This Is Not the End

Chapter 1: Past and Present

Chapter One

Past and Present

"This is not the end!"

I paused for a moment to stare at the rusty TV through the cracked and broken window of an abandoned appliance store. Half the screen was a painting of colored static, but for brief moments I could still see one of the old politicians confidently declaring from a podium that,

"This is not the end! War will not be the end of humanity, but a new beginning! We will join together with our allies and repel our enemies!"

I couldn't help but smile at the sentiment. This recording was well before my time, back when America was still an independent country, and all of Europe was broken up into pieces of cultures and peoples. Back when people were free, and war was just an idea.

Now, the Consortium governed all of Europe, Russia, Asia, and India while the United Guardian Alliance controlled Greenland and North and South America. Australia and Africa were nearly abandoned due to the constant battles raging inside their borders, while Antarctica and the Artic had been christened no man's land long ago.

The Consortium and the United Guardian Alliance had been at war ever since some rebels from the almost-forgotten country of Russia destroyed all of America's nuclear weapons over the course of a few years. The now-defenseless country was forced to ally with Brazil to fight back, and they, in turn, decimated Russia. Russia turned to its neighboring countries and one by one the rest of the countries took sides until there were but two left: The Consortium and the United Guardian Alliance.

I was just glad that all the nuclear weapons had been used up years before my birth.

The threat of redesigning the weapons had made both sides race to remake them first, but with neither side successful.

"Yet," I mumbled to myself.

The looming threat hovered over every head like a hot air balloon of destruction just waiting to explode.

"Kora!"

I turned from the TV to where my best friend Xyli was running up to me. Panting, she pulled the sweaty rubber gas mask off her face to speak more clearly.

"Kora, you gotta come quick! That brother of mine is just about to get himself pounded by the Scorpions! That leader of them is arguing with him, the son of a Taco Truck, Imma wring his scrawny neck!"

I groaned. The Scorpions were a gang that ruled most of the ruined New York City. The head of the Scorpions ran things from one of the only protected cities left, Las Vegas.

Everyone knew that he was the founder of the black-market supplies dealerships all across the country, but everyone also knew that he was working with the government, and they looked the other way. Besides, people reasoned, but it was never proved, and anyone who said so tended to disappear, so it was better to do nothing about it.

The leader, who called himself Red Scorpion, assigned gang leaders in different cities to run the black market, but most of the time the gangs were found bullying the underground colonies of survivors who made their homes in abandoned subway terminals, away from the constant barrage of shells, explosives, and gas.

Most young men were recruited or threatened into joining one of these gangs, as rival gangs and rebellions were quickly snuffed out. In the case of Xyli's brother, however, he had not only refused to join the Scorpions, but he was also constantly fighting them for supplies.

"Seriously, Xy, it's like the third time this week," I voiced my concerns, "I thought Zoltan agreed to stay away from the Scorpions!"

I had, in the past, warned Zoltan about his actions, but even I couldn't argue that the extra gas mask filters, fresh water, and food he brought back to our colony in the third avenue subway terminal were a great help.