Monotony in Rule

Waning light forced through the clouds, stained by pollution. The familiar pressure of my gas-mask cut into my skin so that I had trouble deciphering whether the tears that fell were from the stinging air or the monotonous hopelessness that daily life seemed swathed with.

People without count passed me, yet I could tell you nothing of them; bar that they were dirty, hunched and moved with a structured sluggishness regardless of age. Not a one met my eyes, nor did I attempt to capture theirs. Fear of punishment was a constant weight on the once lively population.

I sighed, disgusted with myself for indulging in the same cycle of thoughts that had run through my mind since the takeover. Right as this breath escaped my mouth to be captured and contained by my mask, something new occurred. Perhaps this seems to you a predictable thing; new things happen all the time. My old life was riddled with them. Yet since the takeover, it had not. Days passed, another, another, until I was truly unable to estimate how many. Nothing differentiated them. Our eyes were ordered to the ground and our ears plugged with a device that emitted a low and soothing buzz. Everything took on a dream-like haze inside that buzz. New thoughts seemed to be pushed away by the barrier it created. So, you see, when the buzzing in my ear turned to a husky and breathless voice, I was understandably shocked. A voice smothered in tension spoke rapidly to me, and I had no choice but to listen.

“It has been two months since you were captured, forced to live like livestock; slaves, mind and body! There is hope. Please, find us. We are there, we will fight! Don’t let them control you! Please- oh… no, please, no! No-” There was a sickly snapping sound, followed by a curiously amused grunt. Then the buzz was back. My mind felt as if it was falling and could find no hold. I tried to remember the words, tried to remember… something had happened, hadn’t it? I walked into my sleeping cage with the uneasy feeling that I was missing something important. Something just outside my reach, on the other side of that slippery, monotonous barrier that buzzed.