The Survivors

1

Thousands of people were here. It was a joy to see.

They came to pay their respects to the man who had made their new lives possible. Groups were streaming in from all corners of the globe in an endless succession of happiness and grief. More were still on the way. The founder of Safe Haven was near the end of his time, but the vision he had created would live on through his people. The son of a traitor had given them peace, honor, and safety.

There were no jails, nor any need for them. There was no hunger, no pollution, no dying planet trying to kill them first. The methods he had used to achieve utopia were brutal, but forty-seven years after the war, America was flourishing again, and spreading back into the wilderness. Even the years they had spent in foreign lands had been ones of happiness and light–because of Adrian and his Eagles.

In the heart of Safe Haven City, surrounded by rolling farms and playing children, they gathered. Adrian would talk to them one last time, and they would listen well to his final words.

Weak, thin, and glowing with fulfillment, Adrian only spoke for a moment. A cheer echoed as he stepped proudly from their lives. It swelled from the arched walls around the stage and grew into a noise heard over more miles than anything since the Yellowstone eruption right after the war. It was a celebration of the hope that he had given them, the second chance to get it right. They would honor his memory by keeping America in their hearts. It was his last wish.

In the early morning hours, the happy dream faded, allowing restless minds to sleep easier.

Along Interstate 25, a man with hate in his heart snapped awake. His scream of rage brought men running to him.

“I will never let them rebuild! That bright future will never exist!” Cesar delivered a brutal kick to the girl chained at his feet. I will sacrifice every son and daughter I own to prevent it!

He kicked his slave again. “Get up! There is work!”

A short time later, a plump Mexican woman rode out on one of the few horses. The cries of her two young children reassured Cesar that she would do what he wanted. She would be missed here for her cooking skills, but at Safe Haven, she would be an invaluable tool waiting for his use.

Cesar’s army was drunk on their successful invasion of America, but the guerrilla captain understood confidence and courage wouldn’t be enough to defeat the man from his dream. The blond had been hard. Cesar recognized the future battle. When it came, he would be ready.

There was a feeling of importance around the woman now disappearing into the fog. Cesar stared until she was out of sight. Maria might be the key to that battle.

Cesar summoned his slaves to care for the two young boys now weeping for their mother. When his sons were older, they would also be sacrifices for the cause, as his other children had been over the years. The evil slave trader let out a battle cry. “Muerte a Estados Unidos!”

It was immediately echoed by his men. “Muerte a Estados Unidos!”

Death to America.