The Experiment

Chicago; the city I'd come to call home. It wasn't the most ideal place in The United States, and like all major cities Chicago had it's share of problems. It was, however, the only city on earth that made me feel like I was contributing to something bigger than myself. With how quickly the world was picking itself back up, just two years after the China pandemic, Chicago had seen a number of disasters it was trying to repair itself from; economic disaster, high murder rates, riots, thousands of arrests, escalated numbers of homelessness, children orphaned before they were able to crawl. One could go on forever about how many other similar disasters were happening.

Despite however many there were who had given up on Chicago, and moved out because of the darkness it was living in, there were still those of us who did what we could to keep faith alive for the citizens who were still here. Yes, America had seen its faith tested, but patriotism wasn't dead yet! Politics was a poison that fed the minds of naive Americans who were so quick to believe what every mainstream media outlet reported. The only reason I hadn't left my job was because I worked with a small select group of people who legitimately cared about reporting the truth.

Famous conservative radio show host Glenn Beck once said, "America, tell the truth. Tell the truth, even if it means in the end it hurts you. America, don’t believe everything that your country and your government tells you. Because while many times, most times it’s true; in many critical times it’s an out‑and‑out lie." I couldn't agree with him more, especially with times America had seen in recent days.

Rain fell against the windows of the our cubicle room where everyone was hustling to finish stories before the 5:00 deadline. Fortunately I’d just finished the piece I’d been working on since 2:00 -- "Crime Skyrockets: Is Chicago The New Gotham City?!" the front headline was going to say. Much of it was due to Chicago just coming out of what was the last of the pandemic. Maniacs were still looting and rioting, and the murder rates were unbelievable.

As I stood next to the microwave waiting for my spiced milk Chai to heat up, the rain picked up — harder and faster, and it started getting windy too. The water on the streets below outside vigorously flowed down hill. Thank God for the drains everywhere which all led to the river. Just after the microwave beeped a huge clap of thunder rang against the sky. It was so loud the lights flicked in the room.

"Sheesh, can't we get a break please?" Max protested. Inwardly I chuckled. While walking back to my desk, Max strolled past saying Seth wanted to speak to me in his office.

“What mood is he in?” I asked cautiously, knowing Seth had been busy all day.

“He was grumbling just now.” Max frowned.

“Okay, thanks for the heads up.” I sighed, making my way down the hall.

Poor Seth, he was stressed no doubt. This week saw for us comprising stories of some of the worst headache driven topics we'd written about, and Seth was the one who had to sign off on everything before anything could be printed. Walter, our Chief Executive, would have handled that responsibility, but he was preparing to sell his house and retire by Christmas. For almost forty years he'd been a journalist, traveling just about everywhere, nationally and internationally, writing stories that pulled at the heart strings of anyone who'd read his work. Walter was a formidable man that would be missed. He reminded me a little of Simon; ambitious and relentless, but also caring and supportive.

Speaking of Simon -- he was currently finishing his piece on what was left of the Dryden Scandal. Two corporate executives along with several property retail employees -- employed by the Dryden Corporation, two bank managers, a pawn shop owner, and five witnesses had all been charged and found guilty of embezzlement, fraud, money laundering, property damage, sexual harassment, tax evasion and the worst — murder. It was one of Chicago’s worst nightmares, no thanks to Eric who’d just made it worse by cashing in his conscience as one of their most prominent attorneys, and a son in law.

He and I still weren’t talking, not even after a year when the truth came out about why he’d left me. Even in recent days he'd text my phone once in awhile saying he missed me, and how he hoped I was doing well, but I never answered him. Eric was no longer the man he used to be. He’d become someone I didn’t recognize, even with all of the apologies he made for breaking my heart.

It was all the remnants of a nightmare I’d awakened from. Sadly, unfortunately, myself and every citizen of Chicago were about to face a new nightmare that wouldn’t end shortly.

“Knock knock.”

“Hey Jenna, come on in.” Seth grumbled, taking his eyes away from his new Apple desktop computer.

“Enjoying your new toy?”

“Oh, are you kidding I love this thing. I should have bought myself one sooner.”

“They are pretty great. Max said you wanted to see me.”

“Yea. Have a seat.” He frowned.

“Uh oh, that kind of a talk?” I asked smiling, taking a seat in front of Seth's desk.

“Don’t worry you’re not in any trouble, we, the company however might be.”

“What do you mean? How?”

“Have you seen the news lately about all the fuss around “The Experiment” Illinois law makers are trying to pass in congress?”

“You mean the Hollywood “Purge” experiment — twelve hours of crime with no legal repercussions against those who do it. Yea, I’ve heard and read about it and it’s completely absurd. Frankly I'm surprised its even being discussed at all.”

“So am I, however, in light of recent events and because of how the Dryden case affected us, we may be looking at closing up temporarily."

"Closing up?" I asked surprised.

"Just temporarily, depending on the vote goes. It's been moved up to this evening at seven o'clock."

"Whoa, wait Seth, the vote? Are you saying they're actually going forward with the idea?"

"Unfortunately yes. Best case scenario, if it's rejected we don't have to worry about anything. We'll stay open and we keep working. Worst case scenario, if it passes, Walter has been given direct instructions from the mayor and the chief of police to have us start locking up everything we possibly can for safety measures. Its completely unethical and unheard of, but that's the reality we're currently facing." Seth grumbled, taking a swig of his coffee.

"Seriously?!" I barely whispered.

"Yea, unfortunately."

Bewildered. Shocked. Stunned. Whichever word one prefers it all meant pretty much the same thing. Had Seth really just said what my ears had heard? How? Why? I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't do anything but just sit there staring blankly into space.

"I know, Jenna. My reaction was the same. I don't like it anymore than what anyone else will, but no matter what decision is made tonight, you, me, the team, we'll all be ok. We've survived a hell of a lot the last few years, and we'll get through this too." Seth assured me as he took another swig of coffee from his mug.

There was a few moments of silence, and that was fine because I needed it. My body sank back into the cushiony chair I sat. Elbow on the side of the chair, I forced myself to breathe deeply. My fingers gently rubbed the skin of my lips. My mind was racing and it sucked because I couldn't take my medicine for at least another twenty minutes.

"This -- this can't be --" I whispered, staring blankly into space.

"Real?" Seth added. My eyes stared into his searching for answers, but there were none. There was only the exhausted, irritated, look of a man who'd spent his career dedicated to reporting the truth to our city. The facts, as ugly as they were, weren't going to go over well with our team. How were we going to get through this?! How bad would the damage be? I didn't want to try to answer those questions, or any others like to them, but as a journalist I was obligated to. Whether the vote was passed or rejected, this was ugly history in the making. The idea of chaos running freely on our streets, with no legal repercussions, with no regard for human values was hideously surreal.

Gently, carefully, I straightened my back sitting up taller.

"What do we do?"

"Hang on one second." Said replied, answering his cell phone. It was Walter. He was checking up on things. Seth told him that no announcement to everyone about the vote had been made yet, but he'd do so in about thirty minutes. My eyes gazed at the clock. It was 4:45 p.m. At 5:15 Seth would tell everyone what was planning to happen in congress at 7:00 p.m.

"Alright, will do. Bye." Seth said hanging up his phone. He arched his head back rubbing his hands ran across his face in frustration.

"How can they do this?" I whispered.

"Its politics, that's how." Seth answered placing his hands back in his lap.

"Its more than that." I faintly heard Simon add, standing in the doorway of Seth's office. "It's a complete slap in the face to everything America stands for."

"Simon. Hey, come on in." Seth sighed.

"Don't mind if I do. It's not getting any warmer out there and fat chances are it's only going to get worse before the night is over." Simon grumbled, taking a seat on Seth's office sofa.

Seth took another swig of coffee then said, "Most likely. I'm glad you're here because I'm going to give the rundown to both of you while I've got the chance to, and I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Tonight's probably going to be a long one.We've got our work cut out for us and we need to compartmentalize carefully how we do everything."

"When's the announcement going to be made?" Simon asked.

"In about fifteen minutes. I'm going to gather everyone into the common room, give a quick explanation of things and then we've got to get to work. I'm going give the main article assignments to you, Max and Violet, but there's different areas that need to written about it and we'll go over that."

"You don't want me to write anything?" I asked.

"You're welcome to if you'd like, but not tonight. Worst case scenario if the vote is accepted the only ones staying here will be myself, Simon, Max and Violet. It's not going to take much elbow grease to get everything packed up and shipped downstairs to the vault room."

"We shouldn't have to do that at all." Simon grumbled.

"No, we shouldn't. As we all agree it's absolutely absurd and unethical, but unfortunately all of our hands are tied." Seth replied.

"They shouldn't be. This isn't only unethical Seth, its insane. How can state reps legally do this? By pushing this vote forward it puts everything patriotism stands for at risk. The catastrophic repercussions will be unlike anything we've seen."

"Jenna you're preaching to the choir and I'm singing right along with you, but unfortunately we don't get to choose what notes come out." Seth smirked. That was his way of trying to lighten the mood, despite how irritated he was.

"That's a great way of saying it, boss." Simon chuckled.

Seth rolled his eyes smiling. "God forbid it should happen, but nevertheless tonight at seven everyone needs to be out in the main room watching the vote LIVE. However this goes, it's not going to be pretty for us either way."

"You think it's going to pass?" I asked.

"I'm not going to hold my breath against it. Whatever happens between now and seven o'clock we need to be prepared for anything. So," Seth paused placing his hands on the desk, "Simon and Jenna I want you two to take a quick break. Go downstairs, grab yourself something to eat, get some coffee, and get back up here as soon as you can."

"You got it Seth." Simon agreed. I could barely bring myself to stand up. Walking back to my desk I felt like a zombie. My mind was spacing. Was this really happening? Could this be the beginning of the end of democracy? If the vote succeeded how long would it be before the remaining states joined in?

I didn't want to think about it. Quickly I grabbed my wallet and phone. My feet carried me to the elevator where Simon was waiting for me. He was just as silent and perplexed as I was. He pursed his lips as his fingers pressed the elevator button. Seconds later the doors opened and we proceeded inside. I leaned up against the corner of the elevator. My mind continued to space as I forced myself to deep breathe.

"Don't lose faith just yet Jen. We'll be ok."

"Will we, Simon?" I asked doubtfully.

"Yes, we will. We've survived riots and looting before. We'll get through this just like we have everything else."

"This is different, Simon. This is completely unheard of, unprecedented. God only knows how bad the damage will be."

The elevator dinged. We exited the elevator into the lobby. Outside our lobby glass doors cops were lined in front of our building.

"Simon, look."

"Yea. The protesting is starting already."

We walked over to the windows closest to the doors. Citizens lined the streets with signs that read, "Do not purge! The Purge is treason. Abolish The Purge. The Purge Is Un-American!"

"Come on, let's go get food. We're going to need it."

"Right." I replied.

As we entered the coffee shop my phone rang. It was Darren, my fiancé -- the one person who understood me better than anyone else. I answered it while standing in line behind Simon.

"Hey honey."

"Hey babe. How's your evening?"

"Uh, truthfully not so great. I was just informed by Seth that the vote for 'The Experiment,' as its being labeled, is being cast in congress a couple of hours from now. Seth is going to make an announcement to everyone about it when Simon and I get back from the coffee shop."

"I gotcha. How's Simon doing?"

"He's just as irritated as I am, he's also finishing up his piece on what's left of the Dryden scandal."

"Ah, that catastrophe."

"Right? The catastrophe with the vote has already started. There's protesting outside as we speak. Cops are lined along the side walks in front of our building."

"Really? How many people are out there?"

"From what I saw, at least a hundred if not more. They're all carrying signs with stuff written on them condemning this purge nonsense."

"Geez. I knew things were going to get bad but I didn't think it'd happen this fast."

"Yea, me neither. How's your night going? How's everyone?"

"Oh we're good. Gabbie is watching her Bugs Bunny cartoons. You mom is in the shower and your dad is currently asleep in his lounge chair. We watched the Chicago bears beat the Detroit Lions."

"Nice." I chuckled. "Well Simon and I are grabbing some coffee and food really quick then we're getting back upstairs. Seth said this could be a long night."

"Most likely. I'll wait up for you babe."

"Ok." I smiled. "I'll text you in a little while as soon as I know more of what's going to happen."

"Sounds good. I love you."

"I love you Darren. Later."

I hung up, sighing stressfully. Simon and I got what we needed for the evening, which was a lot. He bought himself a large Cappuccino and turkey sandwich. I got myself a large hot spiced chai with a shot of espresso, one brownie, a turkey sandwich with no tomatoes, and a Dr.Pepper.

By the time we made our way back to the elevator the protesting outside had doubled. A quick peek out the lobby window showed a minimum of two hundred people, and the number of signs being held in the air had doubled.

"Geez!" I exclaimed.

"Yea its getting bad. C'mon, let's get back." Simon grumbled.

Taking a few swigs of my hot chai I was already feeling more awake. Food would double it for me. As we stepped out of the elevator to our floor everyone was gathering around our overly sized 4K TV which hung on the wall.

"It's starting you guys." Max said to us pointing to the TV.

"Already?" I asked.

"Its just the proceedings, but yea, they're starting." Mike, another team member, stated.

"Man oh man." I moaned.

Seth came in to our cubicle room seconds after I set everything down at my desk.

"Alright everyone! I need us to gather ourselves together right quick. Someone mute the TV temporarily please. Grab a seat or a place to stand. Let's get started." Seth shouted. He took a seat in an office chair that rose high off the ground in front of the entry way where I cubicle area opened. Everyone took a seat at their desks, including myself, or stood.

"Are we all here? Great. Ok guys," Seth began, "tonight's the night of the vote. The preliminary proceedings have already started and from what we've been able to gather from the protest currently happening outside, the crowd is just getting bigger. There's a lot of anger boiling under the surface about this, but regardless of how any one of us feel about it we need to keep our minds focused tonight. Now as far as a time goes, the vote is being cast at seven and every major news organization nation wide will be covering it. I don't want anyone freaking out or screaming about what happens. Let's just do our jobs, keep focused, and push forward. Now with that said, Walter has instructed me to tell everyone that if it passes, if the vote goes through then everyone, with the exception of myself and the select few I've spoken to, is to start packing up everything they have and go home. The reason we're doing this is because if our building is one of the ones caught in the crossfire, we need to protect all of our data. So everything from computer laptops, portable hard drives, flash drives, etc, it either goes with you or it goes in the safe downstairs. Any questions so far?"

Mike, one of our journalists who wrote about issues surrounding law enforcement and the military raised his hand asking, "Is it known yet what day this nonsense is supposed to happen if the vote goes through?"

"Not yet, no. There have been rumors the date is being set for July 1st, but that's not been confirmed yet." Seth replied.

"July 1st; that's only 1 week away. That's not anywhere nearly enough time for us to lock everything down." Violet said, horrified.

"Which is why we're going to start packing up everything tonight." Seth added. The room went silent for a few seconds. "We're doing this not only out of concern for everyone's safety, but also because our insurance will go through the roof from extensive property damage we might get. Electronics aren't something Walter wants us to have to replace."

A desk phone started to ring. Simon answered it from a desk at the back of the room.

"I know this isn't a comfortable matter to discuss folks, but we need to be prepared for anything." Seth cautioned.

"Uh Seth," Simon interrupted, holding the phone to his shoulder, "I hate to interrupt but that's Tony downstairs. He says the protestors have started to become violent. Cops just used tear gas on them a couple of minutes ago."

Max and Andy whispered choice words.

"Ok have they tried getting into the building?" Seth asked.

"Not yet. They're just making a big ruckus outside."

"Ok, tell Tony thank you, and to keep us updated." Seth urged.

"This is insane, all of it." Mike grumbled. "This shouldn't be happening. It's unprecedented and unethical."

"It's not only that, it's also the anniversary date of the Death Penalty being abolished. Its not only convenient, but ironic too. July 1st abolished the law and now state reps are trying to make crime, in general, legal to do?" Max protested.

"I agree it's complete insanity. Its unsteady ground America has never considered treading on before, and it could completely dismantle the foundation of our nation's values. But listen folks," Seth cautioned, "no matter what happens we'll get through it. We've survived catastrophes similar to this, and we can survive this too."

None of us could believe this was happening. Regardless of where anyone stood with politics we had each other's back because of a singular common dream: America was a land of freedom -- a nation meant for people who wanted to better themselves and live in peace, and if that peace was threatened we'd fight to keep it. That dream was hanging in the balance tonight. Tonight's vote would determine which direction we'd take as a nation. Would we be embracing freedom or tyranny?

After Seth had finished the announcement of "The Experiment," everyone went back to business. Simon was on the phone with Tony downstairs, our security guard at the desk. Max unmuted the TV for everyone to hear and watch the proceedings. I sat at my desk watching it along with everyone else. Social media was going crazy; facebook and twitter both. My heart prayed the vote would be turned down, but it didn't appear to be going that way. Illinois Democrats and Republicans alike made their arguments for and against the motion of having a single day each year for crime to be legal for 12 hours, and just like Seth had predicted, the day being suggested was July 1st. "I knew it! July 1st." Max shouted unhappily.

The proceedings continued on right up to seven o'clock. At seven everyone, including Seth, was gathered around the TV. Some of our team members had pens and notepads in their hands writing down each vote that was counted and by whom it came from. Others had their phones out texting the results as they came in. My fingers twirled the small cross necklace I wore while my hand twisted the edges of my sweater underneath my arm pit. Everyone was on edge, anticipating the final vote.

When the final vote was counted the energy in the room went stagnate. One could have heard a pin drop. My heart felt so heavy I was overcome with the urge to recite the scripture which said, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me." Peace came over me that very instant and I could breathe again.

The votes were counted, and the decision was made. The Vice President made his statement with crystal clear reluctance in his voice. The vote had passed.

"NO!" Several of us shouted. I didn't say anything. I couldn't. My hand flew up to my mouth, and then the second one. Cupping my mouth with both hands my elbows fell to the desk. My eyes stared about the room. Max and Mike were furious. Seth was running his hands through his hair. "Oh my," I could discern him saying. Violet was almost in tears. Simon was again on the phone with Tony downstairs. Andy, another team member, was on the phone with someone from another newspaper firm.

My mind began to fade out. I couldn't discern anything that was happening until Simon came to my desk. "I'll help you pack up." He smirked. I just nodded. It didn't take long for me to gather everything together. The apple desktop computer I had was coming home with me. Seth didn't mind because he knew I'd keep it safe, even with a three year old at home. Once my desk was completely empty, Simon escorted me to my car.

"Don't worry about anything ok? We'll all get through this."

"I know. I just can't believe this is happening. It's just too surreal."

"Yea, it is. But hey, you get home safely. We'll talk later ok?"

"Yea ok."

Simon gave me a hug then proceeded back into the building. I texted Darren to let him know I was on my way home. Despite the vote passing there was a chance it could be overturned, although it was unlikely. While driving home I recited that same scripture in my mind several times.

Was this the end???