“Another day, another drink. You got this, Max.” Tipping his head back, he chugged down a thick, chunky substance. Before he could even wipe his mouth, he rushed over to the kitchen faucet, drinking from it until he couldn’t breathe. Wiping his mouth, he could still feel the drink trickling down his throat.
It had been almost a year since Max began drinking Greene. Greene became the solution to hunger throughout the entire nation. No longer was there any need for actual food, as people could survive solely on Greenes. Greene was a drink that had all the nutrients your body ever needed. It quickly became revolutionary, and as a way to solve the economic problem, the government shut down food production and focused only on Greene.
Staring outside the kitchen window, Max tried to think back to when there was still bread on the table, and when there were cows and chickens in the barn out back. He couldn’t. He sighed. Looking at the clock, he quickly undressed in the kitchen and grabbed a dress shirt and pants that was lying conveniently on the floor. After food was banned and the only thing that existed were Greenes, Max had been given a new job. Everyday he would sit in a cubicle, staring at a screen that made no sense to him. If only he could still be a farmer.
Approaching a tall, grey building, Max violently pushed the door open. He made it. He checked his watch, and saw that he was already ten minutes late. Groaning, he jogged his way to the office. Up ahead, his boss was already waiting for him impatiently, checking his watch every few seconds.
“Look, I know what you’re gonna say, and you know what? I don’t care if I’m late everyday, I hate this job anyway,” Max said.
His boss raised his eyebrow. “I’m not here to lecture you, Mr. Jones,”
Max stood up tall. He stood there studying his boss.
“Then what are you waiting here for?” Max asked.
“I’m here to give you a new job…you could call it a promotion.”
“Promotion?”
“Yes, will you take it?”
Max’s head was spinning. A new job? Higher pay? His grandmother had been sick for the past week, but with more money, she could finally get proper treatment.
“I’m a busy man, Mr. Jones, so I would like an answer now,”
“I-I accept. What do I need to do, sir?”
“You will find out about your job soon enough, Mr. Jones. Please wait in the lobby, my associate will get you.
Max sat in the lobby, stunned. How could he, possibly the worst employee, be promoted? He didn’t know how many hours had passed until a tall, broad man came up to him.
“Mr. Jones?” he asked.
Max nodded. The man jerked his head toward the right.
“Follow.”
Max began to get excited. They entered the elevator and the man pushed the button to go to the basement. Max wanted to say something, but the man intimidated him. He was twice his size, and had a bruise under his right eye. Max didn’t want to know what happened to him. There was a high-pitched ding, and the doors opened, revealing conveyor belts and production lines, full of men and women working quietly.
“What is this?” Max asked.
The man turned toward him, staring with his beady eyes.
“From now on, you will help us in our factory,” he said gravely.
“Doing what?”
“What else? Making Greenes.”
Three weeks passed since Max began producing Greenes. He hated it. Everything about the production he hated. No one talked, no sunlight shone; the only thing you could hear were people coughing violently. It made him sick just looking at the factory. There was nothing but the nasty foul smell of Greene. He still had not gotten use to it.
“LUNCH TIME,” someone announced over the PA.
Automatically, as if robots, everyone stopped and headed over to get their daily dose of Greene. A supervisor also came around, taking attendance as though they were little schoolchildren. Max leaned on the wall, holding his share of Greene. He had dazed out for a couple of minutes, until their supervisor noticed him. Whack! Max felt a sharp pain on his right cheek.
“Wake up. This is your entire lunch, so you better hurry and drink.” his supervisor said.
Max slowly recovered and looked up, staring at his supervisor. He wanted to smash his glass of Greene in his face, to punch him in the stomach several times, to-
“Well, what are you waiting for? Hurry up, you only have 5 minute lunches, do you not remember, Jones?”
Just as he was about to take a sip of Greene, Max stopped.
“How about you, sir? Aren’t you going to get one?” he wondered.
“Huh? Me? Uh, well you see I’m full cause I...Wait, look. Hurry and drink that before you get another slap,” Max sighed and chugged the Greene down, only to puke it out moments later.
The next day, Max woke up. Looking out his window, he saw the rain pouring, but the sun still shone bright. It was as though the clouds wanted to hide the sun, but the sun just too bright to hide. He smiled. Getting up, he remembered he had to go to work. Cleaning himself the best he could, he walked over to the kitchen where a fresh Greene was already waiting for him. They were delivered everyday and the delivery guy would make sure your bottle was empty and that you drank it. Max was not in the mood. He looked at the faucet and drank from it for a good minute. Then, he took the Greene into his room. Opening his closet, he took out a shoebox, and threw the shoes aside, filling the box with Greene.
“There we go. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it any sooner. It’s not like anyone would ask me about it either. Not many people like to talk as much as they used to.” Max noted to himself. He went to his bathroom and took a good look in him. His eyes had circles under them, and he had gotten skinnier. Changing his shirt, he went into a coughing fit. It lasted for a good minute. Wiping his mouth with his hand, he saw it was covered in blood. This was the second time he went into a coughing fit this week. Now, it seemed like it was getting more serious.
“Gah, I need to see a doctor. Though if I miss another day, I’m gon’ get fired. It’s not like Ima find another job any time soon either so I really have no choice do I?” he said aloud.
The basement floor of the factory was very cold. Max had dozed off until dinnertime was announced. He had to be the luckiest man ever, he thought. He had dozed off quite alot this month and he was only caught doing it once. He would slip away into the storage area where a tower of crates full of who-knows-what would veil him from anyone. All he knew was that he couldn’t touch the boxes and that it was a good spot to slip away during lunch time. It was also a great spot where he was able to pour all of his Greene down a drain. Getting up, he quickly slipped into the long line that waited for their share of Greene.
The next day, Max woke up coughing. There was blood all over his bed. His condition was getting worse. Nowadays, he would even cough up blood at work, though he would go to the bathroom to clean himself up. He didn’t want any supervisor noticing his condition for fear of being fired. How could this happen? Besides his cough, everything else about him was okay. Except for some weight loss, he was still in perfectly good condition. He sighed. Maybe that’s what being old felt like. Well, it was time to go to work.
Back in the factory, Max opened his eyes slowly and stretched out his legs. He had fallen asleep again. The factory walls were cold and stiff.
“MAXWELL JONES!” echoed loudly through the entire floor. “Where is Mr. Maxwell?”
Oh no, he thought, I’m caught aren’t I? Bracing himself, he appeared out of the boxes and was spotted immediately by his supervisor.
“Mr. Jones, please follow me.”
Max was surprised, his supervisor didn’t sound too mad. Obeying silently, Max followed him into the area where only government officials were allowed. Max was now fully awake, prepared for what was beyond those doors. As the doors opened, a long hallway with several doors on each side appeared before him.
“What the-?”
“Mr. Jones, please do not talk, for we have much to do. Go to the room on your far left.”
Max reluctantly entered the room, and once he stepped inside two men grabbed him and he blanked out. Max woke up gasping. Was he dead? Looking around him, he realized he was sitting in a metal chair.
“I see you’re awake, Maxwell.”
Max turned his head. A man wearing a stethoscope around his neck smiled at him with his pale lips.
“W-Where am I?” Max stuttered.
“That’s not important, Mr Jones. I am Dr. Paul. I’m here to help you. I have heard you have been sleeping on the job and are coughing quite a bit.”
“Who did you hear that from?”
“I have my ways,”
“Has someone been watching me?”
The doctor laughed.
“My my, you still have much to learn,” he said.
Max raised his eyebrow.
“What happened earlier? Did I pass out?” Max demanded.
“Why yes. You passed out from the chloroform you were given.”
“What? Why?”
“Mr. Jones, do I really need to explain?”
“What are you talking about? Are you here to help treat my cough or not?”
“Haha, of course. I’m here to make your pains go away. Forever.”
“What? What’s going on? Are you crazy?”
“No. I’m just doing my job, I need to put you to sleep. It’s not going to hurt much, so don’t worry.”
“What? Why?”
“Cause it’s my job. You see, the Greene that everyone is fed is not food. It’s not even close to food. It’s more like poison. Poison to weaken everyone that drinks it so that they have to get a checkup. Then they die.”
“What, are you crazy? The only thing that people can drink is Greene! With that, the whole population-”
“With that the whole population will die out.” Dr. Paul finished. “With that, the government can save money from a decrease in population. With that, our economic problem will be solved. It’s really genius. But don’t worry, not everyone has been drinking Greene. We’re planning to rebuild this nation from scratch.”
“Y-you monsters.”
“Boo-hoo. Whatever, Mr. Jones. Everyone knows we’re doing this for a good cause. Now it’s time to finish you off.”
Grabbing a needle from a box that sat right next to Max, Dr. Paul smiled.
“Any last words?” he asked.
Max breathed heavily, and clenched his fists.
“You scum.. you realize they will eventually do this to you to?”
“Ha ha, that’s impossible, Mr. Jones, I am one of their most trusted-”
The doctor’s face froze like a statue. Looking at what he had just done, Max gasped. Dropping the used needle from his hand, he took the rest of the needles and looked out the door. He was in a different place from where he was when he first came in.
“Excuse me, sir. Why are you leaving your cell?” Quickly, Max heard someone called for help, and heard footsteps chasing him. Max turned around and his pursuer quickly froze just as fast. Another needle used. Immediately, alarms began to go off. He began to sprint down the hall.
“Alert, everyone this is a Code A alert. There is an escapee running around off-limit grounds. If anyone sees him, please take him down. Dead or alive. This man is a murderer.”
“Shoot.”
Max began to cough. He could hear workers and guards and who knew what else coming after him.
“Where am I?” Quickly, he turned a right and pushed open a metal door.
“What the-”
“Stop right there, Max.”
Max quickly turned around to see someone was standing in his way.
“What? The governor? No way… I can’t believe it’s actually true. No, you psycho, I will kill you if you don’t let me go.” He held up the box of needles.
“I will let you go, as long as you leave this room without touching anything. And of course dropping the box of needles.”
“What? You’re a liar. You just don’t want to die.”
“You already have our secret. I will let you go, I was bound to get caught sooner or later. Just please, leave this room.”
Max noticed he was getting desperate. Slowly, he looked around him. He saw pipes all around the room that connected to the tanks. Tanks that were full of poison stood in the room.
“N-no Max. Please. I beg you. I will spare your life if you leave this room. Now. Please.”
Max coughed. “What do these pipes contain?”
No answer. He didn’t need one. The pipes contained gas. Gas which could quickly react with the surrounding air and go boom. All he needed to do was… but that would mean...
His eyesight was getting blurrier. There was no choice, his health was deteriorating. With all of his strength, he pulled off the pipe, and all he could hear were the governor’s screams and a ringing in his ears as the entire building collapsed.
