Chapter Two

*edited for clarity*

 We were worried, after the election, because there had been talk about the Big Plan that the new Leader would enact after he took office.  What had been leaked online was very concerning, but before the election, everyone said it would never happen.  But it DID happen.  One of the first things he did was pardon all the rioters who had tried to attack the Capitol four years ago; he declared them True Patriots and heroes loyal to the cause.  

The media was shut down.  At first, they tried to tell us there were "communication difficulties" but we knew better.  Especially when we tried to use the internet and found many sites no longer available.  People were angry, and a few riots started, but it was nothing like 2020.  Armed militias patrolled the streets and protesters and rioters were shot, and curfew was declared.    Those foolish enough to think the National Guard would soon restore order would be disappointed; the militias were declared national heroes for saving the  country and it became the new normal to have the local militias patrolling the streets.  

You couldn't be out after dark unless it was an emergency, and even that was dangerous if the person in the militia you ran into was trigger happy.   

But that wasn't the worst thing.   The worst thing had already happened to me, when my family was ripped apart by one of the many  Executive Orders that The new Leader had implemented.  He had declared that it was illegal for schools or doctors or parents to support transgender children, and that any doctor giving gender affirming care to a patient under the age of 21 would be imprisoned and lose their license.  Teachers who knew children were trans but didn't report them to the government would also be jailed and lose their licenses.   Doctors and Therapists were mandated by law to release the records of all their patients who identified as trans, AND they were ordered to counsel them to accept their gender at birth.  Those who refused to cooperate were jailed and lost their licences.   Parents who supported their trans children were jailed for abuse, and their children were forcibly taken from them - which the Ministry of Health called "reparenting" -to be given therapy to "help" them "recover".   That's when people started trying to flee to Canada, trying to escape through the Northern wilderness to sneak across the border to safety.   Unfortunately, while the armed militias were patrolling towns and cities, other militias were patrolling the woods, looking for people on the run or in hiding.  Still more militias were patrolling for undocumented immigrants to deport and because they were militia, they didn't work with immigration and citizens were being deported, because they didn't have paperwork on them proving they were citizens.   So even though they claimed they didn't want us out of this country, they also wouldn't let us leave.  

A hastily built, electrified wall 30 feet high met people at the border and there were very few places that one could sneak through undetected.  It didn't make sense to me that the people that were trying to escape they prevented from leaving and the people that wanted to stay were deported.  But because the news was controlled, we didn't find that out right away, the reports were by word of mouth from those who had witnessed  or escaped.  

The trans children were sent to a "wellness farms" - secure facilities to be "re-educated" and given "therapy", which, if it way anything like the conversion facilities for gay people, was anything but therapeutic. 

The Leader made it sound like they were being given the best care possible at a state of the art facility to be healed from the "brainwashing" they'd received, so his supporters thought it was wonderful.   Those that did not support or agree with it were arrested and protests were shut down quickly.  The news didn't even cover the protests, so it looked like no one was opposed to it.   

I'm not trans, but my twin brother is.  It was terrible when they took him away.  No one should have known, but because the therapists records were seized, they eventually found us.  Of course, with all our records released to the government, they knew exactly where we were.     We didn't have a home at this point ,so it's not like we could have hidden.  My mom and I tried to fight them taking him away; he tried to fight too, but they tazed us and then arrested my mother and I never saw her again.  I don't know where my brother is.  I miss both of them.   It's not like I had friends at the camp, but I was sent to a different camp as well.  This one is worse than the last.  Something isnt right about it.   It's all just young girls here.  No one is older than 20.  But the guards are all men and they are creepy and say rude things to us and all of us hate them.   I don't  feel safe  here,  but it's dangerous to trust anyone these days.   Some people were willing to turn you in, just for more food.  We're so hungry all the time, that some people are desperate.  So, yeah,  I'm working on an escape, but I'm not looking for any allies or help.   I have to get out, especially before I get noticed by one of the guards.  There were a lot of assaults in the work camps, and nothing was done.  I didn't want to be one of them.  I tried to figure out how to get out of there.   It was strange.  Two years ago, I would have thought being homeless in the woods would have been  dangerous, but now, it seemed better than being in the camps.   I'd have to watch out for the militia members, but they mainly patrolled the borders.    Either way, I was on my own.  No one trusts each other here, because if you say the wrong thing the wrong person you can get beaten or starved -- or worse.   People get rewards for information, and those who cooperated and "rehabilitated" to "model citizens" are told they could get out of the work camps and some people were willing to do just about anything to get out of the camps and back into society.   But it's too high a price for me, and it's not a society I want to be a part of.  

I didn't think anyone would notice me; the plan was to keep my head down and not get noticed, but of course that didn't happen.