The Announcement

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.

Anyways, I’ll see ya around buddy, stay safe, there’s a lot of crazies around,” Tim finished. Robert stood with a smile, desperately wanting to tell him off and say his family would be just fine, though he only said: “Thanks for your concern, Tim, that’s real kind of you.”

December 25th, 2020 139 days until The End

It was hard celebrating Christmas when things were getting worse and worse outside. Grocery stores were running out of food (because people dying in five months needed to stock up?). Robert tore his knee trying that damn workout Tim gave him. Cost of surgery made it difficult to get the kids presents. Civil unrest in countries was increasing. The EU dissolved, Russia was pushing troops closer to China. Suicides were still increasing. Murders, too. Hell, maybe enough people would die in the next few months that the extermination wouldn’t even be necessary. Bad joke, but Robert needed to make light of it somehow.

January 1st, 2021 132 days until The End

Sharon got laid off. On New Year’s. People finally started wondering what the point of having insurance was. What the point of a lot of things were. At least Robert still had his job. Government was giving less of a shit every day, and why would they? Meanwhile, Tim ran outside every day with his hot wife, the two of them smiling and talking as they ran down the street with their perfectly healthy bodies.

February 14th, 2021 88 days until The End

Valentine’s was soulless; stores didn’t even bother with decorations. Ads ran on TV persuading people to buy their safety come May 13th. It was bullshit of course. Kid at school told Jessica, Robert’s oldest, that their family should just kill themselves, as they weren’t good enough to make it. Robert had to restrain himself from finding and strangling the kid when he heard the news. What little hair Robert had left fell out. Tim still popped in to say hello.

May 12th, 2021 One Day until The End

Robert needed to do something. The day of reckoning was tomorrow, he needed to improve his family’s chances. He thought and thought and realized. He needed to get rid of the competition. Tim and his wife were surely in front of them on the rankings. That needed to change. Not like the police remnants would do anything.

May 13th, 2021 Five Minutes until The End

Robert walked into his house. His family was huddled in the living room, waiting in silence for the end to come. A bat was in his hands. Sharon’s eyes widened, and the two moved to the kitchen away from the kids and grandparents. “What did you do? Where the hell have you been?” Sharon demanded, staring at the bat. Robert went to find a towel to wipe off the bat, ignoring her. She looked at him in terrified silence, unable to speak. The blood still dripped from the

bat.

“What the fuck did you do?” she shouted, this time getting the attention of the others in the living room. She looked sick. “I got our family two spots closer to making it, that’s what I did. I was being a good father and husband,” Robert said soulessly. The clock ticked, but he didn’t look at it or his wife. The End could happen any second now. With horror, Sharon realized what her husband had done and quickly went out the front door, throwing up when she got outside. When Robert went to get her, she ran further from the home, screaming for him to get away as he began to chase her. The kids watched their parents ran out the door. Suddenly the two froze. An announcement was playing in the sky. This was it.

“Hello again, people of Earth, we’d like to thank you all for taking part in this social experiment. No one will be killed. Have a nice rest of your planet’s existence. Goodbye.”