FirstLineFiction beta

from Contest #4

For a long time they said we didn't need one, but then something changed and they said that we did. The list was growing longer and more ridiculous as “the retreat” grew closer. When it was first announced that there would be a list of requirements we all knew there would be some degree of offensiveness and ridiculousness to it. How could there not be? When you are deciding who will live and die you are bound to come up with a biased system of selection. But this is more extreme than any of us imagined.

It began with requiring a minimum number of particular occupations including doctors, engineers, and of course the politicians. After that, the rest of the population would be selected at random. This first step made sense and is why the selection would not be completely random. Then the numbers began to change a bit, favoring the likes of politicians and those of influence at the expense of some of the blue collar occupations. You won’t find janitors a requirement, but who will clean up? It won’t be your Senator, I assure you. Then minimums were released for race. This is obviously a complicated and sensitive issue. They wanted to model the ratios after the current percentages for America which obviously didn’t favor minorities. Many claimed “racism,” those of mixed ethnicity questioned their qualifications. Then the committee’s own race composition came to be questioned. This of course led to the question “who are they to decide who survives?” They answered by reminding us that they are building the massive bunker and added a restriction: there were to be no persons with a physical or mental handicap. It was their way of instituting a cruel kind of Darwinism. It was disheartening for all it affected, and once again complicated. What was considered to be a handicap? The list originally included the more obvious definitions but it would not suffice for long. Soon, diabetes and arthritis were considered physical handicaps while narcolepsy and depression mental. How could depression be a restriction when mankind was on the brink of annihilation?

People were losing faith in the committee quickly. Suicide rates sky rocketed as did murder. The fewer people alive for the drawing the better chance you have, right? Not if you were caught of course. Criminal records were examined and of course restricted. Initially, anyone who had been to jail for more than six months was not eligible. As was the trend, this changed. Now, any form of arrest will guarantee your extinction from existence. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if come doomsday my parking tickets grant me my grave.

People began to wonder what else would be required or restricted. Would they examine medical records. Would blood type or allergies affect their decision? What about religion? Education? IQ scores or SAT scores? Would how physically fit you were matter? Or something as subjective as beauty? At first they said “No, never.” but all of them would come to play a role in the selection. Yes, even whether or not you’re “attractive.” I began to feel as though I were in Orwell’s Animal Farm, the rules were changing overnight and we couldn’t seem to stop it. Now I must be judged on how good I look and how fast I run and my BMI. That is, assuming I even pass the other requirements and restrictions.

Which includes the newest one. When facing extinction, reproduction is obviously a requirement. People began to ask if they would need a fertility test, or even a child. This was asked when we first learned of our impending doom and “Project Hope for Tomorrow,” and for a long time they told us we didn’t need a fertility test or a child or any evidence of reproductive ability. About nine months ago they told us otherwise; that we would indeed need to have a fertility test. In addition, homosexuals were not to be admitted as they “would not contribute to the reconstruction of the population.” Seven months ago they added “a history of erectile dysfunction” to the list of hopelessness to further enforce the oft lowered age maximum. They also restricted anyone with a sexually transmitted disease from entering. Four months ago was when they added the “attractiveness” measure in an effort to “further provoke reproductive capacity.” They also added the word “untreatable” to the STD restriction noting that those with STDs are more prone to engaging in sexual activity. What would be next? In a few months, they’ll probably go through our internet histories to ensure we are sexually inclined enough to watch porn. Or perhaps they’ll require testimonies from past partners or a minimum requirement on dick size or sperm count or egg output. I wouldn’t be surprised if in the new colony prostitution will be legal and contraceptives illegal.

That’s why I wasn’t surprised by their announcement today, not because it was logical but rather their history of changing their mind. “Something has changed,” they vaguely cited, “We now require that applicants have a child of their creation as evidence of their reproductive capabilities.” I can see the chaos coming. Orphanages will be raided, children kidnapped, birth certificates forged, fathers that walked out on mothers will return, second marriages will be broken and all before they start administering DNA tests. It explains why a number of politicians started having children a few years back. I’m sure they knew this was coming, they probably know what’s next.

I stood from afar and watched my son innocently glued to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I smiled as I realized the irony, he was my “golden ticket” now. How sad, that the miracle before me, that all children, would now be viewed as a way to stay alive rather than the brilliant tribute to the wonder of life that they are. How many people would now try and conceive to try and save themselves? This is not the world I imagined bringing him in to.

This is not the race I brought him in to. The human race is no longer the loving, hopeful, adaptive, and courageous legacy it was. It is a monster. With the committee’s ever-changing requests it seems more and more as if they are trying to create their idea of a superior race. A smarter, healthier race that looks and thinks how they think it should. I’m beginning to wonder if this “doomsday” is their creation; some sick, new-aged Nazi-esque weeding out of populations. They won't tell us how few people the bunker will hold, but with each new requirement it is obvious it will not be many. I once thought that I might have a chance to be a part of man’s next era. I realize now that instead, I am watching the end of man. Those that survive will be human in species, in their DNA make-up perhaps, but they will not be mankind. No, they will be a much crueler race. History will look back at it as a success. Perhaps the gruesome details will be left out, or it will be chalked up to be some heaven-induced “cleansing,” but I know the truth: the endurance of man is a failure. I will not survive, my son will not survive. I have accepted this truth. I have accepted the end of man.

back to Contest #4