Beyond the Wall

Austin Tsuhako

10/9/17

Beyond the Wall

        The year was 629 A.D. (After Detonation). Almost nothing was left standing on the face of the earth. A nuclear war destroyed the world that our ancestors once knew, leaving nothing but tragedy and hopelessness. They managed to rebuild, but during that process, the Walls were erected. Behind these walls lived the remnants of humanity, sealed away from the radioactive, ravaged wasteland. The earth became a living hell. The structures of government that were once in place had been vaporized in a blink of an eye, just as the nuclear warheads vaporized our once strong standing nations. The survivors of the war, who were of wealth seized the power over the rest of the surviving population. The new city, Neo Archi, became victim to a monarchy that rules with an iron fist. Disobedience and insubordination are not tolerated and are grounds for banishment beyond the wall. No one really knows what is beyond the wall, there are rumors and myths that go around the city. Claims of shadowy creatures that move only in the darkness. Those creatures, take those who are banished into the dark of the night and those people are never heard from again. Were they tortured and killed? Were they turned into hideous creatures like their captors? That tale was never told. Even in humanity’s fight for survival, the corruption of the monarchy that rules over the last of humanity is unwavering, and unforgiving. As the lower-class citizens struggled to keep their families or themselves nourished, the wealthy bathed in their riches and power. They were the predators and we were their prey.

        The full moon shone brightly in the pitch-black sky. The gears to the Wall began to turn as the gargantuan gate began to rise. The ceremony had begun. All of the citizens of Neo Archi were herded to the Great Lawn and seated accordingly. Unfortunately, I am seated in front to witness this tragedy, a tragedy that has almost become normal. There were two sections that surrounded a clear pathway leading from the edge of the Great Lawn to the Gate. A cage which looked to be used to contain a beast had been hoisted down from the capital by the royal guard. But I knew that the cage contained no savage beast, only an ordinary man, who made one mistake.

The cage was opened and the man stepped out, the moonlight that shone on him, and reminded us of the horrors of living in our world. His hands and neck were secured in a pillory. His mouth was covered with a muzzle fit for a canine. His body looked severely tortured, bruises, deep flesh wounds, and blood leaking from every visible orifice. Two guards took prods and ushered him down the pathway towards the gate. The man was tearing up, his cries for help were inaudible. Once he reached the edge of the gate he dropped to his knees out of pure exhaustion. The head of the royal family, Sammuel Archer, appeared behind the two guards. He removed a piece of parchment from under is over coat. “I, Sammuel Archer, hereby find Emmanuel Perez guilty of conspiring against the government through non-violent protest. A crime in violation of Act 2 section 2.1. This crime is punishable by banishment, and that will be the sentence that is carried out.”

Emmanuel was forced to his feet once again by the guards. I looked at the horror on his face, a face of a man with no hope left in his life, a man who just lost everything. He was shoved just outside the borders of the wall. He sat on his knees and watched as the gate was starting to be lowered. I watched his eyes sink into his lap, he really had no way out, he was sentenced to death. The gate had closed almost half way and my body moved on its own. I stood up and yelled, “STOP!” Everyone’s eyes turned towards me. “You can’t do this, you can’t punish a man who did not promote any violence and was merely part of a non-violent protest. He is not the monster you madmen portray him to be. There may be monsters beyond the wall but the monsters within it are the worst.” Sammuel was stunned for a brief second, starring in astonishment at me. That astonishment quickly morphed into rage.