The Fear Within Us

Chapter 1

Lucas

The U.S.S.A. under the command of General Robert Eisenhower revoked the Constitution. The Bill of Rights also no longer exists. Now, no one is free. The only right you have is to live and you have to fight to survive. Washington D.C., is destroyed. New York is devastated. So was Denver, Milwaukee, Chicago, Seattle, and Atlanta. All highly populated areas where targeted in the war. Bombed, nuked, or invaded. Currently there are 42 states. The whole east coast is gone. New york, Pennsylvania,Virginia, Florida, Maryland, and Massachusetts, makeup what is known as No man's land and Alaska and Hawaii were captured by Japan.
We held, but in the process we exhausted most of our supplies. The U.S then started to open up small refugee camps. There, they gave out enough food for people to survive.The value of the dollar bill plummeted, now the rich became poor. And the poor, became poorer. The wars began in 2058. The wars finally ended in 2066. U.S troops in places like Iraq and Afghanistan were slaughtered. The U.S declared that they would be under martial law until further notice... That was 6 years ago.
My name is Lucas Parsley. I'm 16. I was born 2 years before the war. I was on a international flight back from England where my grandmother lived when the plane was shot down on the east coast. It was the first act of war. My mom and me survived the crash. We were on the front of the plane when the tail of the plane hit the ground first, so we were lucky. My home town was Pittsburgh. At least it was.
"Lucas! Come on! If we wait any longer we won't get any food". The words shocked me into motion. A plain white t-shirt. A pair of skinny jeans (that aren't all that skinny). A light blue sweatshirt. I'm ready. On my way out of my room I grabbed the necklace I've had for as long as I could remember. It was a silver chain with a flame emblem engraved onto a golden heart medallion.
"Where is it today mom". My mom is skinny with brown hair that has a hint of blond. She has a flawless face with no freckles or pimples, with only a thin layer of dust. Most people say we don't have any resemblance, but we both have brown eyes.
"The town square, I hear they have tomato soup, your favorite," my mom replied with her sweet voice. Tomato soup, it used to be my favorite. It was my favorite during the beginning of the war. It made me feel like those people who used to be able to buy big turkeys, and get bowls of ice cream. "Yay," I said with a faint smile. I actually couldn't wait to get tomato soup. I was tired of eating canned beans and chicken. Life sucks.
"How's dad" I said while rushing out the door. "He's working at that tavern down the road" my mom replied "Wait for me" said mom. "How come you had a head start and i'm ready before you" I said in disbelief . We were passing a house much too familiar. As I walked by she was sitting on the porch. She had sky blue eyes, and a look of confidence that never ceases to amaze me.There stood a black haired girl wearing a pink shirt. Her name is Jasmine. I had a crush on her ever since we got here, and she knew it. One day, she just stopped talking to me.
We were now half-way to the town square. Or what was left of it. To the left was my old elementary school. It was bombed in the middle of the school day. I had once gone to another elementary school in Pittsburgh, but it was the first city ravaged by a bombardment of explosives.That's when we moved here, to the city of Denver. A city that bombers laid waste to. It was hit hard during the war but somehow, part of it survived.
To the right was an old JCPenny store. It stood eerily silent, with shelves that had long been sorted through and ridden of their contents. Up ahead were rows upon rows of destroyed houses and stores.The whole way, rubble is stacked up and sometimes used as a wall for people who have damaged homes.
Up ahead was a red cross camp, right next to a salvation army building. Coming out of the red cross camp was a line about 15 people long. We got in line next to a man in his early 30's. Ahead in the line I could see a small fight stirring up. A man in his late 40's or 50's was arguing that he had a wife and kids so he deserved to get more, but the police officer was telling him since they were not here he couldn't trust him. Who does trust these days.
Next thing I know, the man grabs a bunch of food and tries to make a run from the cop, but he ends up being shot down. The cop was using his standard issue m-24, a large rifle that holds clips.
I was horrified. My mom told me they used to never use their guns, they would use tasers. Not anymore. Now they use brute force. They probably didn't even know what a taser is. It's weird. The kind of stuff the police do today. It's shocking. Breathtaking. The cops seem to have no feeling. Same with the soldiers. Even people. It's an all out free for all. Take food from somebody and hope you don't get shot.
Not by the person you stole from. Guns are banned from citizens. So are knives, propane, pretty much any kind of flammable gas or liquid, and pretty much anything that defies the Republic of America, propaganda, before war products, or is dangerous.
If you are found with these items they take you away and they never see you again. My mother never even wants to look at one of those items.
"Ok, honey! You want your lunch now or do you want dinner instead" my mom yelled from the kitchen. Our house was pretty small. We had a small family room with a small tv and a white sofa ( or at least it used to be, now it had that stained look ). We had a kitchen that held only a fridge and a stove with a small counter. We ate on the living room sofa. I had my own room ( small, but still a place I get to call my own ) but my parents shared a room. My room had a dresser and a bed, that's really it but most people would consider this a luxury.
The bathroom is a small room the size of a closet with barely enough room for a toilet. We also had a mirror. As I looked into it I saw boy with black hair, long enough that it reached my shoulders, brown eyes, and the muscles I earned while working at a farm.
I also saw the little freckles on my cheeks. My mom says they make me look cute. "We will have some tomato soup for dinner, that fine with you" my mom said as she walked into the family room."yeah" I said as I flopped onto my bed. Then a thought surfaced in my mind. I was late for work. I slowly stood up and said "I'll be back by dinner, I have to go to work".