Relic of a Terrible Time

"Stop!" I screamed as they held me and ripped the locket from my throat. "It's too powerful! You can't do this!" I flailed and thrashed as hard as I could, deperate to return my precious, heart shaped locket to my neck. That locket, that ever so tiny locket was the key to everything. Everything I worked so hard to protect, and just like that, it was gone.

My name is Katrina. I am among the few 10,000 to survive earth's great extinction 35 years ago. It is now 2236, we are the last remaining of the human race. The hunt for a heart shaped locket is on the rise and me, a regular middle aged lady just trying to survive, is the most wanted among our city. Well, welcome to Pandorium. Earth's great extinction took place in 2201, after a nuclear war broke out between the worlds major countries. The amount of nuclear waste and energy was just too much for any living being on the planet, except for the few of us who were immune to the radioactivity. We were the so called lucky ones, the ones who are meant to repopulate the human race. The war took place after the American government stole an ever-so-precious artifact from a secret laboratory in Chernobyl. The locket contained a bio weapon meant to plague the human race, should they have ever reached an over inhabitation crisis. The fight to get the weapon among the countries leader's resulted in a war causing mass extinction. I bet you're wondering how I got my hands on that daunting locket. Let me recount.

Despite what I stated above, about me being a normal, middle aged lady, I am not. I am no where near normal. In fact, I was previously noted as the first female Prime Minister of Canada. I was a great leader, an impressionist. My people looked up to me. My people followed me. Though my people trusted me, I had fears. Populations were more than doubling every year, resources were slim. Tensions between our countries were running thin and the UN no longer existed. No more allies, no more friendships. It was quite literally every country for itself. I knew about the virus they were creating. The goverment of Chernobyl was encapsulating a plague like virus inside a heart shaped locket. They planned on selling that locket and, unannounced to the unfortunate wearer, spreading the virus through close contact scenarios. The virus would ultimately spread worldwide, killing millions, if not billions, in an attempt to keep the population crisis at bay. I couldn't let that happen. They did not take into account that it would kill too many and would be the result of the 7th mass extinction. I had to do something. Fast.

I stole the locket from the top American lab. Though I was letting down the millions of inhabitants in my country, I immediately went into hiding. I couldn't let anyone get their hands on this locket again. I needed to figure out a way to destroy it before it was too late. Since the locket had been stolen, the entire European continent declared a state of emergency, and had suspected that America had stolen the locket. They were right, sort of. The world's leaders went into a state of panic, frantically scouring other countries for the locket. When no luck arrived and fingers started being pointed, Chernobyl declared war on the world on September 4th, 2201. That day would turn to be the most fateful in human history. And there I was, hiding away in a cabin in the Iqualuit Tundra, clasping the relic that caused the end of the world as we knew it. Only a select few people survived, only those who were immune. Apparently, I was among them. I couldn't find a way to open the locket without releasing the virus accidentally, and so, I kept it. I kept it around my neck 24/7. I knew if I didn't, and it fell into the wrong hands, the last remaining of our kind would die. It would end the reign of the great human race.

Fast forward, and we are in Pandorium. Pandorium is our little city of survivors in the heart of what once was Saskatchewan, Canada. We rallied every survivor we could, and built a city from whatever scraps we could find leftover from the destroyed buildings around us. We elected a government, to keep our society intact. Our newly elected government were extremists, to say the least. They were greedy, wanted everything in their power, under their control. The infamous locket was one of them, to be used as blackmail and a bio weapon should any civilian disobey them. They stated at a city wide meeting that they would not stop scouring until they found it, no matter the cost. I had to leave. I had to get as far away from that place as possible, even if it meant risking my own, predominantly precious life.

I made a plan to escape that night. The city was protected by guards and gates to keep everyone- people like me- from fleeing. I had to bury the locket somewhere far away, where it would never be found again. I scaled the 10 foot, barbed wire fence that surrounded my living quarters. I ran, dashing as fast as my feet would carry me away from our safe-haven. The outside landscape was barren, with only tree trunks and building debris left to the eye. Suddenly, I heard a commotion from the outskirts of the city. "Katrina! She's left! find her, and fast! Do not return empty handed!" It was our elected president, Talon. escaping the quarters of the city was a newly passed crime, since every life mattered more than ever and the outside world was a dangerous place. I started to panic. My instincts kicked in and I sprinted in a rush of adrenaline. The light from the distant city reflected off my metallic clothes and caught the eye of one of our government members. "There! Hurry, get her!" I gasped and turned the other way. "Think Katrina, Think!" I said aloud to myself as I started running further from the city. "I can't let them have it, it would be genocide." Though I was fast, I was no match for the dozens of men chasing after me. They eventually caught up to me. They grabbed me, I flailed and kicked and put up my best fight, but it was no use. They took me back to Talon's living quarters. I was defeated. At first, Talon did not seem to notice I was still wearing that golden, heart shaped locket around my neck, and began punishing me like he would anyone else if they had escaped the borders of the city. When my punishement seemed over, Talon began to pick me up off the ground while reciting a stern warning that if I ever tried to leave again, my punishments would not be as merciful. I began to feel a rush of relief as I stood up face to face with him. Maybe he hadn't noticed the locket after all. Much to my dismay, the locket was noticed almost as fast as my relief came. "That's an interesting necklace you have there, mind me asking where exactly you got it?" Talon asked with a raised eyebrow. "Oh uh, it was a gift from my mother when I was a child, a family heirloom." I stuttered. I must have looked so nervous as my cheeks flushed. Talon kept on prying. "Can I see it?" He inched closer to me, revealing the heart shaped locket that lay innocently beneath my shirt. He gasped and began staring me dead in the eyes. "Grab her." he whispered just loud enough that the goons standing behind him could hear. They grabbed my wrists and shoulders and held me back as Talon walked toward me with such force and passion that I couldn't even react. Snap. The locket was torn from my neck in one swift, strong motion. I screamed. "Stop! It's too powerful! You can't do this!" I thrashed and flailed as hard as I could, desperate to return the precious, heart shaped locket to my neck. It was everything I worked so hard to protect, the tiny relic that would serve to destroy the last remining survivors of the human race. The relic of such a terrible time. And just like that, it was gone.