ONE NATION: A Post Apocalyptic, Dystopian Saga

by Michael W. Huard

  It was a rainy, dreary day as the president sat alone in his office, just thinking. He was all alone at the moment. In order to survive in this dystopian world, he needed to bring his Corporation up a few notches.

  It was too late to save the planet, to change what global warming and everything in between had done to the earth. Those things he cared less about. He would focus his attention on other places across the globe. Business and war were the two staples of his rein.

  In fact, he already had looked outside of the New United States.

  He thought about other planets as well. At one time, when Mars was being cultivated under the Corporation's watchful eye, he’d surmised that other planets may come in the mix. They had not. Either way, he was more interested in Earth.

  Specifically, he was more interested in other countries. He just needed to get things in order. His rivals were ready to bend if not break here.

  The women were ready. It would be the first serious mission for young Naiera, Sun, and Karma.

  Karma, having returned recently from her little runaway episode, was more than ready to prove herself to the follow sisters in the group.

  She had been to a strange island, where they were cultivating young teenagers’ body parts for the rich and the wealthy to live longer lives. It was horrible there. She had vowed to one day go back and save those in need.

  The three young women, barely teenagers, seemed to group together well as their travels began to New York.

  Sun was more than ready, and the Native American, Naiera, relished her first important mission. It was a job none of them knew how serious it would get.

  Chaya and Paka held their own private conversations as all of the women traveled on a silver bullet train. Their travel documents, embedded wrist implants, and fake eyes were all perfectly manipulated and prepared by the sisterhood’s cyborg and intel expert, Tyne Gem.

  But still, anything could go wrong in beaten-down America. All of them had to be on the same page and work as a perfect team.

  The train zipped onward. Each time it slowed, the ladies saw buildings covered with mother earth’s vines and plants.

  These five would be the eyes and the ears on the street near the Corporation’s central headquarters within the Empire State Building. The connections they had in the area would conceal them until the moment was right. And if all fell in place, the five of them would get in and break out Raegan and Jansa.

  A lot of things, however, had to fall in place.

  Sitting on the train keeping a low profile, Chaya and Paka went over the roles of the three teens with them.

  Chaya, a lovely, quick-witted brunette with diamonds encrusted in her cheeks made note immediately of their strong points. “Well, Naiera is savage, fearless, and her Native American heritage will not see her ever giving up. We just have to keep her emotions intact.

  “Karma is pretty much the same way, ambitious, and sometimes frustrated too easily. She's amazing with her samurai sword and pretty good with a laser pistol. She has a chip on her shoulder now that she is back from her small runaway escapade. She wants to do well, and hopefully will listen to us.

  “As for Sun, she's one of the best shots in the sisterhood with her guns, so we may need her expert marksmanship. She’s also as smart as a whip, so don't count her out on helping us make the right choices. We should put her in a leadership role within the three of them. They are all so young, this is a big moment for each of these young ladies. I’m proud of them.”

  Paka, who was pretty wild herself, listened to her sister go through the three companions’ strong points. She had been gone for quite a while on planet Mars and experienced quite a lot in her own right. These young girls were new to her. Paka had tried to make herself look more normal, just letting her afro run a little bit wild now and wearing the most normal clothes she could find.

  “I think each of them will be a big asset,” she replied to Chaya’s comments.

  Paka was one tough black woman. Chaya surely knew she could count on her in any type of combative situation. She then added a final thought. “I think all three can be helpful if we keep them closely under our wing. The best thing we can do is be patient about any errors they make, which will be the hardest part since we've kind of been cooped up so long now.”

  Chaya agreed. “Well, they've all had their training; they're prepared for this. It's time to make a name for themselves.”

  “Hell yeah!” Paka replied with zest.

  Chaya smiled. It was just nice being able to talk to her sister. It had been so long.

  “You know, you never really told me about how Mars. I mean, there's a rumor going around that you fell in love, but you haven't told us about her. Spill it, will you!”

  Paka grinned. “Basically, there's not a whole lot to say. Y-Wood Corporation was using Mars to build more robots and eventually expand their domination. But I think they've lost control.”

  Chaya raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean ‘lost control’?”

  Paka scratched her ear some before answering. “I think any type of technology will outgrow itself sooner or later. When you create these bots that are intelligent, they will eventually come to the conclusion that they matter and their opinions should be listened to. If I was to guess, one of the super robots of the Corporation is no longer on the same lines as his creator. I witnessed it. He, known as Omagus, has left them and is on his own mission. It’s one day going to be an interesting situation for all parties involved.”

  Chaya found this information very interesting. She listened intently while keeping an eye out on any other fellow passengers on the bullet train at the moment. Paka said nothing of her love affair, so Chaya let it be. She then continued scanning the train for any issues.

  Most of the time, people on trains like this were workers that were aligned with the Corporation or business people and merchants, who had had enough money to use the train and enough pull to be allowed to do just that today. Here, though, most people would just keep to themselves, which she was happy to see.

  Chaya, who was the sisterhood's speaker of all things community and a true fighter trying to bring back the American dream and restore the earth to what it once was, had a calmness about her, a focus that made for good leadership.

  Suddenly, the train stopped for a moment, and several young men boarded. She was a tad concerned.

  The so-called boys, who were probably young men, migrated over to where the three younger girls were almost right away. That was no surprise to the two older sisters as they watched closely from the corner of their eyes.

  Meanwhile, at the homes where visitors once stayed in the capital region of Washington D.C., young Johan paced about, still wondering why he had not been chosen to go try and save his mother. He was frustrated and lost in thought.

  Grammy Wal showed up at Raegan's place, entering and soon standing in the doorway of his room.

  Grammy was an elderly woman who walked with a cane and had somewhat of a sassy attitude. But in truth, she was a kind soul and the younger people and everybody else in the sisterhood had come to care for her quite a lot. She, however, was not one to hold back.

  “You going to mope about all day?” she questioned, blunt as usual.

  The brown curly-haired lad frowned at her words.

  “It’s just not fair. Why did they get to go and not me?”

  Grammy tilted her head to the side. “You're a smart young man. You put one and one together. How would you react seeing your mother’s life on the line right before your eyes? You have to have faith in the others. Stop being a baby. Pick yourself up by the seat of your pants and do something to keep your mind off of it.”

  Johan was not satisfied. “You do realize that I was a prisoner of the Y-Wood Corporation for a long time. I know a lot about them. I could actually talk to Galaxy and the other robots and make a deal with them or something.”

  Grammy Wal was frowning now. “I think we both know the time for deals between the sisterhood and
Y-Wood is over.”

  She knew very well that he needed to take his mind off of the situation. She had to offer him something that would do just that. A plan came to her.

  “I'll tell you what. I have something for you to do. Come with me and I'll show you.”

  Johan started complaining, but Grammy raised her cane at him, knocking his defiant, raised hands down.

  He then followed her, rumbling about Sun getting the opportunity to go. “She talks to herself in her sleep. She says God is having a conversation with her. I should have been the one who was chosen.”

  Grammy stopped and knocked him on the head with her cane. “Negative, negative, negative. You are what you think. You can plant flowers or weeds, and all you’re doing is spouting all the bad in this situation at hand. Get over it. You should be grateful that your mother is still alive. How about being thankful that Chaya came back so quick, and Paka, who has returned from Mars, is out there with her.”

  Johan nodded. Grammy did have a point.

  “Five of the sisters are out there right now putting some eyes and ears on the ground, not to mention all the people here working overtime, and the Governor using all allies in every possible means to get your mother and Jansa free from the clutches of Y-Wood.”

  Johan hung his head at her words. His three friends out there were very brave. Karma, Naiera, and the amazing Sun. He was wrong in his thoughts. He did need a distraction.

  “So help me, if anything happens to my mom…I’m gonna go crazy. But your point is taken, Grammy.”

  “We all feel the same way,” she replied to him. She then dragged him along with her outside and across the fields to another house.

  He began feeling better already as they went outside.

  She was right. He could grumble all day long, or he could try to make the best of the situation here, now, with Grammy Wal.

  She pushed him inside.

  “This, as you know, is our radio broadcast system. We now have it linked up to Della in the Empire State Building, not to mention our allies in California, Washington, and other places. You, my boy, are now going to be in charge of all communication here. If Della or anyone else contacts us, we all need to know immediately. This includes Chaya’s team as well.”

  Johan raised his hands up again. “Why is it so important that I just sit here and do nothing? I’ll be listening to old country love songs on this radio for the umpteenth time.”

  Grammy raised her cane at the boy again.

  “Listen to me. Sit your butt down and focus.”

  Johan laughed. Here was this old, wobbly lady scolding him. It was funny. He found himself nodding his head up and down, saying he would do his job.

  That’s when she reached in her coat dress and pulled out something that caught his eye.

  In a plastic bag, she had a massive rice crispy square. She tossed it his way. “You see, young man, good things come to those who work hard and keep their chin up.’

  He smiled broadly. He loved her treats.

  With a big thumbs up, he announced, “I will keep a keen eye out and listen closely to anything and everything on the radio waves. Nothing will escape my watchful presence here.”

  Grammy had done as planned. Johan was back in the game.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Back on the train, the four new arrivals, immediately noticed the attractive young ladies sitting by themselves and made sure they sat right next to them. Each of the men wore sweatshirts with the hoods pulled up (like most normal people did these days), hiding their faces some and trying to not be noticed.

  The wild streets of fallen America were becoming like days of old when it truly had been survival of the fittest. If one had connections and good, high-level allies, one could still prosper and be safe. For others, danger lurked around every corner.

  One of the guys immediately started talking to the girls. He was of average height with a crew cut blonde haircut and appeared to be a rather rugged chap.

  He had blue eyes which lit up as he quickly announced, “Whoa, look at you three; talk about babes. Who's sponsoring you all to be out here by yourselves?”

  All three slayers tried to not make eye contact with him, acting uninterested.

  “You see these three?” he said to his friends, who all leaned over their seats checking the young ladies out.

  None of the young teen girls said anything. Chaya and Paka saw what was happening, but tried to keep out of it for the time being.

  “My name is Jason,” the young man told them. “These three knuckleheads with me are Jerome, the dude with glasses is Gordon, and the runt is Woody.”

  Gordon then called out, “You three wanna party?”

  Sun grinned. She looked back to where Paka and Chaya were and knew very well they were keeping an eye on what was going down.

  Two of the guys then actually got in the seat with Sun. The others got closer now as well. Jerome, who was sitting next to Sun, then said, “So you know, dad's a notorious drug dealer, so we’ve got everything under the sun. Why don't you get off with us at the next stop? Let’s have some good times.”

  His buddies all agreed, trying to encourage the ladies to go with them.

  After several more minutes, the train came to a halt. The guys stood up and Jason announced, “This is it, ladies, let's do this!”

  Sun then said, “No thanks!”

  The smaller fellow, the so-called runt, Woody, then reached down and grabbed Naiera on the shoulder. “I'll take you. I like Native American girls. They're feisty and hot!”

  Karma grabbed his hand and twisted him in a wrist lock. She then took her left elbow and snapped it across his eye socket, which sent Woody tumbling down to the bus floor.

  Two of the guys tried to jump over the seat and grab her for doing this.

  Naiera put her legs up, blocking them as Sun leaped over her seat and placed her fingers inside Gordon’s eye sockets. He jumped back, screaming at her in pain.

  Jason was right on her. He wrapped his right arm around her head and squeezed her in a tight headlock. She ducked under his grip, locking his arm behind his own back, and pushing him away from her.

  It was then that Jerome pulled out a knife. Paka was on him in flash. She grabbed his wrist and bashed it against the top of the bus seat and then punched him solidly in the nose.

  She had the knife herself in a reverse grip right up to Jason’s throat. “Keep it up,” she snapped “and I’ll slit you good.”

  The others all turned and acted as if they would stop now.

  Jason was a bit taken aback by what just had transpired.

  His buddies staggered over to him, each pushing each other about. “Let’s get out of here,” Woody said, trying to get his buds off the train without these crazy girls hurting them anymore.

  They made way to the doorway at the far end of the train and exited.

  Karma looked over to Chaya. “What, we didn’t say anything!”

  When the train finally reached New York City, the ladies got out onto the street. Chaya gathered them all up.

  “I thought I told you guys to keep a low profile. Elbowing people in the head, gouging their eyes out, and putting knives up to their throats, let alone punching someone in the face, is not what I consider incognito!”

  Paka looked at the others. “Ooops!”

  The young ladies bit their lips. Neither felt they had done anything really wrong.

  Sun put her hands up and finally said, “Sorry but things got a little bit wacky.”

  Paka interrupted. “Everyone, get your shit together. We need to find the tall man. I have a map of where he is supposed to be. He is our number one connection in the city. Let's not blow this and get sidetracked.”

  There was no doubt the world was changing. Every war, every attempt to preserve life and nature being shoved aside, well, it just had taken a toll.

  The president knew it to be true but it was what is was. He was trying to expand into a different solar system, but planets were not as
easy to cultivate as first thought by his predecessors.

  So, Y-Wood Corporation had now turned back to what they originally started out to be: an authority-led government system bent on trying to restore some order to a country that had been decimated though the last one thousand years.

  He could not worry about what had come about.

  For a futuristic technology company, again, that didn't matter that much. It became apparent through the rein of Arn Marcou that a full dictatorship was in order, or America for one would become a wasteland.

  The Corporation had gotten rid of all democracy. It was the only hope for a revival of the land. Leadership was needed now more than ever.

  President Purcell was standing before both his super robots, privately going over his newest thoughts. After talking about such things, he changed the subject to current actions.

  “There's suddenly been a lot of movement of representatives from California. It looks to me that those in the west are finally coming to their senses. They’re asking for a meeting, perhaps wanting a truce between us.”

  The silver-and-blue fighting machine, Galax, was glad to hear such excellent news. “We knew it would only be a matter of time, sir. I suppose they will apologize for forming an alliance and then ask for our assistance in moving forward. This is a good thing is it not?”

  The black crystal robot was not so quick in his acceptance of these westerners.

  BSR1 had one thing on his mind today. He was thinking in many directions about why California wanted to talk.

  He had before him another day of forging for information from the two the women who were below in the cells. Raegan in particular was up for a little torment. He planned to retrieve as much information from her as possible.

  Yet still, it was he that announced the next relevant movement. “We have also been in contact with Washington as well, Mr. President. It is looking more and more like they have realized that they can no longer hold the monument region or the Capitol building. They too are ready to discuss terms, so to speak.”