A New World

Prologue and Chapter 1

Prologue: Two Years Before The War

“Mara what are we going to do? This war is going to happen, there is no stopping it. So how do we keep our town, our family, safe? We need a plan and fast.” John asked his wife while pacing the living room of their huge house. Their living room was decorated with different shades of light browns and greens. A huge chandelier was hanging from the tall ceiling, a flat screen hung on the wall in front of the couch by the front window. Their house that was too big for just the two of them was usually filled with a joyful atmosphere but was now filled with a quiet worry.

His wife sat on their couch looking out the window in concentration. Finally, she placed her coffee mug on the table in front of her and looked up at her husband; she could see the worry on his face. The way his brow was furrowed in utter concentration and his hair that had not too long ago been a stunning black now had white streaks on the sides’ right above his ears and throughout his beard. You would think John Knight was in his forties instead of late twenties. His once bright green eyes were now dull from the years of hardships that had taken over their world.

“John, Sit please. I have some ideas but I need you to sit and relax. Stressing will not help anything; it has only proven to tire you out. Please, I need you to have a calm level head.” Mara patted the seat beside her, urging her husband to take her advice.

“You are right. I’m sorry. Please tell me what you have in mind, you have my full attention.” John said as he sat down by his wife. Looking at her now, he was struck once again by her true beauty. Mara Knight had never worn makeup in her life apart from their wedding day but even then she had not needed it. Her long wavy brown hair fell to her knees. She still believed that long hair showed off your true beauty. And let’s not leave out her sharp, bright blue eyes that hid no emotions. She was not the type to hide what she felt but showed everyone. To John, she had not changed one bit since that wonderful day he had first laid eyes on her at Wal-Mart ten years ago. He could still remember the humorous look on her face when she saw him walking up to her register with his little sisters pads in hand. Embarrassed was nothing compared to how John felt when she had asked who they were for but that didn’t stop him from speaking to the beauty in front of him. Her lips were still full with laugh lines on the sides, her skin still pale and flawless compared to his tan and scarred, and her eyes still held happiness even in these times.

“Good,” his wife said pulling him out of his thoughts. “As I was saying before, I have some ideas but I need you to just sit and listen until I’m done explaining. Okay?” She asked raising one of her perfect eyebrows at him.

“Of course, I will remain silent until the very end.” John said giving her a small smile.

“Thank you darling,” Mara said smiling back at him. Remembering once again just how much she loved him. “Now, I was thinking that maybe we could take the underground tunnels that run under the town and build onto them to make somewhat of a small underground town. Now we would have a lot to do, like hooking up power down there and building onto it would take time, plus there’s the fact that we won’t know exactly how long we will all be down there so we will have to store supplies. But I really feel like this is our only shot for protecting our loved ones. This town is our family and I feel like if we all work together we can get this done before the upcoming war. We could start as soon as possible.” She paused to take a breath. “Okay, what do you think?”

John turned his attention toward the front window; he could see the town children playing in the square while the adults sat outside in the gazebo enjoying the local music and food. Seeing all of the smiling faces helped him reach his decision; he would bring this up to the fellow Council members and then call for a town meeting in the square. He could not stand to even think about his family getting hurt in this war so he would do whatever possible to keep them safe and Mara’s idea was perfect.