Chapter 1
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July 4th 2033
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President George Mason was on his way to the 4th of July events. In his own entourage people were angry with him, but he was used to it. He'd learned long ago that if you wanted to succeed in politics you needed a thick skin when it came to criticism. The president couldn't tell if his wife Sharon was angry with him. She'd had an affair with her secret service agent, Aron Pierce, but he couldn't judge her, not after his own affair with his press secretary Erica. Both of these affairs were over now. Erica had ended her affair with Mason to marry another man, she still worked at the white house. But when Sharon ended her affair with Pierce he didn't take it well. Pierce became increasingly agitated and was eventually discharged. George and Sharon's marriage wasn't great at the moment. What was more evident was their daughter Mimi's anger at her father. With the asteroid coming the president tried to alleviate the public's fears by promising that his family would have no more chances of getting into the Arks than the rest of the people. This made Mimi angry, not for herself, but for her daughter Rebecca. Mimi was angry that her father wouldn't guarantee his own three year old grand-daughter a guarantee of survival.
Ever since he first ran for president George Mason faced criticism from both sides. The far-right said he was too liberal, the far-left said he was too conservative. Mason faced this criticism in his own administration. General Douglas, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, felt that Mason's policies were siezing too much power. Douglas felt that policies like mandatory food rationing and gun control were dictatorial. Vice-president Kimberly Allen however felt that Mason wasn't going far enough. She had been against telling the people about the asteroid. The people weren't smart or calm enough to handle this news for very long. Allen felt that building the Arks required martial law. Soldiers on the street rather than just covert individuals trying to break up fist fights.
Despite these disagreements president Mason needed a united front. All these individuals were coming with him today. They had to appear to the public to be behind their president. As Mason stepped out of the limo he fell back. At first he thought he had tripped. People were screaming, worried about their president. Then Mason felt the pain. He looked at his chest, and saw the blood on his chest. Secret service tended to their wounded president. Mimi was hysterical, tried to see her father. George Mason was very afraid he was about to die. His hero had always been Abraham Lincoln, who won the war and ended slavery. Mason had wanted to follow in Lincoln's footsteps, but not by being assasinated. But it seemed that was now a very real possibility.