We walked into the town and saw it in horrible condition. Almost every window was broken, and any unbroken window was so filthy you couldn't even tell it was a window at first. The doors didn't fit their frames and were beaten up, as if many people had been pushed against them while in a fight. It looked like it was out of a movie set, it was so eerie. If Hendbound was making life so much better, why was this town depleted?
I looked around and say I was standing next to a big pile of rags. It looked like it moved. I looked closer and saw it was a man dressed in rags. I think he was sleeping, so I studied him while I could. His face was dirty and leathery, like an old wise man you might find in a science fiction book. His clothes weren't exactly a shirt or a pair of pants. It was more of rags tied together to cover whatever needed to be covered for warmth or personal reasons. They all seemed to be the same color, or a slight variation of one color: brown. I assumed it was just dirty. I soon learned it was much worse than that.
The old man woke up and looked at me with his piercing blue eyes. "Hello," he said with a friendly smile. He looked at what we were wearing and his smile faded away. "What are you wearing? You can't be caught wearing that color! Are you crazy?"
"What's wrong with what we're wearing?" I asked, looking at my red shirt.
"It's red, the color of the traitors!" The old man explained, "Lovers wear brown!" This explained his brown rags. "Our Leader says this brings us back to the Earth, back to where we belong! He hopes that the Earth will accept all he does for it and bring him back his long lost brother."
"You mean the brother that died in childbirth?" I asked.
"He didn't die," the old man said, "He went back to the Earth and will return again to rule with Our Leader."
"Who exactly is your leader?" I asked curiously. I doubted that this could all be Hendbound's doing.
"We do not speak the name of Our Leader," the man explained to me as if I were an alien from another planet. I was in a way, foreign to the new way of life. I suddenly had an idea.
"Christina?" I said to my wife. "I think they know The Way."
"The Way?" my wife asked me.
"I think it is alright here." I said. "The Earth would understand and want us to be back with our fellow brother and his family." My wife understood what I was doing, or at least, enough to follow along.
"It is time our two families joined. The Earth would want us to join at last," Christina said. "I only hope your brother is ready, Evan."
"He seems ready," I said. "We should go meet him, honey."
"Who are you?" the old man asked suspiciously.
"We are Christina and Evan from the Earth." I explained. "The Earth took everything Our Leader has done and has appreciated it so very much. She brought us back here for him."
"You- you are the long lost brother!" the old man said excitedly and stood up, pulling his rags together to look presentable.
"I am," I said. "Excuse our dreadful dress. We had to look like outsiders to see if you would notice and to really see if Our Leader has gotten every back to the Earth."
"I'm afraid there are still those who resist," the man said sadly. "They live in hiding, shameful of their own being. They sit there for days; months even, resisting the Earth. The only thing worst is that there are people here wearing brown with pride during the day, yet they switch to red at night and help those traitors."
"The Earth has told us of such traitors," I said. "But now that we have come back, they will not be able to resist the truth and The Way." I felt shameful saying such things, but I knew I had to earn these people's trust.
"I will take you to Our Leader," the old man said, "Then all of the world will celebrate with the Earth, at last, we have peace."
"Peace?" I asked, my pacifist side butting in uncontrollably. "The Earth did not warn us of any war."
"Not so much a war as just a lot of random attacks on our land," the old man explained. "The are jealous of us and want to ruin us, but the Earth will keep us strong." He sounded like he was just repeating on of Hendbound's speeches. It sickened me on how brainwashed he was.
"The Earth loves all her people," I said firmly. My wife grabbed my arm as a signal to calm down. Already I was getting frustrated.
"How can the Earth love those who do not lover her?" the old man asked in confusion. "Those people do not deserve the Earth's love!"
"All will be fixed as soon as I see my beloved brother," I said, changing the subject before I exploded. "Where is he?"
"He is in the Main City," the man said. "I will take you there, if you wish."
"Please do," my wife said. "My daughter and I are so weary from the journey. The only thing that can give us strength is Our Leader."
"Soon, to be Our Leaders," the old man said smiling at the fact that he knew the long-lost brother, soon to rule, before anyone else did.
"Please, lead the way," I said and the man bowed and started to walk. After a few minutes, Chelsea started crying. Christina rocked her back and forth and sang to her, but nothing would stop her. It's like she was crying because she knew what we were doing was bad. Finally, my wife gave her some milk to clam her down for a little bit. The old man asked, "Why is she upset to be with Our Leader?"
"She's just anxious," Christina said. "She doesn't know how to express her feelings any other way." The old man nodded as if he understood. We didn't even understand it; it made no sense. It doesn't matter how old you are, you can always show emotions by more than just crying. Was this man so under educated and brainwashed that he would believe something so ridiculous since it came from one of his Leaders? All these things were reasons why I hated Hendbound. He under educated people so he could insure his reign of terror. The smartest people were so undereducated even they couldn't see that.