Population Control

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Zocom was confidently strolling down the road towards his new house. He looked behind him to see the gate that separated the lower citizens from the higher up politicians and the wealthy. He would soon be one of those politicians he thought to himself. He pushed the thought aside as he now turned to face his house.

It was much taller than his prior house; it was just tall enough that even though the sun was not yet setting it still hid it from view. He approached it and felt the polished latch before pulling the door open and going inside.

He admired the house's rooms, for they were not only spacious, but also well maintained. He prepared and laid out his clothes for the next day in an orderly fashion. Afterwards he looked out the window towards the skyscraper that would be where he would work from now on. He thought about how he would present himself tomorrow. After all, the selection ceremony was tomorrow; he would have to lay low because he knew that the current leaders would do anything in their power to stop him from threatening their power.

He put that thought aside however so he could go to bed. He went upstairs to the bedroom and found himself impressed yet again with the house. All the furniture came standard and yet the bed was made so well that he fell asleep within minutes.

He woke up the next day and got ready for what he knew would be the most important day of his life. After he was done getting ready he looked outside and saw a chauffeur waiting for him. He hoped that this wouldn't be the last time he had an escort to go to work. He opened the door and went over to the chauffeur who regarded him with a nod and then he entered the vehicle.

The flight was fairly short, but that could have been due to the fact that his mind was preoccupied. He arrived at the skyscraper that dominated the skyline and entered through the main doors. He saw the wide open lobby and the infinitely detailed architecture of the arches on the walls and for a few moments was dumbstruck. He was snapped back to reality when a person bumped into him. Zocom quickly apologized even though he hadn't moved and immediately recognized the man. He was the third in command of the whole planet. The man quickly responded, "Excuse you! Do you even know who I am?"

Zocom struggled to remember the man's name, but couldn't under the circumstances, but quickly responded a bit too eagerly saying, "Of course I do sir, who doesn't?"

The man responded, "Good question... Who might you be? You seem new to this place; are you an assistant here?"

Zocom responded confidently, "Actually sir, I am the new representative of Anare."

The man looked at him and seemed to almost size him up, and then said, "Well, you seem like you know what you're doing. You best be careful around here with that confidence, especially since you just got here."

Zocom realized that he had forgotten about his plan to stay low for a while. He just nodded at the statement from the man and walked away. He quickly went up to his office and sat in his chair. He thought about what the man had said and for a second, he thought that he saw a gleam in the man's eye when he had said to be careful around here.

This thought was interrupted when he heard a voice come over the intercom.

It said, "All leaders and lords report to the top floor for special selection matters at this time."

Zocom knew that if the man he had just talked to thought of him as a threat, even a small one; he would be in the next selection. He sat in his office praying for the best. It seemed like an eternity to him before the intercom came back on announcing the specially selected people. These people should be the bad people in the world, so that they get picked to go no matter what. However, the people that are in power now have a tendency to take out rivals with this power.

He waited and listened intently to the names they were rambling off like it was nothing. He almost felt safe when he heard it. "Zocom, Grongid..." He didn't listen to any more of them after that. He felt like the floor had just vanished from beneath him and he was now falling to the ground in slow-motion.

Not seconds after he had heard this he saw six security officials enter into his office and ask for him to follow them. He just stared back at them for a moment and then slowly rose up out of his chair. The next part after that was a blur as he passed back through the lobby. He did however think that he saw the very same man now smirking at him as he was escorted into a different vehicle.

He snapped back to reality when the vehicle stopped at the entrance to a large building. He was taken out of the vehicle and escorted into the building and up to a counter with a large line leading up to it. Only two of the bodyguards stayed with him while the others vanished into the sky in the vehicle.

He then thought about the possibility of an escape. There were only two guards now, if he could cause a distraction maybe he could take one of their weapons and shoot his way out.

He glanced at one of the guard's weapons. He tried to stifle his joy as he realized that he actually knew how to use it. He quickly began to think of a distraction he could employ that wouldn't get him killed in the process. Unfortunately, the best option he had boiled down to if he could over power a guard.

He waited until the line started moving again, then he tripped the person in front of him. The person turned around and as he had hoped and shoved him into one of the guards. Zocom used this time to try to grab the guards weapon.

It didn't go as planned; the guard had smacked the weapon from his hand and it seemed to disappear int the mass of people. The other guard saw this and drew his weapon. He was quickly attacked by someone who had the same idea as Zocom. The guard almost instinctively shot down the man. Zocom saw the sharp rod fly out of the barrel and plunge into the man's upper chest. Then the man fell down to the floor with a thud.

Zocom tore away from that image and fueled by fear threw a punch at the unarmed guard. He connected with the guard's throat. He heard a crunching sound and took a moment to get over the shock of what he did. He then turned to face the other guard and as he did so he heard a bang...