The Only Ones Left

Chapter 1 - The World

I'm one of the only ones left. They've killed the others. I'm lucky I've survived this far. I hope to bring them back, like a fashion statement, but hopefully they won't die out. The days are fading away like a spoiled little girl spending her money.  I've learned to hide these things from everyone and so far the first couple years of my life have been easier than ever but I've been faced with the hardest challenges I could even think of. I want to hide the truth but as the years go by, it becomes more and more difficult to keep back. The sun shone through the boarded up windows in my small apartment, granting heat I had not been able to find within the last few weeks. Below the 3 story building in which I stayed, I could see the Sharpeners, their weapons glimmering in the sunlight. They crossed the dark alleyway and passed the broken fountain which I used to sit by. Whose house are they going to trash now? I thought. It was like the heavens wanted to hit me with an answer, because I heard gunshots in the distance. Those screams, they aren't a man's but neither was it a female's. They must be children. I shot up from my crouch and tried to observe the position of the scream, to no avail.
    "Collin?" I heard a familiar voice say, "Did you hear about the Pearson's harboring a bi illegally? I think it was a lost cause from the start, due to their openness to the officials, but I'd hoped that my prayers would bring them through this crisis." It was Sam. I've known Sam for years now and when she came out to me I felt my whole life turn around. Every single day passed like the next, Someone dies each and every day, not because of old age or starvation, but because nobody wanted anything to do with the harmless group of LGBTQ+ members. They found it all as a sin and I never understood why because if you can't prove it then why do it? Just a bunch of Homophobes. Sam touched me on the shoulder, and I jerked my head back at him. "Yes, I did. I just saw the Sharp-Things kill one of them." I had gotten used to seeing death. Apparently, back in the old days, it was rare and exceedingly more hurtful to see it. Me, I am different, I've seen thousands die due to discrimination. There was a knock at the door, and Sam hid back in the corner where he always did. We had a protocol for this type of activity. I decided that I would eventually need to open it.  Then, as if I suddenly was shot in the head, realised it was in Morse. Dit-dit-dit {Pause} Dah-dah-dah {Pause} Dit-dit-dit. SOS. I opened the door and found Drew standing there. "Where did you come from?" I asked. When I saw his leg, I understood immediately. Blood was pouring out of cuts that looked as fresh as the morning breeze. "Downstairs, the police just murdered Katarina, the Russian lady that we once called flat-face." He said, panting quickly.
    As I began to run down the stairs, I could see more blood, coming from Drew's cuts, showing. Then, as if hit with a bullet, I stopped. It was true. The woman whom I had once called family had been murdered. There was a notice on her door that read. FUGITIVE TAKEN OUT. ANY AND ALL SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY SHOULD BE REPORTED TO SHARP HEADQUARTERS! I quickly ran back upstairs to help clean up Drew's cuts. The blood still pouring out of his injured leg., I ran quickly to find the first aid kit and rags to clean up the mess. Any trail leading to us could kill us Instantly. Once we cleaned up the mess pouring out of his leg, I fixed his arm up and gave him a supplement of O+ blood. In the year 2050, many technological advancements, such as high-powered batteries and procedurally generated blood were now cheap as 10 cent per pack. Now that the government had grown beyond its limits, it had collapsed and a new governing body quickly rose to power. The Sharp corps had killed any and all political enemies such as Phil, the former Doctor and Chris Jenkins. The power was similar to that of 110 years ago, when the world was at war. New governments had taken advantage of the crisis and tried to kill Mr. Sharp for our benefit. The US, now just the States, was discharged from Nato and the UN, and was declared at war with the rest of the world. The power that the US had acquired had been immense, to the point that nuclear weapons had destroyed half the nations of Europe. The world was now just half the size of the former nation of liberty. I had decided that I would not intervene within the national crisis, but then found myself wanting to become transgender. Nobody knows that I had my surgeries before the end of the crisis. Mr. Sharp himself had spoken to me with no apparent hatred. His wicked smile curved with disgust at the sight of anyone suspected of being part of my community. 5 years ago, he ordered the Sharpeners, his personal military guard, to attack anyone and everyone who opposed him. The largest group of opposition was the LGBTQ+ community. After that, he decided to destroy the threat of my community, endangering me, my friends, and the world of freedom he had promised. "We need to get out of here, it's not safe!" I said, unable to process what just happened. "Nowhere is safe Collin. Where do you expect us to go, McDonalds? It's not that simple." Drew responded.
I ran from the door, quickly enough that the rain that had fallen yesterday did not impact my speed. The guards walked through the town square, quickly enough to remind us that today was the Sharp-Day. The day was supposed to "honor Sharp's great achievement of distinguishing the fire of the obsolete terrorists." We stopped at a corner and took out a mirror, made of glass. We looked around the corner with the utensil, and saw guards coming. "Halt, stay right there for examination!" we heard them say. We ran in the opposite direction, and they came running after us. The guards of the city were quick, but not fast enough to catch us. Guns weren't in use by these city guards, or not legally, due to their rank. They were Sharp 5th class, or enlisted guards. The only thing they had was a taser stick. Their weapons glinted in the sunlight. Had we stopped, they would've killed us with their bare hands. I heard someone fall in the distance, and made sure Drew was with me. When we finally went to the gate before  them, we locked it behind us. They couldn't get through the gate without permission, which I wouldn't grant. The locks were made of Titanium infused Diamonds, possibly the strongest material that was widely available. I remember when diamonds were much rarer, before the space age. We had ships travel to Jupiter and gather diamonds in the millions of Karats.
    "Are you ok? Are you hurt? Are you-" Drew began, but I interrupted, asking the same thing in a harsher tone. His leg was bleeding again, not as badly, but still enough for blood loss to be a risk. I was rather unscathed, only then realising the bruises I had received from the sheer impact of tripping once on the way to the house. I heard the guards halt outside the gate, and then try to open it, to no success. The problem was ever growing: we would try and get some food and almost get caught. We had little money, being the last fraction of our community. Later that day, the main news broadcasting system, SHARP, announced the total extermination of the community of  LGBTQ+ members. I was distraught. They must've known that nobody would've come forth willingly, and the announcement of this would've been the perfect plan to endanger the rest, the only ones left.
Drew slept beside me, in the small bed we had. Sam was on guard duty tonight, letting me and Drew get some rest. I had decided that Drew needed to rest, due to his former injuries. I checked his jacket pockets, checking for some sort of money, something to get food for the next day. Then, I realised that there was a piece of bread in the front pocket. I woke Drew up, and asked "Where did you get this? And how?" He woke up with a startling reaction "Who is there?! Who goes there?" I asked him the same question again "Where did you get the bread?" "Where do you think I got it? It was from the marketplace. I took it from Mr. Sharp. He had his interview today. He decided that I wasn't worth his trouble." I looked him right in the eye and said "You got caught? That's why they ran after us?" He replied with a nod. "I can't believe you'd risk the rest of this community for your selfish means." Sam said from the corner.  I opened up my phone and looked at the time, 17:18. It was time we got dinner, as we need it. I took a piece of bread and bit into it, my insides warming with the tenderness of the insides. Apparently, this was a baguette, something of French origin. This was when there was a France. Later that day, I walked along the metal fence, its barbed wires glimmering in the sunlight. I threw a stick at it, to make sure that the charge was still on. I heard a buzz and knew that the guards had no chance of getting in. The sun was set high in the sky, its rays reaching every square inch of the ground. The moon was perpendicular to its path, a feat done by shooting nuclear weapons at it to see if we could change its path. The sun was setting, and I heard a military vehicle in the distance. The guards must've alerted Sharp headquarters of an illegal resident within the city. I could hear a boom, and things went berserk after that. The speed of the fight made the run for my life look like molasses. Within minutes, I was captured by the guards, and then everything went black.
When I woke, everything was dark, then I heard a click, and then saw a light in the distance. A dark and dangerous sounding voice said, "Who are you? What is your gender?" I stayed quiet, only to feel a sharp pinch on my neck. The government had developed a truth serum, but it only worked on what people knew as the truth. This made it ineffective against me. I am male I thought. I am not trans, but just a male I kept telling myself. "This will be the last time I will ask before I blow your brains out. Who are you, and what is your gender?" The voice was cold, deadly, and had a sense of determination. "I... am Collin." I said, trying to fight the liquid coursing in my veins and tarnishing my self control, "I am.... Male." The serum had its flaws. "Good, I sense you are a transgender?" I heard the voice say. "Yes." I said, unable to control my response. "I always knew about your little friend, Drew, knowing about your deficiencies. I also knew about Sam. Turns out Drew's friend, Kathleen, knew about you." I tensed up with nervousness. "Why did you not tell the officials?" I heard another voice say, one inside my head. "I didn't want to get hurt, that's why I didn't tell. I don't oppose the government right now, only their action to kill me." I said quickly, still affected by the serum. I felt my restraints loosen and I was brought into a back room, where there was a single light dangling from the ceiling. "Sit, Mr. Collin." I heard a deep voice say. It was only vaguely familiar; I could not focus, but I couldn't be enraged. Then, as if a bird had tried to peck its way into my head, I felt a sharp pinch in my neck. "Transmitter, allows me to see and hear everything you say. You talk about it, and it'll cause you pain by flagging you out in the open. You talk about your transgenderism, and you will die, with or without our support."
I finally was able to focus, the transmitter emitting some sort of pleasure throughout my body. When I saw the patch, a flag with the colors of the rainbow, I had finally understood. I was in the HQ of an unknown organisation saving people like me. "The only place the transmitter will work is if we are invaded, if Sharp is within a mile, or if you are above the surface," I heard the voice say, "none of which is possible within the laws of science. We are too deep down to be hit with anything, not to mention 100+ layers of concrete below us, covering up the core's immense heat." I was flabbergasted by the scientific sound in his voice. It was almost inhuman. "The name is Five, I am sure I know you as Collin. Your friend Drew, is safe. Sam is in the hospital wing... he... had an incident with Kathleen. Kathleen had decided that killing Sam was better than seeing the LGBTQ+ community live on. We have her in custody, under treatment and mind rehabilitation. She is going to not like it, but we are changing the way she thinks about us." I was in shock. There is a community of people like me, people who are also in danger, people who I can relate to! I thought to myself. Then, I was escorted to a small room with a wooden bench, a twin-sized bed, and a separate bathroom with a shower in the corner. I looked around for anything that could be of use, but the only thing I could find was a map. When I tried to pry it from the wall, it had not budged, The power behind the pull was unrivalled. Then, I heard a sound from above, "Access denied," The voice was feminine. "Map reserved to viewing only."  There was no point in trying. It looked like a map of the city, but upside down. This map did not include the outer walls that kept us in, the walls that hid us from the Badlands. The average amount of time it would take me to get past a lock was 1 hour, but in this case, the lock was impenetrable, almost unbreakable. I looked around again, surveying the dimly lit slits that let the little sunlight that was left come through the small holes. The time was approximately 1500. I knew this because the sun was turning a darker shade of grey than usual, and was surpassing the window. I decided it was time to get to sleep, from the lack of it and the "attack" that had occurred earlier.