Now

This is where we are now. Life is perfect, that's what they say, that is what the billboards and advertisements say, that is what our television tells us.

There is no sickness or illness that we see.

Everyone has a job, well, they have somewhere that they must go to every day from eight in the morning until six at night.

At some point, days, weeks, months and even years were dispensed with because they distracted people. Government as such was also gone and replaced by "The Care" which had come into being to dispense with everything that makes life complicated, and the first thing it did was dissolve political parties which meant there was no need for elections ever again.

This meant "The Care" could do whatever it wanted without the complication of being challenged. It merged and homogenised and then took over control of all media, so that it could make sure that all its implementations would be seen as beneficial to the population.

Live sporting and music events were slowly replaced by TV broadcasts. Stadiums and concert venues were "repurposed" and this eventually spread to all gathering places that included churches, pubs and restaurants. The only place that people gathered was in the workhouses where they did the tasks prescribed for them.

Food shops, takeaways and supermarkets all disappeared and the premises reappropriated. Meals were delivered by "The Care" but the only hot meals were served in the workhouses when work stopped at midday. People were told this was efficient, the best for everyone, and they accepted that without question. Meals were always the same, preprocessed patties and a weak soda to drink. When everyone ate they were satisfied.

Eventually "The Care" decreed that the only time required was the hours and minutes of the day and life became just one day after another, the same every day for everyone. No one complained, they were satisfied because "The Care" told them that this was the best for them and "The Care" was always right. Life was perfect for everyone, that's what they were told through all the media (which was controlled by "The Care") and that is what they believed.

The situation was never questioned, who would even think about questioning perfection?

Sometimes, people would become unwell or break an arm or a leg, then they would be taken by "The Care" to treatment centres. Relatives and friends were told they would be treated well, but they could not be visited.

No one questioned that people never returned from the treatment centres, they knew "The Care" had everyone's best interests at heart.

Life went on like clockwork, every day was like yesterday and every tomorrow would be like today.

When people returned home they would sit in front of their television, watch "The Care Broadcasts" while they ate their prepackaged food cold. There was no need for cookers now, the food provided by "The Care" was perfect for everyone, and everyone was fine with it. There was no advertising on television any more because there were no shops any more. People's desire to own things was gone because everything they needed was provided by "The Care".

Signs on billboards, in tabloids and on television continually proclaimed:

LIFE IS PERFECT

"THE CARE" LOVES YOU

"THE CARE" IS PERFECT

LIFE IS GOOD

WORK IS GOOD

THE WORKHOUSE IS THE PLACE TO BE

Everyone accepted the proclamations and they were never questioned. "The Care" had successfully subdued the whole of the proletariat and the proletariat was satisfied with the situation.

Then back to the treatment centres. These were factories with vats that were used to produce the nutritious food for those who were not part of "The Care", The sick, the ill, the injured were killed by lethal injection and the dumped into the vats where they were fermented with chemicals and other detrius and animal offal to creat the packages.

"The Care" lived in mansions which were situated behind high secure walls, so no one ever saw them. Life was perfect for them.

However, the workhouses produced nothing, and all things that kept the nation running had been shut down. There were no factories or farms any more and the nation's nourishment came entirely from the treatment centres.

"The Care" brought in luxuries from abroad and night in opulence, but the nation got sicker and the land began to crumble. People died at work or home and were taken to the treatment centres where they were recycled.

The propaganda of "The Care" still kept the nation subservient, they accepted that what was happening was the right thing, and the will of "The Care" controlled the minds and desires of the population.

Then came the day that the workhouses and streets were quiet. "The Care"'s control force had nothing to do and saw that the nation was derelict.

It had died under the stewardship of "The Care" and the control force members were not accepting of the situation. They turned their attention and anger to the mansions of "The Care" and started to lay waste to them too.

"The Care" were taken out of their mansions and tried by a control force court and sentenced to be hung until they died.

The country was dead.

It was not a desert but it was an absolute wasteland.

Bands roved the land looking for food and weapons to protect themselves from others who were doing the same thing.

This was the end.

Once the last human died, the land began to recover.

Nature began to reclaim it, creatures came out of hedges and burrows and birdsong was heard once again, but not by any human.

Humans had destroyed their own society through ignorance, stupidity, apathy and greed and now nature was claiming it back.

Buildings crumbled and fell down, and trees grew in the ruins.

This was not a society destroyed by war but a society that destroyed itself almost like lemmings, unthinkingly throwing themselves off the cliffs of oblivion to their final demise.