Chapter One *update - edited for clarity*

It's the year 2025.  I'm writing from the former United States of America, which is now just The Colony.  I'm hoping this gets out to the rest of the world, so you can know what's going on, because citizens no longer have access to the free Internet; I've managed to hack into something to try and get the story out.   Since the Wall got built, no one gets in; but no one gets out, not unless they are wealthy and have a government permit.  That is, unless you are deported, or sent to the internment camps.  I was sent to one of those camps.   This is my story.

We had a home, but my mom was a single parent and didn't fit the "traditional family unit" and only heterosexual men are considered heads of family now, and only men can work, so we lost our home.  Anyone who didn't fit the "traditional" family unit basically lost their rights as a citizen.  And if you couldn't work, you couldn't pay for a place to live.

 

Women also weren't allowed to own property anymore, so even if you owned your own home or RV or whatever, if you an unmarried woman, the government could seize it if you didn't transfer the deed to a male family member or weren't married. 

 Anyone who has no place to live was "relocated" to work camps, where we do all the work that no one else wants to do.  When the Leader took over, all the Labor laws were eliminated, so we don't get paychecks; we work for "room and board" but we also aren't allowed to leave the "camps", which are more like prisons.  

We haven't had any contact with the outside world since January 6th, when the Leader took control.   The day he took over, there were mass deportations, which, now, in retrospect, those people may have been the lucky ones.      But once he got rid of all the migrant workers, suddenly people started complaining that nothing was getting done, and of course the people complaining thought they themselves were too good to do those jobs, but the Leader already had a solution for that.  

The Ministry of health declared that people deemed a "danger to society" would be sent to Wellness Farms - which was just a whitewashed way of saying work camps.  The first people to be rounded up for the work camps were people the Leader's followers had wanted gone in the first place.  After the mass deportation, all the homeless people were rounded up.   Everyone applauded the new Leader for his innovation, homes for the homeless with jobs - a "win, win" right?  But no-one who applauded the camps actually saw them.   They didn't see the conditions.  They didn't see the "food", the expired food from the groceries that couldn't be sold and the crowded conditions.   They only cared that the "homeless problem" had been taken care of.   There was no medical care provided; except for basic first aid.  One had to pay for healthcare is it was a privilege, not a right.   Since the only pay one got at the camps was a place to sleep and food, however poor that food was, there was nothing left to pay for medicine.   The "sound" logic of the Leader, was that these people were a "drain to society".  

Worse, the Ministry of health was allowed access to medical records, and no one was safe.  They  declared that anyone taking medication for mental health, such as antidepressants and even ADHD meds were a danger to society and those people were sent to the work camps, where they were not allowed to have their medication and forced to quit cold turkey.   No one was allowed to visit or communicate with them; phones and internet, even t.v. was banned. 

Then, the Ministry of Health mandated that all trans children be "re-parented" and sent to the "wellness farms".   My brother, who was trans, was forcibly taken from us, and my mother was arrested for trying to stop them.   I don't know where my mom was taken.  I was sent to a different "wellness farm", because I think they wanted to make sure that anyone who resisted would be made an example of.  That, and I'm autistic and the Ministry of Health declared that we are a "drain to society".   I am pretty high functioning, but the Ministry of Health doesn't care about that; they just saw a diagnosis.   

I'm terrified for me, and I'm terrified for my brother.  He was already suicidal because of bullying at school, and now, he's in a virtual prison, no support system, and not allowed to take his antidepressants.  

The camps were owned by companies though, the same ones that ran prisons, and they certainly made money.  It was quite profitable to have work done by people in the camps, as there was no salary to pay, and no healthcare to pay, so it was decided that more "undesirables" should be sent to the camps.  

Soon, people who had politically active and vocally outspoken against the new Leader  found themselves in the camps.   It didn't matter if they were doctors or lawyers or if they had money; somehow, their property and assets were "seized" as "evidence" of their crimes, and with the Supreme court being controlled by the Leader's followers, it didn't matter whether it was actually constitutional or not; that as all just "amended" to suit the new leadership. 

None of his supporters complained; after all, their Leader had called those opposing him "criminals" for years.    In fact, this act was applauded by many, who conveniently forgot about the Constitution, as this particular action was to their liking.  This included a lot of people in the LGBTQ community, but no one knew where they were going.  There were whispers that they were being sent to other camps, for "re-education", but no one was sure, because the Internet was down, and only the Government sanctioned, Eagle News, was allowed to Broadcast, and that didn't tell the truth.  Nowhere near the truth.  

We found out later, from people who had "converted" and been allowed to leave the camps, that they places they were being sent to were horrible.  Forced broadcasting of constant messages talking about how evil homosexuality was, 24-7.   Beating those who didn't cooperate.  Forced starvation, depriving people of water to drink.  Rampant disease, and no access to medical care.  Exposure to cold, with very little heat, and in the summer, no cooling and very little ventilation.    Many of they people sent there never made it out, and the facility always cited it to "natural causes" or "suicide", stating that their "condition" (being gay or trans) was a mental illness and so the "suicide" was inevitable. 

People started worrying.   Would they be next?  But of course, the people that had already been taken away, the ones who had tried to warn them, the ones who had tried to stop this, were already gone.  

There is no freedom of religion anymore.  Everyone is required to attend the state church, and those who do not, are sent to jail.  Everyone has to scan in at services to prove they attended, and now all those Smart Devices everyone had to have in their homes have been taken over by the government and now they  use AI to listen in to every conversation in the home and ensure that no one is plotting rebelling or insurrection.  

There are no private schools anymore; all the schools are state mandated and religious.  Girls are required to attend charm school, and take home economics.  they are not allowed to attend college if they are eligible for marriage.    Those "eligible" for marriage are required to marry by 21, and if they are not married, one will be arranged.  

Women are no longer allowed to divorce, and should they leave their husbands, they will not be awarded custody of their children, nor will they be given alimony.  

Every young person is required to take a medical test to see if they are eligible for marriage; they are not allowed to get married if they have any genetic defects that can be passed on.  Also, single mothers will not be allowed to keep their children; they will be placed in "traditional" homes with two parent families. 

Women who report rape are now jailed for "trying to ruin a man's future".   Rape victims who get pregnant must marry the father, unless the father is already married; then she must give the child up for adoption to a traditional family, if the father of the baby doesn't want to raise it. 

Women who miscarry their baby can be arrested and thrown in jail if someone thinks they had an abortion.  

Food stamps, subsidized health care, low in come housing are a thing of the past.  There is no supplemental disability insurance anymore; everyone is on their own.  If you can't afford healthcare, you can be refused service, but the Leader insists that healthcare is a PRIVILEGE, not a right.  People are dying at entrances to hospitals because they don't have the money to pay. 

We are starving in the "work camps" while the elite are planning trips to the Moon for rich citizens.  

You're probably wondering how the Greatest Country in the world let this happen.  

If you have time... I'll tell you.  It's gonna take a while...