CIVIL WAR II

Jump to 2032

Tabitha and her husband Ben are huddled together in the basement  sharing a blanket. They hear bombs and gunshots as they snuggle each other scared of whats going on outside of there hiding place. It was beginning. The Second Civil War. America had split up once and it was happening again. Tabitha and Ben were part of the Northern side. The Northerners believed that all immigrants and refugees should be welcomed into our country but into special camps to take care of them until where they originally came from was safer for them to go back. However at these camps they must work for food because the United States cannot supply food to people that are not their own, when their own people work hard at their jobs for food. The Southerners wanted to ban all immigrants and refugees from coming into America and send those who had become citizens back to where they came from.

There was a crash from upstairs. "Ben, I'm scared." Tabitha whispered. "Shhh, follow me." he said. He crawled into the boiler room in the back of the basement and grabbed a basket full of water, food, batteries, flashlights, and first aid. Tabitha followed. Ben started to peel at the wall to pick off the paint. "What are you doing?" Tabitha whispered confused. "Come and help me." he replied. They were picking at the wall for about 2 minutes when a corner of something was revealed. Ben grabbed a tool from his toolbox which he always kept by the boiler. He tried to pry open the corner and a chunk of the wall opened. It was a door. "Come on." Ben said quietly. Tabitha hesitated but went through. When they both came through they were not outside their house. They were in a tunnel. They kept crawling for about an hour when there was a fork in the tunnel. "Okay T, this where we must part." Ben said trying to be strong but you could see the fear in his eyes. "What? Why?" Tabitha asked with tears in her eyes. "You go to the left. The left side will continue for about another 3 miles. You will be safe when you reach the end." Ben said with tear filling his eyes. "Where will you go?" Tabitha asked with the sound of fear in her voice. "I have to fight T. They already found our house. Soon they will find the tunnel. But where you are going they won't be able to follow. I have to join the rest of the men."  He  took 2 bottles of water out of the basket along with a bag of bread and stuffed them in his sack. Tabitha just noticed this sack he was wearing. He also took out a few bandages and wraps. "Here. Take the rest. You will need this where your going." Ben said. "I love you." Tabitha said and kissed him. "I love you too. Don't worry about me." He assured her. They took their separate paths.

Tabitha went to the left side while Ben took the right. It took all night but Tabitha got to the end of the tunnel. There was a door with a lock. She didn't have the key. She knocked but there was no answer. She slumped down against the wall knowing she would soon die. But a miraculous thing happened. Tabitha was thirsty after the trip. She opened the basket Ben had given her to see what he had left her. In there she found several water bottles, several rolls of bread, a tablet, first aid, a pillow, a flashlight, batteries, and a towel. As she reached for a water bottle she felt something taped to the side of the basket. She grabbed it. It was a silver key. She tried it in the hole of the door. It opened. She crawled through and locked the door behind her. As she turned around she saw many people from her town. They were all huddled together. Where were they? They were in this room with blue walls. In the room there was a small closet with non flushable toilet. There was also a mini-fridge in the left corner and a tv above it. The news was on as Tabitha watched people from her community stare at the screen watching to see if their loved ones were still alive. Tears filled her eyes as she saw Ben. "It's a shame." someone had said. Tabitha turned around.  It was a young African American man. "What the fact that our country has split apart again into this Civil War over different races and types of people?" She asked. "Well yes, that and the fact that nobody listened to Washington." He said. Tabitha smiled at his joke. It was true. Isolationism and neutrality was what we needed. "Do you know what I just realized?" The man asked softly. "What?" Tabitha asked interested. I think we've gone red." He said. "Really?" She asked not understanding how America could have possibly gone red after all the effort America made in 1947-1991 to prevent themselves and others from going red. "Yeah. Well if you think about it, everyone is the same." He said. "In what way?" Tabitha asked very confused. "Look at that young woman next to the mini-fridge. What do you see?" He asked very confident in what she might say. "She is wearing a purple T-shirt, jeans, and has long hair." Tabitha smiled. "And that older woman sitting against the bathroom door?" He asked teasingly. "Purple shirt, jeans, long hair." She said starting to realize his point. "And me?" He asked. "Purple shirt, jeans, short hair." she answered. "Now go into the bathroom and look in the mirror." Tabitha did so. She too was wearing a purple shirt , jeans and had long hair. She looked around the room. Everyone was wearing the same thing. All the ladies had long hair and the men had short hair. "Why do we all look the same?" She asked. "Because the government made the rule that everyone had to wear this shirt everyday." He replied. "I don't remember that." She said. "Not many do." He answered. "How do you remember?" She asked. "Because I used to work for the government until they promoted me and I found out their plans. So I fled because if they knew I was leaving they would kill me, so nobody would find out. I built these tunnels and this room for the day that this happened. I changed my name and my birthday." He said "Oh. And what is your new name?" She asked. "Holland." He said. "My name is Holland."