My Expiration Date
Nemonica Bars
Copyright Nemonica Bars 2012
Published at Smashwords
Cover art:
http://xxhizumi-loverxx.deviantart.com/art/My-Hair-270815666
&
http://xsskorp.deviantart.com/art/Syringe-105589895
Great thanks to the artists who allowed me to use their work.<3
-Nemonica
Nemonica Bars
Prologue
I was only 5 when It
happened, I can only vividly remember it… they came for my sister.
Her expiration date was here. They wanted to take her away for
slaughter. In Karpacia, no one dare lived a day past their 18th
birthday, by then they would already have at least 1 child, at their
expiration date, they were slaughtered and sold as meat. Any who
lived past their expiration date were sold as slaves, or if they were
good enough, they became breeders. You probably know what that means,
if not, you’re lucky. They wouldn’t accept any over 18 because of
meat quality, and life after the expiration date is a living hell. So
my sister waited calmly for her killers to come. She held my hand and
told me how much she loved me the whole time, even though I was too
young to understand. Soon they came and entered our home with red
suits so the years of blood wouldn’t show.
“Naomi
Swan, your expiration date has come, please come with us.” They
said taking her hand. She left me and followed them into a large
white truck. She sat in the back seat, I hid into the back, just out
of curiosity, I wanted to see, and I wanted to know before my
expiration date came.
When we got there they took her
into a room, tile walls, slick flooring, a rope hanging, and a blood
drain. I was watching through a window, I could see everything.
Naomi
seemed like she knew what to do, she laid down sideways with her neck
over the blood drain, I shuttered at the thought. Then my thought
became real as they sharpened a knife and Naomi was crying and
silently praying. They put the knife on her neck and Naomi’s eyes
pressed shut. One quick strike of the knife and bright red blood
spurted from Naomi’s neck, she opened her eyes for her last few
seconds on earth, she looked straight at me and started crying and
screaming bloody murder, I couldn’t make out what she was saying,
but I knew it was something about me. I watched as her blue eyes went
black and the butchers tied her feet with the rope and started
skinning her alive, one last glance from her sister to her and she
faded away. I didn’t want to see more. I ran, I didn’t know where
home was, but somehow I found it. I cried myself to sleep that night,
usually Naomi would have sung to me, but I knew she was looking down
saying
“Sara, you are my sister, I love you, and I know you
will find a way… somehow…”
The Sickness
My name is Sara
Swan. I know what you’re thinking, what was the point of an
expiration date? Man slaughter, that’s what, no animals left
after slaughterhouses went mad and killed off all the animals…except
us, us humans. The need for meat was increasing rapidly, they were
taking extra precautions, so they came up with an “Expiration Date”
for people, once they expire, they must be killed straight afterward,
they wanted to harvest us at “The Peek of Freshness!” as they
advertised it.
I was only 12. I had some time, and I was going to
use it by protesting to stop it. Hundreds of scientists had the DNA
of different animals to clone from. Why didn’t they just make
clones and be more careful about slaughtering too many? Or just not
slaughter at all…I wished life were as simple as it seemed. But it
wasn’t, and I was in a fight to stop the madness. No one liked it,
most people were afraid to eat at all fearing they’d be eating a
loved one. It was wrong, it was sick, and it was going to stop…I
hoped. Because I didn’t want to have to go the same way Naomi
did…from what I had heard, it was painful, It looked painful to…
Months before Naomi went I cried for her, I didn’t want
her to go, it was far too soon. People in breeding like my mom WISHED
they could have died, but they were past their expiration date and
would live the full life in captivity. Honestly, I would have rather
been taken than kept as a breeder…do I really need to explain it?
No. Figure it out. We were treated like the animals were for meat,
why should breeding have been any different?
If you
tried to leave Karpacia, you were shot and left as road kill. Nothing
more…
Humans turned to each other to kill off, cannibalism was
utterly taking over, and I fought to stop it. Would you have joined
me?
Reality
As far as I know, there were few brave enough to stand up against this madness. All of them died…I guess I was next either way. I had never seen a real animal before, Just pictures. At night I dreamt that the world declared that they were stopping the slaughter, even if animals came back. But in that world, that wouldn’t be happening any time soon. From where I saw it, I was going to be on someone’s plate far before I could get people to see the problem in that world. Of course, people’s minds were so fucked up, they didn’t have the common sense to know that man slaughter was wrong, but I had to try. I had to try to help them. Help everyone who was at risk for slaughter and the people forced to eat loved ones. Animal slaughter didn’t please me either, because they had to go through the same pain, but it had to go one way or another. And if I could stop man slaughter and get the animals back, I could promote a better way…yeah…that would’ve…that would’ve been nice.
Helpless
2
Years Later
Only 4 years to go. My sister was gone,
my mother was in breeding…I was alone. I ate my daily meals never
knowing if I was eating a close friend or even Naomi. I imagined
taking a bite of what may be Naomi’s arm…and enjoying it. Just
the thought made me cringe.
I took walks alone at night
to keep myself sane and almost every time I came by a slaughterhouse.
I tried not to pay attention but it was hard when I knew I was going
to be in there someday…under the same conditions as Naomi and the
others. Begging didn’t work on them. In fact, it made it worse,
more painful…Slower.
Unfortunately I had tendency to
fight back, but sometimes I could control myself. I was only 14; I
had 4 years to go. It’s not like I was leaving tomorrow, but it was
hard to be happy when you knew it was going to happen someday. Smiles
were rare in Karpacia but they appeared every now and then. The last
time I had smiled was the last time I saw my friend, Nora. She was
one year older than me, but she didn’t want to feel the pain of
that day, and there was only one way to escape the pain. Suicide. I
was considering the same thing but I thought “Most likely I will go
all the way like the rest and endure the pain….”
I
still had hope, a very small hope that animals would come back and we
could expect a whole lot more smiles around there some day. I walked
into the park with the only friend I had left…my daughter. Before,
I told you that by the time your 18, you would have already had at
least 1 child. I had mine when I was 13. I named her Naomi. She took
care of me and I took care of her.
We walked past a
woman with two men practically dragging her away from her child.
Where were they taking her? Here’s a hint, they were wearing red. I
covered Naomi with my arm; she didn’t need to know of it. Not
then…she had a good 17 years left, leaving me with only 4. 4 years
may seem like a good amount of time, but not enough to raise a child,
let alone make life seem worthwhile. With everything that was
happening in that day and age, it was hard to just look out at the
sky and think about how beautiful it was.
As the woman
passed, I felt cold tears on my cheeks. I didn’t try to wipe them
away seeing that others were crying to. I looked down to Naomi, she
smiled up at me, her icy blue eyes sparkled. Tears threatened to
stream from my eyes, I could only keep them at bay for a few seconds,
then I saw there was no use fighting…it would only make it
worse…slower.
The next thing I remember was waking
up with Naomi in my arms. I watched her steady breathing; her small
chest rose and fell. She was still sleeping. I got up and threw my
clothes on. After scanning my image in the mirror for several
moments, I stepped outside. I saw people busy at work, loading wood,
feeding children…at that moment, life was perfect. I felt a smile
cross my lips, I saw a small girl do the same, and soon, everyone was
smiling. I felt tears roll down my cheeks but the happiness was cut
off by Naomi’s soft cries. I turned hesitantly and peered in the
room; Naomi looked at me and smiled.
I fed her, looking at each
bit of meat in disgust while Naomi accepted them happily, giggling
between bites. I couldn’t help but smile at the fact that even if I
couldn’t fix the world and make it right, maybe Naomi could…
Then Naomi laughed at something sitting on my shelf, prying
me from my reverie, she had seen my birth coin, a special coin I was
given when I was born. The light had come in at such an angle, it
reflected about the room. I stood and made my way over to the coin. I
had to cover my eyes from the reflection. I would have thought it was
a gift from God if I hadn’t known my mother had given it to me. It
had brought me so much luck over the years…it was seemingly
magical; I knew I would be with it until the day I died.
I handed it to Naomi; she took it in one hand, dropping it only
moments later. I laughed slightly, picking it up and placing it back
on the shelf. I sighed as I sat on the bed and looked out, hoping to
see a bird fly across the endless sky, but that was something not
even seen in my dreams.
Death Bed
4
Years Later
I waited at my door, holding Naomi in my
arms. I could feel hot tears streaming down my cheeks as the truck
pulled up.
“Sara Swan, your expiration date has come,
please come with us.” They said in the nicest way they could, as if
that were possible. I put Naomi down, said my goodbyes, and sat in
the back seat. The drive seemed to last for hours when in reality it
was only about 10 minutes. As I sat there, my thoughts drifted off to
that fateful night…the night I lost my sister to them. I felt both
anger and fear build up inside me.
As I looked out the back
window, I could see Naomi yelling something and reaching out, I could
make out the tears streaming over her face. When I got there they
lead me into a room with the same slick flooring on witch thousands
of people had been slaughtered…including Naomi.
I
too had to go through the same sickening process that my sister had
endured. I lay down on the drain, I wanted to fight back but I knew
it would only make matters worse…I felt so helpless. I closed my
eyes to block out the horror.
After what seemed like
forever, I felt a sharp pain in my neck and my eyes shot open,
everywhere I looked, there was blood. I felt my body lifting, at
first I thought I was going to Heaven, but only then did I realize, I
was just being hung by my feet.
I felt something fall out
of my hand, I watched it hit the ground seeing the golden shimmer as
it fell, it was my birth coin. I closed my eyes to cry out until, out
of the corner of my eye, I saw the window. Through the window I saw
Naomi, watching this horrible act, I cried out for her, wishing she
hadn’t followed…wishing I had more time with her…I thought of
all the memories I had of Naomi…and she was going to watch me lose
it all…but even behind Naomi….I could have sworn I saw a bird fly
out of a nearby tree…I started to laugh, then cry as my vision went
blurry and my whole life dissipated before my eyes.
Epilogue
Sara played with her
dog Nora; she was her best friend, never to be torn apart…
Naomi looked up at her daughter and the dog, smiling. Sara was
only 8…with plenty of years to go…Naomi let a tear fall from her
face as she thought back to yet another story about her mom…how she
changed the world and made it a better place for everyone, human or
not…
Naomi wandered into an abandoned building nearby,
leaving Sara and Nora to play, upon looking in the ruin, she spotted
something shiny, having the curiosity of a 10 year old, Naomi rushed
over to look.
After brushing off the dust dirt
and...blood? Naomi eyes filled with horror as she noticed the blood
stains. She pushed that to the back of her mind and looked. It was a
coin with a name carved across the bottom that read “Sara Swan”
Naomi read it over and over as if her brain couldn’t recall the
name. She placed the coin in her palm and was in what seemed like a
different world…or, at least it seemed like it. It was like
watching a movie but you could feel everything. From emotion to pain.
She saw a girl no older than about 18 hanging from a rope, screaming,
bleeding….
Naomi felt the sharp pain as the girl was being
skinned. After that was the strangest thing…like the girl had a
flicker of hope at that moment…
“What hope would
you have left?” thought Naomi. Then she got an answer, out of a
window, she saw a girl that looked a lot like her when she was
younger, only then did she realize…it was her…
Her mind went
black as the scene ended; she was clouded not by the girl’s
emotion, but her own. She remembered now…she remembered that night,
she remembered all the tears and blood that were shed. She remembered
her mother.
After drying her tears, she put the coin in
her pocket and went home with Sara and Nora.
Once they were home,
Naomi placed the coin on her shelf and just looked at it like it was
the greatest treasure ever found when in fact, it was to her. Naomi’s
black hair stuck to her face as more tears came and she cried herself
to sleep with Sara by her side, only to hear her mother’s
voice…
“Naomi Swan, your expiration date has not come
and never will, enjoy life while you still have it…it may not be
long…”