Bill Of Rights Epilogue

I. All Absolute Laws supersede the Constitution of the United States as well as the Bill of Rights. It is the ultimate governing principle that must be followed at all times.
Keep my head low, stay quiet. Day after day that’s what I’m told to do. Every day it is repeated to me that I’m less than human, that I’m a threat. But is that true? Or is it right on the mark? I’ve seen the “humans” walking around. Even with their extravagances and superior attitudes, they really don’t seem that different. But maybe that’s just me…The ignorant, scrawny, no-nothing me.
Slowly I inhaled the crisp air and looked toward the sky. It was cloudy and grey, as it always is. Exhaling, I watched as my breath condensed. So far today wasn’t going that bad. I had
earned a bit of food working, and there was even enough to bring home to my sister.
As I looked back down I saw someone out of the corner of my eye. Tensing up, I brought my hand toward the bag of food I carried.
“HALT!” a booming voice ordered.
At that moment I knew I had messed up. This wasn’t just some person, it was an officer. As he approached me, I stood still.
“Hand over that bag.” He hissed.
I did as he said.
As he opened it his eyes widened.
“Oh? So how did someone like you happen upon this much food? There’s no way, unless you stole it, that is.”
I clenched my teeth, knowing what would come next. Suddenly I heard a loud splitting sound and a flash of red. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground, staring back up at the sky. The officer was looking down at me, waving his baton with a satisfied smirk.
“That should teach you.” He scoffed.
After delivering a final kick to the gut, he turned around and left. Slowly I sat up. It felt as if the world was spinning. When I touched my hand to my head and looked back down, my fingertips were covered in blood. Cursing under my breath, I carefully stood up. The food I earned was gone, but I still needed to get back home. Being injured makes for an easy target to those looking for trouble. Trust me, I know. This happens all the time. By now it’s nothing to me.
II. The purpose of these laws are NOT to harm, but to protect us in the new world order.
I consider myself lucky, actually. Nowadays, most people don’t even have a roof to sleep under. Just walking down the street, I see dozens of people curled up on the hard concrete. I wouldn’t be surprised if a few of those people were dead. Looking down I picked up the pace, it was starting to get dark.
After a few minutes I finally arrived. The house was completely dark on the inside, which surprises me. Usually by now Rachel lights a candle to signal that there’s someone there. At nighttime, unoccupied houses can get robbed.
I reached into my boot for my key and unlocked the door. Carefully I cracked it open. “Rachel?” I called out. Squinting my eyes, I stepped inside.
“BOO!!” a high pitched voice yelled.
Shortly after hearing that I was tackled.
“Rachel!” I hissed. “You shouldn’t do that, I could have attacked you!”
“Yea, yea.” Rachel huffed, rolling her eyes.
Skipping away, she opened a drawer and lit a candle. As she brought it toward me she gasped.
“You’re covered in blood!”
“Yea, you think I didn’t know that?” I grumbled.
Locking the door behind me, I shuffle to the couch. It’s torn up quite a bit and smells like urine, but I don’t care that much. It’s better than nothing. As I flopped down I heard Rachel scurry off to the other side of the room. After a few seconds she came back with a bandage and rubbing alcohol.
“You shouldn’t use that, we should save it for serious injuries. That stuff is expensive.”
“Uh, no, you may not realize it, but that qualifies as a serious injury. What happened anyway?”
“Just another officer. I had earned some good food today too, so yea. Sorry about that.”
She sighed. “It doesn’t matter, as long as you’re safe. By the way, have you seen mom today? She hasn’t come back home yet.”
I winced as Rachel cleaned out my wound.
“No…I haven’t. But don’t worry about it ok? I’m sure she’s still at
work.”
After Rachel finished bandaging my head, I turned over on my side. I’m worried about mom, some days she just disappears. I’m not entirely sure what she does, but it’s definitely suspicious. I’m not saying I’m ungrateful or anything, I just worry.
Slowly I closed my eyes, drifting into sleep.
III. The lower-class are sub-human, therefore human rights do not apply to them. If a sub-human breaks any rule listed in “The Rights and Rules of a Sub-human”, any licensed official has right to punish them as they see fit.
After what felt like only a few minutes, sun started filtering in through the window. I sat up and stretched.
“Ugh, I have the worst headache right now….” I muttered as I rolled off the couch.
Standing up unsteadily, I made my way to where Rachel was sleeping.
“Hey RaiRai, wake up.” I whispered, gently nudging her with my foot.
She grumbled and turned over.
“Five more minutes…”
“No you need to get up now. You have to start looking for work close by, I’ll help. Besides, you shouldn’t sleep on the floor it’s not good for you.”
She sat up and huffed.
“Well you were taking up the couch, where else was I supposed to sleep?”
“You could have just slept next to me, there was room.”
“Nuh uh, you’re too big.”
I sighed, rolling my eyes. “Be ready in 5 minutes or I’m leaving you alone.”
“Fine! Fine! I’m getting up!”
I turned around and walked toward the window, trying to give her some privacy. Our house is small and only consists of one room, so privacy is hard to come by. As I looked out the window I saw dozens of people crowding around.
“What in the world….” I mumbled.
Upon closer inspection, I saw a few of them holding up signs. I couldn’t really see what they said, but I’m assuming that it’s something about equality. Narrowing my eyes I cursed under my breath. Out of all places….why did they decide to protest here? It’s against the law for us to protest, and being anywhere near a protest could put Rachel and I in danger.
“Aaron? What’s wrong?” Rachel asked, interrupting my thoughts.
“I changed my mind, you’re not coming with me today. I want you to stay in the house, and if anyone knocks go into the hiding place ok? It’s dangerous right now, we can go tomorrow.”
“Oh…” she said, looking disappointed.
“I’ll be sure to bring back food today, so don’t worry.”
With one last look at her, I turned and walked toward the door. As I reached for the handle Rachel stopped me.
“Wait….just, be safe ok?”
“I will.” I said quietly, not looking back at her.
She nodded, letting go of my arm.
Quickly I slipped out the door and locked it behind me. In that short amount of time the crowd of people had tripled. I’ve never seen so many people protesting at once. In a way it’s exciting, but at the same time terrifying. I mean, I want human rights like everyone else does. But every time a protest gathers, people are killed and tear gassed.
For a few seconds I just stand there, trying to decide what to do. More and more people are gathering by the second, and it’s just a matter of time until the riot police arrive. In the distance I hear sirens going off.
‘Too late…’
IV.
Sub-humans must never be treated as if they were human, as they are a threat to society.
In a matter of seconds, cars blocked off the street. One by one riot police got out of the cars and surrounded them. I felt my legs stiffen as I began to panic. Regular officers also flooded into the crowd, hitting anyone who resisted.
But all the sudden, the mood of the crowd began to turn. It started off with someone punching an officer, which led to someone else kicking an officer. That chain reaction sent everyone into a frenzy.
Before I knew it the entire crowd had turned into a full scale riot. Not knowing what else to do, I bolted. Luckily there was a clear path of escape, but an officer took notice of me and decided to give chase.
‘Shit shit shit’ I repeated in my head as I ran. After a little while I began to slow, you can only run so long without food. I peeked behind me, the officer had fallen behind quite a bit. This was my chance. Quickly I turned a corner into an alleyway and hid behind a dumpster.
After a few seconds I heard him come to a stop outside of the alleyway. I held my breath.
“That brat gave me the slip…” the officer muttered in frustration.
After looking around for a few seconds he turned around and headed back towards the riot. I let out a
sigh.
“Thank God.”
V. The upper class are human and must be treated as such. But, if a member of the upper class is found aiding a sub-human in a way that is deemed a threat, they will automatically be denounced to the lower class.
After checking my surroundings for any signs of danger, I stood. In the distance I could hear screams.
‘Oh no….Rachel! I have to get back over there!’
Without thinking, I ran back in the direction of the riot. If I had known it was going to get this bad, I would have taken her with me.
VI. If the population of the sub-humans becomes too great, the government has the right to exterminate 1/3 of them in the area. When I arrived, I saw how bad it really was. There were people lying dead on the street, including officers. But still the crowd fought, slowing pushing their way forward. Taking a deep breath, I rushed forward.
Now that I was within the crowd, I could hear what they were saying.
“We’re humans too!” one man yelled.
“Push toward the center of the city!” a woman cried out.
“Let’s teach those so-called ‘humans’ a lesson!”
I continued to push past everyone.
‘Just a little farther…’
Relief flooded through me as my house came into view. It didn’t look like anyone had broken in. All the sudden everyone screamed. Frantically I looked around to find the cause. A few people dropped to the ground.
Then I saw it. We had been tear gassed. Not long after my eyes started to burn and I broke out in a fit of coughing. Gunshots rang out. I could only hear screams as people attempted to flee.
I’m knocked over. As I try to regain my footing I feel a splitting pain rip through my chest. I stagger, looking down. Blood slowly seeps into my shirt. I try to breathe but a sharp pain cuts me off. Another person knocks into me and I fall. Everything starts to go blurry, I can feel people trampling over me and…..
‘Rachel…’
Darkness surrounds me.
I think I’ve died.
I can still faintly hear the screams of everyone, as more gunshots are fired.
But it doesn’t matter anymore.
I’ve been lost.