The Visionaries

18

I awoke to cold air blowing in my face. My hands were bound by leather cuffs. They must still want us alive then.

"Bree? Dany?" I say. Bree is sitting up, looking drained. There's dried blood on her upper lip and chin. Aaron and Dany looked annoyed. Six is sitting up, staring at me. Lana and her husband are completely knocked out.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine." Norrin is sleeping, Mirelle and Maddie are bound together. I look up. Its a livestock truck. No wonder the wind was getting to us. Our faces were chapped and red. Except Six, he looked worse. He had healing bruises on his face.

"Yikes, Six. Your face." I say.

"I know." He responded. I scoot to him, cursing as splinters stab my butt and legs.

We stare out the back. There's endless fields of wheat. In the distance, I see those in the labor camps harvesting it by hand. They wear tattered and dirty clothes with symbols sewed into the back. A rainbow flag for the LGBT community. A Star of David for the Jews. A star and crescent moon for Muslims. Black and white for Jehovah's Witnesses. There's red for political dissents. We pass by a gallow full of dead bodies hanging down, rotting with the same symbols on them.

"Shit. They're really trying for a Fourth Reich here." Aaron said. We pass by a factory with both brown and black people waiting to be allowed into the building..

We continue as we pass a town. It's gated off and looks in bad shape. Older women wash clothes in basins. Kids run in the yard. There's a store open with people walking in and out of it. We pass what looks like bomb ruins. There's people overseeing debris cleanup.

We pass by a giant field where they're digging mass graves. I see the bodies. The smell is overwhelming. Fields of wheat turn into corn. My memory goes to the days where my taati would be harvesting corn and Nanita picking corn leaves for corundas. I was running around, barefoot and in a blue checkered dress. She smiles at me. The black soil feels warm under my feet.

We pass cotton fields where people are picking cotton. There were people overseeing them, recording them. One yells at an older woman.

"Doesn't that seem familiar." Mirelle said, sarcastically but there was pain in her voice. We continue to pass through fields.

"I think this used to be a town. They tore it down and turned it into farmland." Maddie said.

"So gentrification but worse." Six said.

"Basically." Maddie said.

"Where-" a voice said. It was Lana's husband. "Who?" His face turned white when he saw Six.

The truck reached a big city. It was clearly nicer than the rest of the landscape they had seen. They passed by a Walmart with a strip mall nearby. There was people walking out and walking towards the stores. They passed by a car dealership and various restaurants. The people outside stared at them. Then the truck took a turn and went up a hill. It was some kind of garage full of military vehicles.

They stopped and lowered the back part of the truck. They shoved us to the ground and picked us up roughly. I looked back at Six. He smiled at me and they punched him in the face. Teeth came out.

"Six!" I say. I get tasered and fall down. Ouch.

"Keep walking!" the soldier flinged me up and shoved me to the side, knocking me into Norrin.

"Sorry." I say to them. They shake their head.

"It's fine." they said. They chain our cuffs together and our feet as well. "Walk!" someone points a gun at Aaron's back. He tries to use his power but he only strained and the soldier hits him in the ribs. Fuck, they must of done something to us with that weapon or while we were knocked out. We started to walk.

We were greeted by soldiers cursing at us, calling us slurs and screaming. One spits in Six's face. His face turns red and his hands make fists, his knuckles turning white.

"Traitor!" one throws dirt at him. We continue to walk as more people scream at us. They're lined up, waiting for us to walk. They throw dirt, rotten food, and water at us. A few get bold and spit at us. Aaron somehow manages to take a lamp post fall on them before he throws up.

"Shit, they did something-" Dany said as she gets tased.

"Keep walking!" the man yelled. Bree broke down in tears. We continued walking as the screaming and throwing items got worse. I noticed that we were in a very gentrified part of town. It looked very 1960s with old buildings restored to their full glory. There was people staring at us from windows in the building. Finally, we reached the Crystal Manor. Michael, a woman, and various others stood in the top of the stairs. We were half shoved, half carried up the stairs.

He stares at us.

"My people, we have finally captured the rebels that threatened to destroy our hard work." The people cheered and hollered. "Now they will be placed on trial for treason and their endless crimes against this nation."

"Oh, fuck you." I say. I land myself a taze to the ribs again. I hiss and give the soldier a death glare. The soldiers unchain us from each other. They separate us into groups.

"Don't say anything!" Norrin says. They land a punch in the face. I nod at Dany. She nods back at me. They put Dany in a group with Aaron, Bree, and Norrin. They placed Maddie, Mirelle, and Six in one group and then Lana, her husband, and I in another.

"I love you." Dany says to me.

"I love you too, sis." I say, tears in my eyes.

Six looks at me, looking crushed.

"I love you." he said.

I gasp. They start to drag their group away. A big smile manages to escape me. Tears start to run down my cheeks.

"I love you too." I reply.