Planetarium

Part One- A New Age

"If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself."
― Rick Riordan (The Lightning Thief)

Dedicated to a girl I met when I was eight years old. (Pardon the cringeworthy writing. I wrote this when I was eleven)

Chapter 1- Earth's death

After the nuclear war that performed the destruction of the world, a country still survived. They made a whole new nation on the ruins of North America called Birmingham. It was consisted of several districts governed by mayors all loyal to the president. The president lived in the Acropolis, the last city and refuge on Earth. All the resources were manned in the 20 sectors or mainly called Parthenons that surrounded the Acropolis. The Acropolis was built where nowadays Kansas is. It was pressured by uprisings from Parthenons 9, 12, and 13. The Acropolis was brought down and people could go wherever they wanted. People were terminated obviously by the explosion of the Sun and the Apocalypse but at least they could die a free people.

Chapter 2- Ballistae
But not everyone died. There was one family left alive on Earth. They had been in the subway of Madrid when this had happened. They were tourists in Spain. The subway was airtight and was blasted into space. The family had been rich and had paid for a subway with food, water and refreshing beds. They survived for two years in space when they crashed into Pluto. They were lucky the gravity of Pluto pulled them right onto the hidden landing pad. The family finally got out of the wreckage of the subway. They huddled up to keep warm and a huge hovercraft appeared above them. Ashton and Ashley, the twins, looked exactly alike. Strong tanned skin from working all day in the sunlight in Parthenon 11. Ashton, the boy, had big arms and strong legs and could move a plow as easily a horse could. Ashley, a frail looking child, had wide amber eyes and nimble fingers. They were both 14 years old and always fought since they were born. But now, with the hovercraft above them with a dozen nuke bombs as ammo, they both wondered: how are we still alive?

The hovercraft's speakers boomed. "Earthlings, finally you have come!" The twins looked at the hovercraft, confused. "What does that mean? We thought we were the last humans in the universe."
"No you are not. A secret mission from the war hero Walter "Chip" Douglas and his companion Chester "Chet" Odair was appointed to a secret organization called Ballistae. Ballistae were to go to Pluto and establish a base there as preparation for the death of the sun. We had enough technology at the time for body heat reflecting suits that allowed us to live on Pluto for a few decades or so. Then we developed weapons with the titanic resources on Pluto. So there you have it."
"But why? I mean, why here in Pluto and why us to survive by coming here?" said the twins. The only response was: "Follow us."
They all went through the landing pad's opening and into the darkness beyond.

Kris Jeorge, the hovercraft's pilot, gives them a tour of the whole military bunker/ fortress. It is consisted of many levels: the Air Force Hangar, The Compartments that house all the people, The Training Center for all the soldiers, the Army vehicle shed, the hovercraft docks and castle, the palace/ mansion where the president slept, the weaponry, the treasury, and the Special Defense/ Command Room level. The kitchen is a separate level that can be counted as a part of the Compartment level. President Everdeen is a strongly built young man that survived the Great War of the Second Dark Days that decided the freedom of the human race from the Capitol. The twins were given separate compartments and always received a schedule that was tattooed on their arm in black ink. After they went to all of the places on their schedule, they headed to the baths and used some special chemical that washed the schedule off. Benjamin Coleman, their commander, trained them in the art of sharpshooting which was their favorite class. It was a dull life, but it was obviously better than being dead on the ruins of Earth.

Phil Collins Jefferson Arena is a huge stadium where 11 to 17 year-olds fight for promotions. There is only one person standing at the end and that person becomes a captain. Then if they beat the arena challenges, they are promoted to officer, then to lieutenant, then to private, then to colonel, then to marshal, then to admiral, then to sergeant, then to commander, and finally, to general. Only two people in history have ever become generals, and only one is still alive. The supposed to be dead man was Walter Douglas. He went on a haywire rocket and disappeared. The one that is still alive is a drunken man, and his name is Jerry Thom Jackson. His housekeeper, Jennifer, is a young woman of sixteen years old that has olive skin and black hair. She is entering the coliseum this year and is going for the win. Ashley makes great friends with her and in no time they live in the same compartment. The twins' mother, Amanda, lets them only if they are across from her in the hallway. Jonathan Nick Peterson, John for short, becomes Ashton's best friend. Why are all these strangers becoming friends so fast? Ashton suspects something fishy is going on.