The Purge

12 hours. That's all we have to endure. Once a year, every year, we have to make it through one night. Twelve hours. That's all.

Because once a year, every year, all crime is legal in America. All crime, including murder. Especially murder. There will be no government intervention, no police, no ambulances, and no firefighters available during the entire night.

Why does this night exist? The government claims that it "purifies" Americans, lets them "vent" their negative emotions.

But that's true only for those who can afford weapons, those who can afford protection, and those who are important enough to be exempt from the killing. Everyone else that doesn't fit into those categories dies.

I can't afford weapons. I can't afford protection. I'm not important to society. And neither is my seven year old daughter.



The day before The Purge. I packed medical supplies, spare clothing, and a few sandwiches for tomorrow. Sophie sat on the floor, playing with a worn-out stuffed bunny that used to be bright pink but now was a dull grey hue. She's had that thing ever since she was born, yet I can count the number of times I've washed it on one hand.

I sat cross legged in front of her as she looked down at the rabbit in her hands.

"Ready?" I asked. She nodded slowly, not breaking eye contact with her rabbit.

"Alright then, let's go." I stood up.

"Why do we have to go?" She asked. I exhaled. I had never explained the concept of The Purge to her and frankly, I never want to. There was just no easy way to explain it to a seven year old girl.

"Because..." I sighed, buying time to straighten out the lie that I told her every year. "It's... fun! It's like a, like a game. Every year, the neighborhood plays hide and seek and we always win because we hide in the cornfields and never come out." I smiled, hoping she'd buy it for the millionth time in a row. She continued staring at her rabbit, gently rubbing its long, floppy ears with her thumb and forefinger. She does that when something's bothering her.

"I don't want to play this year." She hugged her rabbit and my heart sank.

"But we have to, dear. We have to."



Darkness fell on the day before The Purge and we prepared to drive away from our deteriorating suburban house and deep into rural Illinois, where we hid every year.

I checked my watch. 2:30 AM. I felt bad for dragging Sophie out of bed so early, but she was so tired and her eyelids were so heavy that she didn't seem to think she was awake at all, but rather dreaming as I carried her out of her bed and into the backseat of my car, where she slept once more.

I turned the ignition key and the car roared to life. On this night, I wished it wouldn't roar, but rather, came to life without making a sound. I couldn't afford any unnecessary attention. I didn't want anyone to know where we will be tonight. I backed out of the driveway. I drove out of my cul-de-sac. So far so good.

I reached an intersection. And I heard a honk to my left, which startled me.

I turned to face the car beside me.

It was only my neighbor. He had a warm smile on his face and he greeted me with a brief wave. I did the same.

"Hey there!" He called and my nerves eased. "What're you doing driving so late?"

Quick. A lie. "Just getting ready for the purge, going out to pick up my purge mask."

"Oh really? But the government mailed them out this year," he replied.

Shit. Think, think, no pauses, just say whatever comes to mind. "Yeah, I know, I had it mailed to my PO box."

"How come?"

A blaring honk behind us which snapped us from the trance of conversation. I looked forward. The light was green.

"Oh, well I guess I'll see you around, Matt!" My neighbor yelled as he drove forward. I turned right, relieved that the ordeal was over.



6 AM. The streets, avenues, and boulevards had disappeared, replaced by a single dirt road that seemed to stretch to infinity. To my left and right were square fields, filled with rows of cabbages, potatoes, and other small vegetables. The sun had just started to rise and the light dyed the brown dirt a lighter shade of yellow. Behind me, Sophie slept and I could hear her light inhales and exhales. Her bunny wrapped around her arms.

Finally, I could see the corn fields in the distance, about a mile away. I parked the car on the side of the road and turned off the engine, letting the car sputter to a halt before I pulled out the ignition key and stepped out.

I turned to my left. Not a car in sight. To my right. Ditto. This place was as remote as it could get.

I opened the backseat door. Sophie slept peacefully, resting her head on our backpack full of supplies. She wore a pink skirt which her mother picked out about a year ago.

"Sophie," I whispered. "Wake up." I gently pushed her and gradually, she opened her eyes ever so slightly. She slowly sat up, and I pulled the backpack out of the car and put my arms through the straps. Then, I carried Sophie, still drowsy and half-dreaming, out of the car.

I heard a dull thump behind me. I turned around and I saw her rabbit on the dirt ground. It must have accidentally fallen while I was carrying her. I picked it up and gave it to Sophie, who hugged it tenderly as she fell back asleep, her face pressed against my shoulder.



We made it to the cornfield. By this time, Sophie was wide awake and insisted on walking. We pushed through the corn fields and sat in a clearing in the middle of the field, the same one every year, surrounded by towering stalks of corn that made it impossible for us to be seen.

I pulled out a picnic blanket and spread it out across the dirt. I took of the backpack and placed it in the center of the blanket as we both sat down.

The purge doesn't start for another 11 hours, but I didn't want to risk making any unnecessary noise and alerting the owner of the farm, who had no idea that we stayed here every year. I pulled out a DS and handed it to Sophie. She played it on mute as I lay back and slept.



A siren screamed into my ear and woke me up. An electric drone louder than a jet engine filled the dark countryside, startling the sleeping crows and ravens in the fields. Sophie continued playing with her DS while simultaneously eating a sandwich she got from the backpack, as if the siren didn't mean anything to her.

But me? I was trembling. Twenty years of this and I still tremble every time.

The siren screamed. I reached into the backpack and pulled out a revolver, silver and color with a brown hilt.

The siren screamed. I holstered the revolver and removed the purge masks from the backpack, handing one to Sophie.

The siren screamed. I put mine on, but she refused hers, instead resting it beside her. Colored white, it covered faces from the lips up, leaving the cheeks and mouth visible. With the mask on, it was nearly impossible to determine who is who.

I moved close to Sophie, who was absorbed in her game. "It's time to put the mask on now," I said quietly.

"I don't like the mask."

"None of us do, but we have to. For our safety, in case we get caught on camera, that way they don't know who the hide and seek champions are."

And the siren screamed.



Hours passed and the clock approached midnight. Sophie had long fallen asleep with her rabbit in her arms while I stood guard, revolver in hand, surrounded by towering stalks of corn colored dark green in the night. The wind stood silent and so did the rest of the rural country. I couldn't say the same for the rest of America, which wallowed in chaos.

Uneventful. As always.

That's when I heard the tires screech.

A cacophony of grinds and squeaks, a sonicboom compared to the tranquility that currently surrounded us. Sophie noticed it too and she jolted awake.

Sophie looked at me and I held my index finger to my lips. We heard the engine slow to a halt and car doors opening.

Footsteps. Like herds of buffalo.

Rustling. They were going to find us.

Then, slamming against a wooden surface.

"Open up!" We heard someone demand, their fist pounding against a door. Sophie jumped and let out a gasp and I shushed her, praying that she wouldn't give us away.

"I wanna go home, daddy," she whimpered and I kept shushing her as the pounds in the background intensified, knock, knock, knock, pound, pound, pound until the wood finally broke and they entered the barn by force.

Sounds of a struggle, a man yelling.

Something scraping against the dirt ground.

A kick connecting to a body, accompanied by a grunt.

More kicks.

"Stop, please!" The man cried, but they kept kicking and wouldn't stop and he screamed in pain with every impact as Sophie started tearing up, asking me "What's happening, what's happening?" in the quietest voice she could give me but she couldn't help but be loud because she was scared and confused and she hugged me and my mind raced thinking "What do I do, what do I do, oh god, oh god."

The kicks stopped.

And the sound of a machete being unsheathed filled the air.

Coughing.

"Wh... why?" Someone said, between gasps of air and droplets of blood.

"Because we can."

You could hear the smile on that person's face as he slit the victim's throat. Blood trickled, drop by drop, onto the ground as a dying farmer choked on his own blood.

Gunshot.

And Sophie screamed, startled.

Everyone froze. I covered her mouth with my hand, trying to keep her quiet. My entire body shook, but the purgers on the other side of the cornfield froze.

"There are people in the cornfield," one of them let out.

And we ran. I grabbed the backpack and ran, Sophie still in my arms. She screamed as stalks of corn slapped our faces and sliced microscopic cuts on our skin. She covered her face with her palms as I ran and behind me, I could hear corn stalks being hacked away.

She screamed and suddenly, I fell forward, flat on my face. The rustling behind me got closer and closer as I picked myself up and continued running through the cornfield, Sophie on my back this time.

Shots were fired and even though neither Sophie nor I were hit, she still screamed and adrenaline surged through my veins until we were out of the corn field.

But the car was still a mile away.

I sprinted. Sophie carried in a fireman's carry, I sprinted. Closer and closer the car came but so did the purgers and when they did, the bullets wouldn't take long to touch us.

Miraculously, I reached the car before the purgers escaped the maze-like cornfield. I stabbed the key into the ignition and stepped on the gas just as the purgers escaped from the cornfield.

And I knew they saw me. My white minivan, those white-masked purgers knew what my car looked like.



This dirt road stretched for miles. No branches, no intersections, just a single line perpendicular to the dark blue horizon which slowly turned orange as we drove closer to the burning city. 1 AM, there were still six hours until the purge was over and I tried to think of what to do next. We couldn't hide in the fields, the land was barren until the city. I planned and planned while driving and driving.

Behind me, Sophie clutched her rabbit. The rabbit's shirt was soaking wet, absorbing the fearful tears that dripped from Sophie's mask. She had asked me what was happening seconds after we entered the car. I didn't have an answer. All I said was

"We lost the hide and seek game."

She's been silent ever since.



"Sophie, close your eyes and lie down."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

She listened.

And we reached the city. It was in ruins. Everywhere, cars burned and bodies lay on the ground. Some charred, some shot, some mutilated. Disgusting doesn't even begin to describe it.

Thankfully, the purgers had already wreaked havoc in this area and were unlikely to return. Regardless, I kept my guard up.

There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, purgers could be anyone, anywhere. And being in a loud car only increased the chance that we would be noticed.

So I parked. There were no better solutions, none that I could think of.

And we left the car. Purge masks concealing our identities, we left the car.

Sophie held my hand and hugged her rabbit with her other arm as we entered a skyscraper through its shattered windows. We took the stairs and ascended to the 23rd floor, where we hid in a cubicle. A cubicle among many cubicles, in a buildings stories tall. Though safety is impossible, this was the closest we would get.

And that's when he jumped into our cubicle.

Sophie and I jumped. He pointed a gun to my face and instinctively I stood up, hands over my head.

"Are you purgers?" He demanded, his face hidden behind a white mask.

"What?"

"Are you purgers?!" He yelled. Sweat ran down my face.

"No, I swear, we're just trying to survive the night!"

"Why should I trust you, I can see your weapon right there!" He motioned toward the revolver I had holstered in my pocket.

"Do you not see the girl with me?" Sophie tensed up, realizing I was talking about her.

"Lurers! I know you luring bastards!" He yelled, causing Sophie to scream. He was going to kill us. I backed away.

"No please! Honest, we don't want any trouble just let us live!"

For awhile, nothing but the sound of heavy breathing and the whimpers of Sophie filled the room. You could hear a pin drop from two stories away.

"Put the revolver on the table." I obeyed and he finally put his gun down.

A waterfall of sweat poured from my pores. This mask wasn't helping at all. I took it off and so did Sophie. The man with the gun kept it on.

"What's your name?" I asked him, trying to start conversation.

"I'd rather not say. It's nicer to be anonymous in a night like this."

"Oh. Okay."

I sat down and lay my head against the cubicle wall, exhausted. I checked my watch. 4 AM. Three more hours.

For awhile, I kept my gaze on the man with the gun. Waiting to see if he would do anything.



Noises. From downstairs. I looked to the man with the gun.

"Stay here," he said and he left the cubicle. I retrieved my revolver from the table and kept it in my hands in case someone decided to enter.

The sound of shots being fired echoed through the stairwells and eventually made its way to our cubicle. Sophie covered her ears and curled up into a ball with her rabbit in the center, held between her chest and her knees.

More shots, occasionally punctuated by grunts of pain. There must have been several people downstairs, maybe a purging party.

Soon, a brief quiet. A single gunshot, probably an execution shot. Then, silence. In the pitch black sea of cubicles, there was no stimuli. No sound, no visuals, nothing but the dry taste in my mouth and the feeling of sweat drops and the hilt of my revolver.

Footsteps. There was only one person left.

I could hear his steps muffled by the office carpet. Slow. Rhythmic. Like a clock.

Tick.

Tock.

Step.

Step.

He was getting closer.

I looked toward Sophie and put my index finger to my lips. Then I stepped out of the cubicle.

My vision had adjusted to the darkness, but it was still impossible to discern between cubicle walls and the person in the room. But I could tell he was getting closer.

Closer now. Within two, three rows.

Even closer still. He was directly in my row. Probably in front of me.

I stood up.

And I fired. And I fired and Sophie screamed as I fired and he gasped in pain as the bullets dug through his skin and his heart and his skull and his brain and he fell to the ground dead and the bullets in my revolver ran out and I gasped for air, realizing that for the first time in twenty years, I had killed a man.

I had purged.

More deep breaths, trying to calm down. I walked forward to the corpse.

And it was the man with the gun. Bullet holes through his head which stained his white mask red, it was the man with the gun, dead on the ground.

Sophie gasped. I turned to my left and I saw Sophie, who had left the cubicle and secretly followed me. She saw everything.

She dropped her rabbit.

I walked up to her and hugged her but she squirmed away. She pushed me away.

"Dad... what did you do?"

I had no words to say. No words to explain to a girl that I had unjustly killed a man out of fear, out of paranoia.

With bloodstained hands, I picked up her rabbit and handed it back to her.

But she wouldn't take it.







Author's Note: Saw The Purge with the Skype Group that I always hang out with. The premise was interesting and I felt that they completely wasted the opportunity to convey a message about society as a whole, so I thought I'd take a stab at it.

Of course, a lot less action-packed than the original, but I believe it has a deeper message. But I don't know, I was working pretty close to the deadline on this one, so what do you think? Feedback would be much appreciated!