The Year 2050

“Louis! Get downstairs. Breakfast is ready!” said my mom.

As I was rubbing my eyes trying to find the courage to get out of bed, I couldn’t help but want to stay asleep. To keep my mom quiet, I found the strength to flip over, push the covers ff, and trudge downstairs to the kitchen.

“Eat breakfast and get ready for school.”

I nodded my head in a reply and ate my cereal. Another damn day at school. I powered back up the stairs, put on a white tee shirt, brushed my teeth, and walked out the front door.

“And please .. do NOT be home after dark,” said my mom; giving me that stern look she does every morning after she says this statement; in hopes that I don’t forget.

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I don’t blame her though. You see, living in Huttson; which is right outside of Pennsylvania, wasn’t the safest place in the world. It definitely was the cheapest. The population was quite big and that’s because owning any home around here was under $30,000. Things have changed since the early 2000’s. It was  2050 and they all said life would get better as the world continued to evolve, as technology advanced, and blah blah blah. But no one was safe and no where was paradise.

In Huttson, it washighly recommended by every parent, teacher, priest, mayor, and even news reporters that you were supposed to be in your house before dark. Because if not, you just might be in trouble.

There was a group of members; no one knew their names, faces, or where they’re from. So, we gave them a name ourselves - the Hunters. There were six of them. They just simply showed up and attacked. And it happened every night after dark. Some people simply couldn’t help but be home after dark. Families worked late jobs, kids left parties. It was all up to chance whether or not you would make it home safely. When your mom used to warn you about the scary monsters under your bed; that’s what this was like.

So far my mother and I haven’t encountered interactions with the hunters and we don’t plan on it. I hung out with my friends for two hours after school, then I’d go straight home. And since it was just my mom and I, her shift at the local hospital ended at 5 o’clock. However, it was tough on the weekends. It was hard for my mom and I to make night plans because we were simply too scared to take the chance of trying to go home after dark - we were all we got.

The aftermath of these incidents wasn’t what Huttson was afraid of. It was just the actual experience. Because in Huttson, the aftermath of someone getting hurt, the wounds, the scrapes, the damage, didn’t concern us. Each house in Huttson was supplied with a first aid kit.

No, not the kind on television or the one that your school nurse pulls out of her drawer when you scraped your knee. In the kit was a spray bottled called “Mend-On”. The spray heals all wounds or illnesses, like the ones you go to your school nurse for. Or, the ones that you were faced with when you're faced with the Hunters after dark.

The spray contained cells that mend on to the person’s wound to redevelop the skin that damaged. The cells were from healthy skin from those who get paid to donate some of their skin cells. There was a big laboratory in Huttson that used the skin cells that were donated to produce even more cells, to create the spray.

Now you can see why the population was so big here and why it stays that way. No one dies. We all live pretty plain, simple lives. Which was why we were afraid with being faced with the adrenaline of dying from the Hunters; even though we knew we were covered.

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I finally got to school and met Liza at her locker. She was the only one at Huttson High School who has been face to face with the Hunters. I’ll never forget the story: It was my 14th birthday and we had a party dinner at my house. Her parents were both working so they couldn’t pick her up. And she only lived around the corner. So she borrowed my bike and went home. It was 8:30 at night. No one was outside which made her even more scared. As she was pedaling, she turned her back to see if anyone was behind her. She was cleared. As soon as she turned her head, the Hunters jumped out and attacked her. They broke the bike and broke her arm. This was before Mend-On came to Huttson.

I forgot to mention - Huttson doesn’t have any hospitalization since Mend-On was produced. As I told you before, my mom worked at the local hospital; in other words - she was working there to pack up her things and find a new job since all of the hospitals were closing in a few weeks. Its been a debate for a year now whether or not hospitals should still be running. They just made it official that the money can be put to use for other things.

The only downside to this was that my mom losing her job. Besides that, Mend-On was the best! We all love living here even though it can be scary. Unfortunately, Mend-On can’t fix damages that were created before its time. So, Liza has had a broken arm for 3 years now. It was casted up and was good for no use. I couldn’t do anything but feel guilty for letting her go home that night.

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The day went by pretty fast, thankfully. It was raining outside so I rushed home. I wanted to invite Liza over but my mom has always been on the fence about her coming over since she broke her arm. She doesn’t want her having to go home late at night again.

My mom wasn’t home yet, which always worried me because sometimes I’d have thoughts that she won’t make it home; if the hospital extends her shift for too long. So, I did my homework and too a nap to distress myself from the bittersweet reality I live everyday being in Huttson.

“Louis, I’m home. TV dinners will be ready for super soon.”

“Thanks Mom.”

We sat at the dinner table and told each other how our days were. Things were pretty quiet in our house. I admire my mom a lot. She plays all the roles I need to have in my life and she does it very well. I think my mom feels the same way about me too. We depend on each other for almost everything.

“Mom, I have a question... What if we run out of Mend-on? And one of us gets attacked by the Hunters? Then what?”

“Oh God, Louis. Don’t say such a silly thing. That will never happen.”

My mom went on a rant for the next three minutes about how I have to stop being pessimistic. But I couldn’t help it. Sometimes you have to think that way, in order to prepare for the worst. My biggest fear was being faced with death and knowing that there was nothing I could do to stop it. But my mom was right; that’s just non-sense.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------        Since my mom decided to catch an attitude during her rant, I went straight to my room after dinner and texted Liza.

“Wyd?” I asked.

“Bio HW. Hbu?”

“Laying down. I miss you,” I said. Fuck it, I clicked send.

“I miss you too bestie!”

Oh God.. “Bestie”? It was times like these where I tried to figure out what exactly my feelings were for Liza. I knew I liked her; it was obvious. But everyday, she hit me with the “bestie” title and I shut down. I guess I’d let that dream go. It was clear she didn’t like me. After that text message I was too irritated to reply. I went right to sleep.

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I woke up in an irritated mood from what happened last night. I don’t know why it got to me every time; its as if I wasn’t expecting her to not respond like that - I should’ve already been prepared for the disappointment.

It was another day; so I went through the same process of my routine. I flipped over from my bed, pushed the covers off, and went downstairs for breakfast. Luckily, I beat my mom to the kitchen, so she didn’t have to yell up the stairs forcing me to come down.

“I found a new job!” said my mom.

“Where at?” I responded immediately.

“An animal shelter. I start tomorrow night!” said my mom.

“Tomorrow night?” I said, extremely confused.

“Yeah that’s the thing ... the shift I have is after dark. But they said they really need me and the pay is great.”

“No mom, I won’t allow it. Has what’s happened to Liza not mean anything to you?!

Doesn’t that scare you?!” I couldn’t even finish my cereal; I was too disturbed.

“Yes it scares me but we need the money Louis. I already set up a cab transaction. The driver will be at the front door of the shelter at 10 p.m when I’m off of work; and will drive me straight home. Everything is going to be great!” insisted my mom.

“Whatever.”

I stomped upstairs and got dressed for school; having to rush because I was too focused on what I just encountered. After getting dressed, I left out through the front door without saying a word.

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I saw Liza in the hallway when I got to school but I pretended like I didn’t. Surprisingly, she came up to me first.

“You okay? You never responded to my text last night,” said Liza.

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

“Haha, good. Alright, I’m going to first period. I’ll see you later; maybe you can come over after school.”

“Yeah, I gotchu.”

Man, she’s so beautiful. And she asked me to come over! She never did that. Could this mean something? Ha, I’m funny as shit to think something of it. Just two “besties” hanging out after school .. Great.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------                 I could barely concentrate throughout the entire day at school. I felt like there was so much on my mind and sometimes I thought: what if I didn’t live in Huttson? Would I be live a better life? I used to think Huttson was great; that we were all happy and untouchable - nothing could hurt us; especially because of Mend-On. All these great people to meet, no one can go broke - we were all living at reasonable costs, and we can basically live forever. I was very wrong.

I rather live in a normal town and live a normal life. Here, we were given unlimited power to live because of Mend-On but what good was it when I have had to totally limit my life and organize what I do, so I don’t have to be faced with the damn Hunters.

But it was okay .. Just like my mom says. Everything was going to be okay. I hoped.

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I decided to go over Liza’s house. I met her on the front steps of school once the bell rang.

“Ready?” she said.

“Yeah, we taking your car?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind driving. And I’ll drive you home too.”

She never said that before either. I’ve known Liza for too long and we’ve always been close. But she’s never done things to go out of her way and be super friendly. Maybe I was just over thinking things because of last night.

I haven’t been over Liza’s house since the incident. We just thought it was too risky ever since she got severely hurt.

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We got out the car and went in her house. No one was home.

“Let’s go to my room,” she said.

“Okay,” I said.

What the fuck? In all my life of being friends with Liza she has never asked me to go to her bedroom. I wasn’t sure if I should be excited or confused. Would this have been the time to kiss her or just straight out tell her how I felt?

We walked upstairs and she put a movie in the DVR. Every time we hung out, we’d watch “She’s The Man”, starring Amanda Bynes.

We laid on her bed and watch the movie. I sat down and laid back first; completely shocked that she decided to lay down right next to me, with her arm on my leg.

“Okay Louis.. Try not to panic. Calm down before she feels your heart beating fast; you fucking freak,” I repeatedly told myself in my head.

The room was silent.

“Can I tell you something?” said Liza. I was kind of happy she was the first one to speak.

“Go ahead.”

“I don’t think you feel the same way, but I like you. I always did. That’s why I brought you here,” she said, looking down at the floor.

“What the fuck, so what’s up with all the “bestie” shit?”

“It was just my way of covering up my feelings. Everyone sees us as best friends and that’s how I thought you saw us - just as best friends,” she said without hesitation.

“Liza, I’ve liked you since day 1. That’s why I didn’t reply back to your text last night. I was too mad - I thought I was in the friend zone.”

“Haha, not at all.” She smiled, coming towards me with a kiss.

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I stayed later than I should have at Liza’s house. It was already 8:00 at night and I had 5 missed calls from my mom.

“Sorry, I got caught up at Liza’s house. I’m coming home now. She is giving me a ride - don’t worry. I’ll be home in 10.” I sent her a text message.

Liza and I both fell asleep after holding her in my arms and watching the movie. I tried waking her up.

“Liza! Wake up! Its past dark!”

“Oh shit. Okay, let’s go. I’m not letting you walk home.”

We walked downstairs and ran to the car, locked the doors, and buckled our seat belts. We looked left and right before pulling out of the drive to make sure we were clear of the Hunters.

We hurried up and drove to my house. The good thing about driving to my house was that the Hunters don’t carry weapons. All of their defense and violence was with their bare hands. So, there was no way they could get through to us if we were in the car.

We pulled up to my driveway; looking left and right again. I saw a black blur down the street but I wasn’t sure what I was looking that.

“Is that who I think it is?” My hands were shaking.

“Louis, its the Hunters. Get out the car now! Hurry!”

“No, I’m not leaving you alone here.”

This was the first time I was faced with the Hunters; and the second time for Liza.

“What’s it like?” I said.

“What’s what like?”

“Being faced with the Hunters,” I replied.

“When you see actors in scary movies running away from the killer.. and you think wow, it looks so convincing. I was the actor; but I wasn’t acting. You feel everything happening right in front of you but it goes by too quick for you to stop it. You just use that adrenaline you have from being so scared, and you experience it. You don’t know when it is coming and you don’t know when it is going to end.”

As I took in that message, I looked over in the rearview mirror and saw the Hunters approach us. We tried hiding by slumping and scrunching up in the car as much as possible, hoping they didn’t see us. My palms were sweaty, my heart was beating, and I was panting. I looked over at Liza and she was calm and content.

I heard the Hunters inching towards the car trying to look through the windows. Luckily, they don’t stick around for long - they didn’t notice us.

We waited another five minutes before we decided to lift our heads in safety.

“Shit, that was scary.”

“Yeah I know, I wasn’t tryna break my other arm,” said Liza, while chuckling.

“Haha, stop that. But you right. Okay, I’m gonna leave now,” I said

We kissed.

“Be safe Liza.”

“You too Louis.”

I ran out the car, opened the door, shut it behind me, and locked it.

It was such a weird night. I checked on my mom, but she was already fast asleep. Even though I was sleeping for three hours at Liza’s, I jumped into bed and went o sleep immediately. Too much has happened in one night; I needed the rest.

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I woke up. Same shit, different day. I first went to my mom’s room to check up on her.

“Mom, you okay? I’m so sorry I came home late last night. Did you get home from work alrigh?”

‘Yes, I was fine. Coming home to find out my son isn’t home!”

“I know, I’m sorry. I feel like I should tell you - I saw the Hunters last night. Don’t worry; I’m fine. I was in the car, hiding with Liza. They peeked in the car, but didn’t see us.”

“Louis! That’s the kind of shit I’m talking about! You see what happens when you try to come home late?!” She got out of bed and left the room.

I followed her downstairs to the kitchen.

“I know mom! I’m sorry! It won’t happen again.”

She didn’t reply so I went upstairs to get ready for school.

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I met up with Liza and we entered school holding hands. It was nice. I kissed her goodbye as we departed to go to our classes.

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It was 3rd period, so I met Liza in the library for lunch.

“My mom was mad at me last night; I think it was because she was scared. But she’s okay.”

“Good.”

“So what are you-” I started talking as I got interrupted by the loud speaker.

“Attention! Students and teachers! There is an important announcement! The Government has just announced on international news that Huttson is currently experiencing an economic crisis! They are unsure of how this is going to play out. All they know is that all around the world prices for housings have been raised, and stocks are dropping. Some of us might be losing jobs. You will be notified when school will proceed. There is going to be a rapid dismissal immediately after this announcement. Associates from the governments are going door to door in all neighborhoods of Huttson as we speak to collect your Mend-On kits. The city might sell the invention to other town, so we can have money for all of the people. More information about this will be announced on the news tonight. Please get home safely to your families and do not leave the house! Beware of the Hunters!”

“Holy shit, I gotta go home. My mom can’t go home after her shift that late at night without Mend-On! What if the Hunters get her?!” I said as my voice was getting louder and louder.

“Louis, everything is going to be okay. You just have to keep calm. We will work this out. Let’s just get home.”

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I get in the house and it was silent. I’m assuming my mom heard about the announcement. I think everyone in Huttson was being informed about it.

I sent her a text to check up on her then started working on my homework; hoping I could concentrate. The door bell rang.

I walked downstairs and opened up the door. Two men in suits stood before me.

“Can I help you guys?”

“We are from the Mend-On agency; here to collect your kit.” They both said, in deep voices; gesturing their badges towards me.

I lead them to the cabinet in the kitchen and handed it to him.

“Do you think we will ever get Mend-On back in our homes?”

“That is undecided, kid. Have a good day.” They shook my hands and walked out the front door.

I went back upstairs, jumped into my bed, and stared at my phone.

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I rub my eyes and flip over on my bed. Fuck, I fell asleep. I check my phone for a response from my mom... nothing. My eyes were drawn to the corner of my home screen on my laptop. What the fuck! It was 7:30 at night. I looked out the window. It was dark. I jumped to my phone and called my mother.

No answer.

Okay, Liza told me to stay calm. Fuck that. I texted Liza to make sure she was okay.

“You good? Is your family home?”

“Yeah we’re good. Is your mom home?” replied Liza.

“No, and I’m worried. I’ll text you when she gets here.” I clicked send.

I go downstairs, pacing back and forth, staring at the front door - waiting patiently for it to open.

I decided to cook a TV dinner to stall time.

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It was 10:30 at night. My mom fuckin’ drawlin’. Fuck it. I put on a jacket and went outside to walk towards the animal shelter. She should have been home. As I was walking, I kept calling her phone.

Still no answer. I’ve been worried; but now I was past worried.

I start picking up my pace.

“Mom!” shouting out to the neighborhood.

“Anne! Where are you?! Its Louis! Answer me!” I kept shouting.

I started running out of breath, so I slowed down. As I was walking, tears fell down my eyes. Was my mom being faced with death right now?

I got to the animal shelter and banged on the door.

“Hello! Is anyone there?! Someone help me! Where is Anne?!” I kept shouting.

No one was answering. I turned back around and started heading towards home.

As I was walking, almost arriving at my house, I saw the same blob and blur of blackness that I saw last night when I saw the Hunters. Could that be them?

I hid in a bush. Oh shit, there was a woman being attacked. I paniced all over again. Fuck, what do I do?

As I got closer and closer to the scene, my entire life flashed before me.

Its my mother.

“Get off of her!” I’m running towards them at full speed.

This time it was only three of them.

All this adrenaline and power poured out of me; it was completely unexpected. I punched one, kicked another to the ground, and stomped on the other. Long enough to make them all unconscious.

I ran towards the pavement where my mother was lying.

“Mom! Say something! Wake up!” I kept tugging on her, crying.

“Louis. I’m so sorry,” she said softly.

Blood was rushing out of her head.

“Mom! I’m calling the hospital!”

“Louis... there’s no point. Its over. I should have listened to you,” said my mom with her last breath, barely keeping her eyes open.

My mother was faced with death and she lost. Nothing could save her. No doctor, no Mend-On kit, no God could rewind this night and stop what just happened.

I froze and sat there for the rest of my night. I had no physical or mental strength to get up. I was now on my own for the rest of my life; no family to live with.

I knew this day would come but I didn’t know it was going to be so soon. I knew that one day this bittersweet town would have been in trouble. That time was tonight.

As I tried to stand up, I turned my head and right in front of me were all six of the hunters, alive and standing.