The largest terrorist attack in history occured in 1985, committed by a Soviet sabotage group stationed in Canada. In just five short minutes, the entirety of America's nuclear arsenal went offline, either detonated in their silos or their internal mechanisms fried beyond repair.
However, our story begins much later, in the alternate present day of 2021. For decades, the Soviet Union has been the world's sole superpower, rivaled by the European Union and, once allied, China. As global tensions burn in the Eastern Hemisphere, tensions are also burning in North America.
In the present day United States, things are drastically different from our own timeline. For starters, America is disunited, ripped apart by the ideals of revolutionaries and scholars in the 90s during the Great Collapse: The most powerful nation on Earth, falling apart like the statue of a hated dictator with her neighbors.
In the West, from Baja California Sur to the icy shores of Northern Canada and Alaska is the New Socialist Order of America (NSOA): A state run Neo-Socialist with close ties to Communist China and an unstable relationship with the Soviet Union.
In the Mid-West, from the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River, you have the New Ephesus: A fanatical religious cult which runs an oppressive Fascist regime. They are very isolationist, but they REALLY dislike the Communists which threaten their way of life.
In the East, from the Florida Keys to the North shores of Newfoundland and Quebec is New America. Built on the original American Constitution, they run what is essentially a weaker and less influential version of the old United States.
The story itself follows the path of a group of rebellious teens and young adults in the NSOA. After a night of too much fun leads to an investigation by the police, the group decides to flee the country for New America. Whatever forces stand in their path on their way to freedom, they have a long road to freedom.
Ella is falling apart trying to live a "perfect" high school life. Then she meets Ren, who can see past her scars. Suddenly perfection isn't her only option.
*****
Ella Volkov is a gifted music student, but she's depressed and starting to crack under the pressure of high school. Her overbearing father won't even let her choose what instrument she plays. Then she finds herself alone at a party with Ren, her best friend's crush. She'd always thought he was rude, but after that night he's all Ella can think about. Now she's trapped. If Ella dates Ren, it will ruin her friendship with Jenny. But if she stays true to Jenny, she's losing the one person who can see past her scars. It's up to Ella to decide if she will forge her own path, or stay in the "perfect" box designed for her...
Content and/or Trigger Warning: depression, anxiety, self-harm, violence, sexual assault.
[[word count: 50,000-100,000 words]]