GROFF MEDIA 2024© TRUTH ENDURES IMDBPRO
Presented by benandsteve.com By: Benjamin Groff II©s
When the world turns against you, what do you do? This question had boiled under Chester’s contempt for days. He had watched the nation he loved become the opposite of everything it had ever stood for. The people appeared powerless to stop the crazed leaders who were taking control of the institutions and destroying them.
Chester became so incensed that he quit his job. He took about three hundred dollars, bought as many canned food items as possible, and stored them in his home. Chester then purchased one hundred dollars’ worth of bottled water. He had planned for the loss of electricity and home heating petroleum. Chester had medical supplies he thought would handle any matter related to his health. Then, he went and nailed his doors and windows shut. He placed a sign on the outside of his home stating:
I AM HOME – ALIVE – I DO NOT WANT CONTACT WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD OR ITS DISTURBING GOVERNMENT. THIS HOUSE IS OFF LIMITS TO EVERYONE. PLEASE DO NOT ENTER!
Then, in chalk, on a board that slid in and out from the interior of the home, it read:
DATE – 2-16-2025
Chester planned to update the date every night to let the outside world know he was still alive.
Chester planned to live without listening to what was happening around him. He believed it was the only way he survived. Chester wanted to help others but had no solution, power, or ability. For Chester, this was all he thought he would do.
His home was significant. It had five bedrooms, four bathrooms, two living areas, two kitchens, and a mother-in-law suite. He had inherited it from his parents after they passed. It was paid for, and he had taken control of their Trust. He didn’t have any financial issues.
Every morning, Chester would visit the mother-in-law’s suite. It offered a view of a once-lively park. The government has now abandoned the park. He often spotted young figures lurking behind the trees, their presence a haunting mystery. Why were they there? Why were they hiding? And most puzzling of all, why did they seem to have nowhere else to go?
One day, curiosity got the best of him. He grabbed his hammer. He pulled the nails out around the suite’s window. He cracked it open, trying to hear their conversations.
Two young girls and two young men were hiding behind a tree, whispering urgently. Chester leaned in closer and heard them say:
“Look, it won’t hurt, and we will be free of this world. If we stay any longer, it will only get worse. They will kill us if we don’t beat them to it!”
Chester’s blood ran cold. What in the world were they talking about? Was this some game? Or were they seriously considering group suicide? And was the government truly hunting these kids?
He had heard about new policies stripping rights from the LGBTQI+ community and disenfranchising people of color. But had it escalated to mass executions? Chester had to find out.
He rummaged through an old trunk in his father’s Hollywood memorabilia. It contained all sorts of disguises: wigs, glasses, vintage clothing. Chester dressed as an older, disheveled homeless man and prepared to venture outside for the first time in weeks.
What he would learn would be devastating.
The streets were eerily quiet, yet tension hung in the air like a brewing storm. Checkpoints had been set up at major intersections, where government enforcers—men in military gear with no insignias—patrolled with assault rifles.
Posters were plastered everywhere, declaring:
“FOR THE SAFETY OF OUR NATION, COMPLIANCE IS MANDATORY.”
Others simply stated:
“NON-CONFORMISTS WILL BE RELOCATED.”
Chester approached a group of homeless people warming their hands over a fire in a rusted oil drum. They regarded him warily but allowed him into their circle.
“What’s happening?”
Chester asked, playing the role of a lost drifter.
A man with hollowed-out cheeks and weary eyes responded,
“They’re rounding people up. Anyone who resists, anyone different. They disappear.”
Chester asked quickly,
“Disappear where?”
The man shook his head.
“No one knows. Some say camps. Others say execution sites.”
Chester’s stomach twisted into knots. The government wasn’t just oppressing people; it was actively erasing them. The kids in the park weren’t paranoid—they were running for their lives.
He couldn’t stay hidden anymore. He had to act.
That night, under the cover of darkness, Chester snuck back to his house and removed the sign from his door. He pried open his windows, unlocked the doors, and gathered supplies. With his home’s ample space and well-stocked provisions, he offered sanctuary to those with nowhere else to go.
The next day, he returned to the park and approached the young people cautiously.
“Come with me,” he whispered. “You don’t have to run anymore.”
At first, they hesitated, but the desperation in their eyes mirrored his determination. One by one, they followed him back to his home. Chester had spent weeks barricading himself from the world, convinced that isolation was the only way to survive. But now, he understood—survival was not just about enduring. It was about resisting.
And Chester was ready to fight back.
“LGBT people are some of the bravest and most potent change agents and leaders I have encountered. They are the most forceful defenders of the vulnerable and voiceless because they know what it’s like to be there.”
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