May 13th, 2020 Day of The Message “Hello, people of Earth. We’ll keep this short. In one year from now, we will return here and eliminate all but ten million of you. However, worry not, as this will not be done randomly, instead all 7,594,367,489 people will be ranked by a variety of factors that sum up into who are the best 100 million humans. See you in a year!” That was the announcement that played in the sky at 7:18 p.m. for Robert Harrison. It played everywhere on Earth, in every single language. Robert was at dinner with his wife Sharon, the two having their first romantic date together in what seemed like ages, what with three kids at home. The two paid for the meal and quickly left. Their date cut short. They needed to be with their kids. June 25th, 2020 322 days until The Elimination Some aspects of life went on normally. Governments of the world attempted to calm people down, so everything wouldn’t go straight to shit. Suicides shot up to an all-time high, people who knew they wouldn’t make it gave up before meeting whatever fate was coming. But hey, there was still running water and electricity. Robert and his family were playing Uno when their neighbor, Tim Goldberg, knocked on the door. Robert had always disliked Tim. Robert loved his family, make no mistake, but Tim’s life just seemed better. While Robert was old and in his 50s, Tim was an energetic man in his 30s with his more attractive wife in his more attractive home and no kids tying them down. “Hey ol’ Robby, how the wife and kids holdin’ up? Bet those rascals must be raising Hell right now I assume, hehe,” Tim chuckled when the door opened. That’s the type of shit Robert was talking about; Tim always had to say some shit about Robert’s kids. ‘Oh they must be difficult,’ ‘get any sleep there eh, neighbor?’ Shut the fuck up Tim, no one asked. “Uhh, neighbor?” Tim questioned, and Robert snapped back after being lost in thought. “Right! Wife and kids are good, how’s Ariana?” Robert asked, though he didn’t care at all. “Shoot, she’s just as beautiful as ever, thanks fer askin’.” ‘Fuck you fuck you fuck you,’ Robert internally screamed. “So ol’ buddy, the reason I’m here is well, I like ya, and I’d hate to see you and yer family get eradicated, so I brought over some healthy food and a workout routine for ya, cause I’m guessin’ this whole rankin’ system has some health com-po-nents and whatnot. The Announcement | Bryan Welch
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