Illuminate

"We have come so far here on Earth. Today marks the 5000th day since we have become pollution free!" Mr.President of the world shouted from the loud speaker in the corner of the lunch hall in our new sanctioned government housing.

I look back down at my lunch tray, my hazel eyes tear up small drops of sadness. My long wavy brown hair covers over my heart shaped face. Everything is now made of biodegradable foam that has seeds in it to plant new plants in the landfills over time. They aren't the best for stopping things like soup from melting them. Nor do they look all that great.

A Dictatorship has taken over, well they call it "Earth Ambassadors" now. Whatever they needed to call it when they took control of the world to prevent us from losing it back in 2021. If only we knew then what we know now. The elite were overthrown by the 99%. Our streets had famine, disease, pillaging and death. It took the loss of California, and Texas before American's started to rise up against the forces of the industry.

It didn't work out that well, we ended up with a mass of people dying in the battle of Hollywood. California was destroyed. Along with 10% of the United States population. Not that we are United anymore..

"Zara, hello! Earth to Zara!!" Pulled from my thoughts my friend Stacy grabs my uniform at my shoulder. Our tacky gray jumpsuits with our last names in bold black on the back of them.

I look up at her. Stacy has a short black bob, an oval face with crystal blue eyes and a smile that could light up a room. She was my best friend.

"Tell me why, you're sitting over here looking all crazy" she asked, with her hand on her hip.

"Just listening to today's announcements, eating, ya know, normal things!" Stacy chuckled. "Well come on slowpoke, we are gonna miss the chance to get outta here, they are recruiting for trash pick up and we don't have to wear these ugly jumpsuits!"

She was right. Because of the destruction it was unsafe to leave the facility unless you got a job to go out and clean the mess until it's all been properly disposed of. 13 years later and you'd think we would be done by now.

"Alright, let's go" I get up from the table, grab my tray and throw it in the garden disposal, we no longer have "trash cans".

We entered the auditorium, the government housing was made up of old high schools that survived the war. It was pretty huge, vaulted ceilings, long windows, considering the population was over 6,000 for just this school district, it worked well.

"IF YOU ARE OVER THE AGE 25 YOU MAY LINE UP HERE FOR YOUR EXAM FOR RECRUITMENT, WE ARE NOT TAKING ANYONE OVER THE AGE OF 40. PLEASE LINE UP." Covering my ears as a soldier yells into a megaphone as if we don't already know the requirements, and where to go. They do these exams every 3 months to get more help to finish the clean up. People are starting to speak about a resistance against the clean up since it's taken so long for us to rebuild, normalcy is needed, freedom is needed now.

Stacy and I make our way to the tent for exams, you must be physically fit, under a certain weight and have no children. At the age of 28, I was at my prime, so I had no worries.

"Hello Zara, how are you today?" Doctor Fresh asked as I entered the white tent set up as the exam room. As I took a seat, respond "It's been pretty great doc." I look up at him and smile. Doctor Fresh had a striking resemblance to a silver foxed George Clooney with bright green emerald eyes that had such kindness eluding them.

"Well let's see, your labs came back normal from this week's testing and you're within the requirements. Are you sure your ready to serve our earth?" "Yes sir, I mean doctor fresh. Yes I want to serve our earth." I stand up off the seat and ask him "Will I be able?" He smiled and nodded, "Yes, now is your time." He wrote down a few things on a blue card and handed it to me. I took it from his outreached hand, and read it. "ATTENTION: ROSALIE ZARA IS PERMITTED TO PERFORM HANDS ON CLEAN FOR OUTSIDE REHABILITATION.

EXPIRES 07/07/2057"

I smiled, and stretched out my hand. "Thank you Doc". He took my hand and said "You're welcome Zara, but hey listen, be careful. It's not what you think."

I leave the tent, and head to line up for the new recruits hoping Stacy was in the line. I sway back and forth around people's heads looking for her.

"BOO!" Stacy pops up behind me.

"You jerk!! Scared the shit outta me" I growled in a low tone, not wanting too much attention.

"Looks like we are off to a new adventure girlfriend!" Stacy smirks. "You know damn well I'm excited to get outta here!"

"I have to agree. Now let's get our gear and get on the bus!" I say with enthusiasm.

Inside my head, I can hear myself screaming with excitement and fear. What if nothing is like it used to be? What if when we get outside we won't ever want to go again?

Or the opposite, never wanting to leave. There are so many what if's in this world, and I'm determined to figure it out.

Seated on the bus is myself, Stacy and about 25 other people. We are amazed by seeing the sun for the first time in years. They give us all sunglasses and a nice tank top and pants to clean in. It was nice to be in regular clothes. Soon we will have the general get on the bus." Now listen up everyone, it's time for us to go to our designated location to start pick up. We are going to pass out masks and gloves as you get off the bus. I would recommend wearing them if you don't want to smell what kind of garbage is going to be out there. The area that we are headed to is what used to be the circle center in Indianapolis, Indiana." The bus passengers start to cheer. The general lifts his hands in the air at the elbow. "I know, I know it sounds wonderful, but let me tell you, we are gonna see some things and clean some things that ain't fun. Here's the rules, if you happen to find human remains. Don't worry about it. The Earth ambassadors have stated that all human remains that are left should be disposed of in the new decomposition Garden. We know over the years it is better to decompose human remains back into the Earth naturally then it would be to bury them which is why it is now illegal to bury a body."

People gasp as if this is new information. The first time somebody died on the compound it was due to a heart attack. What they did with the body was take it, wash it, and then set it into our garden to send nutrients to the crop.

He continued, " Second rule, you may not take home anything we find. It must be disposed of. Our future Earth depends on us to clean it the right way. And last rule, if you get hurt, please ping your watch we gave you and a medic will be with you as soon as possible. That being said, be careful please but work quickly and let's get our home clean!!" He roared with enthusiasm.

The bus cheered and clapped. And like that, we were on our way.

You can hear the shish from the brakes as we stop. Looking out the window was bizarre. You see half broken skyscrapers with life growing in the windows. You feel as if you're in a post apocalyptic garden of eden. There are birds singing and butterflies blooming from the flowers around you. As we all started to move from the bus you can hear the crunch of debris underfoot as each person steps off the last step of the bus. As I exit I look up and see the city center monument, what was left of it anyway. The tip was missing, and it looked as if a bomb hit it dead center. Pieces of the sky peeped through the holes in the concrete like blue huey sun rays from the heavens. Each shaded part held new green moss with dew. It felt biblical, it looked amazing but dear God did it smell bad. I came back from my thoughts. And quickly pinched my nose. At that moment I realized there was a lot of trash on the ground buried under the newly made Earth.

The general shouted out our locations and partners, thankfully Stacy and I were put together.

"Alright babe, we got the west streets, let's go do our part!" Stacy states as she prances over to me leaning on the bus. I kick my foot off the bus and reply "Let's rock this!"

We made it to west street, along the left side of the street was an old Chipotle, Target, and Amazon store. The other side was some kind of large red brick building, mostly intact.

"Okay, we are here. Let's start on the left and head right." Stacy agreed with me.

The sun was starting to set. Stacy and I had bagged up about 15 trash bags in the last 2 hours. It was great to start to see just a small amount of difference. "Phew!" I say as I wipe my forehead from sweat. I pulled off my gloves and walked towards the big red brick building. I had seen stone steps when I was cleaning earlier. I walk closer to a pile of rocks on the steps. And push them off the stoop. Reviled to me is a suspicious looking brown paper box. Stacy walks over and says "Girl, you should open it! What if it's like an old Amazon package? Or candy? That would be so cool!" I rolled my eyes "Stacy, I do not wanna open this and it be a bomb or some crazy shit like that." She crosses her arms and looks at me. "Zara, we have been inside for 13 years and we find something amazing and you're''scared"" as she points her fingers in a quote.

"FINE. I'LL DO IT!!" I take a deep breath, and slide the box over to me and take a set on the steps. I dust it off a little bit and place it on my lap. It's engraved with a single gold word, "Illuminate". I reach to open the box, and an explosion happens. Everything goes dark.

"We have come so far here on Earth. Today marks the 5000th day since we have become pollution free!" Mr.President of the world shouted from the loud speaker in the corner of the lunch hall in our new sanctioned government housing.

I look back down at my lunch tray with a moment of realization and flooding of memories.

"What the fuck just happened?"

FIN.