Authors Note: Sorry the first chapter doesn't really have anything but backstory in it. It truly begins in The Second Letter, so just bear with it.
City 129
Dear Reader,
I pray to God that whoever is reading this journal lives in a better world. A safer world. A free world.
I also hope that you have no idea what I'm talking about when I say the world was once not free. But the point of this journal is to inform the world of the terrors of the past, so if you didn't know prior to this, you're about to. Once again, I really, really hope that this all seems like a work of fiction to you.
The Earth is presently ruled by a race of aliens called the Combine. Their goal: make the human race cease to exist. But they didn't arrange our execution through means of violence. Yes, they are harsh to people who break their extremely strict laws, but they don't kill us unless we're an extreme nuisance to them. I think they did this because they wanted to give the illusion that they were our friends. The ambassador for the humans, Dr. Breen, is always telling us that the Combine were here to help us be "free from instinct" or whatever.
But the Combine aren't our friends. Not even close. They have the Earth encased in what is referred to as a suppression field. The field makes all human beings sterile on Earth. Reproduction is impossible. I am possibly part of the last generation of the human race to ever exist. They claim they'll erase the suppression field once we "prove that we don't need it", they'll remove the field. But I highly doubt that's going to happen. And trust me, not having children around makes the world a depressing place. Every time I walk passed what used to be a playground, I feel as if I could cry. It's not uncommon to see a couple crying together over the fact that they can't become parents.
The Combine also took out as many human aspects from our planet as possible. Our cities don't even have names anymore. For example, the city I live in is called City 129. And it's extremely hard to get your hands on any food or water that isn't supplied by the Combine. But it's a must. They have chemicals in most all their consumable products that remove and replace a person's memories to make them forget why they hate the Combine.
None of us know what our lovely new rulers look like, either. The Combine do their dirty work through soldiers that are fellow human beings. I'm not sure whether they do it voluntarily or by force, although the latter is much more plausible. Once a human is chosen to be a Combine soldier, it is said that they are implanted with mechanical devices in their throat and abdomen, have their memories wiped and replaced, get their genitalia removed, and undergo extensive chest and head surgery. The results are the mask-wearing freaks that rule over the entire planet. Each soldier is either put in the Civil Protection, which functions like a local police officer, or they are placed in the Combine Overwatch, which is more like the military.
With the world in the state it's in, there are really only three types of people. There are the citizens, who live about their day to day lives with false hopes that doing as they're expected to will result in the removal of the suppression field. There are the people who actually agree with the Combine's ideals and respect them.
And lastly, there are people like myself. The rebels. The people of The Uprising. Our overall goal is to overthrow the Combine and remove both them and Dr. Breen from power. The Resistance was filled with people who believed that there was no point in just doing nothing while waiting for the last generation of human beings to end. We in the Resistance do everything we can, both big and small, to fight against the Combine rule. Here in City 129, there were major wins, and there were major losses. The letters I have written document these all, starting with the day the Resistance first gained recognition in 129.
Yours truly,
Joshua Parker