Prologue
A new world order was established when the clowns came. Led by their leader, Zombozo, they conquered the world in the course of two months. Nobody knew where they came from, but their arrival indicated a permanent change in the trajectory of history. People were either turned into clown slaves, mindless clowns that looked exactly like Zombozo and obeyed his every command without question, or herded into labor camps by the clown slaves, who possessed some of the magical power that Zombozo had.
Rather than casualties being taken, the soldiers were simply turned into clown slaves through a magical process known as clownification. Between the ever growing army, the near invulnerability and superhuman strength of the clown slaves, the clown's magical ability, Zombozo's unreal intelligence, and his complete control over his army, the clowns could not be stopped.
To describe the post Zombozo world, what first needs to be described is the clowns themselves. Entirely black and white, Zombozo was more than human. A big, black, clown nose, floppy black shoes, and white hands outlined his figure. He knew himself as the ruler of all that existed. All life existed to serve him.
Obedience was bliss, and Zombozo wanted to bring bliss to all that existed. The clown slaves looked exactly like their master and were linked to his mind, as to truly drown in submission. They did not need to eat, sleep, or drink. They were driven by Zombozo's power, which was driven by the energy of worship.
The army of clowns had one purpose: give all the gift of servitude. Zombozo could have simply turned all into clown slaves, but instead he decided to let the humans have the opportunity to learn obedience on their own. All humans were forced into labor camps where they created enough goods to support the remaining humans or create things for the clowns.
The children were sent to schools to be taught by the clowns about the glories of obedience. Loyalty to Zombozo was taught above all else. He was a father, a ruler, and a God all in one. Time with parents was limited to ensure an uninterrupted education, although they were able to spend some time with other humans.
The adults were also fed near constant propaganda and dissenters would simply disappear. Time not spent working was used to instill the joys of obedience into the people, and clowns watched over everything. Rumors of a small rebel group operating outside of Zombozo's thumb spread, but nobody knew if they were real.
Our story takes place 19 years after Zombozo took over. Humans still work in labor camps with the clown slaves watching over them and managing Zombozo's perfect world. Rumors of the rebel group still existed, but again remained unsubstantiated. Regardless, no action was taken against them as no major plays had been made.
Part 1: Ronan
Growing up, I had quite a good childhood. I've spent all 18 years of my life in and around the Northeastern Camp. Most of my time was spent around the clowns that ran our camp. From teachers to guards, I was endlessly thankful for the work the clowns did to maintain Zombozo's will.
Being raised up underneath Zombozo's rule was truly a perfect life. The school day was spent learning about his clown perfection and his rise to power. He was a benevolent god who gave us the ability to live underneath him. He is infinitely generous. Not only did he allow us to worship him with every bone in our bodies, he allowed us to interact with people who hadn't yet seen the light (such as my parents, who I met with every other weekend), and even allowed room for us to learn his glory.
I recall when I was younger, I felt constrained by the Camp and the school in which I lived. However, Zombozo, in his infinite perfection, allowed me to grow and realize how blessed I was to be living as he commanded. Obedience is paradise.
We spent our time participating in marches, pledges, songs and announcements. We learned of how Zombozo took his rightful place at the seat of the world, ascending to the godhood he deserved. History classes would go on to explain how he saved us from the savagery of humanity before him and how blessed we were to be living in this new world. Love and obedience were taught over all else. Once we finished schooling we were to give back to our Master, just as he has given to us.
We can never truly repay the debt of gratitude we owe to Zombozo, but we can try by giving our unconditional obedience, labor, and bodies. Creating goods for the clowns and birthing children to ensure the continuation of society.
Youth groups would be held outside of school hours dedicated to personally working towards Zombozo at a younger age. We were taught that if we could work hard enough, Zombozo would gift us with clownification, allowing us to give up all semblance of humanity and truly become one with our Master.
Work was glorious enough, as simply being able to obey was an infinite blessing, but our Clown God even allowed us the chance to become completely consumed by his power if we worked hard enough. I was truly living in paradise.
Sadly my parents did not seem to realize how blessed we were to be able to obey the Clown God. Today was one of the days I was going to see them, and I hoped more than anything they had seen the light. When they came into view, my mother practically screamed "my baby" as she ran and embraced me. I hugged her back halfheartedly, wondering why she put so much emotion into me.
Our hearts are for loving our master, not each other. I enjoyed my parents' company, but they really confused me with how much they seemed to almost resent the clowns. Obviously they didn't show that resentment in public, but as they led me back to their room, they seemed almost grateful to be out of view of the clowns.
We spent the majority of the day together, but one thing stuck out to me. When I left to get some water, I heard some hushed arguing as I was about to re-enter. I hid near the doorway and listened to them argue.
"He's a liability. He's grown up drowning in propaganda. We can't trust him" my father exclaimed.
"Ronan is our son! Our flesh and blood!" my mother shrieked
"This is our one shot at escaping this prison. Ronan doesn't realize what life used to be like. He's been brainwashed into loving this hell! Tara said tonight is our one and only chance to escape. We can't let anything jeopardize that!"
"Stop talking about Ronan like he's the enemy."
It took me a second to realize what was happening, but it quickly dawned upon me. My parents were traitors. The rebels must really be out there, and my parents wanted to escape and join them. Immediately I knew it was my job to stop them, but if I confronted them now, I wouldn't be able to catch their partner on the outside. I had to be smart about this.
I started to speak as I entered the room, "You don't need to worry about me. Trust me, I want out too."
My dad immediately went silent and my mother started to inquire, "Wait what. I thought you loved Zombozo and living under clown rule?"
"I just pretended to, so I could remain under the radar. I've been trying to figure a way out of this godforsaken labor camp ever since I figured out how to think for myself" it hurt to lie about my god this way, but I needed to trick them and I could tell they were eating up my every word. Within the hour, I knew their exact plan and began formulating my own.
At midnight, the rebels would arrive, meeting my parents in a small section of the camp fence, which seemed to be a blind spot in the guard towers. The rebels had been sending an operative to slowly weaken the fence over time, with the intention of getting some informants, my parents, out of the encampment. Tonight was the night that the plan would be put into motion, meaning I had to act quickly. If I simply reported them now, the rebel operative would realize something was up when the escape signal wasn't sent. Instead, I needed to be subtle.
I waited for night to fall, plotting while my parents slept. When the clock hit 11:00 I began to set up. Taking a small shirt sitting in the room, I started ripping off small pieces and storing them in my pocket. Next, I ripped off some paper from the nearby journal and picked up the small pencil nearby it. Quickly, I scribbled on the page "Traitors. Follow the cloth" and shoved the paper in my pocket with the shreds.
Then I faked returning to sleep and waited to be "awakened" by my parents. As midnight came, I was awoken by them and we began to creep out of the small concrete room. I trailed behind the two, but luckily my mother was content to let me follow in the back, furthest from harm's way in her opinion.
While my father would scope out the path ahead, I subtly dropped my note, and began to leave a path following behind us. I made sure to leave the note along the path of the guards to ensure we would be caught.
Soon, we arrived at the gate, staring out into the pitch black forest beyond its chain link fencing. My father whispered a series of unintelligible sounds, most likely some code, causing a figure to emerge from the brush. Wielding a pair of bolt cutters, a woman with long, black hair worn in a ponytail, dark camo, and leather boots slowly creeped forwards towards the gate, constantly looking around.
"Are you Riley?" my father questioned.
"Good you're here, but let's cut the chit chat. I'm going to start cutting the chain, so let's keep the noise to a minimum" she responded coldly.