As the car drove along the roads, I noticed something horrid. People, many of them, old and young, newborn and all, were being forced out of their homes for something as insignificant as skin colour and belief. This new regime was ruining everything.
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I watched as we drove by, disheartened, as an elder was shot for what appeared no be no reason. I didn't know them, but what point was there in the action? What reason did they have other than their ire to do this? I gasped as they threw a newborn to the ground, stomping it to death, blood everywhere. Tears ran down my face, but my mother hushed me, and thank goodness she did, one of the green men were eyeing us angrily.
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We arrived at our home, and shot out of the car as soon as we could, racing up the steps of our apartment complex to find our dad just coming home from work. Momma rushed up and snatched the keys from him and forced the door open, looking warily behind us. “Hey hun, what’s going on? Wh-” She took his hand and rushed us into the apartment, Noah and I running to our rooms where we immediately started packing; scared of what the green men’d do.
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We rushed out into the living room, all that was ours and we could carry in our arms, our parents burst out of their room, Momma having already packed, but our dad refusing to do so. She was trying to pull him back with what she had in hand, but he just wasn't listening. “Joseph! You have to listen to me, they have guns-” “And? That means nothing if we just get to Galaxia while we still ca-”
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BANG
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The second of that sound that day. The door came flying off its hinges, three of the green men, two with guns, entering thereafter. The one in the middle of the three smirked, perhaps enjoying what they were doing. “Trying to escape, are we?” He said, a toothy grin to him, “Well, we can’t have that! Pack your bags, and nobody will be harmed.” My father just looked him up and down, disbelieving. He frowned, ready to go on a spiel.
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“I want an explanation now. He demanded, but the green man simply chuckled, shaking his head amusedly. “I’d think your wife had already told you there’s nothing you can do.” But my father still would not back down. “I demand someone of higher authority, now!” The green man’s smile faltered slightly. “The person of higher authority in which you seek authorised this, so there’s no point in fuming.”
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“This- this is crazy! You people got too comfortable with your power, and look at what you’ve done! Y-” My father was cut off. “Officer, shoot him.” The green man said, now wearing a look of vehement displeasure. Momma, not standing for this, interjected. “No no no, don’t mind him, he’s just being a bit hot headed, there’s no need, no need at all-” My dad moved her aside, failing to read the room. “You people and your idiot chancellor! It’s always you, you, you, at the centre of everything! You should all be damned to the darkest depths of Gloria! You Soldammed-” “Dad?” I interrupted, trying to get him to calm down. The men in green had their guns at the ready, and they could shoot anytime. “Not now Loycelynne, the adults are talking-” As they say, third times the charm.
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BANG
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My father fell to the ground with a thud, not before freezing and falling limp. We all screamed, rushing to my daddy’s body, wishing for him to just get up and say ‘That Hurt’, but I knew he wouldn’t.
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The green men chuckled behind us, speaking thereafter. “Now get packing! You don’t want to leave these kids orphaned.” And he put a sort of strain on the last word that got momma to stand up fast. She wiped the tears from her face, and walked to get another suitcase from her room. She came back, calm and collected.
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“There we go, that’s the cooperation we’re looking for.” The green man said, giving us leeway to go. Momma side eyed him as we left, four suitcases in hand, and simply stayed silent. We stopped at our neighbours, the Robinson’s door, our mother knocking it. “Momma?” I said, “Why are we here?” She stared blankly at me, face chalk white. “... You’ll see.”
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The door opened, and Mrs. Robinson stood there, wrapped in a towel, having just gotten out of the shower. She looked worried; I think she knew what was going on. A silent exchange happened between momma and her, which ended in Mrs. Robinson turning around swiftly to go get something. Ollie, my best friend and neighbour appeared in the doorway, a sad look on his face. “My mom told me what’s happening.” He said, nearing the verge of tears. “There isn't much I can do but…” He took a breath, “I’d like you to have this.” He then handed me an eight ball. “It’s magic. It can help detect danger and- and lots of other th-” “Here you go, hun” Mrs. Robinson had returned, handing Momma a rolled up map some water had gotten on it, but nobody noticed, it’d probably dry later.
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Ollie walked up to me and gave me a hug, withdrawing thereafter. He smiled sadly as Mrs. Robinson closed the door, making it the last time I’d probably ever see him. He had said “Bye Loycelynne…” And I hoped that wouldn’t be the case.
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We made our way back to the green men’s cars outside, saying goodbye to others, most of them shocked, confused, and sad. Others were being forced out, others had finished packing, and others were on the floor not moving. Like my dad.
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Anyway, I put the eight ball in my pocket, and we sat down in an empty space the green men wouldn’t mind us being. My Momma took our hands, and began a prayer. Our father not being here felt… unusual.
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Momma began, holding us dear. “Sol, thank you. Thank you that we are able to see another day, through whatever the world throws at us, through adversity and all. However unfavourable our captors may be, please forgive them. And my husband, now…” She paused, “dead, give him a favourable afterlife once Gloria welcomes him. Please keep this family together, Sol, for we know that you shall always be there no matter what. You shine eternally, and in your name we say Joy.”
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Then a voice, one we did not recognise.
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“And so it shall be done.”
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. . .
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I watched through the window, the world rushing by. Men with guns were walking up and down the vehicle, enforcing our silence as we drove by landmark after landmark.
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We sped northward past downtown, the expulsion not at all different from what we had already seen. The same violence and ire. Hours passed as we sat on the metal floor, hoping and fearing. The countryside had come upon us, and of the few people we saw, there was worry about their features.
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It was night before we arrived, and though nearly everyone was still awake, that didn't stop the green men from shouting. “EVERYBODY UP!” He shouted, startling us. “GET YOUR A--ES OFF THIS CAR BEFORE I MAKE YOU!” We shot up, leaving as fast as we could, the green men kicking those who hadn’t as they tried.
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Where they had sent us though, was a sight to behold. It was like one of those camps that Adionderia had housed Vilmedians, wooden houses, likely without insulation, in rows upon rows, surrounded by barbed wire. There were watchtowers that that guards could look from, with gun mounting stations for whatever reason. A swamp surrounded the thing, a forest a bit further away, as if they intended the place to rot.
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We chose ourselves wooden house to settle down in, Momma taking a deep breath once we closed the door behind us. “At least they had the decency to give us a kitchen and beds…”
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I sat down, Ollie’s eight ball in my hand. I shook the eight ball, thinking one thing.
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“Am I in danger?”
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It whirred silently, before stopping abruptly.
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“Yes.”
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