ONE NATION: A Post Apocalyptic, Dystopian Saga

by Michael W. Huard

  The woods were open enough to run through, yet offered room as well for two motorcycles and the dune buggy to follow them. The chase was on.

  The woman were fast on their feet, but the motorcycles and the dune buggy were faster. It was soon enough that they realized that they were going to be caught from behind.

  “Let's split up,” Sun called to her sister. “You go right, I'll go left.”

  Karma gave her a thumbs up as she bolted down the side trail to her right, while Sun cut left.

  As soon as the bikers came down the trail, each set up by trees for cover and began shooting at them. They had no choice now; gun shots were going off where they were coming from. It was very serious.

  Each of the gang members that the sisters shot at dropped in mere moments. Those hit fell off their bikes, crashing into the brush and trees all about.

  Both women positioned themselves to take more cover, hearing the heavily armed dune buggy riders screaming out, seeing their fellow members shot down.

  Looking across at one another, both women nodded and again leaned out and fired a volley of shots into them as well. The dune buggy hit a bump and took a giant flip onto its backside, sending its two riders flying in the air and down to the forest carpet.

  One of the motorcycle riders was not hurt bad enough to stop him from pulling out a mean-looking shotgun as he got up on one knee. It was one with a military-style semi-automatic trigger and look. He let loose a round of fire into the woods towards Sun, but with her back against a tree again, she was not hit.

  She took a deep breath. The shots were very close to ending her life.

  “You little bitch, you’re going to pay for this,” he yelled over at her. He then reloaded, slapping another mag in his weapon and looking back at her, seeing her red hair slightly showing from behind a tree. He knew right where she was.

  “I'm right over here,” Sun yelled out, confirming his thought. “You just missed me. Come over here. I have no ammo left. You and I can fight it out.”

  It was then the guy, who had been shot only in the shoulder slightly, made his way to her. His gun was loaded and he felt good heading her way. He was not all too bright, as Karma was already across the trail now and with her samurai sword, she slid it around his throat and cut him deeply.

  He died next.

  However, the guys from the dune buggy were both still moving, crawling about, battered and hurt.

  Sun waved to her sister for them to move fast as she came out and picked up one of the motorcycles. “This thing is sweet. Hop on. We’re gonna take a ride and get out of here before more show up.”

  It was then they flew off down the trail, knowing very well others were coming from behind still. Karma kicked one of the crawling guys in the head as they passed by him.

  Sun turned back to her. “Why did you do that?”

  Karma yelled over the loud bike, “He deserved it!”

  Sun did not disagree. She also knew she could lose the rest of them since the bike moved very fast, but in the back of her mind, she had a good idea that they already knew where the sisterhood's hideout was.

  Both the teens reported everything to Raegan as soon as they got back home. She was not all too pleased.

  “First off, you two went out wandering about without telling anyone. When will you ever learn that we work as a team? The fact is, we are stronger together. How hard is that to understand? Don't do it again. Obviously, we now have to deal with these people. If we all go up into the mountains and leave this area, they will be the first to destroy it and anyone here will suffer.”

  Raegan was shaking her head still.

  Both Sun and Karma took their scolding and understood and expected it.

  Raegan then took Sun aside to tell her a few other things privately.

  “I see a lot in you. I see me in you. You just have to channel your energy. Someone once told me that my potential is God’s gift to me. What I do with my potential is my gift to him. I believe in you, Sun, I do. You just have to listen better.

  “A thing to always remember is to stop talking and hear what others are saying. You have leader qualities. Listen all you can and they will take to you.”

  Sun nodded okay.

  Raegan was not done talking with her just yet.

  “I have a dream, and I’m not talking about my visions. We have the potential make this country better. It was our founder Metaya’s dream as well. I believe God has blessed me with those around me. Be it those that have taken on this challenge as well. I could not ask for better friends. Trust this family, okay?

  Make people feel this way as well. Let them know you, too, cannot succeed without their help. As you grow older, they will follow you too.”

  Sun smiled. “I love you, ya know. You took me in and it’s been all I could ever dream of too. This is where I belong. I know that. And I will never let you down, Raegan. I promise you that!”

  The two of them hugged one another. Yet Sun, having that fire in her, could not help but ask one important question.

  “Now as far as New York. When do we go back?”

  Raegan grinned, before brushing back her dirty blond hair, which was now slightly growing back.

  “Let me tell you about that special place, the melting pot, the gateway to the nation. People through the centuries have always called New York ‘America’s front door’. There’s a reason for that. The place has always had the most people, and then there’s that statue; she is a beacon of freedom. And yes, we have to get lady liberty back up. This too was a dream of our founding members. So yes, we’re going to go back. Our work is not finished. But patience is a virtue, right? Give it time!”

  “How will that ever happen?” Sun asked.

  Her mentor nodded.

  “We tell everyone on our postal flyers to build pieces from anywhere and everywhere. For those creators to use any strong metal they can find, and together we will piece them all together and raise Lady Liberty once again. This addition to all the postal drop offs we hope will spur on people all about. We shall be one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Did you know, those words were written in August, 1892?”

  Sun did not, but she liked what she heard.

  As expected, two days later a large group of ruffians showed up by the sisterhood’s Liberty homes. The biker gang revved their motorcycle engines, and cranked on their trucks, which were jacked up by lifts 10 inches higher than normal with frontal metal bumper-like designs made with jagged teeth plates.

  The black-and-gray haired leader ruffling with his thick, dirty beard had no intention of trying to secretly attack these homes. Number one, he liked some of the women that he saw. They would make great breeding specimens.

  “Hey, ladies. Listen, my name’s Barret, and I’m willing to be your friend. Come out and we’ll talk it all over.”

  Of course, Raegan had already placed several of the sisters out on lookout and they had spotted this gang coming well in advance. The sisters were ready for any confrontation.

  No one from inside any of the multiple houses came out or said anything for several minutes.

  Barret rolled his eyes and walked back and forth, waiting and waiting. He then yelled out once more, “The first thing we're going to do is to shoot a whole lot of holes in your buildings. Then we're going to ask nicely that the younger members of your little community come out, or soon we’ll trample all your structures with our big old monster trucks. Choices, choices, choices, right, ladies?”

  He seemed like this was all fun and games to him. He liked mocking anyone willing to listen. However, he was serious about the destruction looming.

  Again, he got no answer as his gang again cranked their motors up and also now yelled out cat calls. They wanted to see females come out!

  He then added in a calm voice, “Ya know, I will use your girls to replace my lost numbers. You killed mine; I will just play house with yours. The boys need new blood these days. I’m trying to be nice here, people.�
��

  “Screw you!” That was what he finally heard screamed back from someone in a building to the right. Naiera could not resist.

  Barret shook his head.

  “That’s not very nice. I will let the rest of you live in peace. Come on, you really don’t want all your houses to get shot up. Send a few cuties out and we’re good!”

  Raegan was peering out a window now with Jansa by her side.

  She was waiting for a signal as to the count of how many were out there, and Reagan soon signaled they roughly had 15. Most were men, other than a few women.

  The man out front called out even still, “Hey, shit heads, I'll give you to the count of 10. We're not here to fuck around.”

  The last thing Raegan wanted was a bunch of repair damage needed to all the homes along this little strip. They had spent enough time fixing them up already. They would have to begin again the long process, but as it was, she could not think of a way to barter with these bad people. So, she held her tongue.

  It was a minute later that the man out front started counting down: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6.

  But to the right, from the same cabin Naiera was, someone else yelled out. It wasn’t her this time.

  “How's this for an answer?”

  It was then a rocket launcher let loose a big old missile right into the group of biker gang members. Kaboom! Several of the trucks exploded and all of them yelled out in desperation as they tried not to get burned and hit with the spraying debris everywhere.

  Mahira then stepped outside on the porch screaming and holding the still smoking big launcher.

  “YEAH, BABY. I've been waiting to use this thing for ages.”

  Those that survived the blast started shooting at her and the houses. There was nothing the sisters could do but fight back. All of them fired out as well from widows now. The gladiator had already begun to run ahead diving low behind a decent-sized stone fire pit. It was then she drew her axe Free from her back.

  Free said to her, “I suppose you need my help? I think there's at least five of them still alive.”

  “That would be nice,” Mahira answered.

  Chaya and Sun, on a left deck balcony, shot down two more of the gang members at that very moment. Then they noticed another run off into the woods.

  Their leader, Barret, had survived, and one other beside him. These two were all that remained now in sight.

  Barret was so angry.

  “You motherfuckers!” he was yelling as he leaned around his truck, firing shots with his machine gun into the building in front of him wildly.

  Mahira appeared to the left of him. She threw Free right at him and it spun end over end, embedding itself directly in his head.

  The man next to him turned. He had a big serrated knife in his hand. He went right after Mahira. But just as he reached her, the axe flew back into her hand and she swiped across his wrist, cutting his hand off.

  “Oops. Looks like you dropped your knife,” she said to him with a smile. He grabbed at his wound, screaming in pain. It was then that Mahira took a step forward and spun around in a 360-motion, chopping his head off. Blood sprayed all over her face. She looked at Free’s blue eyes before holding him up closer.

  “That was brutal,” he announced.

  She grunted a little bit, looking at his face. “Yeah, it probably was, but I just had to get that out of my system.”

  She looked to where Barret was and he was really dead.

  It was not what the women all wanted. The bloodshed here was pretty bad. It had to be done, and as they began to clean up the mess, a woman walked out from the woods with her hunting rifle raised up, pointing at Karma, who had come out as part of the cleanup crew.

  “You people came here and have destroyed my family,” the lady spoke. “I have to blow your head off now.”

  But just as she cranked the lever on her rifle, a drone flew up next to her and, in a rapid volley of laser beam shots, fired into her, dropping her to the dirt in a second.

  The sisterhood’s cyborg, Tyne Gem, with a control in her hand, was then seen coming that way.

  Lucky for the cleanup crew, she had built this little sucker and it came through at this moment.

  The others all looked to Tyne as she came before them.

  “New toy of mine,” she explained.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  It was days later that the postal service was ready to come into play for the Mystical Slayers.

  Tyne and Naiera were off to New Hampshire and Vermont, with the cyborg at the ship's controls. With no communications up, they had to do it on their own. Concord, New Hampshire was first, then Vermont, which was probably the most desolate, once-populated place they would ever encounter.

  The first step was delivering the notifications that the mail system was now in order with all lines of communication and digital satellites jammed. Whether they came back up one day or not, the aspect of being able to communicate from state-to-state with at least letters was of great importance.

  The notifications were to be delivered all about the state at various drop-off points and told them that they would be back to take new letters anywhere in the New England region at no cost in the future. Each flyer also spoke of Lady Liberty being put back together and had a special slogan at the bottom as well.

  The slogan simply stated: We are One Nation.

  Whether the plan was a success or not, the concept and idea, so to speak, were good. Those who would just read the notice would be inspired. That's what the sisterhood was all about, and at this point there certainly was a new glimmer of inspiration in the air.

  As they flew on, Naiera asked Tyne, “What will be the hardest part of doing this?”

  The cyborg ran such a thought through her thinking process and answered simply, “Believability. We have to get the people to think this is the real deal, to have hope, and to think better times are coming. Once this catches on, others will help spread the word and of course the mail will expand. That’s our hope!”

  Naiera nodded. “Shouldn’t we need like uniforms or something that looks official?”

  Tyne smiled. “Maybe one day, but for now, it’s just you and me, kid.”

  “I’m not so good at dealing with people,” the Native American girl responded. “Any pointers on that before we land?”

  Tyne was equipped with great AI, so she told Naiera what she knew about charisma.

  “Within the first 30 seconds of talking to someone, say something encouraging to them. It takes very little effort to give someone an uplift. Most people start talking and want to look good themselves, but it’s better to focus on the person you’re speaking with and say something good about them. Each time they see you from there on out, they’ll be glad to talk to you.”

  Naiera listed closely to the teachings of Tyne. She would have to try this, yes, she would.

  They made some stops and passed out flyers and inspired people as they went. But soon, an issue on their last stop in Vermont came about.

  Tyne and Naiera were doing so well. The Native American girl was learning patience on the fly. Here, the more people they could convince, even though there were some objections, the better. The Postal Service would run in the long run; that was their hope. The goal was to spread it far and wide, but they needed help. Dealing with random people though was never easy in this day and time. Many were afraid to help.

  Yet even through all the years of racial Injustice, some families, those even many generations away, could not forget the pain of war, and it was soon that, one man came up behind Naiera, talking to her and saying with a rather prissy tone, “Who are you for me to listen to, Indian girl?”

  Naiera gritted her teeth, then spun about, looking at the man. He had thin blonde hair that was bald on the top and black glasses on. Probably was in his 50’s.

  “This isn’t going to work for shit,” he said to her face, spitting on her, pretty much on purpose.

  She could not get hold of the situation, suddenly screaming a war
cry and leaping on the man, tearing at his eyes as they fell backwards.

  She landed on top of him and pulled out the blade that was in her hair, holding it up right to his throat. But before she did anything, a friend of his tackled her off of him.

  Tyne Gem now took action. She blasted a roundhouse kick into the new attacker’s face. It was a soccer-style kick that broke his jaw cleanly before he could get back at Naiera.

  A third man came at Tyne now, striking out with punches directed at her face. Each one she deflected easily, before grabbing him by the head and kneeing him in the rib cage. The hit was actually more into his liver, and it dropped him to his knees.

  Other people around tried to break up the fighting.

  Tyne called to all, “This is not what we want. We're here to give hope, not to fight against those that don't believe in such.”

  That’s when a man among the crowd pulled out a 9mm gun and fired it into Tyne. The crowd was in shock! A hush came over all of them gathered here.

  The shots blasted straight into her, but none penetrated her synthetic body enough to slow her down. Then, in one long stride, she grabbed the gunman and twisted him into an arm lock that led to him screaming out in pain. She snapped his arm nearly off and threw him to the ground.

  She then stepped on his hand, which held the gun even still, making him release it. Tyne then kicked it away, before she dove into a somersault at it and scooped it up, coming up facing everyone with the pistol in hand.

  Again, she talked.

  “We are not here to fight or to cause trouble. We are present to open the lines of communication so that all of you can live your life better and prosper. Don't fight us; that's not the reason for this meeting. For those of you that want to harbor hope, take these flyers, spread the word. That's all we want.”

  The folk about that were interested stuck around and took the papers.

  Naiera grunted over at the guy who spit on her but turned and left with Tyne.

  Later, as the two women flew off, the cyborg looked at her young sister, who had already begun trying to explain herself as to her actions of leaping on the man.