My name is Meria. I'm seventeen and attend Philip Gray's Academy for Young Soldiers. It's the year 2073 and the world has undergone seven world wars since the total destruction of what once was the United States. When political problems in 2024 caused anger in the capital, the leaders lashed out at their own people, using weapons designed to use the world's greatest power, nature, against us. They forced wave after wave into the coast of California after they had tried to push for the removal of Dictator Francis. A year later, nothing was left of California, except the tip of Hollywood peaking above the tops of the clashing waves. And when the other states fought back, avalanches and earthquakes created a rift in the country that would never heal. In 2046 the Eastern District broke free of its hold on the West and drifted towards what would have been Europe. With the U.S. split and plague devastating the other land masses, a new dictator arose and formed the Union out of the chaos in the West. In the East Dictator Francis still ruled.
In 2063 they both died, along with every last one of their generation. We call it the Release. It's when you are infected with the plague. A day before you die, you release all of your pain and struggle of the world and simply let go, that's why we call it the Release. The greatest release was when every single man and woman who had grown up at the same time of the dictators dropped dead. And from their death, from their filth, from their rotting corpses arose a new generation. We are Scarce. Most humans alive now have simply been lucky. They escaped the grasp of the Release by solely not getting caught. I was not so lucky.
On the eve of my fourteenth birthday, I was infected. My brother gave up our only bed so I could rest, even though he knew it would do no good. For a year and a half I suffered in the ruthless hands of Release. I was feverish and starved. My brother tried his hardest to keep me alive the best he could, but he only signed his own death warrant. Two months before I pulled out, my brother caught it too. It's not even worth mentioning how much he suffered, what he went through before his own Release on June 23, 2070. On that very day, my fever broke and I was able to relax. I got up and dragged my brother's lifeless body to the mass grave. And then, I started walking.
