A Day Without Rules

By Muhammad Qasim

It all began with a siren. And now, as every second felt a lifetime, Shane just couldn’t wait for the same siren to end it all…

‘A day without rules… what a blessing’ Shane thought gulping down his beer. MJ drove the monster truck which they luckily found on the beach- crumbling anything that came in his path. Rick constantly cheered for the ‘Great Family’ they were and Gracy had her machine gun, shooting randomly through the window.

Fourteenth of September was considered a ‘no rule’ day every year. As soon as the clock ticked to twelve am on the thirteenth, the siren blew, diminishing all rules and regulations for the next twenty-four hours. The purpose was for the people to go through their vendettas, aggressions and anxieties, having the freedom of no government and then to have mutual peace until the next no rule day.

It proved to be effective. Some took the day for what it was, others just enjoyed causing mayhem. Just like Shane and his friends, downing bottle after bottle of beer and letting the monster truck do the monstrosity it was meant to do. No one was safe from them. And they were loving every second of it.

Suddenly, MJ pulled the breaks as hard as he could. ‘Dude… What’s wrong with you?’ Gracy yelled infuriated on the brutal jerk she took. ‘Look’ Michael replied, astounded. They were surrounded by dozens of monster trucks with their headlights flashing towards them and big gnarly men jumping out of them. This possibly couldn’t have been a good sign…

Eventually, few men opened their doors and snatched them out of their paradise, thumping them on to the ground and putting them on their knees. The cold of the night, the pinching headlights of the trucks and the heavy silence…

Finally, Negan stepped out taking a big sigh of relief. ‘A day without rules… WHAT A BLESSING!’ he said with his mischievous smirk. He walked towards them. ‘You guys murdered my Mercedes. It belonged to my great grandfather. You have no idea what I’m going to do next to you.’ Some men followed him with flame throwers, machetes, crow bars, baseball bats, barbed wires and every other horrible thing one could imagine.

Rick, terrified to the bone, yelled, ‘It was MJ… he was driving. Please take him and let us go…’ Shane glared at him, so much for the ‘Great Family’. Negan laughed and then burned him with his flame thrower until all his colours turned black. His screeching groans and the scorching smell, what had they gotten themselves into.

Next was MJ who got his head beaten to pulp with the crowbar. Negan kept thrashing it, laughing and cursing while Shane and Gracy watched in horror. One of them was next and they knew it won’t be pretty.

He stepped to Shane. ‘I think I’ll beat you up with my baseball bat. No wait, how about I slice you open with a machete. Well, machete it is…’ He grabbed his machete. Shane closed his eyes. When will it end? This was not how it was supposed to be. Today was their day. Today they were the predators. How did they ever become the prey? Negan lifted his machete and the siren blew, finally ending this nightmare once and for all. Negan, reluctant to lower down his weapon, lowered it anyways with a grim face. ‘What a shame…’ he murmured turning around and leaving Shane and Gracy traumatized. It all began with the same siren. It all ended with the same siren. Yet it felt so different.