All Rise

Prolouge

May, Six Months Before Joining the Ranks

His entire life, Jefery knew a few things for certain.

One, Evelyn was the worst younger sibling for not staying shorter than him.

Two, he never understood advertising for most clothing during the siege. It was either 'grunge' style as his grandfather told him about or oddly tight full body morph suits under heavy coats and large face masks to prevent from facial recognition.

Three, Balanthrop would always be his friend.

Four, the world wasn't ever going to be 'good'.

He was skinnier than a twig on a diet of nothing but dreams, but decently athletic. He adjusted his baseball cap, a light gray one with a wolf imprinted on the front. His late father gave him the hat a month before his hig school graduation over two years ago. His hair was a light brown and it was getting a little shaggy on top, though you couldn't tell while it was peeking out from underneath the hat rim. He often played with the idea of silver dye on the tips so as to highlight his dusty green eyes, which normally didn't stand out more than the bright neon red puffy jacket he wore so often. Soon enough, Evelyn popped out of a nearby tent and came across the dirty opening between her tent and the tall mirror that stood outside the restrooms at the old camping grounds their group of refugees claimed as a home until things settled down.

With her height, her weight filled out her frame, making her look strong and tough instead of bulky, which was an advantage against annoying people, plus her spitfire attitude helped make even the highest trained thug tremble even with her childish smile and puppy-dog eyes.

Jefery was nearly fighting age now. But most of the army refused anyone under twenty-one these days as a sign of loyalty due to the fact most teens left to join the Shivant army, often called Shivs, this powerhouse was built on released prisoners, and then grew in numbers as people joined their cause of 'cleansing the land' of hate and the evil that was let roam free while victims or falsely accused were chained in their silence. The leader had been in power for a couple years, which was enough to spread the ideas of a just government. But many many more sources kept raising more and more red flags, cruelty to its own people within the group, literal hell for the ones they judged guilty.. Anyone trying to join the army early was seen as a potential threat as they could be a spy or saboteur. So until further notice, that was simply how the army ran. It had become a tradition for surviving groups to choose the best and fittest of them to go to Canada and join the military force for the fight against the Shivant Army. Most of the resistance was based in Canada or South America, but South American countries were losing the battle and had little support anymore so many fled up towards Canada. It was risky. America was currently a neutral, but heavily supporting ally of the Shivant Army. The Shivs seemed to have a lot of Europe under its wings already so it didn't hurt to find loopholes in the military recruiting system between attacks.

And today, Jefery was going to leap through one.