YOU’VE LOST

Chapter 1: July 2041-Present Time
The gash in my leg made my jeans smell.
“I think we lost them. Here sit on this rock”, Macalester said. I mindlessly sat on the rock and let him bandage me up.
“How’d you get yourself in this situation?”  That had to be the most logical question I’ve ever heard, which in and of itself is the saddest thought I’ve ever had.
“It’s a long story that we don’t have time for, they could find us any minute now.” I answered.
“They won’t think to look here. Trust me; they see a river they turn around. I wouldn’t be surprised if we were the first ones to use a log as a bridge.” I chuckle at that. The voices that come from the computers or ‘the voice of reason’ as some people call it, spoke of dangers to be aware of. Rivers were just added to the list last year when a little boy drowned while trying to get to the other side.
“Now tell me how you got to this point”, he said.
“It all started about six months ago…”
Chapter 2: January 2041
“Your ID badge please”, said the receptionist. Everyday she said this; even though she knows that I work here. Last week when I asked her why she asked when she knew me she looked at me like that was the craziest question she’s ever heard. I show her the ID badge hooked to my lanyard. On the ID badge is my picture and my name; McKenna Glory written in Helvetica bold font. When you think about walking into a place of work you picture hustling and bustling right? Well not here. Other than the sound of typing on computers it is dead silent. I go to my desk and I start typing a report that has to be done by the end of the week. Halfway through it I decide to take a break. I stand up looking at everyone else doing nothing. They all are silently staring at their computer, either typing or playing some sort of game. Later that day when  I’m walking home later that evening, I witness a parent asking their son what day it is.

Chapter 3: February 2041
Walking into my office I look around to see that everyone is doing practically nothing. I walk around behind the new guy, who has pictures of his dogs all over his desk. He’s completely oblivious to what is going on around him, zeroed in on his computer screen. I scanned around the office floor until I saw my friend, Leia. I walked over to her and asked,
“How’s your day been going?” She looked at me then turned away to get out her phone. When she started to type a message, I walked away. I felt almost offended by her course of action but figured she was just having a bad day. Then my phone beeped. It was Leia. The message read: It’s been alright. How has your day been? I chose not to respond simply because the act of communication through technology thoroughly disgusts me. That’s when I look around. Everyone is in a trance, as if time stands still. It is in this moment that I make my decision.

Chapter 4: Present Time
“What was the decision?” asked Macalester.
“To take down technology”, I answered simply.
“What do you mean take down technology?”
“I mean that technology needs to stop. I’m tired of it. You can’t tell me you don’t see how the world has become. It took a few months, but I was able to create a virus and I put it on a flash drive.”
“So you put the flash drive in the router for the network to shut down the power?”
“That’s exactly what I did…before they caught me.”
“So what happened after they caught you?”

Chapter 5: June 2041
“Ms. Glory I thoroughly suggest you tell me how to stop the virus”, said the interrogator. He had dark brown eyes and dark brown hair. He probably weighed well over 200 pounds but he was so tall it most likely wouldn’t occur to the normal human being that he was, in fact, overweight. The top three buttons on his black shirt were undone and his chest hair was more than visible.
“I would, if there was a way to stop it”, I answered. His face got visibly red and for a brief moment I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head and smoke was going to come out of his freakishly large ears. Which is why I was surprised when he walked out of the room without another word. His absence caused me to take in my surroundings. The walls are grey, but the floor is completely made up of white tile. The chair I’m sitting on is made up of metal and the handcuffs are causing my wrists to endure a burning sensation that I’ve never quite experienced before. The interrogator comes back into the room with a silver briefcase in one hand and headphones in the other.
When I was younger my father told me a story about a man with a briefcase and headphones. The briefcase was filled with, as my father called it, ‘torturous devices’ and the headphones were to block out the screams of the victims. A few months after my father told me the story, a man with a briefcase used headphones to block out his screams.
“Bringing out a briefcase will not change the simple truth: the virus cannot be stopped. Be mad, be angry, but that will do absolutely nothing to get what you desire. It will simply waste time.”
For a brief moment he looks dumbfounded but he regains his composure.
“If you think I believe you you’re in for a rude awakening”, he says seemingly calm but the dilation of his pupils prove otherwise. Before either of us can say anything else a short man peeks through the door “We need to talk”, he says and the interrogator leaves the room. I then remember there is a pin in my back pocket. I strain my hands to try to retrieve one. When I succeed I try to pick the lock on the handcuffs. When I was fifteen my friend and I decided to break into the convenience store around the corner of our school. He taught me how to pick a lock with a pin, told me it was all about the tumblers within the lock. I heard a click and that’s when I knew that I succeeded and my hands were now free.

Chapter 6: Present Time
“So you escaped, how?” Macalester asked.
“Everyone was looking at the computers and the ones who weren’t were in a daze. I simply walked out of the room and down the hall. If you act like you’re supposed to be there people will automatically believe you are, takes people time to register what is going on around them”, I answered. It was true; people nowadays tend to have late reactions to things.
“How long have you been on the run since you escaped?”
“About a month, other than those goons you’re the first person I’ve seen since the takedown.”
“Well I’m honored. How’s your leg doing?”
“Alright, I’m just glad you came and saved me. If you hadn’t I’d probably be dead right now.”
“Probably? You would be, I’m a hero”, he says jokingly and we both laugh. It makes me think back to what happened.

Chapter 7: 2 Hours Ago
I stop to sit down on the slightly yellow grass. My legs are sore and I’m tired. Then I hear footsteps and yelling. The yells consist of “There she is!” and “Get her boys!” I get up and run as fast as my sore legs could go. I start to slow down and it’s getting harder to breathe. Suddenly, I get pounded into the earth by an overweight man with a mustache that tickles my neck. When I try to get up he puts a knife through my leg pinning it down. I scream, so loud that the little boy at the bottom of the river could quite possibly hear me through his lifeless ears. Then I hear shots being fired. A man comes up to me and pulls the knife out of my leg. “My name’s Macalester and you’re going to be fine”, he says as he pulls off his shirt and wraps it around my leg in a desperate effort to stop the bleeding.

    Chapter 8: Present Time
“McKenna, you alright?” he must’ve noticed me gaze off.
“Yeah, I was just thinking.”
“About what?”
“Just…you saved me.”
“It was the right thing to do,” he says it with the most sincere smile I’ve ever seen and there’s a feeling in my stomach I’ve never experienced before.
“You’re also the first person I’ve met who seems to understand everything that goes on in the world.”
“Same goes for you.”
Changing the subject he asks me, “How old are you?”
“22”, I answer firmly, “and you?”
“25”
I start to say something but before I can reply a thud pounds through the earth and we both jump up in panic.
“What was that?” I ask.
“Their coming”, he says.
“I thought they wouldn’t cross the river?”
“Oh yeah well that’d be true if I didn’t, you know lie.”
“Wait what are you talking about?”
“I guess you’re not so perceptive. Here I thought you would see past my lies, but I’m glad you didn’t makes this easier for me.”
“You’re working with them, traitor!” I start to run as fast as I can though it’s hard with my injured calf.
I hear someone yell, “Shoot her!” but it wasn’t until I heard Macalester yell,
“You’ve lost!” that I registered what was about to hap-