Chapter 1

Waking up

Jake McArcher woke slowly, trying to cling to the fragments of his dream. All he could remember was a strange blackness that seemed to surround him, concealing him from the pain and misery that permeated the war-torn world in which he lived. He rolled on to his side and stared for a long while at the picture on the table next to his bed. It was a high school photo of his small group of friends, one of the few things he had left to remind him of a time when life actually made sense.

Jake was in the center, tall for an 18 year old, with long, scraggly brown hair that fell in a wave around his shoulders. His piercing blue eyes and strong, powerful jaw had gotten him a lot of girls back in the day. On his left, with Jake's arm around his shoulder, and wearing his trademark goofy grin, was his best friend Ronald Gillespie. Slightly shorter than Jake, at about 5'11, with a military style buzz cut, brown eyes, and the slightly baby face that had given him his famous nickname. On the other side of Jake, Natalie, arms crossed, hair swept behind her ears and held back with a simple headband, leaned against his shoulder, laughing and smiling. She was a rather ordinary girl, pretty, but not gorgeous. Her one really striking feature was her extremely long, glossy silvery-white hair, which hung down to the small of her back and made her impossible to ignore. The picture had been taken at graduation, the day they had finally been thrown out into the world to fend for themselves. Jake got out of bed still in pain from yesterday when people didn't have a pass to go through the gates and got into an argument and well….Didn't really go well. He went to the coffee maker that was sitting on a stool. Yeah that' right a stool, he was poor and couldn't afford much. So he began to make some coffee but he realized he was late for work because of the clock on the coffee maker.

Jake was in a nervous wreck and didn't know what to do because he had been late a couple times before and could get fired.

He panicked and rumbled through his unclean uniform he forgot to clean which had been lying on the floor next to his bed and rushed out the door. Thank god where he lived was close to the gate so he ran to it and hoped for the best. Ron was standing by the security outpost with a worried look.

"The boss wants you".

He rushed to the security outpost which was right next to the gates and got to the door opening it nervously.

"YOUR LATE!" an unwelcome yell shot at him.

There he was sitting behind his desk with an evil look on his face.

"So why you so late….." He questioned while sitting there playing with his pen.

"I…I forgot to set my alarm clock….." he lied nervously.

"well…well….late again this is the 3rd time you've been late I'm afraid I am going have to let you go since you seem to be always slacking around here like when you let those people pass through the gate yesterday." He remarked.

"But…but there… there were three of them an they kicked my ass!"Jake yelled. "And you know what, you don't have to fire me because I quit this stupid job I don't even get paid enough you old hag!"

Jake walked out in anger he wanted to walk back in there and… "Dude what the hell." Ron pointed behind him.

Jake turned just in time to see a black baton hit him in the face.

It was his ex boss "You think you can call me old hag and get away with it why you lit…." a punch in his face from Ron interrupted his lecture.

"I quit too!" Ron yelled and spit on the ex bosses face.

"Let's go Jake and away from this old bastard." He helped Jake up and walked away back toward their homes.

"I can't believe that bloody bastard did that to you lad." Ron told Jake.

"I know after working for him and being fired….I wonder what we will do now." Jake sighed wiping the blood running down from his nose.

"So… what happened now."Jake and Ron followed the voice it was Nat.

"We got fired I'll tell you all about it Nat." He rubbed the spot where he had been hit it hurt really bad.

"How did he get hurt and how did both of you get fired?" She asked opening the door for them.

"Well our boss kind of went crazy because Jake was late again, fired him then they both went at it, I just couldn't believe I was working for such a hard ass so I saved Jake's ass back there and quit." Ron explained. Natalie sighed as well which seemed to have changed her mood in a negative way.

"Dang you were really late I just got back from work because I've gotten laid off." She walked down the hallway to her room.

"Ha killed three birds with one stone." Ron chuckled at his lame joke.

"Dude shut up we are screwed how we going to manage our selves this economies bad enough."Jake replied.

It's a long story so get ready the year now is 2029. In 2010 tensions were rising between the countries France and Britain. Tensions were also rising between the United Stats and China which you could only imagine. Other countries around the world were getting into wars. Finally in 2015 France made its move. France sent millions of troops across the English channel to invade Great Britain. In 2017 China united with other Asian countries made its move as well, sending planes with paratroopers across the Pacific Ocean invade to invade Alaska but they were unsuccessful. The united States had joined the war making the it even larger. Over the years of the war other countries from all over the world joined the war forming alliances against each other making it World War 3. By 2025 France had taken half of England with its other ally Germany who had joined the war in 2021 in hope of improving its economy but had only made it worse. And this is how they ended up the way they are now in the year 2029.

Everything went to crap ever since then they've been forced to stay here in London. Trapped in by by barriers which were the walls and gates he worked at just a less secured part of it but ever since he let those people get past they would of put all of us out of work anyway and put better people like real soldiers which is not that exciting because most of them have planet sized egos thinking they got all the power in the world. At least the old bastard that punched me will be put out of business. Laughs.