enos broke off a piece from the loaf of bread in his hand and ate it. he sat on a matress that was placed on a concrete floor in his quaint single room dwelling. skeletal remnants, flashed in his mind, the macabre skeletal figures from his ever pressing nightmares these days, shatter and turn to dust when the daydreams disolve and he returns to his bleak existence, only made bearable by the gentle annabelle. there, swirling now like swaths of hollow despair, were the haunting wisps of his mother that burned in his mind. he remembered every friday afternoon brought such excitement as a young boy about ten years old, when his mother would step through the door, disheveled from her shift on the assembly line at the factory down by the suicide river where suicide maidens slit their wrists and fell into the polluted water as an offering to god for their ancestral sins. though ragged in a dirty faded white jumpsuit, smudged with grease stains, she was aglow with a smile, a loaf of bread in one hand and a burlap sack of groceries in the other. enos would run to her and grab the burlap sack, climbing the counter near the woodstove and put the groceries away in the cubbard above. his mother sat on the matress as enos scrambled down off the counter, she patted her lap and enos sat within her warmth, hugging her affecionately, aglow in a smile much like hers, happy to be there with her, safe in her shelter, her gentle eyes lovingly watched enos as he reached out for the loaf of bread in her hand. she relinquished the loaf of bread and enos enthusiastically took it, breaking off a piece and offered it to his mother, who ate it from his hand and when she finished, enos broke off a piece for himself, eating it hungrily. enos mother brushed back his hair, kissing him atop his head then his cheeks. they shared a laugh as enos devoured the loaf of bread. she slid enos off her lap and got up to deposit what remained of her buttons that she got paid for that weeks work at the factory into a mason jar on the counter. later that evening she tidied up the place while humming a poptone as enos rolled his toy car across the floor, it was an antique replication of extinct technology, a silver colored exotic model with tiny black wheels. after she was done tidying up the place, she turned on the radio, pulling out her lottery stubs from her pocket. she sat beside enos who was still deep in play, she patted his hand and he looked up at her, she grinned sweetly at enos, lets pray, she whispered to enos, who grinned in kind. they genuflected onto the floor, closed their eyes and with a soft voice she said her prayers, dear god and our almighty savior lord cardi, i ask for mercy tonight, please offer us reprieve from our sins and allow the lottery to be in our favor, amen, she grinned at enos and kissed him atop his head, he went back to playing with his toy car, his mother listened intently to the radio as the daily news segment wrapped up. after a quick adware jingle the lottery anouncement began, she glanced at her lottery stubs, checking them against the numbers being called, the lottery anouncement ended and with a somber sigh she tossed her lottery stubs into the waste bin and turned off the radio. with slow methodical motions she got enos and herself ready for bed. feeling dejected she reveled in her time with enos. it was her son that gave her purpose in an otherwise bleak existence. she turned off the lights and tucked enos in beneath the blankets, she never used any blankets for herself, she did what she could to ensure that enos had the best life she could provide. in the dark they laid there and she would regale enos with tales about the tower of lord cardi, its gilded persona, the gold encasements on the walls and ceilings, the celestial balls that were held at the palace gardens, the mighty cathedral within the tower with its epic stained glass murals depicting the grandeur of lord cardi, the decadent feasts the chefs served, the sunday ceremonials where choir singers sang heavenly minstrels and with a gentle smile she told enos that their fortunes would change and they would be forgiven for the sins of their ancestors. she pointed to the trash dunes that laid beyond the barred window, those are the sins we pay for, she spoke, they, our ancestors, polluted the world and deprived it of its godly beauty, enos turned his head and gazed at the trash dunes that pierced the smog induced sky, a putrid grey held in a smoky haze, than his mother moved her finger, enos's head followed and she pointed to the tower of lord cardi, a halo of glorious light that burnt brillantly in the skyline, that my baby boy, is our hope, if we win the lottery we can get out of here and live in the inner sanctuary until we make our way as the ethereal and gain clearance into the tower as part of the divine, free of all sin, pure as the first angels in heaven, have faith my son, we will get there, she smiled at enos and recited a passage from the book of psalms she had memorized, 11: serve the lord with fear and rejoice with trembling, than with a delicate whisper she said good night and kissed enos on his cheek and they fell asleep. a prattle came from the door, it drew enos from his thoughts and he got up, putting the loaf of bread away in a clear plastic bag and left it on the counter, wiping the crumbs from his faded white jumpsuit and opened the door. a patrolman in a stark black uniform with a few shiny badges that were oaths to the state, to enforce lord cardi laws with loyal honor, grabbed enos violently, pushing him out the door and forced him down the hall of the first floor towards the other tennants near the stairwell, anouncing loudly in repetition that the cleansing was about to commence. the patrolman went to the door across enos's room and pushed out a young woman, roughly shoving her down the hall towards the others than continued down the hall, going door to door, rounding up the tennants. enos tried to smile at the young woman but he was too afraid to let slip his emotions for her. "hey enos, another dreary sunday?" he did not respond to her. "you should get a haircut, i can do it for you." she ran her fingers through enos's hair as he shielded his body and hers by turning his back to the other tennants and their prying eyes, the last thing he wanted was to be reported to the authorities for a handful of buttons by some strangers. "i am good annabelle." enos grabbed her hand and kissed it tenderly, making sure that the patrolman or anyone else could not see him. after the remaining tennants were rounded up they were forced with pure brutality down the stairs and outside, as the tennants piled out the entranceway to the cold complex, they were ordered into single lines and were marched down the street violently towards the center of the town square. they were prodded along with fierce truncheon blows to the back of their heads to keep them in check. the patrolmen put the crowd into place before the cleansing wall. an aircab patrol wagon descended to the asphault road, its thrusters blowing hot exhaust, kicking up rocks and debris as it landed. its gulfwing doors opened with an audible hiss and patrolmen poured out, armed with assault rifles and riot gear, two of the patrolmen stayed behind as two patrolmen within the craft, thudded their rifle butts into the backs of the naked disenters being unloaded, their chains rattled with each blow. they wore black hoods to cover their faces and shackles were at their feet and wrists, the patrolmen moved them towards the cleansing wall, where they were nailed onto the wall in a crucifix pose, blood seeping from their palms and then they were unmasked. grim despair lingered on their faces as they wept. the patrolmen gathered into a firing squad in front of the naked disenters. an aircab police unit, lurched downward from the sky, landing in a cloud of dust. its gulfwing doors opened with an audible hiss and the sacrosanct general stepped out, moving with slow methodical steps, peering malevolently at the crowd, until he was at the middle of the crowd and stood before them. "all hail lord cardi!" the sacrosanct general screeched menancingly. the crowd responded back. "hail lord cardi!" the sacrosanct general raised a fist into the air at head level and the crowd went silent. "as it was anounced on saturday on the daily news segment, these filthy disenters sins were made publc for all to know, that their deviation from the laws of the supreme master, lord cardi, had brought them here, their faithless decadence, bore sins unforgivable, may their punishment for disenting from lord cardis laws and betraying our great state, serve as a reminder that those who wallow in sins other than their inherent sin will be shown no mercy!" the sacrosanct general paced along the street, staring intensely at the crowd, poignant in his movements. "it is time to cleanse the sinful of this world!" with a subtle wave of his hand the sacrosanct general signaled the firing squad to fire. they unloaded their clips into the naked disenters, who clinched their faces, wailing in torment as their tears fell, their skulls cracked with a sick pop, their flesh shredded, a horrible noise stirred as bullets gnashed on bone, their chest cavities engorged, entrails spilt out onto the street, a crimson river flowed profusely from their mangled corpses. the sacrosanct general walked away from the carnage and boarded the aircab police unit and took off. the patrolmen returned to the aircab patrol wagon and climbed in, they sat inside waiting for the crowd to disperse. one of the patrolman inside radio'd headquarters for a clean up crew to the cleansing wall. patrolmen started bludgeoning the crowd, coralling them back to their complexes. an airhauler refuse unit rumbled from the sky and landed heavily. its sliding doors heaved along their tracks noisily as state workers jumped out dressed in opaque hazzard suits and walked over to the cleansing wall with their gear and equipment. they pried the corpses from the wall, putting them into dark green bodybags and set the corpses to the side for the other state workers to toss into the dumpbed of the airhauler refuse unit, they picked up big chunks of guts, throwing them into a huge waste barrel and sprayed the streets with a power washer, freeing the street of gore. they carried back their gear and equipment and loaded it into the airhauler refuse unit and got in. the engine roared mightily, thrusters billowing white exhaust as they ascended into the sky. the crowds were thinning out but enos stood there glimpsing at the immensity of the trash dunes, clutching a piece of paper in his pocket, wondering if it was true, a thwack punctured the silence as a truncheon blow crashed on the back of enos's head, blood began to drip, staining his jumpsuit as he ran his hand through the blood, stunned. enos was fiercely shoved, but he complied and he started to walk. he heard a commotion up ahead, he could see it was his friend silvanus running frantically up the street, two patrolmen were in pursuit, his arms were flailing, a manic nature possessed his eyes as he got closer to enos, shouting, with his voice shrill. "underground! a city! believe me! there beyond the boundaries!" the patrolmen were yelling loudly, demanding silvanus to stop but he ignored their commands and he kept running and screaming becoming more incoherent, the patrolmen stopped yelling and withdrew their assault rifles, fired and unloaded their clips, silvanus slumped over, falling to the street, his body riddled with bullet holes, blood gathered about his corpse. a truncheon blow, slammed into the back of enos's head, widening his wound, fresh blood trickled onto his jumpsuit, bringing him out of his present shock, he was pushed with a savage thrust and enos began to move again. enos entered the foyer to his complex and trudged up the steps to the first floor, he went down the hall and opened the door to his room and went inside. he grabbed a couple of logs from the pile in the corner near the door. he put them into the woodstove, tossing in kindling he had beside the woodstove into the woodstove, he snatched the book of matches off the counter, opened it and pulled off a match, he struck it against his boot. placing it atop the kindling and a fire rose within the depths of the woodstove. enos sat on the matress, the smell of burning wood reminded him of his mother and that horrible day as a boy, he could see it vividly, his mother and him playing with toys on the floor when a knock sounded on the door, his mother got up and answered the door, a sacrosanct general stood in the doorway accompanied by two death-heads, cyborgs made from fine junk parts with a human head that was linked by cybernetic energy to the brain and programmed by the state to be vile mercanaries, the sacrosanct general made his way inside, enos mother frightened asked how can i help you, he said nothing, with stoic function he waved with his hand and the death-heads entered the room and seized enos's mother and forced her over to the woodstove and onto her knees, they grasped her arms and held them down on the smoldering woodstove, her flesh sizzled and blistered white as the sacrosanct general stared at her coldly, she began to cry, tears rolled down her face, enos was frozen with fear, watching in horror, helpless. "we were informed by several eye witnesses verified by security footage that you stole a loaf of bread this afternoon, since this is your first true sin, the punishment will be linient." enos's mother turned to look at her son, i am sorry my baby boy, this has to be done for i have sinned and brought shame to our great state, may god and lord cardi have mercy on me, she said through the tears. the sacrosanct general unsheethed his sword, glaring at its reflective steel, he lifted the sword and swung it downwards with brute force, the steel sliced into enos's mothers wrist, blood gushed about the woodstove, cascading onto the floor, the blood on the woodstove bubbled and popped, her hands were severed, the sacrosanct general bent down and picked up her hands, opened the woodstove and threw her hands inside and slammed it shut, the death-heads released her, she hit the floor and curled into a fetal posistion, sobbing uncontrolably, the sacrosanct general walked to the opposite side of the room off to the left and dipped his glove in their state alocated water bucket and cleaned it of the blood than he dipped in his gruesome blood drenched sword into the bucket and swished the sword about, withdrawing it, he wiped it on his pant leg, rotating sides until the reflective steel echoed brightly again and sheethed his sword than he kicked over the bucket of water, it slid down to enos's mother, saturating her clothes. the shock left her silent, enos leaned into his mother, hugging her while resting his head on her shoulder, the sacrosanct general left that savage scene with the two death-heads following behind him, enos wept for his mother through the night, she bled out by early morning, he tried to shake her into waking, but she did not move, panic built in his mind, frantically he repeated, mother wake up, over and over, but it was no use she would not wake up, anxious he ran out the room, flew down the stairs, yelling for a patrolman at the entranceway, one came over and enos told him about his mother, he followed enos back to his room, he inspected her corpse, kneeling down to her, moving her arms, they fell limp, he looked at enos, she's dead, he got on the radio, telling headquarters that he needed some refuse workers at complex 3, he told the operator he had a dead woman on the first floor at room 7. the refuse workers came and put his mothers corpse into a dark green bodybag and carried her away. enos sat in that empty room for an hour when a knock at the door sounded, he got up off the floor and opened it, a state worker in a dull plaid dress made of burlap and wool greeted him, i was informed that your mother passed away last night, you are enos right, the old woman glanced down at enos, he shook his head, yes mam, she continued, since you have no father or mother, you are property of the state now, you have two choices, resume your mothers job on the assembly line at the factory for half the buttons she made or be cleansed, the state can not have unproductive bastards around, she procured a clip board with legal papers for enos to sign. enos does not remember his father, he ran away when he was one years old, the patrolmen could not find him or his body, his mother assumed he was dead, enos felt grief and panic, realizing he had no one now, that his childhood was over, he made his choice, signing the papers and the next day he started on the assembly line at the factory, the days slipped by, long in sorrowful memories, his mind was always preoccupied by rememberances of his mother as he grew older and bitter. a delicate tap echoed on the door, pulling enos out of morose rememberances, he asked, who is it, a hushed voice reverberated back, annabelle, he got up and let her in, she was mortified by the blood on enos's clothes, what happened, she asked out of concern, inspecting with her hands, the trail of blood on his jumpsuit, i got hit in the back of the head, annabelle went behind enos, pulling apart his hair, searching for the wound, she found the gaping pinhole ozzing blood, she gasped, let me get the first aid kit, she went over to the cubbard and pulled down the first aid kit, she went back to enos and she demanded with benevolence for him to sit, enos sat on the floor and annabelle sat behind him on the matress and dressed his wound, he traced lightly her legs with his fingers and caressed her ankles, done, annabelle kissed enos atop his head, draping her arms, crossed on his chest, she leaned in and kissed his cheek, she rested her head on his shoulder, they were cheek to cheek, he traced his fingers along her arms, than picked up her hand and kissed it lightly with his lips, they sat there in silence and enjoyed each others presence, enos spoke, i have something to show you, he piqued her interest, her eyes were bold with inquiry, he pulled out the piece of paper in his pocket, unfolded it and showed it to her, what is that, she inquired, a map, silvanus gave it to me a couple of weeks ago, enos looked up at annabelle and handed it to her, she inspected it and retorted, you know silvanus is a crazy fool right, she peered at enos, was, he was shot down today, the patrolmen found him beyond the boundaries, running wildly through the streets, yelling about what is on this map, annabelle remarked, and what is that exactly, she folded the map and gave it back to enos, an underground city he discovered, you know what this means right, their eyes met, what, he kissed her hand, an opportunity to leave this place, annabelle hesistated and sighed, sounds like too much of a risk, enos clutched her hand within his hand, the coupling is only three months away, soon the state will pair you with some strange man and move you away to another complex, we won't be able to see each other again, our time is running out, we have to escape, i know this map to be true, i don't want to lose you, he kissed her on her lips, lost in her eyes, how do you propose we escape, he traced her arm and hand with his fingers, i have a plan, trust me, he clutched her hand again, lost in her eyes, ok, annabelle whispered, kissing enos atop his head, he spoke, meet me here later tonight, pack what you need, don't forget your electric light, he held her hand tightly as she got up, before their hands could seperate, he leaned in and kissed her hand affectionately, his voice a whisper, be careful leaving, don't let anyone see you, she smiled, her eyes dazzled with supreme affection, he spoke, i love you, enos let go of her hand, i love you too, she spoke with a hush and left the room.
