The Great San Francisco Wall

And the great San Francisco purge. A dystopian tale set in 2030.

It was in 2025 that The Great San Francisco Wall was completed. Ever since Donald Trump started building a border wall, an explosion of wall building commenced throughout the land as groups of people walled themselves off from other groups of people.

Nationally, it was known as The Great Separation. Citizens separated into polarized camps then built walls to keep others out and to keep those within the walls from escaping. Of course, wall building had begun before Trump back when the super rich began building walls around their lavish estates but it was not until Trump that wall building became extremely popular and spread to the masses.

Sitting on a precarious peninsula, the city of San Francisco could not build a wall completely encircling the city. So a tall impenetrable wall (one designed to withstand a 9.0 earthquake) was built all along the southern border of San Francisco then guard towers were built at short intervals all along the waters that formed the east, north, and west city boundaries. There were armed guards in those towers ready to shoot and kill anyone attempting to swim out of the city or into the city.

The bridges became armed entry points that only allowed trucks with essential consumer goods (like food) to pass through. The airport was closed down and turned over to the Tech industry for startup space.

It was after the wall was completed and the guard towers were built and manned that The Great San Francisco Purge commenced. The city purged itself of all homeless people, all poor people and all old people. A new law was passed making it a crime to be over the age of 40. Upon reaching their fortieth birthday people were executed.

Originally it was argued that people turning 40 should just be expelled from the golden city but it was counter-argued that they would then go tell the world about San Francisco and then everyone and their mother would begin flocking to the city trying to get in. The city rulers did not want that.

So everyone in San Francisco had the very same expected lifespan; 40 years. People older than that were considered to have no value and would only tarnish the youthful city culture. So San Francisco became a city populated by young rich people, most all of which were utterly devoted to tech, coding, productivity, business, entrepreneurship, startups, and micro-dosing psychedelic drugs. In the eyes of the city’s leaders San Francisco became an idyllic utopian city.

But it was not a good place to live if you were 39 years old.

Melissa was thirty-nine years and five months old. Her husband, Lance, had just turned thirty-nine. They had been married for seventeen years and had no children (having children can seriously hamper one’s productivity). They did not want to be executed. They wanted to keep living and they wanted to have a child before it was too late.

Luckily, Lance knew someone who knew someone who knew someone. That is why Melissa and Lance found themselves sitting in a dark booth in the back of a certain vegan cafe whispering with a burly tattooed man.

“How do we get out of the city?” whispered Melissa.

“Are you guys good swimmers?” whispered the burly man.

“Yeah,” whispered Lance. “But I’m not really sure I can swim all the way to Oakland.”

“That’s okay,” whispered the tattooed man. “Hundreds of thirty-nine year old people get shot dead every year by trying to swim to Oakland. It’s not a good idea. Listen, you can forget about swimming or trying to climb The Great San Francisco Wall. There is really only one way out.”

Melissa looked around to make sure no one was listening then turned back to the man, “Yeah?”

“How do you feel about garbage?”

Melissa and Lance looked at each other then back at the man, “Huh?”

“Every weekday there is a fleet of garbage trucks that drive around San Francisco emptying garbage dumpsters. It’s something we’ve been doing for many years. Sure, there’s less garbage now because the people of San Francisco recycle like maniacs and because most all plastics are now against the law but there is still garbage and the Sanitation Department’s fleet of electric-powered garbage trucks collect that garbage and take it to landfills across the bay. Yeah, the trucks are inspected but if you don’t mind hiding under a big pile of stinky garbage we can get you out of the city.”

Melissa and Lance looked at each other again.

“Listen folks, it’s the easiest way out of the city. If you’re in my truck you’ll be able to get out before the truck dumps the whole load into the landfill. Just be sure to wear a couple of layers of thick clothes and maybe ski caps so that you don’t get cut up by the garbage. And don’t bring more than one small bag of stuff with you. No suitcases. So are you in?”

Melissa answered before Lance could even open his mouth, “Yes! Yes! We’ll do it.”

The burly tattooed man tapped his fingers on the table, “So did you bring the money?”

“Oh, yeah,” Lance reached into his pocket and pulled out a thick folded manila envelope. “It’s all there.”

The man put the envelope in his jacket, “Okay, meet me at the Sanitation Department at 3 a.m. on Monday and I’ll give you more instructions then. And don’t come into the office. Go straight into the yard and look for truck number 39. Don’t be late. And wear dark clothing. And don’t tell anyone of this!”

The man stood up and walked out of the cafe.

Melissa and Lance clutched each other’s hands as they looked into each other’s eyes. Smiles erupted on their faces. Then they hugged each other tightly, knowing they would soon be free to live to a ripe old age in the mysterious Great Big World Out There.

Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. This is a work of fiction. See All My Latest Stories Here