One day, I heard a scream inside my mind.
It was incredible loud. So loud, it was painful to hear it. I desperately put my hands around my ears, tried to cover the sound, but it was impossible to do it. I got on my knees, incapable of maintaining my balance. What was happening?
I looked up, and saw my father on the floor. He was trying to reach for my siblings, who were crying hugging each other. We had been walking home, after doing our monthly shopping. I had dropped my bags and fruits lied on the floor together with some cleaning products. Looking around, I saw that everywhere, people seemed to have gone mad. Everywhere, people were screaming.
I realized I was screaming too.
When the madness finally stopped, something persisted.
Kill or Die.
I didn’t know what that was. It wasn’t exactly a voice, but it was a thought that wasn’t mine, locked into my head. And it refused to leave.
Kill or Die.
It was hard to believe that was even real. Had I gone mad?
It took me a while to get up, because of how dazed I felt. But when I did and finally looked straight at my dad, I froze.
Eligible for a Duel. Do you want to offer it?
Somehow, I knew that my father was hearing the same thing. He stared at me for a second, and then went for my siblings.
What the fuck was that?
Looking around, the message appeared again many times. People stared at each other, confused and scared. No one could understand what was happening.
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Eligible for a Duel. Do you want to offer it?
I ignored it. I couldn’t understand what that was, but I could feel it was something serious. It terrified me.
“It’s over, children. It’s over now” My father said with a trembling voice.
But it wasn’t over.
The next days were of pure mayhem.
Soon it became public knowledge that all over the world there were two collective screams. One inside everyone’s mind and another echoed from everyone’s mouth.
Then, the same words were heard, translated for it to make sense to everyone.
“Kill or Die”. “Kill or Die”. Kill or Die”. “Kill or Die”. Kill or Die”. “Kill or Die”. Kill or Die”. “Kill or Die”. Kill or Die”. “Kill or Die”. Kill or Die”. “Kill or Die”.
And now, when you looked at another person, a message could appear.
Eligible for a Duel. Do you want to offer it?
Most people were too scared to do something about it. They just wanted to keep with their lives, pretend it had all been a dream.
But some couldn’t ignore it. Some were curious, some just wanted a reason to fight.
People learned if you willed a Duel, the offer would be done. It was up for the other person to decline or accept it.
When the Duels were accepted, someone always died at the end.
The world went into chaos. The police kept trying to handle the situation, but the murdering rate started increasing quickly everywhere.
People were advised to stay at their homes. Some countries started a full lockdown, whereas other places encouraged people to keep working. No one knew what to do.
We locked ourselves at home. Only me and my father would leave and only when necessary.
If you didn’t offer a Duel and didn’t accept one, you would be fine. There were officers everywhere. Only twice I’d been challenged, and when I refused and fled, nothing happened.
For days, we lived in fear. But slowly, we were adapting to it. I couldn’t understand why there were people accepting or even offering Duels, and why they have been killing each other, but it wasn’t impossible to go on. Whatever was that had happened, we would survive.
Foolish thoughts.
Exactly ten days after the screams happened, something else was spoken inside my head.
Time limit reached. You have fifteen minutes. Kill or Die.
I had been on my way home, at the ending of the afternoon. I had left to deliver some food for my aunt. I was walking slowly, being careful with my surroundings.
Then, out of nowhere, the voice came again.
And with it, the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my entire life.
Somehow, I knew I was dying.
And I knew what had to be done.