The Bridge

Monologue

Warm spring. It brings new life to our world. Summer brings more heat, pleasant, yet painful. Autumn, when leaves fall and cold sets in, the perfect season for afternoon walks. And winter. Cold and desolate, leaves our streets covered in snow...and bodies.

Hey, I'm Carson Addaritt. A 17 year old teenager who survived the hypnotizing; or so, that's what they've decided to call it. Who is 'they'? They are a group of people who love in the shadows, people of our city we do not know. They live high above us on the highest floors of every skyscraper. How would I know? For many days I've been watching group after group of survivors ascend the stairs. There would always be a flash of light in the windows, accompanied by a gunshot and a scream...or, they're accompanied by silence.

The silence is the most terrifying.

The Hypnotizing. An event that plagued our world when television reached its peak popularity. When was it...in 1970. The Hypnotizing began in every home, on every screen and even some radios. It's a broadcast with an unknown voice, changed with a filter to make the voice raspy and hard to hear. The first time I heard it was when my parents were taken. The broadcast came on, and my parents were watching the game. I looked up at them when it was too late. Their eyes had turned white, like they were blind. Before I could even call out to them, they stood up and left.

I don't like talking about it, not after I've seen my friends, family...and my girlfriend be taken by it. But I will have to share what I know if others are to survive. The Hypnotizing affects everyone by sight or sound. You cannot look at any television screen for more than a few seconds, or listen to the broadcast for more than a minute, or you will be taken.

This...regrettably brings me to what us survivors call...The Bridge.

The Golden Gate Bridge, as we once knew it, is now nothing but a graveyard...and a place of death. What do I mean? For days, weeks, probably years at this point, I've watched as those who were taken walk mindlessly through the streets. And they all walk in one direction...to that horrid place. As I record this for anyone listening, borrowing a small handheld recorder from a nearby store, I'm watching innocent lives be lost. The bridge is filled, with everyone...hundreds of people standing in lines. They're stepping up as the broadcast comes from every building, and they jump.

If it's coming from every building, how am I not affected? Headphones. And very good ones at that. I had to make them myself from thick pieces of clothing and some duct tape.

...

...

My friends weren't so fortunate. Neither was my girlfriend, Kate.

I remember it all too well...how Max and Natalie were taken. We were on our way up to confront those men in the shadows. They left the doors open and volume high to deter us. But they pressed onward. From what I heard from Jackie when she came down, Natalie had tripped down a set of stairs, and her headphones came off. Apparently they broke too, and she was affected by the broadcast. As for Max, he stupidly took them off and offered them to her so she could survive. They were close, it's understandable he'd do that. But still...it didn't have to end in them both being taken. Kate and I had to watch as they jumped off the bridge.

Some may ask me why I didn't stop them. You can't. I certainly can't. Whenever some is taken, they're also controlled. They're not just mindless puppets we thought they were. When someone gets taken, they can be used, and whoever controls them ensures their death is a certainty. That's how Jackie died. She tried to fight the taken, only for them to grab her, and throw her off the bridge themselves.

After that, I didn't want to live anymore. My friends from when I was a kid were now gone...friends I knew so well. Kate was the only bright light left for me. Her smile, her courageousness and will to survive kept me going. One day, we were scouting the bridge for any who were being forced off the edge. We figured that ever since our friend's deaths, we would try to help all we can and fight back. Well, it worked for a while. We got bats and clubs, guns if we could, and fought our way through the crowds. We got a few out, and lost others along the way.

Kate...it's unbearable to live with her...

How did she die? The mindless citizens on the bridge surrounded her. Slowly...they were smart enough to wait for her to tire. Whoever controlled them made sure she was weak before attacking her. Before I could turn around to ask if she was okay, I saw them push her off into the sea. I couldn't fight my way through to save her, so I had to run. I wish I hadn't. By now I've been wishing I had gone after her, to die with her rather than live.

*click*