Prologue
It started with the election of 2016. It was a race between Governor Arnold D. Pembroke (R) of New York and Governor Thomas H. Marshal (D) of New Hampshire. Yes, you should shutter at the mention of Thomas Marshal, for as we know, he was no true Democrat. They both promised more than they could deliver, as was typical for any presidential candidate. Governor Pembroke wanted to create new jobs in America; of course he was never specific of how he planned to do such a thing. Governor Thomas Marshal made the same promise. Governor Pembroke promised reform after reform, going so far as to claim he would refute what at that time had been coined 'Obamacare', because, "Universal healthcare is a communist idea." Perhaps he should've kept that to himself. Perhaps, if he had, he could've won the election. Governor Thomas Marshal, he was different. He told us what we, the American people, wanted to hear. He promised reform and improvement, he promised more money for education that would bring us up to #1 in worldwide test scores as we "deserved to be". We are America after all. He even promised that, during his presidency, he would work to label anti-gay-marriage-laws as unconstitutional. With such a large population of homosexuals demanding equality, such a promise would sway the vote in his favor. Who's to say whether such a thing mattered to Thomas Marshal? What mattered was that it won him support from the population that would ensure his victory. Governor Thomas H. Marshal won the hearts of America (or of the 30% that actually voted) and became the 45th president of the United States. He also became the last.
Things began to change with an explosion. The Statue of Liberty was hit with an airplane February 12, 2017 at 10:15 a.m. The death toll was marked at 2,500 people, though the exact number we will never be sure of. President Thomas Marshal went on national television and addressed the American people. "It was terrorists!" he yelled into the microphone. "A national symbol has been destroyed," he said. "We must find our enemy and retaliate," he said. America cheered and clamored for the blood of their enemies without ever knowing who their enemies really were. But it didn't stop with the Statue of Liberty. After her death was the explosion of the Lincoln Memorial; the colossal figure reduced to dust thanks to four well placed bombs. Mount Rushmore died next. You see, it started with our national monuments. Stone crafted from our American spirit until we had nothing left of ourselves. It demoralized and outraged the people. But it still didn't end there. New York was attacked, as was Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, all our major cities, except, interestingly, Washington D.C., one of the most important cities in the United States. The number of casualties skyrocketed. Ironically, they were the lucky ones. Businesses were destroyed, jobs were lost, and we saw the worst depression since the 1930's. Soup lines went around several blocks and the barrier between the haves and the have-nots grew exponentially. President Thomas Marshal addressed the people again with tears in his eyes over the tragedies that have befallen us. "It pains me," he had said, "that we've been so wounded by our enemies. I've proposed to congress a bill I have called The Marshal Bill, which will give me the power to defeat our enemies and bring this great country back to its former glory!"
We know better now. Back then, though, we were desperate and we were scared. Even the ones that knew better were too scared to say no. The Marshal Bill was passed August 23rd, 2017 and that's when Thomas Marshal became America's first dictator. All that remained by then of the America we knew was the White House; once a symbol for democracy, it's now the home of our vicious dictator and his family. Men were drafted into the military, mostly from the lower class of course, to fight against a ghostly enemy. Our enemy was a terrorist, yes, but he was one of our own, a man that longed for power and gained it by using our democracy against us. We lost our rights, our way of life, all that we were. It started small of course. Freedoms of speech, post, internet, telephone were revoked for everyone. Thomas Marshal took control of the newspapers and what was posted on the internet. Anything that was undesirable was blocked from view. Many Americans saw this for what it was: a hostile takeover of The United States. They tried to rebel, but those who did were murdered. Government officials were murdered in their homes. Musicians, artists, anyone that had the means to make the people stand up and fight were executed. Some musicians fled, but very few had the time to run. Former president Barack Obama and his family escaped. They fled to England where he entreated the English government to save America from the tyrant. From London, Former President Barack Obama called on all our former allies: Canada, Italy, and France, Germany, South Korea, and anyone that was willing to stand up and help force Thomas Marshal out of the White House.
The brainwashing had already begun though. Thomas Marshal scared America, telling the people that these countries that wanted to free us were our enemies. He had the people believing that these countries had conspired against America, that it was these countries that had destroyed our monuments and weakened our moral.
The Third World War had begun. Japan (who'd built up an army with other allied assistance) and South Korea sent their armies to the west coast, Canada and France stationed their soldiers to the north, and England, Germany and Italy had soldiers stationed at the east coast. Alas, all the odds seemed against Thomas Marshal but it wasn't enough. He'd acquired assistance from the most dangerous drug cartels through Mexico, Colombia, and even within the United States. There was no shortage of guns and men willing to fight, especially for the drugs that became the currency of the desperate. Two years into the war, Thomas Marshal signed a treaty with Kim Jung Un, who agreed to form another front in South Korea and Japan, forcing the Asian countries to retreat from the west coast. In rebellion against North Korea, Russia and China joined the fight. With Russia's involvement came the Middle East's involvement.
July of 2020, Thomas Marshal allied America with war lords in Africa. Soldiers from all over Africa were recruited (regardless of age or desire) and formed yet another front that stretched resources thin for everyone. North Korea was the first to drop the atomic bomb, first on Tokyo, Japan, and then on Seoul, South Korea. No one knows who dropped the third atomic bomb. All we know was it was unleashed on Bagdad. Then it was Moscow, Russia, London, England – all of the countries that were fighting against America suffered the wrath of an atom bomb. Paris was the last of our former allies to be nuked and those that promised to try and save America couldn't fight anymore. On December 20, 2021, World War III ended, but there was no resolution, only destruction and exhaustion.
After the war, Thomas Marshal passed the law that was the final nail in our coffin: The Separation Act. In short, it's the law that made us what we are today. The Haves (those with money) live in luxury with money, power, and an education (and by education, I mean whatever Thomas Marshal approved). Books were burned so that the Haves and Have-nots would forget about the world before Thomas Marshal. Slavery of blacks in America, the holocaust in Germany, encampment of Asian Americans, Skinheads, the KKK, all were reduced to simple myths that were never dared uttered. The American flag was changed to a single white star with a blue backdrop and the strips of red were turned into one bold color. The idea was oneness. One type of America, one type of true American, and there was no room in that 'oneness' for those Thomas Marshal deemed "lesser people". There was no history taught that Thomas Marshal did not approve of and those that remembered never dared remind the youth. Now, the Have-nots, as they've been dubbed, were reduced to slaves, property, inferiors not permitted to any knowledge. All babies born to Have-nots had HN tattooed on their necks as a permanent reminder of their inferiority. Those men drafted into the military and already in the military, their children were tattooed with an M. The Haves bare no brand besides their clothes; bright colors, rich fabrics, silk, lace, and metal, all the symbols of the upper class that the Have-nots aren't permitted to wear.
The year was, at the start of our story, 2080, 64 years after Thomas H. Marshal came to power. A fourth generation Marshal is in the White House that's proven to be more of a jackal than his predecessors. Victor L. Marshal is the great grandson to Thomas H. Marshal. He's also, officially, the youngest man to ever come to the 'presidency' in American history. Victor's father, Louis Marshal, was assassinated in Miami, Florida by Gerard Davis who belonged to a political group called The Sons of Liberty. I can't say I know the name of Victor's mother, but what I do know is that she was still pregnant when Louis was killed and she was tossed aside by the Marshal family after she had Victor. Regardless, Louis was dead, leaving his little sister, Lynda, to take over once their father Robert was dead. Yet Lynda died in a car crash when she was about nineteen. That meant Victor was the only Marshal left to take over when Robert Marshal died. America was underground by then what with nuclear drift coming in with the winds. That's not to say that the upper world wasn't completely uninhabitable, but there were certainly signs that it wasn't the best living environment either. Plants were dead or dying, animal populations plummeted, and all food production had to be moved underground with artificial conditions. It's devastating to see what came of our amber waves of grain, our purple mountain majesties, and our fruited plains from sea to shining sea. Edmund Burke once said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." I would like to present a question to Edmund Burke. What happens when there are no good men left?