A fast-moving escalator takes me downstairs in a large,
blindingly white train station. On my way down, I see next to me a suspicious
looking man riding the escalator up, carrying a large, ticking device in a
cardboard box. I immediately rush down the escalator to tell a security guard
about the man who probably has a bomb, and he tells me to run out of the building,
fast as I can. People look at me like I’m crazy because I look like I am
fleeing for my life, which I am, and I gesture with both hands for all the
people to follow me and get out while they still can.
Beyond the train
station lie tall buildings in every direction of this big city. It’s difficult
running in a straight line—I have to avoid awkwardly positioned buildings and
even wait my chance to cross the street at a busy intersection where cars zoom
by, fighting over who gets to flatten me. I eventually run through the gates of
a school because there's no way around it. Some students are congregating in a
classroom; breathlessly I tell them about the bomb in the train station. We all
pile into a van together and plan to drive as far away as possible, tossing
speed limits to the wind.
As we are driving
we see a group of children running in one direction, and some adults running in
another. There are packs of very violent, rabid zombie dogs chasing them. We realize
that the bomb was actually a biochemical weapon that transformed all dogs into
man-eating zombies. As we drive on, outside the car windows dogs are tearing
people apart with sharp canine teeth right before our eyes.
FIRST ENDING:
I ask the person driving
the vehicle to run over some of the zombie dogs but he swerves every time to
avoid them. Finally, we are cornered, and he has to run over one, two, and a
few more of the dogs, who are foaming at the mouth behind gleaming, sharp
teeth. A man kills one of the strongest looking dogs, the pack leader, and
seeing that their leader has been massacred, the remaining dogs suddenly become
quiet and submissive. We wish we had started killing the dogs earlier, before
they ate as many people as they did. Now we have to rebuild civilization.
It's a new
society. Here, minorities have all the privileges because they came into power
first. Everything, including technology, is very advanced; there is no racism, there
are no immigration problems, and no healthcare debates.
SECOND ENDING:
This time, a woman
kills the rabid zombie dog pack leader, lopping its head off with a clean chop.
Finally, women rule the world. I feel very happy here. There is no more sexism
(except against men), no more rapists (the punishment for sexual assault is so
unthinkable that the mere thought of committing the act will make any man
limp), or workplace discrimination. Women make more money than men, are the
heads of households, and women have all the power.
THIRD ENDING:
I witness a tall,
Caucasian man murder the pack leader with his bare hands. Not just the
witnesses who were there, but all the people of the world are in awe of his
strength. As a result of his coming into power, the world becomes an elitist
and racist place where minorities are oppressed and technology is far less
advanced.
This piece was published in The People's Apocalypse.
