Silence.

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Terror froze me in place as i watched them come. White noises filled my ears, making me deaf to the ordinary sounds around me. Em moved within my field of vision waving and screaming something at me.

To save my life, i could not hear a thing he said. I looked at the child who had caused it all. His face was drained white, devoid of any colour as he watched them come with his mouth wide open.

I snapped out of my trance, pulled him and started running for safety...but where was safe? Running gave an illusion of safety, hope that surely a place to hide could be found.

I looked back and saw Em, he was running behind me, occasionally looking back as i was. I heaved a sigh of relief, with Em beside me, i could face anything, even death.

Funny how our bond had started. We were neighbours growing up...i imagine you would be thinking of two houses in a beautiful street with a spacious yard where children could play, forming bonds which could last for a lifetime.

You would be wrong. Ours was a society where humans are raised in pods. There were no females left in the world, a virus unique to their gender wiped them off the face of the earth.

Surprisingly, it took only a couple of years for scientists to come up with an alternative to natural procreation. Hearing and reading about the story made me suspicious...you could almost think they had planned the whole thing. Getting rid of the women gave them power because they alone knew the secret to keeping the human population going.

They were seven that held this power in their hands, refusing to share their knowledge with the world. They got sperms from men and did some tweaking in their lab(i won't want to bore you with the details as i am not even sure of the process...who am i kidding...no one knew), producing embryos which are transferred to pods built to simulate the human womb providing the foetus with nutrients required for its development. There was just one difference, a child is considered mature after being in the pod for seven years.

I am El, Em was my neighbour in the breeding room for seven years, we could not see each other but we shared thoughts. Surprisingly, this ability only intensified once we exited our pods.

Source

We were placed in the same region in the colony. We never let anyone know about this, self preservation made us keep our mouths sealed. Everyone knew 'defective' humans were neutralised. There were spies everywhere. No one knew who they were but any human displaying abnormal abilities were always found out.

The seven as they are called have created so much fear in humans that they allowed them free reins. No one wanted to die as the women had. Better a few abnormal males die than the whole population, so they looked the other way as this monstrosity was committed over and over again.

I discovered the spies by accident. Insects were generally avoided for fear of infection. Most species have been eradicated but flies were ever on the increase. A joke went around that when you kill one, two others replace them. In a way, this explained their ever growing presence.

I had been angry at my helplessness when a young child had been dragged off by the creepy crawlies(i named them that, they were the seven's soldiers which came out only to capture defective humans) and no one blinked an eye. They had looked on as he cried, begging for help which was not forthcoming. His only crime was having the ability to read minds.

I had gone back home brooding when i got disturbed by the persistent buzzing of the fly in my room. I hunted it down and killed it, crushing it continuously under my feet as if venting out my anger on the poor thing, only it wasn't poor...it was a spy! It had been created for that purpose.

These guys would stop at nothing to monitor our movements to ensure no one overthrew their government. Well, that was about to change. I, El decided then to do something about the situation. Em followed me and we stole into their stronghold, broke the boy out and proceeded to escape.

Our victory was short lived as the creepy crawlies came out in large numbers to attack us. The sight was terrifying. As we ran, i hoped for a way to escape their revolting clutches.

"There is a portal...it would take us to the past before all this started. I know the way." The boy shouted as we ran.

It was only the fear of being captured that helped me overcome the shock i felt on hearing those words. Survival was utmost on my mind as i followed the boy's lead.

He led us through deserted parts of the colony to the very edge, which no one ever went to. There, a beautiful little house stood. He boldly stepped up to the door. He typed in a series of numbers on the keypad. The door opened immediately.

"Be fast...get in. We must leave before they arrive."
The door closed just as the first creepy crawly reached the door.

We all breathed a sigh of relief.

Turning our backs to the door, our attention was immediately drawn to the crystal in the middle of the room. It was shiny, casting its light to every corner of the room.

Source

We all moved in unison towards its light. The boy stretched out his hands, murmuring some words as he moved.

"Hold on to me," he said and we instantly obeyed.

Behind us, the door opened to reveal the seven who came towards us with angry expressions. We were however too consumed by our journey to pay them any heed. As i felt myself being sucked into the light, i felt such lightness and eagerness to face a world free of madness.

At the last moment, i heard Em screaming. I looked back to see him pulled back away from me.
I shouted and struggled to rise but the boy held on to me.

"Let him go...that is his fate."

In a haze of pain and instant loneliness, i wondered how fate could be so cruel. I felt his fear and pain as he was ripped apart by those monsters. I felt life leave him.
His final thought was..."i am sorry."

These words kept ringing in my head as I fell through space...Em was gone, forever.