Deep in our hearts, all of us knew that it would come. That it was coming, like a small, irritating ring that got louder and louder as it came closer and had finally announced its presence with a bang so loud that would take you by surprise so that all the blood rushing in your body would be suddenly invalidated.
The year is 3000. Over the last 100 years, we’ve definitely evolved, making each and everything we did before faster and more efficient, almost too easy that it made living a life like this a dream.
Things got more complex, machines replaced human labor, and individuals got wealthier and smarter which could sound like a perfect world. And so, we called it the “Electrical Era” where everything, literally everything was connected to something electrical. But unfortunately, with sharper minds and polished tongues, ego and the self-centered personalities of people made itself more and more visible. But of course, this is a way of a human being— something that no one could change or avoid. Throughout the world, the separate nations had broken out into occasional disputes almost every other day, raking up headlines for the news reporters day in and day out. But what we didn’t know was that there was something brewing beneath all the arguments and wrangles. That underneath all this gossip about the “Electrical Breakdown” there was a layer of truth, and this, one could easily have thought about but had pushed out of their minds, recognizing it as pure rubbish.
Yes, the fear of something much worse than the bloody world wars of the 20th century was finally here. It was the Electrical Wars.
***
I paused by the glass window, the same glass window that stretched across the entire wall and had been stared out of by me for the last ten years, only this time it felt different. Different in a sense that when I used to look out the window, I wouldn’t have had an anxiety attack. Acres of bare stripped land that would’ve been used as more tech laboratories and electrical factories if they hadn’t announced the start of war.
I glanced down at the realization that I had cans of food in my hands which meant that my mother had sent me to get something, only I had momentarily forgotten what I had to do. I peeled away from against the window, thinking about every time that I had passed it, the sun had either seemed to set or rise. That wasn’t a good sign.
“Eliana!”
I snapped up from thought at the shrill voice that hollered a few feet away from me.
“You think we have all day?”
Although I understood that she was supposed to sound threatening in a motherly way, anyone could’ve unmistakably spotted the immense amount of tension in her voice.
“I-I—”
“Enough.” She cut me off sharply, and her cheeks started to flush like they always did when she was tensed as she said, “In exactly two hours if we don’t get everything we need and if we’re not down in the cellar hidden and safe, we might as well be dead.”
Her words stung. About a week ago, hearing those words would’ve shocked me, but now, it’s literally all we say. She hesitated, stepping closer, and took the cans out of my hands.
“Now go. Get some blankets from upstairs.”
Her voice was quivering ever so slightly and I could tell that if she had a choice, she would’ve broken down right there and then. She would’ve bawled like an infant, even harder than I had ever cried, and I would’ve let her, only she didn’t give herself that choice to make.
I gave her a nod of agreement and pushed past her and up the metallic stairs. With heart in my throat, sweat cradled in my palms, and anxiety infused into my bloodstream, I pounded upstairs with her words ringing in my ears.
“In two hours if we aren’t hidden and safe we might as well be dead.”
***
My memory had recorded everything that had happened as a blur for the last past hour. All I do know is that I’m here, in a dark room under the house with the light flickering on and off constantly and that it’s cold. Oh wait— I do know something. Partially because of the fact that I am sitting in front of it, staring at it with an uncertain feeling. And that was when the memory flooded in.
“What’s this?”
I look at the metal instrument in my mother’s palms, a sense of puzzlement and fear washing through me. We strictly didn’t have any place for pieces of junk, so this had to be something important. I was almost afraid to ask what it was, looking at her tightly pinched lips and stiff body. But even if I hadn’t, she would’ve told me.
“This,” she whispered softly, “Is a machine very important to us. It’ll let us know how he’s doing.”
The only “he” that was in our lives was my father. And being a member of an electrical-based company, he was forced to participate in this war.
Hearing my mother’s indirect reference to him tightened my chest and a vague memory started to fall in. I had hugged him, taking in his scent of fresh tangerines and a manly odor for what I thought would be the last time. My dad, I knew, was smart in terms of twenty years ago, but if we’d compare right now, he’d be no more than above average. And those type of people would be the first to go. This of course, I would never even imagine telling my mother, but I was sure that in the back of her mind, buried under all her tensions and stresses was the realization. Somewhere in our minds no matter who or what it was about, an intuition of truth would always be present. Only, if was up to you whether you’d want to accept it or not.
“What do you mean?”
She sucked in a shallow breath and began, “Eliana, everyone’s heartbeat is connected to something electrical. That way doctors and nurses can make sure that we are healthy and we can avoid diseases that way.”
My brows furrowed and I tried connecting the sentence of her’s to the machine that was in her hands.
“This..” she set down the machine gingerly, like it was a newborn baby, and looked at it with total veneration and apprehension. “Is connected to your father’s heartbeat. That way we can see if-if he’s still…”
My gaze fell onto the machine and I blinked, answering my mother.
“But wouldn’t it be better if we didn’t have it? That way if anything happened we wouldn’t be able to—“
“ELIANA!”
My mother’s chocolate eyes turned into a fiery rage and into a full on swing of defense and anger. Only then was it that I figured I should’ve bitten my tongue before saying what I had said.
“How dare you utter those words! Keep a hold of your foolish mouth!”
It took a few minutes after that for the guilt to finally settle in. And that was all I remembered besides sitting in front of the machine that was now fully on and plugged into an outlet. It vibrated off a mellow hum and a full blast of light shone in a dim, blue color. On the machine was a bar, which was supposed to display where on the scale of good to bad my father’s heart beat rest, full being perfect.
It was eerily quiet for ever since my mother had shot back at me, we weren’t talking. I knew, however, that she was somewhere amidst the dark room and I didn’t want to disturb her, hoping she’d cool down and start talking again in the later on minutes.
So with nothing to do, I just sat in the silence and thought. It was one of those grave moments where you actually had the right “to not know.” In old life, which was about two weeks ago, I throw around the phrase of “I don’t know” as many times as I wanted.
“Eliana, whaddya think you’ll get on the quiz?”
I don’t know.
“Eliana, what time is it?”
I don’t know.
“Eliana, what do you want to be when you grow up?”
I don’t know.
But looking back, those were all questions that I could answer. With detail, enthusiasm, and happiness. Yet when I asked myself, “Where would I be two weeks from now?”, there was nothing I could guarantee. It was when I could actually say, “I didn’t know.”
A blast rang through the air.
I stiffened, sitting up straight up and alertly.
Mom had said that from where we were, we wouldn’t have been able to hear anything. None of the blasts, screams, and shots. Nothing. Unless of course, they were closer than we thought. But where we lived wasn’t the electric battlefield. No. If we heard something this loud, it could’ve meant one thing. They were here, in the house itself.
My breath could’ve stopped and my anxiety could’ve taken over, but I didn’t let it. I swiveled around in my seat on the ground looking for a shadow in the background of the room. A hand clamped around my mouth as I muffled a scream, but I breathed a sigh a relief within a second.
My mother must’ve realized the same thing as I had because she was squeezed beside me and clasped my hand tightly, hoping that by doing that the danger would go away faster.
Footsteps pounded through the hallway and echoed overhead. As the sounds became louder, my breaths became shallower and my pulse quickened, beads of sweat thickened on my forehead.
“Come out!”
A voice rumbled loudly and the terrified home shook under his breath. The veins in my body were tightening and my mother was clutching my hand so hard that my bones ought to have snapped.
The voice gave a shout and stomped against the floor with his foot.
“I’ll give you a choice,” he bellowed loudly, “If you don’t come out right now, we’ll electrically infuse your home, or we can spare you and work things out right now. And everyone must come out. If not, we’ll be forced to carry out our plans.”
At the end of his first sentence, both my mother and my heartbeat had already stopped. He had threatened us with an Electric Infuse.
I had seen a documentary about it once.
Having everything wired had it pros, but many cons raised in this way of lifestyle too. You see, all the electric wires had been engrained in the walls and covered with plaster. So if anyone had ever dropped a bomb and had infused it with the wires that ran through the house, it would be the most painful death of all. The walls would break into crackles and sparks of flames would throw themselves at the room viciously until finally you’d get electrified and the room would blow up within a matter of seconds, no escape.
I choked on my own words and tried finding my mother’s eyes through the blinding shadows.
“I’ll go.”
She tried sounding brave, but her voice trembled badly. She squeezed me tightly and let go, putting her hand on my shoulder.
“Stay here,” she instructed, “I don’t know if he’s pulling our legs or not but it’s better than being electrically infused.”
“But if they take you and I’m left—“
“No,” she sounded firm, almost certain as she spoke, “Even if it means my whole life, I promise you will be safe. Just remember, no matter what, your father and I love you. We know you’re much smarter than for what your age requires, but you use that to your advantage.”
She placed a kiss on my forehead and pushed aside the wisps of hair.
“Stay safe and stay smart, Eliana.”
And with that, she left me behind and escaped past the room into the hall of our house.
“Is it just you?” The man growled, the floor creaking violently beneath his footsteps.
“Yes.” My mother’s voice came out as a squeak, but the fact that she was up there, facing this man that sounded ten times the size of herself was marvelous.
“You do know that I know if you lie, yes?”
“Understood.” My mother made sure she hadn’t hesitated at that question.
“So it only is you?”
“Yes.”
The man muttered under his breath and spoke again, this time with some jist. “Do you know of what your husband has done to us?”
“Don’t you dare talk about my husband!”
A pause of confusion surmised.
“What did you just say?”
“I said son’t you dare talk about my—“ A slap, angry and malevolent, sounded in the room. My mother gasped and her breathing became harsher.
“How dare you hit me? You beast, my husband will get you for this!”
I prayed desperately inside of my head, hoping that her outburst of rage wouldn’t get the best of her. Although what he had said had angered me as well, playing with words was a dangerous thing to do. When the man howled at the top of his lungs, the drumming pulsed discordantly. What happened next would be entirely up to fate.
The man huffed and I thought the next moment he’d be yelling and shaking the house, but I was wrong. He chuckled, taking shuffled steps forward, towards my mother.
“You know,” his tone sounded oddly whimsical, “I should’ve just electrically infused the house. I gave you a choice; a chance for you to live your pitied life for who knows how much longer. But, I should’ve just carried out my plans.”
My mother didn’t reply. I assume that she stood there, her fists balled together and her eyes, malificient and glinting.
But what was next, was unpredictable. I heard a click and a gasp and that was it. Something fell onto the floor, hard, and what was resulted was a thud ringing through the house.
He broke off into a snarly guffaw and then into a cackle and paused in front of where the object had fallen onto the floor. “Let’s see what your husband can do now with you like this.”
He kicked it and it barely shifted across the floor.
I sat there in shock and awe, my heart thumping off beat. I didn’t move or scream or shout in fear that he was still up there, waiting for me so that he could win.
So I waited, my body shivering and lungs burning while I kept a constant eye on the heartbeat monitor.
I thought back to my old nightmares from when I was a kid even to now. Death had been a strong word, something that I had made sure to veer away from, but from time to time I had thought about it. What were the worst ways I could die? I had thought about, finalizing it in this order: Being eaten alive, being burned at the stake, or being shot. But now I finally realized it. I knew what was the worst. It was war. It was being forlorn in the middle of sprawled bodies. It was missing all the memories and the loved ones that would never happen again. It was being pulled into a hole of darkness with no sign of light for the rest of eternity.
A tear, plump and warm, slid down from the brim of my eye down the cheek of my face.
Suddenly, the monitor turned red. The faint humming was now a sharp buzz and the light had turned from a light blue down to a fiery red.
My heart stopped and my jaw unhinged itself as the machine vibrated, the bar going from yellow to red and from orange-red to dark red. I watched in helplessness at the machine, wishing to throw myself at it, to be able to howl and shriek for help for hope that God would spare me from being an orphan.
I breathed harder and harder, watching the battle of the monitor, ultimately copying the battle of a dying human. I bit my tongue as my breaths became more staggered and my lips blubbered, and the tears started pooling out like a fountain.
And then it was over. From red to a dark black with the beat number now reading zero.
The air was icy and blanketed the tears against my face.
I had never felt so alone.