z2012SiteDInsanity


 * The Admiral's House **

My name is Kenneth Martin, and I live with my daughter. She and I lived a good life. We always had enough food on the table; enough money in the bank. The two of us were ready for anything. Except for this. It was just us living in a house around the corner from the school she was attending when the Event happened. What that Event was, I still don't know. Government secrets are always a good time. This hidden knowledge is one of the reasons I moved out of the country. I couldn't take it anymore. I had looked everywhere for her, but nothing ever came up. However, someone did find an insanity certificate for a person. The person seemed to be one of the ones who quarantined the "affected" people. Maybe the entire hullabaloo wasn't even real. The person found the certificate in a place called "The Annex," so I made sure to really scour the place, but still my lost daughter was never to be found. I always thought I was going to find her and she was going to be just fine, but in the back of my mind, I knew it would never happen. Time has passed, but this memory still haunts me every day. I have nothing to remember her by. I should have known; I should have done something.

My daughter had been going to the Admiral's House for her education for a while now. Fourth grade, I think. It was a pretty good school, in my opinion, and she always came home happy. It seemed like nothing could go wrong. Anyway, I took her to the establishment for the day, and went home. It was just another day.

Boy, was I wrong. I went home, changed into my business suit, and was ready to go to my own obligations, when I heard the door being knocked upon. I went to open it, and there were two men standing in the frame. They immediately came in without being invited and started talking to me. They said there was a strange new epidemic called the Frei Fever, and they were collecting people to quarantine. "Yellows," I think is what they were being called. So, I told them that I had never heard of this disease, and they told me I wasn't the only one. They thought I was going to be all right. I would probably need to go to the main control office to make sure that my name was clear, but not too much hardship.

They asked if anyone else lived with me. I told them about my daughter. "She is nine years old," I said. How tall is she?, they inquired next. It was a strange question, but I supposed it was just common policy. Question after simple question. I estimated about four and a half feet; I hadn't measured her in a while. They exchanged a glance and said that they would come by the next day, and that my daughter should not go to school. They were going to bring us in.

So, the next day came, and the men in suits came back. They took us in their official-looking car into town, to the main office. While we were riding in the car, I turned to my daughter and assured her that everything was going to be alright. She smiled and said that she trusted me, and I told her I would never let anything happen to her. When we got there, the two men sent us off in separate directions. "Gender obligations" was the vague explanation they gave my daughter and me. I assumed it would only be a few minutes before we were reunited again, so I smiled and waved at my daughter as we were separated. However, there was one little thing that I did not know at the time.

That was the last time I ever saw her. And the last conversation I ever had with her, the one where I said that I would never let anything happen to her, I didn't keep my word. And that is what made me mad at myself. I've been in despair ever since.

