It was freezing cold and the sun was beginning its descent over the bleak horizon. As Ray looked up into the harsh grey clouds above, he felt the soft, stinging touch of snowflakes melting across his cheeks. It was not a comforting feeling, and if anything, it just reminded him of how cold he would be tonight. Wrapping his coat tightly around his chest he looked back over the city which he had lived in for so long.

“Good-bye mom.” He said. The words frosted over in front of his face and vanished within seconds. “If only you could have come with me.” His eyes started to water but he wiped his face before the tears started to fall. Part of him wanted to run screaming back to his home and drag his mom forcefully out of the house, but the other half stopped him. It was probably too late anyway. Ray looked down at his watch - 6:49pm, the 20th of November. It was the day of the great killing and the culling had already begun.

The pollution level was so high that it was hazardous to stay in the open for more than an hour at a time. Already Ray could feel the thick air filling his lungs with every breath he took, a taste of gritty bitterness filled his mouth. He tied his scarf around his mouth, and though it did little to help, the small relief it gave his lungs was accepted gratefully. Looking ahead, he could only see shades of dull grey amid a steep and rocky landscape. The snow and the smog made it hard to tell which direction he was facing but he followed the steep hill upwards in hope that he would find some shelter.

The trek was harder than he ever could have imagined, his limbs felt wobbly and many times he had stumbled upon the bare, jagged rocks. Never before had he ventured this far from the city, in fact nobody had ever been this far out, except maybe the vagrants. Ray paused in mid step, looking through the grey veil with a new fear in his eyes. He had heard the movement of rocks not far behind him. Squinting, and shielding his eyes with his hands, he looked back in the direction which he had come from. Even if there was something there, it was impossible to see in these conditions. He picked up his pace a little, taking himself into a fast shuffle. He had heard stories of the vagrants, coming down to the city in the middle of the night, raiding the food storage bunkers. The city guards would shoot anyone without an identification band on sight. Ray fingered his band thoughtfully, there would be no city guards out here, and right now he was it their territory. Reluctantly he removed the fluorescent band from his shoulder and threw it to the ground. With it, he threw away his identity, his life, and all his hopes to continue his future as a citizen.

* * *

Konnor froze. The boy ahead had stopped unexpectedly and he had almost been caught. Konnor stood with extreme stillness as the boy searched his surroundings. He grinned, he was happy with himself. As a young child he would always be sneaking up on people, scaring them half to death as he jumped from the shadows. But never before had Konnor ever tracked one of the city dwellers. He had visited their dirty cities and diseased streets but the only thing which interested him there were the food bunkers. He knew he was in extreme danger and tripping on that rock had almost cost him his life. ‘I wonder how old he is?’, he though to himself, ‘sixteen? Maybe seventeen?’. He had heard of instruments of death which could kill from afar, but it did not seem the boy carried one. What errand could this strange boy be on, and why did he travel so far from the city without proper protection? Perhaps he was running from his home. Konnor knew that if this was the case, the boy would not survive for long. The city dwellers were weak, much weaker that his kind. The boy had been tripping and stumbling across the rocks as if he was a six years old. In his pursuit, Konnor had not even lost his breath, it was just as strenuous as a morning stroll.

The boy ahead had started to move again, and now with a much faster pace. Konnor began to doubt that he had hidden himself as effectively as he had previously thought, perhaps he had been spotted after all. It did not matter anyway, he would be able to keep up the pace for much longer that the strange boy. Something in the snow caught his attention, it was bright yellow and had a series of integrated symbols along one side. Letting the boy walk on, Konnor knelt beside the instrument. A thought occurred to him and he jumped backwards with fear. Perhaps it was a trap, something which the boy left behind to harm or reveal his pursuer. Konnor picked up a medium sized rocked and gently threw it at the yellow instrument. He immediately covered himself with his cloak, not knowing what to expect. He heard a sharp crack as the rock made contact, but no other sound could be heard. Hesitantly, he moved up towards the object, and with an outstretched finger on an outstretched arm he hesitantly touched the yellow covering. It did not seem harmful, maybe the boy had accidentally dropped it in his rush to get away. The boy! He had forgotten! Quickly he snatched up the object and hurried along in the direction the boy had left.

* * *

Cain looked out of his window into the bleak winter night, his mind lost in a haze of sadness and regret.

“Are you feeling okay?” asked his mother. Cain turned and saw his mother leaning against the side of the door, she looked worried.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just doing a little thinking.”

“Always off in the clouds,” she said, a smile appearing on her face, “well I’ll leave you to it then.” Cain watched his mother as she left his room. She didn’t have a clue. She had no idea of what was going on and what this night meant to the future of humanity. He wondered what she would be doing if she did know. Would she scream? Would she cry? No, neither, it was beyond that, it was beyond any emotion that you could possibly feel. All you could do was stare outside a bleak window and think, as if none of this was happening to you and soon you would wake up from a terrible dream. But no matter how long you waited, and how strong you wished it, the nightmare would never end, only get worse. He looked into the streets outside, where the snow thickened against the sidewalks. Deep in the distance he could see a figure, running down the street towards him, it was Ray. But just as it came, the vision vanished and all that was left was a quiet street, cold as death itself. ‘I wonder where he is?’ he thought to himself, ‘Ray, are you still out there? Are you still alive?’

The harsh sound of the telephone jerked him from his thoughts. Once, twice, thrice, it rang and nobody was answering. Recovering from his depressing reverie, he turned from the window and headed towards the telephone in the lounge. Six times, seven times, he reached out and picked it up on eight.

“Hello?” he said.

“Hi Cain, is that you? I was wondering if Ray is over at your place, we had a fight and he left more than three hours ago.” a female voice said. It was Ray’s mother, he knew the voice well, but it did not sound very well. She seemed tense, something she very rarely was.

“I’m sorry, he’s not here, I don’t know where he could be.” he lied. Telling the truth wouldn’t help anyway.

“Thank you, I’m sorry I bothered you.” she said and hung up.

“I’m afraid you’ve probably seen your son for the last time.” he said into the dead receiver as he hung up.

“Who was that?” asked his mother, coming from the toilet.

“That was Ray, he wanted to know if I wanted to see a movie tomorrow.”

“Well why not!”, she said, “That’s what holidays are for aren’t they?”

“Not these holidays.” He said gravely as he walked slowly back to his room.

* * *

The snow was falling faster now and Ray shivered uncontrollably as he trudged on. The snow had melted on his shoes and his feet were freezing beyond feeling. It wouldn’t had helped if he had known this would happen. Shoes in the city were not made for walking outside, especially in wet or snowy conditions. He was constantly forcing his teeth not to chatter and he couldn’t pull his coat tight enough around his body to keep him warm. He had been walking for nearly five hours and still the scenery had hardly changed. The cuts and bruises across his hands and legs from the constant falling were many and he felt very faint. He knew that if he could not find shelter soon he would not make it through the night. But where in these barren open lands would he be able to find any kind of shelter? Still, he walked on in the hope that fate would be merciful upon him. Sometimes he wondered if he was walking in constant circles, only to collapse in a heap only minutes from the city. Again he tripped on a rock which had hidden itself amongst the quickly thickening snow. This time he didn't get up. Fatigue had gotten the better of him and five hours of walking is more than any city dweller had done in a long time. The cold stinging touch felt good against his numb cheeks and hands, so comforting, so relaxing. His breath slowed and became shallow as he began to drift off into nothingness. The last thing he felt before he lost consciousness was the gentle prodding of a curious hand.

Konnor had been waiting for this moment for a long time. He never expected the boy to last so long. Hours ago he realized that this boy was on no special errand, he was running from something and he was very scared. What could it be that could fill a young man with so much fear than he plunges blindly into deadly conditions without the right equipment or clothing. Perhaps he was being hunted by the city guards, or he had done something unforgivable, and found the only answer to be to run from all responsibility. Many times Konnor had scouted ahead and watched the boy pass by while hiding in the snow or behind a rock. He was convinced that the boy was not dangerous and had no intention of harming anyone, except for maybe himself. He also noticed that the boy was very thinly clothed and was probably freezing to death as he walked. And so it came as no surprise when the strange boy finally collapsed in the snow for the last time.

At first he waited for a while, making sure the boy would not get up again. But something told him this was his final fall. Even as he fell to the ground, his hands had not tried to break his fall as his face plunged into the snow. Konnor walked briskly towards him, for he knew he could not waste any time in saving him. With the lack of heat created from exercise, his body would be losing temperature at an extremely high rate. First he touched the boys back, checking for any response, and as suspected, there was none. Then he went around to the head, opening the eyelids and looking into the eyes…there was no reaction. Konnor could see from the steam coming from his mouth that he was still breathing. Quickly he turned the boy on his back, reducing his contact with the snow. Then he went in search of a flat patch of ground, where he proceeded to kick the snow away. Soon he had created a large rectangular patch of bare ground. With haste he piled some large heavy rocks around the border, keeping any snow from falling back in. When it was finished, Konnor ran back to the place where the boy lay. He was still alive but his breathing was very shallow. Konnor dragged him to the bare patch and lay him down in it. He then removed the boy’s shoes and placed his own on him, he also took his own gloves off and fitted them onto the boys hands. Konnor then lay down next to him, sharing his heavy fur coat and body heat. It was not long until Konnor too fell asleep, for he too was exhausted.

* * *

Cain and Ray were laughing. It was thrilling and exciting, the possibility of being caught was always on their tail. Peeking around the corridor, they checked to see if anyone was close by, when the coast was clear they walked up to the next door. The door was sealed air-tight and made from bullet-proof glass about 2 inches thick. Cain swiped his card and entered a pin in the panel beside it.

“Welcome Cain Underwell, your clearance status is Level 8, guest”, said a sexy digitalised female voice from the speakers. The doors slid open with a hiss and closed behind them only a second after they had stepped through.

“Shit, that was close!” said Ray grinning, “I bet people get crushed by those doors!”.

“Ray! Keep it down! We gotta be quiet okay?” pleaded Cain.

“Yah right, uhuh. We may be in the most secured building in the city but we’ve got the frigging lowest clearance level! C’mon Cain, you promised me some excitement!”

“Well now you’ve got it! Here it is, my dad’s clearance card.” Cain said as he produced a black card from his wallet.

“Holy crap! How the hell did you get it? Does your dad know? Damn, we are going to get into the deepest shit for this.”

“Only if we get caught.” Smiled Cain, “Presenting level one clearance, pin 12-11-2466 which just happens to be my birthday!”

“And so we can like, go anywhere at all in this building?” asked Ray, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Sure can, but just with one slight problem. Security levels 1-3 require a voice print.”

“Damn, that would have been so cool! Well it looks like we’ll have to settle for level 4” Ray grinned.

“It just so happens I have actually planned for this.”, Cain said proudly, patting Ray on the back, “C’mon, the elevators are over this way.”

The Centre for Disease Control rose only one level above the ground. The rest was build entirely underground. There was no doubt about it, this building was the most secure building in the city. Ray and Cain had dressed in their dad’s suits and at a glance, especially over a security camera, they would look like first class citizens, which is just the reaction they wanted. They walked to the elevators, two of them lay wide open, inviting them in. Cain walked in first and Ray followed.

“Swipe the card.” said Ray impatiently. Cain swiped the hard through the censor and the elevator doors quickly locked shut.

“Shit, how do we get out?” asked Ray, a hint of fear in his voice. Cain smiled.

“We don’t, it’s a security measure, pretty nifty hey. If you don’t have proper ID, you’re stuck in here until the cops come.” he said. One by one Cain entered the pin numbers carefully, not wanting to make a mistake.

“Voice print identification please Mr. David Underwell.” said the sexy voice. Cain held up a tape recorder to the microphone and pressed play. On it was a sample of his dad’s voice, recorded last night during dinner.

“Voice print unacceptable, please try again.” said the voice in stern monotony. Ray looked at Cain in panic, his eyes pleading

“Oh crap, it didn’t work.”, said Cain, the colour flooding from his face, “Oh shit oh shit oh shit.”

“Thank you Mr. David Underwell, voice print accepted. Please select your desired level.” said the voice, much more cheerfully.

“What the hell happened?” said Ray, recovering from shock.

“Uhhh, well people always say how our voices always sound the same on the phone.” answered Cain, a nervous smile on his face, “I suppose my using voice was my backup plan.”

“Don’t you ever scare me like that again! Shit, you freaked me out so bad.”

“Please select your desired level.” came the voice again.

“Basement 8” said Cain and the elevator began it’s decent.

The walls of the elevator were completely smooth except for the keypad, censor, microphone and speaker. There were probably multiple cameras filming them from behind the mirror walls.

“Ok, as soon as we get down there, we’ve gotta find dad’s office and get in as quick as possible. We do NOT want to be caught down there.” said Cain.

“Gotcha.” said Ray, now chewing a stick of gum.

The elevator came to a halt and they quickly stepped out before it began it’s ascent to the top. They were in one long continuous hallway, one door every 15 meters. The whole place was lit with iridescent blue lights.

“Whoa how cool is this? It’s like something from the future or something!” said Ray.

“Shut up! If someone comes out here now, we’re screwed. There’s no place to hide. You go that way I’ll go this way.” said Cain. They split up, scanning the doors for Mr. David Underwell’s office. After 2 seconds Cain had found it, and by the time Ray came over Cain had already swiped and pinned his way in.

“Did I even tell you why we’re here?” asked Cain.

“For a little adventure and excitement? Hey wow! Check out the desk lamp!” said Ray comically.

“Dad’s been hiding stuff about his work recently.” said Cain, ignoring Rays remark, “Of course he always hides stuff from us, cuz his work is like top-secret and all that…but recently…” he trailed off, looking at the file which was centered on the desk. Curiously, he opened the report to the middle and started to read…

“For hundreds of years we have been destroying our planet in every way imaginable. Almost all our resources have been mined and our pollution levels in many cities have reached a point where it is hazardous to breath unfiltered air. Our ozone is thinning to a point where the sun’s rays can cause severe skin burns in a matter or minutes. The greenhouse effect has taken it’s toll, and the rise of sea levels has left us with only 70% of the land compared to 400 years ago. Even with all this, the human race could still survive longer still, but food resources are running desperately low in multiple countries. There simply are too many people and not enough land. To save the human race we must first destroy it, or we shall all be seeing the end very soon.”

“Holy shit, what the hell is this?” said Ray walking over to Cain’s side. He read on…

“For fifteen years now, we have had researchers developing a deadly virus, one which will eliminate each and every human who has not been immunized. This virus, however, will not effect other animals, although it is now too late to save all the species which have perished as a result of us. The selection of those who will be immunized is simple. All those with an IQ of over 128 will be spared. This will result in the culling of 80% of the worlds population. Naturally, the death of 19 billion people will cause general chaos for a period of several years but the plan must go ahead if the human race is to survive. Of course, not only those with an IQ of over 128 will be immunized, all those involved in the culling will be immunized, as well as their immediate family.”

“IQs have been taken from end of primary and high school IQ tests. As you may be aware, the compulsory testing of children’s intellectual capabilities was introduced 25 years ago. The immunizations have been occurring over the past decade without the patient’s knowledge or consent. Whether it be a general checkup or surgery, if the patients show up on the database, they will be immunized. All people over the age of 50 will not be spared unless they are of immediate lineage to those involved in the culling or have special privileges. The virus will be spread through water supply. It will be released simultaneously around the world on the 20th of November 2482. The virus is highly contagious and those who do not come in contact with the contaminated water will most likely catch it from someone who has. The life cycle of the virus lasts 3 weeks and is contagious from day 1. By the time people realise that there is an epidemic, the virus will be sufficiently spread. Through this culling we hope to create a ‘better’ human race. One with higher productivity and general usefulness. Hopefully this will continue for generations to come, as it is an accepted fact that IQ is hereditary. We should see dramatic improvements in the Earth’s environment within a decade. The healing process will finally begin.”

“Oooh.” said Ray sarcastically, “Don’t you just love the way it comes out and says ‘Naturally the death of 19 billion people will cause general chaos for several years’. Whoever wrote this is not very convincing. Is this your joke Cain?” Cain said nothing.

“Aww, Come on!” he continued, “You’re not really thinking this is genuine are you? I mean, something like this belongs in the pentagon. What the hell would it be doing in a Center for Disease Control.” Cain looked at Ray sarcastically.

“Oh” is all Ray said, realizing his stupidness.

“Anyway, just think about this for a minute! If all this really was going on don’t you think we would have heard at least a little something? Think of all the people who would have to be involved in this. There would have been at least a thousand leaks by now, and they would have gone straight to the press. That’s front page headline material and I aint seen no headlines.” said Ray, proud of his deduction.

“No, why don’t you think about this for a minute!” said Cain, a hint of irritation in his voice, “Some crazy loony goes to the press claiming that he’s part of a master plan to kill 19 billion people. Does the press print this ‘front page headline material’? No, they kick the crackpot out on the street and tell him not to come back. What proof would anyone have?”

“Well that can’t be..” whined Ray, still a hint of playfulness in his voice, “I only scored 120 and 122 in those IQ tests.”

“My highest score was only 126,” started Cain, “but I suppose I am of ‘direct lineage’ to one of those involved in the culling.” They were both silent while they reflected on what this actually meant. Finally Cain broke the silence.

“You understand, we can’t speak of this to anyone, not anyone, got it?”

“Yah sure,” Ray replied, ”not anyone.”

* * *

Konnor awoke with the rising of the sun. It was bright and glary, not much could be seen save plains of brilliant white snow as far as the eye could see. He knew that if they did not find shade, or create their own soon, the sun’s rays would become too hot to bear. The snow would be melting and the mountain would become one giant torrent of water. Winter was over for now, at least until nightfall, and the harsh rays of summer would soon be upon them. Konnor checked on his companion, his breathing had returned to normal but it seemed had been struck with fever. Perhaps it would be better if they did not go in search of shelter quite so soon. Konnor built a platform of large rocks, and from his pack drew out a reflective tarpaulin. They would have to shelter here for today, or until the boy was better. He looked over at the boy, lying in the hollow. His eyes were open, but as soon as Konnor turned his eyes on him, they closed. Konnor smiled to himself. ‘A little shy is he?’ he thought to himself.

“We will have to shelter here today, as there is not likely to be any shade for miles around and you are running a fever.” said Konnor, as if it was the most natural thing in the world for them to be together. “You won’t want to stay down there for too long young lad. When the snow melts, that there will be a river of mud and rocks.” Konnor waited for a response, “You don’t say much do you? What’s your name?”

“My names’ Ray, I was running away from home.” he didn’t know what else to say and waking up with a complete stranger was quite new to him. It had only happened once before and that night he was very drunk.

“Ahh, a little desperate weren’t you? Such little provisions and unreliable clothing…did you expect to survive the night? No, I don’t think that a simple dispute at home could drive a boy out in the middle of the night with barely enough clothing to keep him warm. No, you must have been in a hurry. Tell us the real reason you were braving the night time snows.”

“You probably wouldn’t even believe me if I told you.” Ray said.

“Well you won’t know until you try, will you now?” said Konnor, a friendly tone in his voice, “Go on.”

And so Ray told Konnor the story of the culling and the revitalizing of the human race and of how nobody would believe him, not even his own mother who he had to leave at home.

“Ah, tis a sad story young fellow. One that should not bear down on one still so full of life. As for your story, let me say I do not doubt your honesty but such a story is not easily digested. Here now, come up onto this platform, I did not build it for nothing. See, the great river has already begun to flow.”

Chapter 2 - Dots and Dashes