The Worsening World

On April 11, 2066 we celebrated my birthday. I turned 17 but still didn't have a car, even though I knew how to drive. It wasn't a big deal though because, in Georgetown, everything was close and so I could walk wherever I wanted. Savannah got a car when she turned 17 a month later. Her family was able to pay for one of those, "Corvega F1 Fission powered cars." With the price of oil being so high, research companies in the 50s started working with nuclear fission batteries to power cars and even some robotics. The cars were very expensive though because they didn't rely on gas at all, and her family wasn't wealthy by too many standards. However, enough scraping, and despite wartime America's limited resources, she got that great gift from her father. I pretended not to be jealous, just kidding.

October- Age 17-2066

My summer came and went like it had done so many other times before. The war still continued and people were being drafted left and right. Getting drafted wasn't a big deal for most people because this war was on Alaskan soil and a lot of people would have enlisted anyway. It seemed as though nobody was against the war, which was surprising because almost all wars gain at least some opposition, whether in Washington or elsewhere. This was likely because this fight was on the home front, and a lot of Americans were still stunned from the initial shock back in January. If ever there was opposition to the war to take back our own state, they were shut up for the time being. I think everyone just knew that one can criticize any war they want when it's overseas, but when the fight is in your own backyard you can't help but want to fight.

So, I kept busy with my MTP and all my regular classes. Having started my senior year of high school, I felt great but slightly overwhelmed. I didn't really know what I wanted to do afterwards, the war obviously didn't end come springtime, but none of that mattered when I'd find Savannah in most of my last classes. So, despite school, and that "Burden" as a teen would describe it, times were tough. Rationing was tough for everyone since most of the resources and shit we took for granted a year prior were almost no longer available. People were still adapting to the transition to the grand war for our north most state, and every little thing that involved. Like:

At a job, a person would be given ration coupons aside from or on top of their usual pay. Ration coupons were given to workers of all kinds sometimes even in place of money. Although some people could get paid at the end of the week in cash and go to exchange some cash for coupons (Which was the only thing grocery stores accepted). Basically, the way it worked was, the coupons would be given to the clerks who would then point out the foods a person was allowed to have. Since there were so many people in the armed forces in that time, the government had to limit what went on store shelves, and who was allowed to have what.

It hadn't even been a year into the war with China and the casualty rate was high. The armed forces had almost all assets on the Alaskan Front, operating to their purposes. The Coastguard was conducting operations to get civilians out of the battle zones. The Army was fighting on the Alaskan frontier and headquartered in Juneau. The Navy was fighting the Chinese Navy in the Bering Sea, and the Arctic Circle. The Marine Corps had units in Alaska but was concentrated in California at the moment. Nobody was quite sure of the marines focus around the home state mostly because the marines were pretty known for taking the fight anywhere needed in only hours. So, the marines weren't even really in the fight yet, even 10 months since the invasion.

Brandon and I had been talking about joining the Army whenever we'd hang out. I lost touch with Kevin and Roger for the most part, but as I mentioned earlier, Brandon and I had that special sort of bond especially during the summers. So, I really considered joining the army by the start of senior year, but I couldn't leave Mom, Dad, and Savannah. On the other hand, I had virtually no money for college. This meant I couldn't go; also, my family was a little too poor for me to go there despite our decently nice house in Georgetown.

The idea of enlisting seemed perfect until I'd remember the reality of what was happening on the front. Like, one day I looked at the Capital Post Newspaper that said the death toll so far was 29,500 including the initial invasion. That may not sound like much considering the devastation of the initial attack, but the first 10 months already claimed a few thousand more, and things were steadily escalating.

As for my love life, ever since Savannah and I got back together, we had been even closer. Over that entire summer, she and I spent nearly all of our free time together. Savannah liked my family after first impressions, and she'd been a frequent visitor to our house ever since. Savannah and my mom had an interesting connection; they bonded very well, and when she was over at the house, they talked to each other all the time. Dad thought she was great and said the typical approving dad phrase of, "You hold on to her, David. She is something else." As fucking stupid as I feel recalling certain little things like that from Dad and the happiness that still makes me disgusted, I.. I don't know where I was going with that, but I "Feel" things when I think about Mom and Dad in particular.

Dad was struggling to support our family with the war going on. He had to take up another job over at a different utilities company in Springvale. After he got out of the Army as a combat mechanic, he was particularly good at working with electronics or wiring and motors in particular. Needless to say, he adapted his skill and was simply thankful to not have to do what he enjoyed to the sound of gunfire.

Anyway, the cost of living in Georgetown was slowly increasing throughout 2066 in the government's need to squeeze all funds out of the middle class for the war. Not that it wasn't necessary for the times, but still. Like I said, "Times were tough." So, Mom still taught at school, and because of the economic issues, I took a part-time job at a grocery store on the other side of the Potomac over near Springvale. In the end, all this together provided good money for the family, and we managed to keep our house, still just not much better off than we would've been a day before the invasion.

January 28- Age 17- 2067

I don't usually mention the precise date that something happened unless it was significant in one way or another. Days usually tend to blend together with the routine of life, even when life is great. Still getting accustomed to wartime America, we found our routine even in the process of acclimation. It's interesting; with the world changing around you and even focusing on the anchor that keeps you in place, we forget that storms can come in an instant. We tend to forget that just because a big world event happened, that doesn't mean the old tragedies don't happen anymore.

Here's why January 28, 2067 is remembered by yours truly: On that day, the world taught me how the new problems don't get rid of old ones. It was simply what "Used" to be a tragedy.

I sat there on the couch watching TV at around 10pm expecting Dad to come through the door any minute. I knew I was already up too late, but Mom and I were watching some awful reality show to distract us from the world. It actually wasn't that bad, but mom was near passed out in the other couch. So, the calm of the dark living room and low TV volume was suddenly interrupted when the phone rang. Wondering who it could've been that late at night, I was expecting Dad to let us know he had to stay late or something.

I picked up the phone and said, "Hello?"

The voice on the other end was a woman who said, "This is Anne Wilks with the Family Contact Service at Angel of the Potomac Hospital Emergency Dispatch; Am I speaking to the Levin household?"

Shocked, panicked, and mind asking a million questions, I responded, "Yes! What is it!?"

The woman said, "We just received a… 'Thomas Levin.' He was in a car wreck on the western edge of the Potomac along North Fort Myer Drive. He is in critical condition and…"

I hung up.

I sat there stunned, I couldn't move. I tried so hard but couldn't. Mom was brought awake by the phone ringing. When she saw my state, she asked, "Who was that?"

I looked over to her, finding my body unlocked just then, and said "Dad's been in a car wreck."

Without any hesitation, we rushed over to the hospital where he was taken. It's still all a blur, remembering myself running down the halls and checking the rooms for Dad in the ER. I finally found him in a Room 4A. Mom came in shortly after I did, and we both stood in the doorway while the doctors or surgeons fought to keep him alive. A piece of the other car obviously hit him, and though a team of surgeons blocked most of what I could see, I felt what I knew was true; it was very bad. Another team of nurses or doctors rushed past us bringing in one of the "Autodocs" to scan him and see what needed to be done. As the docs turned to make way, they saw us in the doorway and shooed us out of the room, shutting the door and locking us in the hallway.

Mom and I waited for three hours in the lobby of the ER until finally, a woman in scrubs approached us. She solemnly said, "We tried our best."

Those words echoed in my head over and over and over again. Mom broke down crying, and the woman continued, "His injuries were too severe and… He didn't make it… I am so sorry."

She offered grief counseling brochures, but walked off when we didn't respond. We were alone in the lobby and I held mom while she cried uncontrollably. I stared up at the clock across the room, watching the second hand go around and around. No thoughts were in my head. I cried but I wasn't thinking about what just happened, I stared at that clock praying this was a dream.

The funeral was days later on that Saturday. All dads' friends and some of my distant family members showed up. Savannah, Kevin, Roger, and Brandon sat with us, and Mom looked straight forward at the closed casket, emotionless the whole time.

Mom didn't say a word the entire week, and even a few weeks after. At the funeral, Savannah held me like I held my mom that night. My Dad, my best friend, and the man I looked up to my whole life was gone. The shittiest thing about auto wrecks is the fact that they can happen at any time and without warning. In a single moment, the world could alter the lives of everyone who knew the victims and it doesn't even have to be their fault.

When it came time for it, the lawyer read my Dad's will. He left me two things, his wedding ring, and a final message. The letter simply said;

"David, you are the best thing to ever happen to me. I know I'm not the most vocal of men, but I pray you know that and remember it even after I am gone. I want you to know that I am so proud of you and hope you never have to read these words for a long long time. I also want you to know that you will always make me proud. I know I raised you right; I see it every day. No matter the life you live, I can go to my final rest with absolute certainty that you will make me proud and overcome life's challenges in the best ways possible. I love you so much, David, and I'll always be smiling down at you."

Dad always was a man of few words, and though I hadn't really talked about him, he meant so much to me. Everything was all over just so abruptly. With the snap of a finger, life can sucker punch you and sometimes the feeling is still there even after you've long since stood up.