| Our New Life | (Shourtney Fanfic)

Chapter Ten: We Have To Dig Deeper

Shayne's P.O.V

"...Then, before he attacked me, he said this whole situation is because of 'the president's mistake'."

Irene sighed. "So much mystery for a life so fragile."

"The president's mistake... did he give any other clues?" Kirsten asked.

I leaned back in my chair, staring at the ceiling. My mind was all over the place when it happened, so it was hard for me to remember the details.

"He referred to me as 'your kind.'" I said. "I think he said this was way more than about YouTuber's influence on people, too."

Kirsten dug her face in her hands. "One of the stages of genocide, dehumanization."

"Excuse me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's when the enemy calls you anything other than human." Irene explained. "That's what happened."

"Wait... you think this is genocide?"

"It is." Kirsten answered, her face full of sincerity. "You wanna know exactly what's happening in America right now? Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed. YouTuber or not. Bodies lay in the streets, and the police force won't even take those bodies away and give a proper burial. Laws have changed. People have changed."

I was speechless. I had spent so much time down here that I was so naive about what was happening on the surface.

"We still can't tell if this is some sort of apocalyptic situation or not." Kirsten said. "But the worst thing about all of this is that the raiders are spreading across seas."

"Where are they going?" I asked.

"To the UK, I presume."

Irene broke the long silence that followed. "Shayne... you and Courtney had no training for a mission, yet you both made it out of the White House alive."

"That's pretty impressive." Kirsten added. "But, for now on... we need you to stay down here."

"What?!" I exclaimed. "What about Damien and Courtney?"

"They're going to become spies. I'm sorry, Shayne. Now that the government has seen your face in representation of the entire YouTube community, they're going to hunt you down. You're too valuable."

"What...?" I said, confused. "How am I valuable? I'd rather risk it than be stuck down here for the rest of my life."

"Shayne, you don't understand." Irene said, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Ever since you made that speech, people look to you as a symbol of hope. If you died, who knows what the rest of the community would do at that point."

"I can fight." I said. "I'll go into training... just please don't leave me down here feeling hopeless."

"Our original plan was to put you in every single Smosh video. Including Smosh Games. We need you to continue being the hilarious guy you've always been on camera. Pretend like nothing's happened." Irene explained.

I sighed, feeling absolutely defeated. I could not believe what I was hearing. Was this really how things were going to be for now on? I wanted so desperately to fight alongside my friends. There were so many questions that could lead us to the real reason why we were all stuck in this situation in the first place.

"You're dismissed, Shayne." Kirsten said. "Your new schedule will be delivered to your room in half an hour. For now, take some time to relax and enjoy yourself. You've earned it."