Day 19: The Enemies

Dedicated to: Amy Lilwall

Leonie opened Facebook on her phone and tapped the cursor into the search bar. She took a deep breath and typed the letters A-l-i, then she stopped and deleted them. Not yet.  

She scrolled through her news feed, skipping past friends’ statuses and any news articles that mentioned The Enemies. The email had arrived five minutes ago, at the same time as everyone else’s, and it could be only a number of hours, if that, before she had to face up to its contents. She and her family had a meal together last night, played games together all evening, avoided the news and agreed to spend today apart. It was for the best, her dad had said. 

Leonie paused idly over the ‘people you may know’ box on the page, casually deleting its suggestions. And then there she was, the person Leonie had stopped herself looking for: Alison Mary Johnson from Manchester. The enemy. 

Shit.

If Facebook had identified her as someone Leonie might know, that could only mean one thing: she’d already searched for Leonie and looked at her profile. Leonie’s skin crawled, even though she herself had been about to do exactly the same thing. She tapped on her profile and started reading.

A text appeared on her screen, mid scroll.

Jenna: hav u found urs yet? X

Relieved at the excuse for some other interaction, Leonie opened up the message and pressed ‘call’. Jenna answered before the first ring.

‘Fancy hearing from you!’ She was trying to sound jovial.

Neither of them spoke for a few seconds.

‘It’s sick isn’t it?’ said Jenna at last.

‘Yeah. What’s your one called?’

‘Are we allowed to say?’

‘Yeah. Doesn’t say we can’t. Mine’s an Alison.’

‘Mine’s called Louise Murphy.’

‘Have you found her?’

‘Yes, was easy… we’ve got a mutual friend on Facebook.’

‘What? That’s not supposed to happen! They’re supposed to have no connection.’

‘He’s only a guy I met at a party once. He has over 7,000 friends.’

‘So what’s she like… your one?’

‘Louise? She seems great. Irish family, plays netball, vegetarian, loves dogs…’

‘Just like you…’

‘Exactly. And yours?’

‘Black, one kid brother, dances…’

‘Like you?’

‘Well I think she has a cat.’

‘Gotta think of that cat, Lee.’

‘It’s not funny.’

‘I know. It’s fucked up. Have you thought about what you’ll do?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Are you gonna get help?’

‘I don’t know, it doesn’t seem fair.’

‘Sure, it says we’re allowed. She might!’

‘I’m going to contact her.’

‘Lee, no! We’re not allowed to.’

‘No, it says it’s not advisable. Maybe we can make a pact. We’ve got 9 months right? Perhaps we can agree to leave it til the end of that.’

‘Leonie, why prolong the agony?’

‘Birthdays, Christmas, to turn eighteen.’

‘You might still get all of that.’

‘But we can’t both.’

‘Don’t think like that Leonie. I can’t bear it. You and me are gonna win this.’

‘It’s not a game.’

‘Sure it is. It’s a fucked up awful game we all have to play. We’ve no choice. But we can win. And then you and me, we’re going to go on our gap year just like we planned. Got it? And fuck that cat of hers. Cats are all bastards.’

Leonie laughed in spite of herself and then started to cry.

‘Don’t you go fucking crying on me now Leonie Evans! You’ve an enemy to slay! You hear me?’

‘Yes.’

‘I’m gonna go. For all I know that lovely Louise is outside with a sledgehammer and I’m here yacking to you.’

‘I love you.’

‘Love you.’

Alone again with her thoughts, Leonie re-opened the PDF she’d been sent and read it through again.

Dear Ms. Evans,

Re: Worldwide Population Crisis

As you will already know, as part of the United Nations’ strategy on climate change and overpopulation a target was set in 2018 to reduce the rate of worldwide population growth by 75%, by the year 2050. Unfortunately, owing to widespread civil disobedience as well as political and spiritual discord, the rate of growth has continued to increase.

Two years ago therefore, it was decided that all persons of sound mind and strong physical health, who were to be aged between 15 and 85 as of 01 July 2048, would become part of Project Nemesis.

Exempt from this policy were:

-          Smaller indigenous populations in certain areas (those with fewer than 500,000 people)

-          Certain professionals known for excellence in their field, who all went through a rigorous exemption application process lasting 16 months

-          Persons worth more than 15 million USD, who agreed to sterilization after their first child, if they had not already had this procedure

-          Those with terminal illnesses

-          Those with a cognitive or mental impairment significant enough as to mean they would not understand the process; an alternative solution is currently being sought for such people

-          Anyone serving in public office

All other members of the world population, including yourself, have been assessed as expendable in the interests of saving the planet. However, in order to maintain absolute fairness and to give each individual control of their destiny, rather than end lives at random, the UN took the decision to assign each person a nemesis, or enemy from the same country of origin. The name of your nemesis is at the bottom of this letter. This person has been sent an identical letter with your name.

You have nine months from the date of this letter within which either you, or your nemesis must die. It is up to you how you approach this. However, in the interests of fairness, the following is prohibited:

-          Use of hired assassins

-          Teaming up against an individual – all combat must be 1:1

-          Killing anyone who is not your assigned nemesis – anyone who does this will be charged with murder

You are however allowed to discuss options and share advice with friends, family and confidants and get support as you would any other challenge. It is not recommended that you form a relationship with your nemesis of any form. In the interests of preserving diversity, our expert panel have worked tirelessly over the last 24 months to ensure that pairs are as evenly matched as possible.

If both of you are still alive by 11.59pm on 31 March 2049, you will both be executed.

Should your nemesis die of other causes at any point, you will be informed immediately and will become exempt from the project.

Your nemesis is:

Alison Mary Johnson, 17

Manchester

Regards,

T.May

Theresa May

Prime Minister

Leonie closed the letter and opened up Google. She typed the letter ‘w’ and ‘ways to kill someone’ appeared as the most searched for phrase.

Words: 1120