When people told me that their lives flashed before their eyes I imagined it was just their minds trying to consolidate their lives for whatever might await them in the next life, as though packing for the long trip into the afterlife. When it was my turn I found the experience was much more surreal than I could have imagined. I didn't see my life but rather re-lived the important moments within it. I saw my family, my friends and finally I saw Mercedi again. It was the last and most recent memory to visit. I could smell the fog machine as it spilled white mist, the strobe-light flickering constantly and the audience around me throbbing as though it were a single living organism. The music rushed through our bodies like it was a healing medicine that took away the all burdens.
Of course I didn't realize how important this was at the time. Just another few seconds of my small life that were over in a manner of minutes, the importance came later.
Everything needs some explaining of course, it's been quite a few years after all. I guess the short version is that the world is fucked. The slightly longer version; overpopulation has killed what used to be the Earth and everything is covered in black steel cities. Some believe that there was no more room and so everything was built down into the ground but I knew the truth was we'd just constructed everything so high that the surface was now the roofs of skyscrapers above. Three layers of civilisation; only the highest one was allowed to see the sky, they were known as The Community. The richer and better off citizens who are allowed the luxuries that the others aren't. Next were The Workers who had conformed to living under the thumbs of those above them, allowed to see the sky occasionally. Finally there was Hell. Here lived the lowest ranks on society's food chain, the seemingly untouchables who were regarded as less useful and productive than a bin full of tin cans, and not the full of food cans but rather the old discarded cans that'd been opened already and their contents scooped out.
Guess which level I lived on, at least the level I live on now. Some consider it the shit hole level but I think there are better people here than any other place around. There used to be ways out of Hell but those ties seemed to be cut to keep everyone stuck where they were. Anyone of the people around me, sleeping on a smelly mattress could get out of Hell tomorrow if they worked hard enough but they... we didn't want to. Some made families and couldn't leave them down here, others had created a lifestyle that became a way of life and there were those scarce few who just rebelled against authority and refused to conform. If you were to take a guess as to which category I belonged to I can guarantee your first estimate would be wrong.
It wasn't as though these layers I'm talking about are just social standards, they were actual layers of buildings built atop one another. Our world had been paved over so to them, we were living in the sewer whilst to us they had built over the top, living in the sky.
There was nothing glamorous about how and where we lived. Looking around all I could see was people sleeping on dirty and soiled mattresses, though their clothes weren't much of an improvement. There were no restaurants or even any schools, businesses were basically pawn shops for trading valuables with no currency other than what was being traded. Valuables came down from the civilisation above us but it cost an arm and a leg for anything of value.
We were living in a building not too significant from any of the others surrounding it. All of the walls both inside and out were covered in spray paint and gang symbols, the owner not bothering to paint over the concrete walls with something more colourful than dull grey. I way laying in a large room with my fellow flatmates. My mattress in the middle of all the others, the sound of snoring and sleep breathing filled the room along with quiet whispering of couples or friends.
"He was a fag though, so I don't really miss 'em that much".
"Don't you miss him even a little?"
"I don't miss him or any other man for that matter".
"So you're gay?"
"Oh yeah. Like fa-lamingly gay". I was whispering but Zoe hadn't really grasped the concept of being quiet. I liked to travel but I'd often pick up friends along the way, Zoe had been with me for the past few weeks along with Derek and a small kid who didn't like to give his name. It was safer to move in groups, though no group would ever stay with the same people for too long unless they were family.
"So he was your first... "
"And last, yeah".
I rested my head on my hand. "Maybe you just met the wrong guy. Don't let him ruin all men for you". The head of my bed was pressed against the foot of hers, laying on our stomachs to chat.
"I'm happen with woman. They're much more kind and caring than any of those grizzly men".
"Even me?'
"Maybe". Zoe leaned forward and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. "Bleck! No thanks" she teased with a laugh. I hissed her as a reminder that everyone around me was trying to sleep. Zoe was the rebellious type, something of an old time hippy. Often talking about how she hates The System and what kind of person you'd have to be to conform to a fascists way of life... or something. She had long hair which flowed down from under her tattered beanie that she always wore.
"Are you coming tomorrow night?" I asked looking around. Whoever was sleeping next to me had turned and let out a moan, letting us know we'd woken them up.
"Where to?"
"I don't know. Derek said he knows the place around her, says there's a club worth visiting".
"Gonna be Txt?"
"Drug'll kill you". Zoe shrugged with a greedy smirk. "If there is I'm sure you'll find it".
Zoe shrugged again. "I'll go". With that she threw her head down onto her makeshift pillow and began sleeping. Zoe was fun but didn't appear to me as a person who thinks too deeply. It didn't take long for me to join her in peaceful sleep.
There were a number of things that you had to be on the lookout for when travelling during the nighttime. The first was not to travel alone, the second; watch for System cops or guards and most importantly don't give them any reason to suspect you. The System was the affectionate name given to the cops who ran the security and general law enforcement responsibilities of the government, if it could still be called that. The statement that they were police was a joke now, they were employed to lower the population one innocent civilian at a time. If they suspected you or if you looked at them the wrong way you were arrested and taken to god knows where; I say 'god knows where' because no one ever comes back after they're arrested, the rumours were that prisoners are put to sleep before being incinerated.
When word had gotten out that a few of us were heading to a club, most everyone invited themselves to the point that we were a stampede of people heading down the streets. During the daylight hours powerful lights were shun down, though the moment the Sun sets the lights are turned off and we're plunged into darkness. Granted the manual lights gave the city some illumination, but it made the roof that was the sky glow a dark red. That was probably where the name Hell came from.
"Whoa!" Zoe and a few others screamed as we continued towards the club. After an almost hour of travel I was confident Derek didn't know where he was going, despite the fact he was lading the entire group.
"Over there" someone yelled, all of us turning to see a brick building with a green light sign of The Later with music beating loudly from inside it's walls. There was another cheering session as we headed towards the club's doors, Derek smiling as he was off the hook.
I was wearing a tight black shirt and brown trousers, though it didn't seem like much these were my fancy clothes; since they didn't have any rips in them. There weren't any bouncers or check lists to get past, just two wooden doors and a lobby past them to the dancefloor. The large hall had a stage against one of the walls and green, red and blue lights flashing over the dancers who were jumping up and down to the rhythm, hands waving through the air.
The music was captivating and enticing; infecting everyone who could hear it. Every pound from the speakers sent shivers through my body. My shirt had been taken off and tucked into my trousers, glowing fluorescent paint covering my exposed chest with two hand prints on my abdomen. I wasn't sure where the glowing paint had come from but everyone seemed to be sporting it, one way or another. Someone jumped up on my back, wrapping their legs around my front and cheering to the stage as the band finished their last song.
"ALRIGHT. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN WE HAVE AN OLD FAVOURITE WITH US TONIGHT. GIVE IT UP. FOR. PRIESTS OF CHAOS!" I had no idea who they were but erupted in cheers non the less, as did everyone else around. The person on my back jumped down and ran off somewhere.
"Oi!" Zoe yelled, stumbling towards me through the mosh-pit. "I found some Txt!" she screamed falling into my front for me to catch her. She, like me, had lost my shirt but maintained her trademark beanie over her hair and thankfully still wearing a bra.
"You get caught with that and you're dead" I called to her as guitars began to play up and boom from the stage.
"I'll be careful". She was barely standing upright, her hands brushing against the shoulders of those around her to keep her upright. "You'll vouch for me won't you?"
"No. You're on your own" I yelled. The sudden explosion of music drowned out my voice. Zoe nodded with a smile and wandered back into the crowd. Txt was a drug that replaced alcohol quite a long time ago. It used to be sold in all the shops, the strength of the pill determined how drunk you'd get as did the price. Alcohol and any kind of drug was outlawed in Hell long ago, though the upper classes could enjoy as much as they wanted, getting caught with it was a death sentence; of course most offences held that punishment.
