The Unwanted Soldier

Before

Kale walked away from the construction site and wiped the filthy sweat off of his forehead.

He was more than excited to leave because his son, Tristan, is turning 4 today. After he checked out, he went to his dark grey Ford Raptor, and drove to Walmart to get his son a last-minute gift because recently, Kale has been so busy with work he hadn't had time to get one before. 

He checked the time, and it was 6:11 a.m. Tristan's party was in less than six hours.

Kale rushed into the store, and picked out a perfect present; A remote controlled red truck that Tristan had been begging for for the past few months.

He thanked the cashier and went to his truck, taking his usual route home.

After pulling into his driveway, He got out and grasped the plastic bag that was wrapped around his wrist.

While he was unlocking the door, he looked at the window and saw Tristan peeping out from the curtains, smiling proudly at his father. Tristan usually wakes up at 6 in the morning, so it was relevant to get off of work at such an early time.

Kale opened the door, and his son rushed to hug him.

"What did you get?" Tristan asked.

"You'll have to wait and see until your party starts." Kale smiled, walking to his living room to kiss his wife, Erica, whom was sitting in the living room, drinking her daily dose of caffeine. 

"Did you get him a present? I don't want to have to cover for you again, like last year." Erica said, sipping her coffee in correlation with the Pretty Little Liars episode that she was watching.

"Don't worry I got him something, and I think he'll love it." He replied tiredly. 

"Good."  Erica smiled, flipping to the news channel, and seeing what today's stupid article about 'how video games affect peoples' brains'.

'Recently, there was a crucial attack on the White House, killing 217, and injuring over 300. Unfortunately, the president of the United States was in the center of the attack, and tragically died. This triggered the government to start an attack on Iran, which caused them to attack Germany, America's ally. This has started public outrage, chaos, and controversy, some are even calling this World War Three. Not much is known on what will happen next but there will certainly be an update soon.' Said the news reporter.

Erica looked worriedly at her husband, scared that it actually was World War Three.

"What would happen if it actually was a new world war?" She asked.

"Don't tell me you actually believe that?! " Kale said, spitting out a little laugh.

"Yes I do, why shouldn't I? It killed the damned president!" Erica shouted.

"Yes, but it's not like we aren't in war with Syria or Iraq, how come they never brought that up?" Kale asked, wondering how they can still ignore the fact that we're attacking countries, but nobody cares unless we're the ones being bombarded. 

"You're right, but still. Everyone might get involved this time." She informed.

Kale was going to say something, but got interrupted by a loud explosion. Tristan whined, and sat by his mother, burying his head into her chest.

Kale shot right to his instincts, and thought that he should direct his family to the basement, regardless of what the eruption was.

"Alright, head to the basement!" He shouted, leading ahead.

He opened the downstairs door, and waited until they were both down the creaky stairs, then he slammed the door, and followed behind.

What if Erica's right? What if this is WWIII?