He lay there on the asphalt, contorted and disfigured. The limbs were twisted into different shapes and his face was bloated from the heat that must have been baking his corpse for a week by now. He was a demented painting of what he used to be. I wonder who he was? Did he die for a purpose? Was it all for nothing?
I'm snapped out of my trance when Luke places his hand firmly on my shoulder.
"That's the seventh one we've seen today," he says with a grin smeared across his face. "So it looks like you owe me twenty bucks."
"Yeah, well I'll win tomorrow," I say as I reach into my pocket to give Luke the now worthless piece of paper.
Luke snatches the bill from my hand making sure to relish his victory. "You gotta bet high if you want to win. C'mon, let's keep moving."
I suppose the wager between Luke and me was just a way to cope with what we had seen. Maybe that's what scared me the most about it all; it all began to feel natural and I could feel my emotions slipping away after every corpse we saw. I guess I was starting to turn into one of them.
At least this one was pretty far from human by the time we saw him. The first body Luke and I saw on the road must have been fresh. She was a young woman, probably in her late twenties. She had retained the remnants of her form, and a faint flicker of beauty and compassion could still be felt beyond the pale. Luke and I had tried to bury her, but we didn't have a shovel and our fingernails were caked in blood by the time we had given up in our attempts to move the rocky earth. I can't think about her for too long though or else I'll start feeling sick and have to lay down.
Luke and I trudged onwards, as he whistled a tune, seemingly unaffected by the rising body count.
Luke always had music in him no matter where he was. Even now he carried a ragged guitar on his back. It was a beat up and worn thing, long past its prime, but when Luke slid his hand along the neck and ran his fingers up and down the strings there wasn't a more beautiful sound in the world. Luke wanted to share his talent with as many people as he could. I suppose that's why he decided to join the Republic.
An army truck passed by us headed in the opposite direction. We kept our heads down, but we still saw the soldiers in the back, holding their rifles and carrying blank expressions on their face. They were all headed to the horrors of the front; whether they knew it or not, they would never be the same people as the young men who were transported to the battlefield.
We trudged onwards, marching in step down the highway. It seemed to go on forever, stretching out to the horizon and eventually blending with everything else as the heat waves distorted my view. Luke and I had to keep going though. There was nothing left for us from where we came, and pretty soon there wouldn't be anything for anyone else.
Military base bravo four five one. There were hundreds of them scattered across the country, but this one was special. The army announced that they would begin accepting refugees into the base and provide them with food and water. Luke and I had heard it on the radio one night, and with our food supplies being more of a joke than a meal we decided to travel on the highway to our salvation. We had been on the highway for three days now, but we were almost there.
The sky had turned into a splash of purples and reds as the sun began to dip below the earth by the time we saw a dark speck in the distance. A great weight seemed to be lifted; it felt like Luke and I could begin to hope for something better again. I turned to Luke and smiled. “Things are starting to look up again, I guess.”
“They’d better have some freaking food.”
The speck began to develop more details as we drew closer to it. A series of chain link fences surrounded the perimeter with barbed wire covering the tops to ensure a jagged demise for anyone hoping to climb over the barricade. Guard towers were sprinkled in between, serving as ominous sentinels. From what I saw, it seemed like there was always two guards on duty at the top of the structures at any time. A search light was mounted on each railing, allowing the base to bathe any area of the ground in bright daylight if necessary.
Luke and I walked up to the checkpoint at the front of the base where two soldiers were on duty. Once they saw us approaching, they trained their guns on our bodies. “Halt! State your name and business!”
Luke and I quickly raised our hands in the air. We were so close; we couldn’t just be shot dead when we were so close.
“We’re just some refugees!” Luke responded. “We heard the radio broadcast a while ago saying that this base would accept any citizens and give them food and water.” Luke twisted his raised hand to point towards me. “This is my friend, Matthew Jones, and I’m Luke Meyers.”
The guards looked at one another and then lowered their guns. Luke and I let out a sigh of relief as we dropped our hands down to our sides once again.
“It’s been months since we sent out that broadcast.” One of the guards said. “We’ve had a lot of people come in at first, but you’re the first people to come in a few weeks.”
“You’ll have to go to HQ so that you can be registered and fed.” The other guard said.
“So is the food any good here?” Luke said, with a grin.
“You’re going to wish you had starved to death by the end of the week.”
The guards made a few phone calls and told us that another refugee would come by soon to bring us to headquarters. A few minutes passed before woman in plain clothes came walking towards us. She was probably in her twenties, but she looked much older than she really was. She seemed fairly short and had a slender frame. Her hair was a deep red and seemed to shoot off into all different directions in a way that made it look like her head was exploding. “Hey, Mitch. Hey, John.” She said in a gruff tone.
“Hey, Steph. We need you to escort these two to headquarters to be registered.” One guard said (I still couldn’t tell which was Mitch and which was John). Steph waved her hand in greeting to me and Luke. “I’m Steph; it’s nice to see new blood after such a long time. Let’s get moving.”
Luke and I followed closely behind Steph as she traveled to the center of the base. The lines of razor wire and fortifications began to disappear as they were replaced by tenements filled with refugees. Fires burned softly inside metal barrels between the different tents as the guards stood silently, hands laid lightly on tops of their guns. I looked to my left and saw a brick wall plastered with posters. “The only good Republican is a dead one” one poster read, with a gun pointed at a young man. Another one showed army soldiers standing stoically, looking off into the distance. “Death to the Republic!” it said. “The Army fights for a brighter future. Will you?” There were even more that I couldn’t see, but Steph was moving too fast for me to examine them. “So are you two Republicans?” Asked Steph as she walked down one of the twisting dirt lanes that separated the camps of people. A shiver went down my spine and I suddenly came to a stop. How could she possibly know about our past? It didn’t make sense.
“We’re not Republicans.” Luke said firmly. “We’re just some refugees. Matt and I strongly support the Army and the war.”
“Darn.” Steph responded. “I was hoping you could get me out of here. This place is hell. You’ll learn that soon enough.”
Before Luke or I could respond we had reached the HQ. “Well, here you are.” Steph said happily. “I guess I’ll see you around.”
The HQ was rather modest. It was a small green tent, with a guard stationed on both sides of the entrance. Luke and I ducked under the opening.
It didn’t take too long to be registered. A dirty clerk asked us a few questions about our names and birthdays, but it wasn’t anything important. He rubbed his nose with his sleeve and then handed us each a small white piece of paper for ID’s.
I looked at my ID. On it was small lettering that printed out my name. Then in much larger lettering was the number 112,734. “What number did you get?” I asked Luke once we had left the tent.
“112,735,” he said. “It’s weird though. There’s no way that this camp has this many people.”
“They probably just transfer people to other bases once it gets too crowded here.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Luke said, but it still seemed like he had some worries on the whole thing. “We should go see Steph again.”
“Are you out of your mind?” I asked as I pulled John into a dark alley so that we wouldn’t be heard. “We’re trying to make as little trouble as possible. How do you plan on doing that if we go see some girl who already thinks we’re not who we seem and will tell total strangers that she wants help from Republicans?”
“We need to find out how much she knows. Besides, she might be able to help us if we do get into trouble.”
“We left that life behind us, Luke. We’re here now, and we need to keep our heads down.”
Luke swung his old guitar from his back and took a pick out from his pocket. “You may have given up, but I didn’t. I’m gonna go find Steph.” He walked out of the alleyway, strumming a chord or two as he walked away.
I stood there for a few seconds before I followed behind Luke. He was my brother, and if he wasn’t going to look out for himself then I guess I had to do it for him.
“You know, I really hate you sometimes.” I hissed in Luke’s ear. He didn’t even seem to hear me, and instead began to hum a tune.
We found Steph on the outskirts of the tenements, sitting by a fire. “It’s pretty rare to see a guitar these days.” She said, eyeing Luke. “Although it’s a bit of a stretch to call that thing a guitar.”
“It’s good enough for me at least.” Luke said as he sat down beside her. “That was a pretty interesting conversation we were having before we got to the headquarters. Do you mind telling me what you meant?”
“You don’t know what it’s like in here, but you’ll find out soon enough. The food is disgusting, and there’s barely enough to go around anyways. That doesn’t stop the Army from working us to death though. All of this” Steph said as she moved her hand from left to right across the horizon, “was made by us. This base is brand new. They tell people to come here for supplies, but then they turn us to slaves. So I guess that’s why I want to leave.”
The fire crackled as Steph’s words washed over Luke and me. Was this what we had worked for? We had left to try to find something better, but was it all the same. Luke was the first to speak. “How long have you been here?”
“In two weeks it’ll be three years.”
“Well I don’t know how to tell you this, but the Republic is dead.”
“What are you talking about? The war has been going for years. They still force some of us to enlist in the Army.”
“That may be true, but the Republic surrendered two years ago. The Army promised an end to the war, but we learned in Badajoz what the end really meant.”
The shadows danced on Luke’s face as the fire offered the only light in the dark midnight. He stared deep into the flames.
“I know it may not seem like it, but anything is better than what’s out there.”
Luke got up and started to walk away, strumming his guitar.
“I’m sorry that you had to hear that, but he’s right.” I said to Steph. “There’s nothing out there for you.” She sat there in silence, looking out to the horizon.
I found the tent which had been assigned to us. Luke was already asleep by the time I got there. I made a pillow out of my backpack and laid down on the dirt floor. The red earth offered little comfort, but I was soon drifting away.
I was woken up in the morning by the sound of a trumpet. Luke was already up, huddled in the corner of the tent.
“Morning,” he said in a soft voice.
“Same back at ya.”
“We should probably find out what’s going on”
Luke and I exited from our tent to find the other refugees all heading towards the headquarters. We joined the river of people, heading to an uncertain future. I saw Steph after walking for a while. “What’s going on?” I asked.
“Some sort of announcement. It could be anything really.” She said.
When we got to the HQ, we were organized into neat rows trailing back from the front of the tent. I was in the back, but from what I could tell there was a man in commander’s uniform standing at the front of the lines. Once everyone arrived, a soldier handed him a megaphone. “These are troubling times indeed.” He said, his voice reverberating throughout the crowd. “The Army has continued its brave fight against the Republic for four years now. Our brave and valiant troops continue to fight against the tyranny of the Republic, and we have crushed the weak and vile enemy at every opportunity. However, if we wish to achieve a brighter future, we must be willing to do everything in our power to reach these goals. It is for these reasons that we must ask for more volunteers to enlist in the Army. It is a great honor to become a soldier, the brave warrior who will usher in peace and justice and bring an end to these troubled times. Now then, who would like to enlist?”
The pavilion stood in a painful silence. Nobody raised their hand or stepped up to join. As the seconds passed, so did the officer’s stoic attitude. After two minutes he raised the megaphone to his face again. “So then, this is what you are made of? If you scum are unwilling to accept some wonderful, I suppose we will have to announce some mandatory volunteers. We will call your ID numbers, and if you are called you have just become a soldier. Anyone who refuses to join will be guilty of treason and shot for their heinous crimes.”
The dirty clerk who had originally given Luke and me our ID’s then stepped to the front. He rubbed his nose with his sleeve and then began to call out numbers. “102,354 please step forward.” A young man was pushed out of the line by the guards and forced to stand next to the clerk. “92,451 please step forward.” This continued on for some time. The clerk called out a number at one point, and the refugee sprinted in the opposite direction. He had barely moved two feet when he was ripped apart by gunfire. The officer spoke into the megaphone again. “Escape is not an option. Fall in line or face the consequences.”
As the lines thinned out, wails of anguish filled the pavilion. I looked as refugees fell to the ground in shock as they were torn from their loved ones. Would they call me next? What would happen to me? Would anyone care?
I’m snapped out of my trance when Luke places his hand firmly on my shoulder.
“It’s going to be all right,” he said with such certainty that any other possibility seemed absurd.
I didn’t hear them call his number. Time seemed to stop as he was torn away from me. His hand was lifted off my shoulder, and Luke was pushed to the front. I didn’t even see it though. This couldn’t be real. It all seemed so distant. I felt like I was watching it all unfold on some old television. I heard faint noises, but it was so far away.
Suddenly, I was on the ground. My cheek hurt and I could taste blood in my mouth. “Now will you listen to me Matt?” Steph said, with her hand clenched into a tight fist.
“I have to find Luke.” I said slowly getting up.
“What do you think I was saying to you? You just stood there while they took Luke away. Whatever, it doesn’t matter. I know a way out of here. There’s a hole in the fence where the guard towers can’t see us leave.”
“How are we going to catch up with them?”
“I heard that they bring them to a training camp only a mile from here. We have to get moving though.”
Steph led us to the fence, dodging guard patrols and making sure to stay away from the towers. We passed the wall covered with Army propaganda again. “The only good Republican is a dead one.” The words tormented me while we ran through the base. Once we were at the perimeter, Steph lifted up the fence to let me through. I passed under and pulled back the chains to let her through, but Steph hesitated.
“If I do this there’s no going back. They’ll know that we’re gone.”
“I suppose you need to ask yourself: is nothing at all better than this?”
She stood there looking at the feet and the ground. Then she stared right into my eyes with a piercing gaze. “I don’t care if there’s nothing out there for me. I’d rather die than continue to live a life that isn’t my own.”
My feet smacked hard on the orange dirt as Steph and I raced to the camp. I had to think of how to get Luke out of there. If he stayed, he would be sent to the front, where he would be killed for sure. In front of me Steph came to a sudden halt. “This ridge overlooks the training camp. We’re going to have to crawl to the edge and see what’s happening.”
I pressed my chest against the ground and began to slowly push myself closer to the edge. I could feel my heart pump blood at violent speeds, and my lungs compress and expand quick as lightning. I peered over the ridge into the camp and realized that it was all gone.
The officer stood in front of a row of wooden posts. On each one was tied a mandatory volunteer. In front of the officer was a line of soldiers, with their guns pointed at the posts. There was no crowd this time, so the officer didn’t need an amplifier. “You all are dirt. To think that the Army would accept you cowards.” He let out a chuckle. “Your deaths will not be worthless however. To secure a brighter future, we need to clean away the dirt. And as a bonus, you will make great target practice for the true men of the Army.”
I scanned the line of refugees on the posts. I prayed that Luke wouldn’t be one of them, but there he was, at the end of the line. His head was slumped to the side and it looked like he had tried to resist to no avail. Then, suddenly, he picked his head up and looked directly at me. I heard the guitar play in a way it never had before. The sweet music filled my ears as I stared right at Luke. The notes filled with crimson and the chords smelled of smoke. The strumming had stopped but the guitar kept playing. The music lives on.