Officially Normal
February - 2067
Mom had been absolutely silent since dad died. She wouldn't smile, and she wouldn't talk unless I asked her very specific questions. She quit her job when she didn't show up the following week after dad's funeral and she had no desire to do almost anything. She simply wasn't herself anymore. Mom had always been relatively quiet under normal circumstances, but following dad's death, I never really knew how he seemed to hold her all together. I guess that was just one of those things you never really thought about until it was gone because the woman I lived with since was a complete shell of her old self.
Since mom had essentially abandoned all her responsibilities, I had to take another job as an assistant clerk at an appliance store alongside my grocery store one. Aside from the financial difficulties of having a 17 year old take that responsibility, we kept an ok-functioning household. I did the grocery shopping when I got off in the late evenings, and mom made meals with whatever I got. No words, no nothing, mom was so depressed that she wouldn't want to leave the house hardly ever. Due to the extra work and late hours, there wasn't much time for homework, and my grades took a hit for a while, but everything else was going alright in classes and with Savannah whenever we'd have some time for each other. Our personal time was less and less, but that didn't make anything difficult about when we would see each other. My school day would end only for me to walk home with Savannah and immediately get ready to go to my jobs. She was even angelic enough to assist where I was lacking in my homework and even kind enough to take me to and from work on most occasions.
Speaking of Savannah during that time, she had been coming over to my house and staying around much more often with the passing of my father. Even though I mentioned how busy I was, she gave me somebody to talk to since mom was out of the question. After school, I would go to my jobs and Savannah would usually go right back to my house to keep mom company. She'd tell me that mom wouldn't really talk to her either, but I think the fact she was just there with mom was absolutely incredible. Mom was in a very scary place for a long time after my dad died, and I worried about her every second I wasn't watching her. With Savannah staying at my place until picking me up from my jobs, I felt a large chunk of that worry get lifted from my shoulders.
When the days were over and I'd get home from an exhausting work and school schedule, I'd kiss Savannah from the passenger seat, and head inside to kiss mom on the cheek and go to bed. I'd hear that low TV volume and see the blue light from my cracked door all night as I tried to sleep or even just think or worry about the future. I would often lie in my bed and think about what I'd do with my life and what options I had in dealing with a depressed mother and more responsibilities than most American teenagers would've had two years prior. There was simply no way that I could pay for college, and so I wondered what high school graduation would even mean during this period of sadness for everyone. The war still raged on in Alaska as fires across the Middle East and Europe grew. Every option or idea about the future seemed leading only to the global bloodshed. Nowhere to turn, nowhere to aim, I thought about my exhausting new life, about the father I lost, the mother I'd essentially lost, and despite my incredible girlfriend, the only vague conclusion my mind could conjure was "Escape." I didn't know what that even meant when I thought that night after night. All I knew was that I would be graduating in a few months, and soon be possessed to decide on a vague idea of the future that got me away from everything I felt was stressful.
Notice I said, "Felt was stressful". No idea what "Stressful" meant either.
February 18, 2067, the Canadian government paid a visit to Capitol Hill. Nobody knew what they wanted, but in the end, the newspaper headline read, "Canada Declares War on US."
Perhaps you expected a better lead up to the part of our nation's war that consumed me? Sorry, I'll explain a little more, but it really was pretty much that simple. As you may expect, some Americans forget that Canada was even a country, which is why the general thoughts after the headlines were "Who declared war on us?" Even though the prep work for that front would be massive, nobody really cared about that war since every propaganda poster and news bulletin was about the communists in Alaska. They say the War of 1812 was a forgotten war, but the war against Canada would truly be forgotten since the glory was buried by a goal of annexation and triumph over the Reds in Alaska.. As my story may indicate; as much as the public tend to forget that war happened, it really did happen for those who were there. No honor, no glory, you've been reading about why it was forgotten...
Anyway, here's how it started:
The Canadian Government didn't like how US troops were passing through the Canadian territory and airspace on route to the Alaska Line. So, Canada ordered a complete stop of the US troops and demanded that the US find an alternate route to Alaska. Perhaps a foreign country's sovereignty being violated for our pursuits would've been a big issue for the initial planning after the Chinese invasion. However, Canada didn't seem to mind at the start, but I suppose they felt peevish over a year later with the escalation of troops. With Canadian land and airspace being violated, our military looked to the navy after the first threats from Canada. Although the navy was too busy throwing everything they had at the Chinese fleets, so literally nothing was done about the grievance. When the Canadians arrived in DC, the US essentially told the government of Canada to go screw themselves, thereby starting another war. The upcoming conflict was thought to be settled with minimal forces in the first couple days, but a Canadian attempt to sabotage the Alaskan Pipeline ignited the use of the army's move into Canada and a new draft.
Over the next few days, new propaganda posters were printed, and the new draft called for 72,000 more troops to be used in Canada. Within hours, the U.S. Army Reserves were called up, and they stormed Canada. The Army strode across the northern border from all angles in a matter of days. Canada wasn't expecting that kind of response from us, and the Canadian army moved to counter the invading troops. This also meant that Savannah's Brother was moved into the wild north.
Canada was a different animal than some older folks probably remembered at the time. In the years before and after the UN disbanded, the Canadian army experienced a massive growth in military development. They were no longer the loving US reliant neighbors to the north. In 2055, they invaded Iceland to strip it of petroleum products. They occupied it for a few months, but left when they had exported everything valuable back to Canada, and waged a war with the Confederation of Scandinavia for a few years afterwards. With the collapse of the UN; Canada also installed a militia program that included men, women, and even children. They printed propaganda that claimed every other nation to be a threat and grew to be the hostile ultranationalist quasi-socialist nation I'd been talking about in previous chapters. Canada would put up a big fight against the US, and after the initial curiosity about what war with them would even look like, the government was really stepping up our armed forces even more for that front.
In case I wasn't clear already, this was a particular time of awfulness, and it was about to get even worse. On the Thursday after the declaration of war on Canada, I remember getting the Capital Post from the front porch. I blindly took it inside to read before school, and when I sat down to actually look at it, the first thing I saw was the new headline, "USMC Joins 6th Fleet to Invade China."
I couldn't believe it! The United States High Command was sending a large force of the Marine Corps to China for what they called a "Counter Invasion?" I was no military tactician, but how could they counter an invasion with another invasion? The paper said that 47,000 Marines were going to be sent into the Chinese countryside to "strike fear into the Chinese people." That was the hot topic at school, and nobody could believe that the United States established two more fronts in less than a week. This was on top of the fact that we were already fighting the world's largest army for our Own lands. A war that was already draining America's spirit was nearly tripled in scale within that week. Despite the ignorance of what we were headed towards, you never would've even considered defeat when you saw the spectacle of our forces in posters, on screens, or even parades that seemed to eradicate the last traces of civilian life in our minds.
Like, on March 17, me, mom, Savannah, and her family went to the St. Patrick's Day Parade down Penn. Avenue. There weren't any big floats for iconic symbols, brands, or American traditions since the war. Hundreds and hundreds of soldiers marched down the street in their dress uniforms. There were men in combat fatigues in formation, and their banner said 64th ID (Infantry Division). The symbols of American success used to be supplemented by companies and innovations that aided the world, but no more. The sole symbol of American exceptionalism during this era of global conflict was displayed by soldiers destined for the old or new fronts. However, the real eye catcher was still no different from the war display I described, but with an innovative twist. Following the soldiers in dress or combat apparel was a company of Power Armored soldiers.
"Power Armored Soldiers" gave new definition to the phrase "Mechanized soldiers" and were more than impressive. I had only seen some pictures of that armor in magazines and newspaper articles, but there they were for all to see. No more secrecy, with the new fronts, America wanted her enemies to know what was coming. They passed by wearing their large ballistic steel helmets with the built-in gas mask, the night vision lenses, and reinforced oxygen recycling tubes (I was a dork for cool military shit like power armor.) Anyway, the armor was made of solid ballistic steel and had big shoulder plates, reinforced arms, legs, and chest, with the integral joint padding atop a large fusion powered exoskeleton. The soldiers inside those big armored exoskeletons made them tower at least four feet over the other troops, and the parade looked like one of knights in dull grey armor. As knightly as they looked, these guys carried miniguns, flamethrowers, and large tubes I recognized from the magazines as the newest advanced missile launchers. All their weapons were shouldered, or port armed for the parade, but I just knew that when those guys got to whatever front they were going to, they'd triumph.
Despite the glamour of that day, reality soon hit us again, and the easy win over Canada turned out to not be very easy at all. I sat front row for proof of that.
On March 20th, I was over at Savannah's house after school because I had the night off from work. Her Dad just got home and forgot to get the mail. He asked me to get it, as he usually did since I was a courteous one and a semi-regular sight around her house. I got up; Savannah and I weren't doing anything, so I jumped up and walked down their steps to bring in their mail. When I opened the box, some junk mail fell out. Inside the box, there was a folded American Flag, and I immediately knew what had happened.
I brought in the flag and set it on their counter, no words again. After a moment where the girls entered the kitchen and Lawrence saw what I brought in, there was pure silence.
Barely a month into the new war with Canada, my love's brother, who was stationed along the Canadian border the past few years was dead. I never got to meet him surprisingly, but I really did felt like I knew him since Savannah seemed to glow a special way when talking about him.
Needless to say, Savannah and her sister Gabriella started crying after the silence to process. Lawrence saw the mail and tried very hard to hold back his emotion before starting to cry himself. I never saw a guy like Lawrence cry before, a man who was tough, a man who was viciously protective of his daughters, and a man who worked very hard to keep his family comfortable. As I stood there unsure of what to do except comfort Savannah, I remembered hearing that people used to be visited personally by an honor guard to deliver that type of bad news. Those days, folded flags were shipped to affected households like unwanted court summons.
However, after enough staring at the pile of mail for far too long, I noticed something. On top of the flag was a letter that didn't quite match the rest of the mail. I knew it was something special, so my love and her family gathered around me as I opened the letter and removed a message. It said plainly;
Sergeant Andres, Gary was killed in combat on March 15th, 2067. He died bravely in the siege of Toronto at approximately 1830.
then there was a brief handwritten note from some of his closest buds.
"Dear Andres Family, Gary was one of the best guys we ever knew. He always had nothing but the best things to say about his family. Not only was Gary a fantastic sergeant, but we were his brothers in the field. Just know that we loved that guy, and we took good care of him until his final hour. Our deepest condolences go out to you all."
From "Drake Stahl, Herb Delmont, Keith Wicket, and Joe Butcher."
Signed by: Captain, Gilbert Vandeville- 17 ID, 100th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Company Commander.
This was a sad time in my life, for everyone's life. After being there to bring in Gary Andres' flag, I didn't even know what to think. Everywhere I turned there seemed to be more misery, and the weight was almost too much. The night after that incident, Savannah and I felt like the world was beginning to crush us. I stayed quite a while in her house that night and Lawrence didn't even mind, notice, or care when we shut the door to her room. Not that anything happened, or anything worth stopping took place, I just held Savannah in my arms as she cried, and the moment reminded me of when she did the same for me after my Dad died not too long before learning of her brother. Still, even as I held her and felt her warm tears seeping through my shirt, I thought. I continued the thought I'd had since my father died, and continued it even when I eventually had to leave. That thought was still "Escape."
I wanted to escape the world, my responsibilities, my suffering, and my past, but then I thought of her again. I thought of Savannah in my arms and brushing her hair, consoling her, and felt something different. I wanted to escape, but I needed Savannah, she needed me, and I still didn't know what exactly "Escape" meant. I know what it meant now, but when surrounded by constant misery and worry, there were many places of success and overcoming hiding right in plain sight. The posters on the walls, the commercials of our gallant soldiers, and the parades down Penn. Avenue showed exactly what stepping up in the face of hardship and overwhelming odds was supposed to look like.
Looking back, I think it's kinda funny/scary how inspiring a tragic death can be if you give it the right twist or emphasis. At least Gary got to escape this world and seemingly go down fighting. I knew what good life was, and I thought I knew what tragic life was, and it was, but God, universe, or whatever was like "You think that's tragic and stressful? Watch this, Kiddo"
Either way, you saw this coming since you been reading about it every other chapter, but there were ten billion reasons I enlisted, and I couldn't tell you really one of them in particular. I could tell you the theme, though? You got it! "Escape!" As if you can escape life by jumping into a coffin prematurely. I suppose you Could but you'll always forget something. Like: you ever rush out the door to make it to school on time, only to get there and realize, "Oh wait! I forgot my bag with all my homework and that big project that's essentially my entire grade!" In other words: "My entire reason for FUCKING BEING THERE!"
That's what happened with me. I was in such a rush to get away from the world that I forgot to pack my reason for living and source of sanity, Savannah! You can buy the school lunch, but it's never as good or sufficient as that perfect sandwich you left on the counter. You can write to it, sure, but it still isn't there with you when you want it or need it. Savannah is FOOD now!? Not sure what I'm writing HaHAHa.
So, March was almost over, and soon I would graduate. On graduation day I would tell everyone what I planned to do with my life. Coffin, sandwich, HW (That's my abbreviation for "Homework" ;))SHH. Stop. You're sick of this.
ANYWAY! That was all tooooo normal for everyone in America. Fuck it! Don't matter. You wanna hear what was so fucking normal where me and Gary ended up!? Not him. Woulda been tho? Maybe? If he stuck around after Ronto fell, he and I would've had a lot more in common than Savannah let on. Savannah said he was tall, probably woulda been great to spoon with like his sister. You read that right ;) Interesting stuff happens when it's cold in the field ;) Don't tell her I said thatt! At least we got something in common though. Both killed in a part of a war everyone forgot happened. Just you wait! Lots of fun! But not NEARLY as fun as it would be!