Famine of Voices

CH.1

Rain fell upon us. Each drop on the ground got louder and louder while we became more and more silent towards each other. One by one we realized that we were losing the ability to communicate with each other. At first it was just the language, then came the emotions. Crying, laughter, pain, joy, were replaced by nothing but an empty expression. A facade of nothingness and distortion. They say that we could easily die if oxygen was gone even for a minute, but that minute was all it took to drive everyone insane. The city that was built for the main purpose of sending communications all across the world became the famine of voices. The mighty network towers stood like ancient ghosts hovering over the people. Many who saw it took their wrath upon those machines and slowly destroyed them one by one. The incident left most machines breaking down and its pieces fell down upon many. Some were injured and killed and their blood covered the look of the fallen machines . Silent trust upon others became the major key to survival with the knowledge that death can come upon any moment with a guaranteed occurrence of betrayal. Animalistic instincts began to take over other people who

se actions conveyed a nature to survive. Every incident happened within a minute and grew more and more after the minute that has occurred that I lost track of what form of destruction was going on.

It was just an ordinary day. People continued to lives as they were accustomed to. Technology was booming and the advancement of social media has made it possible to communicate better. Then all of a sudden, in the busy streets people began to utter in mumbling noises. Speaking words to each other but no meaning could be understood from it. Mumbling noises scattering everywhere. Communication slowly disintegrating from humanity. Panicked expressions making their last show, everyone grasping for the emotion it conveyed until the expressions made no sense anymore. Heavy texters pressing on buttons so much as to purge out a conversation that longer had any effect. Technology meeting its demise at the hands of silence. Pain, laughter and joy ceasing to be shared by many. Systems falling apart like wires being torn from their connection one by one. As the world began to lose its soul towards understanding many were dying from the process. When silence approached the almost like web that connected everyone, they began to shatter like glass. Broken to a million pieces forever banished in their own isolation. It didn’t take long before people got mad and insane due to the incident. Many were acting based on their own interpretation of what was right and wrong and relying to whatever information they have acquired. The feeling of trust kept most close to each other but at the same part led many to their downfall. Dying without even a tiny understanding of the betrayal they have suffered. “I’m sorry please forgive me” were some of the words that friends, lovers, enemies, parents and more were trying to convey towards their actions. They hoped that their actions could at least have a voice but even that was futile. Others preserved information in different forms to translate what was happening hoping that one day they could be understood in the future. However, during the reign of the anarchy that grew more and more each day some survivors who escaped wrote in blood. Walls were covered with handprints and bloody messages. A built up of information never seen before in the midst of a silenced modern society. Whatever technology was available they took advantage of it and recorded information through their voice, language, symbols and so much more. Many who saw this event as the sign for the end of the world did not care for information that had a slim chance of being understood. As a result, many took action to destroy anything that would send a message. An angry mob formed that hated how they can only see information now just as a bunch of gibberish. No once could lead or have power since mostly everyone was relying on themselves and instincts to survive. Everyone was slave to their own selves. One would try to lead but then get killed in the process either publicly or secretly and whether his intentions were right or wrong it was never known. Music was blasted so loudly out of desperation hoping that even one tone could bring a message. Humanity did whatever they could to be able to understand but it became like chasing the air. Other people in the world who tried to help out and saw the crisis came and realized that whoever set foot in that place would lose the ability to communicate. The governments of the world took action and decided that it is far too dangerous to enter the place. They named the place “The Famine of Voices”. Some leaders took the opportunity to silence their enemies by abandoning them to that place. The city became a dumping place for criminals and political enemies. As a result governments inorder to reduce crime and any likeable terrorist inorder to save tax money destroyed the prison systems and replaced it by putting people in the city. Although a lot of people attempted to voice out towards their human rights complaint the fear of the place kept most people at bay. The media broadcasted the threats and made a spectacle about the place that shocked everyone in the world. Their greatest story resulted from one child who accidentally stepped one foot into the place and was no longer able to communicate. This further news brought terror to the lives of people and demanded that a border be made to isolate the city. A huge wall was erect so as to separate the famine of voices away from the rest of the world. The governments believed that it was only a matter of time before the city would have no longer any survivors if it was left isolated but they were wrong. A large group of gangs began to form who were associated with the name “Beasts” because their appearance was of muscular build and had face masks. They needed to look strong otherwise they would be instantly killed by their allies. One wrong move and they were dead. These individuals relied on instinct and compared their deaths as to one whose soul was not able to translate to the present. They knew that the longer they survived, a faint hope in the future might rescue them from this hell. Filled with knowledge from the past being of that a mature age the governments knew that they could cooperate with them by manipulating their knowledge. Everyone had their own mind. A supply of food was dropped to the place inorder to keep them healthy and strong to take command of the city by machines that automatically flew in the air. They realized that their is no greater weapon than a person who can be manipulated due to their void of potential understanding. Being an isolated city, many who stayed built walls to keep themselves isolated and safe from potential threats. Others who escaped went to other places in the world but were later identified as a “No-Voice” individual and was ridiculed because people were scared that they would become like them too. As long as no criminal activities were done by these individuals, governments gave them a pity pass for being broken and powerless and to show the media how much they cared for the people. To further the control in the city governments sent their soldiers to the place insisting that it is their duty despite the fact that they will no longer be able to come back. Even if they rebelled, governments knew that none of them would have the ability to reason out or make their cause known. The start of the incident was dictated with a calendar known as Year 1. My name is Rhythma and I am a professional dancer yet here I am being sent as a soldier to fight for a cause that would render me to lose the ability to reason out. An audition changed my life. I originally came from the city with my sister Chase. Everyday and night we would compete with each other to see who was the better dancer. We auditioned for the same competition but only one of us got in. I left my sister that day hoping to come back and bring her with me so we can perform together. That dream never happened. I could never come back to her or my family because even if I did we would have no way to understand one another. I am about to be sent tomorrow as a tribute to serve my country. This is what Katniss Everdeen must have felt from the Hunger Games. I wrote whatever I could have left in my diary so that people would remember me. I said goodbye to all my friends but most of all to dance. What would happen if two blind mice meet? That’s the same feeling I have upon meeting my sister if somehow she would still be alive. I tried to run away but it was no use the government caught my diary and condemned as being too dangerous to be left alive here. They wanted to erase what I know through silence and they just had the perfect place to do so. They burned my diary and made me eat the ashes of it. I woke up to a truck dropping me off. I felt like that was the last time I would ever see civilization.

Ch.2

Rhythma and the silenced City

The trucks were too afraid to go near the city so i was thrown inside. I think I hit a rock and woke up only to realize that nothing made sense anymore. I was given a gun so that I would somehow survive. Being the loud person I was I began screaming which was a very bad idea in the first place. My words sounded like mumbled voices and even I couldn’t understand what I was saying anymore My screaming caught the attention of some of the inhabitants of the place. This place was so far removed from the reality that I had once lived in. The streets I used to walk on, the school, the mall all are now an illusion of the sights they once were. It was crazy to realize how such one event could cause this much destruction. In the midst of it all I was wondering how my sister was doing. Would she hate me because I haven’t tried to come back for her. The guilt was eating me up. How bad could it be to not be able to properly talk for a while. This might have been the longest I have been quiet. The more quiet I got the more louder my thoughts became. Ever since Year 1 happened we were trained at an early age how to become a soldier. It became a requirement for every school to train us until were of legal age. Parents who refused to give up their child for training were either threatened of banishment. Orphans like myself suffered the worst because society saw no greater value in us. Unfortunately for more I was much older when the incident happened but was still trained under a limited time. Inorder for me to have my dancing privileges and my tuition covered I decided to do so. I just didn’t expect that they would drag me in the middle of the night only to be sent to the land of banishment. Upon my unlikely stay here I hid because I was scared for my life. I was walking through a valley of people who seemed calm and safe. The scariest part was not knowing who your enemy really was. As I was walking others were killed randomly and the sad part was that the mood of the situation had no effect on me. I was beginning to feel less and less human at the moment. Someone was bleeding yet I did not understand the pain expressed by the person. In my head I know it’s really bad but I can’t somehow feel what was going on. My first day wasn’t all that bad i think. Food would drop by every evening and I would pick up the remains because I was so scared of the people around here. Maybe I would enjoy this place after all or not.