve. The world felt lighter. During this time, I grew as a person, fell in love and gained a new push- something that lit a fire under my ass. Love. It drives a person to do truly incredible acts- both horrendous and pure. I wonder if it was a type of love that caused the leader to be what he is today? Perhaps it was, after all it was proven that time and time again he loves nothing but himself, truly. We knew that though didn't we? It’s ok, you don’t have to answer. I wont be alive to hear it anyways. All along we were shown the truth and for whatever reason we decided to let it continue. Two years ago he announced that he was running for a second term, and this time… things were different.

The new president I once more cannot name became rather ill, and was replaced with their vice president. She was not loved, far from it actually, but whether others would like to admit it or not, she was far more qualified than the leader was. It didn’t matter though, for she was somehow far more hated than the leader was. I kept hearing people keep calling her names- “bitch, pig," and so on. I wasn’t a citizen of the united states, so I could never vote in the first place. But when he won again… I felt true anger for the first time towards myself. I was simply one of over seven billion people in the world, and what chance did I have to make a real change? I suppose if I was stronger, if I had fought with others harder… if I had believed I could make a difference… I wouldn’t be sitting here, transcribing the end of the world that is coming with a terrifying but magnificent burst of flame. I am one of many followers true, but I could never follow him. If anything I should have chosen to follow myself, and pushed for a life that included the love of my life thriving in this world.

It was months ago that the bastard won. Not even a full fucking year, can you believe that bullshit? He became so much more vocal, more vicious and unforgiving then he was before. I truly don’t think he cares anymore about public opinion. No, no he’s too far gone to really care. In a matter of weeks the whole world went upside down. Implementing taxation on hundreds of countries, cracking down on his own personal guards and the media. It’s insane. He talked about being “insanely smart. Some would say the smartest guy.” That’s literally how he talked about himself and people still fucking like him. If anyone else said that, they’d be bullied relentlessly, hell maybe even beat up. But he gets to walk around scott free. It… It’s a terrible thing to think about, or even want. To me, death is not something to be taken lightly. Hell even when my love’s cat died, I felt so sad. But even with that part of me that thinks death is a serious finite and terrible event… I think he should have died that day. If he did… then over six and a half billion people would still be alive. And I wouldn’t have a front row seat to the annihilation of most of humanity. But he didn’t. so I’m here now. I… I don’t even remember how it started, but I saw a broadcast. It was so jarring that it didn’t even seem real. It was like he was possessed or on drugs, the way he was sweating, and how his eyes moved around as he frantically yelled. He said he was going to win. That he would beat everybody, no matter what the cost.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS2KyK3pqj4

I’ve heard sirens and people panicking for hours. I keep checking my phone, hoping I’ll see an update online- that it was all a scam. Or that I’m going to wake up and everything is going to be as it was before. But it wont. The Glorious leader declared war on the entire world. And it’s coming soon. Even now though, I see posts of his followers, still making excuses. I keep thinking about people who live to see natural disasters, and wondering how they felt, staring down their inevitable end but still maybe being able to get out of what seemed to be certain death. It… Ah. Well, it was just announced. There are roughly fifty nuclear warheads heading towards North America. So I know I’ll die soon. If not from the incineration, then the radiation poisoning at the least. The only saving grace I have is that my love is safe, far far away from here. She went overseas three days ago. I… I should have gone with her. I’m sorry my love. I wanted so much more time with you. I don't- I don’t wanna die alone. Heh, I guess actually I wont die alone. Most of humanity will come with me, so I wont be the only one feeling left out. I got that going for me. Which is nice. Now, not for the first time I have to ask myself… Who follows the leader? That is it for me now. All I have left to say is that to anyone who listens to this recording… know I have hope. Hope for you to rebuild, be stronger and smarter than my lifetime has shown. To any friends who may hear this- thank you. For your support and friendship. and……. to my love. Thank you for everything you’ve done. I know…… I know you’ll destroy anything that gets in your way. Keep being you. I see it now. The flash. So… goodbye everyone. Good-

Fin.