The Martyrs

"Live or die?"

The simple question caused the sea of once-quiet people to turn into wild animals, screeching their answers in hopes to be heard. My attention was not on these thugs. Rather, it was on a young woman who, in the middle of the vast ocean of bodies, stood alone. The guards formed a circle around her, not allowing anybody to touch her. Silent tears fell from her eyes as she glared up at me on the balcony above her. Despite her obvious sadness, she stood as still as a rock as the waves of people moved around her.

"Quite!" I yelled, my voice being amplified across the courtyard. The crowd calmed and grew quiet at the sound of my voice. "Last chance to answer. Live or die?"

The woman below remained a silent statue, even the tears stopped rolling down her face. Sighing, I turned my attention back to the crowds. I said a silent prayer, begging someone out there to stop the outcome I knew would come.

"Live?" Only a few hands were in the air, their votes not even making a splash in the results.

"Die?" A giant wave of hands rose, sealing the fate of the woman below. "Josie Watson you refused your right to choose and so your fate has been chosen for you by the Majority. They have voted for your death. Please hand the nearest guard any belongings you wish to entrust to someone. Any objects left on your person will be taken. All stipulations of your will shall be upheld. Any last words?"

"Down with tyranny!" she yelled and I felt a chill run through my bones.

I shook off the feeling and raised my hand in the air. The people below began to stir, excitement rippling through the crowd. I closed my eyes for a moment before I dropped my hand. The guards around the woman ran towards the front doors of the mansion as the crowd closed in on her. I turned and walked back inside, slamming the doors behind me. Crouching down on the floor, I jammed my fingers into my ears. It was no use.

The pierce of her screams rang through my head. It went on for what felt like hours before it came to a chilling silence. I opened my eyes to see a guard standing before me. I jumped up to my feet, straightening my clothes as I did. "What, what is it?"

"She left this for you, Jule," she informed, holding out her hand. I reached out and allowed her to drop something into my palm.

"She wasn't supposed to leave anything for me," I growled wanting to through whatever it was into the garbage.

"Probably why she gave it to me then," the guard smiled, but I was still irritated.

"Reyan! This stuff is public record! Anybody could look and see that it was left to me!"

"Not if it remains in their possession during the execution. Which, according to the records, it was," Reyan smirked, proud of herself.

"Did anybody see her give it to you?" I asked, frantic. She shook her head and I felt myself relax. I looked down at my closed fist and slowly opened it. Resting inside was a small, heart-shaped locket. I couldn't help but smile.

"Why'd she risk it all for that? I mean I got away with it no problem, but Jo's not much of a risk-taker," Reyan asked as she threw herself on the bed.

"It's a family heirloom," I explained as I tried to open the locket, "For generations, it's been passed from mother to the oldest daughter. I guess she didn't want it to end with her. It's from before Freedom... This stupid thing is stuck."

"Don't bother, it won't open," Reyan sighed, kicking off her boots.

"Snoop much?" I still wiggled the mechanism more and it finally popped open.

"Ooo! What's inside?" she asked, bolting across the room to look.

"Just my great, great maybe another great-grandma," I said, showing her the picture before closing the locket again.

"Well, that's anti-climatic."

"Yeah, no shit. Where's Yuggie?" I asked as I threw the locket into my pocket.

"He got caught up in clean-up duty," Reyan winced as she told me. I closed my eyes. The image of a mutilated body staining the stone of the courtyard snuck its way into my brain. My sister's face unrecognizable except for her eyes, staring up at me.

I shook my head, forcing the image out of my mind. There were more important things to worry about. "We don't have any time to wait for him. Is there any way we can sneak him out?"

Reyan shook her head. I stared at her in defeat. Too many had sacrificed themselves for the cause. "There has to be something we can do."

"Yuggie knew what it meant. He could've fought against it, but he knew it would blow the mission. We have to let him go," she insisted.

"I can't just leave him behind!" As I protested, a loud bell echoed through the air, signaling the next Decision was starting soon. Our time was up. "Fine. Let's go."

The two of us took off out the doors of my room and made our way to the front door. As we walked, I couldn't help but think of how many people had given up their lives for this moment.

There used to be 12 of us. Peter, Maverick, Sonny, Livith, Reyan, Josie, and I were childhood friends. Then came Saylor, Miyar, Feriah, Yuggie, and Quinn. They all escaped their Decisions. We came together to fight against the Freedom.

Many decades ago, the civilizations of Earth fell apart; nobody really knows why. Miyar used to say it was a great war while Livith said it was an apocalypse of nature. The two of them would argue for hours about their conspiracies. How the Earth fell apart didn't matter; it was how it came back together. Before we were even thoughts in this world, the Freedom took control and united the people of Earth into one civilization. Their principles were simple: you are free to do whatever you choose.

Well as you can imagine that turned to shit fast. So leaders within the Freedom arose to add some order. These leaders created the Decision. If a person commits a crime they have a choice to either live in servitude to the leadership or die at the hands of a bloodthirsty mob. The problem is, a crime is defined by the Majority, the psychotic bastards that vote if a person decides not to choose. And their favorite pastime is murder. If you so much as breathe the wrong way, you will be forced into the Decision.

After watching our family and friends die, we all came together with a plan to take down the Freedom and put an end to their reign of terror. Along the way there were casualties. One by one our group shrunk. Some died to the Decision and others laid down their lives to give us a chance. And after everything we went through, I wasn't about to let their deaths be in vain.

We reached the front door and I pulled a hood over my head, glancing at Reyan. She gave me a weak smile. She had ditched her uniform somewhere along the way and was dressed in the game hoodie as me. Nodding, I turned back to the door and slowly wrapped my hand around the handle, the coolness of the metal sending a chill down my spine. I took a deep breath and used all the courage I could muster to pull open the door.

We were instantly drowned in the crowd, people engulfing us with every step. Reyan had to grab my hand so we wouldn't drift away from each other. We swam through the mob, focusing on getting to the exit of the courtyard. We had made it about halfway when I was overcome by an awful smell that made my eyes water so much I had to slam them shut.

"Jule we need to keep moving," Reyan whispered in my ear.

"Yeah," I nodded, opening my eyes, " Yeah, sorry I just-"

I froze in place. There was an open space in front of us, empty of the mob. Instead there stood Yuggie with a mop. At his feet was a large puddle of red. His eyes meet mine and, as he realized who I was, his face grew softer. Mouthing the words, I'm sorry, to me as I stepped into the clearing.

Reyan grabbed my arm and yanked me backward. "We have to go," she insisted. Smiling, I placed my hand gently on her cheek.

"You've always been the better leader," I said, placing a small detonator in her hand.

"Jule..," she stumbled, but I placed a kiss on her lips before she could speak again.

"Go..," I sighed as I pulled away from her. I reached into my pocket and placed the locket into her hands. The tradition would not die with me. "Go. And let them know our stories"

She gave me one more smile before walking away, disappearing into the sea of people. I turned to Yuggie and joined him, standing in the blood of my sister. He embraced me and I felt all my worries melt away.

"Do you think it will work?" he asked, looking up at the mansion that was surrounding us menacingly.

"It has too," I sighed, placing my hand in his.

The alarms on our watches went off at the same time. This was it.

"Down with tyranny!" we both yelled as we watched the mansion erupt into fire and debris. The explosions made their way throughout the house, blowing up one room at a time until it was all in chard pieces.

There was a silence that had spread across the Majority as the explosions stopped. They all looked in horror at the rubble of their empire. A few turned their heads in our direction.

"You did this!" One of them screamed, having heard our mantra earlier. The crowd began to rush towards us. I turned to Yuggie and smiled.

"Down with tyranny," I whispered.

"Down with tyranny," he replied.

Then, the courtyard blew up.