Bloody Roses

For those who like girls with guns, I've been writing a story that sort of has that called Bloody Roses.

It's about a second American Civil War, where the North American continent is divided into three organizations, including the remains of the US government. The story mostly takes place with the other two organizations, which are very divided politically and have different strengths. There will also have some motifs in here, especially the rose.

Hope to get the stories up here soon.

Post it up and we'll read it!

I will soon. Before I do, I'd like to introduce the factions and what they currently control in the Civil War.

Humane Commonwealth- The main organization. It can be described as several rights movements, a workers' union, a utopian socialist corporation, and a social democratic republic coupled together. It was successful its starting days before the war until it kept getting interfered by opposing groups such as the Tea Party. The organization then struggled severely until a military branch was unexpectedly added to it. The main founder of this branch (also one the main protagonists) then used some of their surprisingly advanced weapons for an infamous massacre against a violent Tea Party rally. Currently they are still struggling on the war and are hoping to atone for its crimes.

Thanks to the founder, the Commonwealth has very advanced technologies. Some of which include mobile buildings, hovercrafts, exoskeletons, and powerful flying hybrid airships. However, they also have some serious regulations, which give them a disadvantage in resources and cost of such weapons.

The Commonwealth currently controls most of New England and the Canadian provinces of Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Ontario. They also have some parts of Michigan which connects barely to their small controlled region of northern Ohio. They have several capitol places, but the most recognized one is Boston, Massachusetts.


Brotherhood of America- Mostly the main antagonist organization. It was found by shadow corporate leaders who "hijacked" organizations like the Tea Party when they found the US government "lost". After the massacre at Boston, the head mastermind behind the organization used it to blame the Commonwealth and the US government for starting a war against its own people. This eventually transformed the peaceful movements into violent, fanatical, extreme-right, pro-status quo state. Days later, they attacked Washington D.C. to destroy the current government and began their push to annihilate the Commonwealth. Currently, they've been cornering their rivals and hoping to end the war soon.

The Brotherhood has the largest army out of all the three organizations, having every single man, woman, and even little children armed with a incalculable variety of small arms. Though they are seen using more of resourcefulness and numbers, the Brotherhood's shadow superiors were able to bring in much more advanced weapons to its forces. They also are able to salvage destroyed weapons and even their own structures. In addition, they have the largest array of weapons and many are the fastest ones anyone could find. However, many of their forces are still not very strong and unit composition and quick strike tactics are greatly suggested.

They currently control nearly everything on the continent. The only parts they do not control are the Commonwealth's territory, most of Texas, and Mexico (except for Baja and Baja Sur). Their main capital is unknown.


Mid-Wing- This organization came a little while after the war started. It was made by the remains of the US government, who have set up a government-in-exile within Mexico. Their hope is to end the war, so they can rebuild and restore the damaged United States. The Humane Commonwealth is unaware of this organization and though it seen as a possible ally, the Mid-wing tries to confine its role in the war the best they can.

The Mid-wing has most of much of their military still intact. They have great ground forces and uses several once-secret advanced weapons such as hypersonic cruise missiles and railguns. They also have control over space with their major space center in Houston, Texas. But like the Commonwealth, except for fuel reserves, their resources aren't that much.

The Mid-wing has Mexico, with Mexico City has their main capital-in-exile, and most of Texas. They currently clash with the Brotherhood for bordering regions such as Southern Arizona, Baja, Baja Sur, and Louisiana.

Chapter one of book one of Bloody Roses.

Anna saw nothing, but darkness. She could not see any light; it felt like she was just waking up. There was yet nothingness at least. She couldn’t remember anything, not even where or how she got into this state. It felt as though she was just born in an unknown body.
Then, she saw something, even though her eyes were not yet open. At first, it looked like a white light. Then, it looked more human and it was walking. It walked closer and closer. Eventually, she was able to see it more clearly.
The figure was familiar to her. It appeared to be a younger girl, a teenager. The child had short black hair covering some of her face. She has slightly tanned skin and was wearing a lightly torn white shirt and blue jeans. Her head was facing down, but her brown eyes were still visible. The girl wasn’t walking anymore, but she still kept moving towards and around Anna.
Anna knew the feminine figure as it looked up and stared at her, because it was her.
“It’s been a while,” the hallucination of Anna said. “Hasn’t it been…Anna Chello?”
Anna did not know what to say. She felt like it was a dream, but still acted like it was real.
“There is no reason for you to talk, Ms. Chello,” the image continued, “Since I already have much to talk about, or should I say, we have much to talk about.”
Anna still did not know what to say. She couldn’t move, nor feel her whole body. She felt like the only thing she could do was listen to the phantom.
All of a sudden, a scene appeared outside of the image. The scene moved as if it was seeing through a person’s eyes. It showed a huge urban area with thousands of people screaming and running. There were eye-burning explosions and black bolts smashing apart buildings. A tower fell off of one of the buildings. Unfortunately, not many people got out of the way. They appeared to have been killed when the collapsing tower crushed those below it. There was another explosion near where Anna would be. Then, the screen quickly turned and revealed a buggy with two guns on top protected with metal plates. It appeared to be an entire family with guns opening fire on some of the fleeing citizens. The scene turned around as if it was a person. It looked like it began to run. The scene then fell on some of a stairwell, then looked up. It had two characters calling to the person who fell.
This eventually taught Anna everything she was asking herself. She knew who the calling people were and the eyes she was seeing through. It was her mother and father calling her. They were spending a vacation in Washington D.C. Then a huge militia made of entire families of people, including little children, attacked the city.
She remembered what happened after what she had seen. One of the buggies appeared in the road separating her from her parents shooting at them as they were fleeing. After seeing this horror, she ran back away from the buggy until it passed. She was going to run to see her dead parents, but an explosion nearby knocked her out.
Anna continued to watch the terror even though she did not want to do so. The image of her seemed to know that she already knew what happened. It moved towards her and began to speak again.
“It may have not been a while to you,” the image said. “But it has been a very long time since you have been awake. In fact, the world that you know is no longer the way you remembered it to be.”
I guess, Anna thought to herself. For all I know, my whole world may now be something completely different.
She saw another scene behind her image. This time, it looked like an air base with massive rows of strange new aircraft. Some large-underbelly, but small aircraft lifted off vertically as what appeared to be giant warships pierced through the cloudy skies. Another scene appeared; it was a research room. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. There were men in different kinds of coats that appear to be torturing other men on patient beds. She did not know what was really going on, but all she knew was that whatever happened when she was knocked out was not good at all. More and more scenes were shown to her; most of them war scenes.
Anna’s image, which has been disappearing and reappearing in between scenes, then came out and said, “We all know that anybody can make a big difference…Ms. Chello…and it just takes the right person to do so regardless what position or time they are in.”
Anna was stuck between a rock and a hard place. She could neither believe nor deny what her image was saying. She has done nothing to make such a huge difference. It would be very difficult to do so now, especially since hasn’t she learned what had happened before being unconscious. She has seen people in reality and fiction where only one person made a huge difference, but they had skills that she did not have.
“I’d just like to tell you that it is now your turn to make a difference. Your world now hangs within a three-way balance. With your weight…and all your might, your world will be one of three worlds of your choice.”
Anna just wanted to wake up now. She felt like she was starting to do so and her image was aware of it as well. Yet, it seemed to ignore itself and remained calm as it started to shrink and fade away.
Before Anna began trying to open her eyes, her image then said, “I guess it is now time for you to wake up and start your work. Remember, you can make a difference, especially in what you are about to enter. It’s time for you to wake up now. Time…to tip…the scales.”


Anna’s eyes were finally open. The area was still dark, but light enough for her to see. She was lying in an uncomfortable position, feeling though she was sitting. She really wanted to get up from her position. She eventually had the energy to do so and lifted her herself up, putting her feet on the rough texture of her surroundings.
Anna walked as much as she could to see her surroundings. She was in a cave, probably underground. The area was curved and uneven when it came to walking and there was building and asphalt rubble everywhere. There was not much room to walk around. Anna could see the openings of where light was coming from. She was not sure if she was still close to the surface or not. Regardless of how deep she could be, she was buried.
Just then, Anna heard something. It sounded like wind blowing on rocks. It became more of footstep. It meant there was someone else here. There’s someone here, Anna thought.
She crawled up to one of the openings and shouted, “Hello? Hello? Help!” There was no answer, but there were footsteps. She called out again, “Help! Is someone out there? Help! Get me out of here!” There was still no answer. The footsteps were getting closer. Anna thought that whoever was out there had to hear her now. She kept calling and shouting, but she still got no answer.
Eventually, she just gave up even though she kept hearing footsteps. She sat down on top of the exposed rubbles with her hands on her head. She had tears coming in her eyes worried that no one could hear her. She did not want stay in her caved area for the rest of her life, especially since there was no food or water.
Before she considered it hopeless, she heard a voice. It sounded like it was coming from outside. A masculine voice said, “Hold on for a second.”
Anna ran to one of the openings. She did not know where it was coming from, but she knew she could hear it.
“My wrist gun’s sensors are picking up something.” The voice continued. Anna did not know what a wrist gun was, but she knew of a sensor. It could be possible that someone has found her, maybe even a group of people. She doubted the voice would be talking if it were alone.
She thought to herself, if they are really talking about me, I could finally be out of this mess. She even thought it over what her image said earlier. Maybe this is what my image was talking about. If that were so, then maybe it would now make some sense.
Then, she heard another voice that she could understand. “Come on, Norfall. Your sensors are always picking up something in this area. And it’s always turns out to be nothing, but the dead or Confederates.”
Looks like I spoke too soon, she thought. But I hope that does not change the mind of that other person. She was a bit scared. Could all of this time when she was unconscious, everyone that she may have known or seen in D.C. be dead? And what did the other voice mean by “Confederates”? She knew about the civil war where there was a pro-slavery state called the Confederate States of America. Could they have returned? Could they have been behind that attack when she and her family were in D.C? She was hoping that didn’t stop those people from trying to rescue her. If they were referring to her. Then she heard the response that she was hoping for from the first voice, the voice that the second one called Norfall.
Norfall replied, “Not this time; my sensors are detecting something within this pile of rubble. Not only that, it seems to be moving.” There was no doubt that they were referring to Anna.
“Just ignore it, Norfall! It could be another trap set by those Confederate bastards! You may get us all killed!” said a third voice.
“I’m being serious! Just look at it. It is pointing towards that way and everything else in that direction is clear. Just follow me and you’ll see.”
Anna heard more footsteps. It was probably the same guys that she was hearing. They got louder and louder.
Anna decided to call out again. It had to work this time. If not, then Norfall and the other voices may leave when they were so close to finding her. She could be trapped forever if she didn’t call out.
She climbed to one of the openings and screamed again, “Help! I’m trapped in here! Someone get me out of there! Please get me out of here! Help!”
After she stopped screaming, Anna waited for a response. She finally heard one.
“Did you hear that, you two? There’s someone buried within these rocks!” the voice named Norfall reacted.
“Please Norfall, leave it be! It could be a trap!” the second voice Anna could not recognize.
“I’m sure that it is not! Just come with me!”
“Norfall! NORFALL!”
Anna could not believe what the other two voices besides Norfall said. She spoke to the ground behind her, “If I was the boss of them at a time like this, I would have fired them just now.”
Just then, one of the openings in middle of the longer curve of the room went black. Anna raced to the blackened opening and found a shadowed eye.
“Hello? Is there anyone there?” the eye called out, which was probably Norfall.
“Can you please help me out here? I’m stuck in this pile of rubble and I can’t get out!”
“How…how the hell did you get in there?”
“I was unconscious and found myself in this pile of debris! Can please get me out of here?”
“Hold on, how long have you been down there for?”
Anna did not know how to answer that. For all that she knows she could have been gone for thousands of years. She just responded, “I don’t know. For all I know I could have been down here for a million years!”
There was silence. Norfall’s eye just stayed put and nothing moved. Then, Norfall said, “Hang on down there. We’re getting you out.” The eye left after that.
Anna looked for a place to sit near the opening where the eye was. She could hear talking above the pile of rubble. It was most likely Norfall and the two unknown people with him.
“There’s definitely someone down there. It sounds like a girl. She said that she was unconscious and doesn’t know how she got down there.”
“I don’t know, Norfall. I got a bad feeling about this. This could still be a trap.” the first unknown voice said.
“Don’t worry, if it is a trap, just use your wrist guns’ shields to protect yourself. Now please, just shut up and get some charges to blow apart this rock of rubble.”
“Yes, Norfall.” the first voice responded. There were fainting running footsteps after that.
Anna thanked herself for not giving up. The only thing she couldn’t wait to do was get out of the wreckage around her. Only then would she finally be able to do something what her image said in her dream. She would never forget that dream ever, even though there were parts of it she didn’t want to believe. She decided to keep it in her head anyway.

It was a while after Norfall, who seemed to be waiting where Anna was trapped, ordered the two unknown men to get the charges. Anna heard running footsteps again. It was probably the two men.
After the running stopped the three on top of the rubble began to talk.
“We got 3 CM-8 charges armed and good to go, Norfall. This should be enough to blow apart the rubble.”
“It better be. Now let’s get these charges set so we can free this girl. Let’s each take one and plant them on the pile of rubble on my left side. If it is a trap, don’t be afraid to use your shields.”
“You sure that this is a rescue mission, Norfall?”
“Don’t worry, just get these charges planted and arm them when I give you the signal.”
“Yes, Norfall.”
When the talk was over, Anna saw the light from the openings to the left of her go dark. She rushed to the opening and found Norfall’s eye again. It called out, “Are you still down there?”
Anna replied, “Yeah I am. I heard you’re going to get me out of this rock pile.”
“We are. My men and I are going to plant some explosives to get you out of here.”
“Thanks. I’m so happy that you are getting me out of this.”
“I am, too, and hopefully so are my men. Now listen, we’re going to find some good spots to plant the charges. When I give the signal, you need to get as far away from this part of the rubble as fast as you can. Find some stable, crouch down with your head behind your knees, and cover your ears and as much of the back of your head as you can with your hands. Do it until the charges blow and any kind of debris clears off. Do you hear me clearly down there?”
“I understand. So get away when you give the signal and be in the position you told me to be until its okay again.”
“Good, just wanted to make sure I made myself clear.”
There was a pause. Norfall’s eye looked like it was turning. Norfall sounded like he was speaking to the two men saying, “All right, has everyone found a good place for his charge?” He got two affirmative responses. Then, Norfall looked back down and said, “You ready down there?”
“Yes!” Anna shouted.
“All right! Go!”
After hearing the signal, Anna heard an electronic ticking. She knew that this was the time to get away. She rushed as fast as she could to the other end of the rubble. She tried searching for a good spot to assume the position Norfall told her to be in until she was clear. It took a few seconds, but she was able to find a comfortable and stable spot. She crouched down with her head behind her knees. Then, she put her hands on her ears and put her fingers on the back of her head until they touched each other.
At first, there was silence; no explosion went off just yet. Anna decided to wait until she had felt something like a jolt. Although she only waited for a few seconds, she was feeling tight in her position.
Just then, Anna heard an explosion through her covered ears. She heard something falling down and it continued for a few seconds. She began to smell debris in her nose. She wanted to cough, but the debris wasn’t so terrible at first. It got worse and she coughed out puffs of debris smoke. After a while of coughing while in her ordered position, the air became fresher.
Anna was wondering if she should stand up now. It was probably a good time to do so since there was not much that could be dangerous after the smoke. She still wanted to be sure anyway. Compromising herself, she lifted her ears enough to hear more clearly. She turned her head slightly and shouted out, “Am I good? Can I get up now?”
There was a pause, but she later heard from Norfall, “Yeah, you’re all clear now!”
Anna turned her head, and then her whole body so she could see what happened. It was so much brighter that it nearly blinded her eyesight. She could see the rubble that collapsed when the charges were placed. In the new massive opening she could see three figures. These were probably Norfall and his men.
She could see the middle figure the clearest after getting used to the brighter light. He wore thick blue jeans for pants. He had a shirt and it looked like there was something under it making it look huge. He also looked like he had some sort of hat that was barely on top of his head.
She slowly went to closer to see more of him and the other two men. She saw a white face with black/blonde hair and blue eyes. His shirt had a Red Guard-like soldier carrying a rifle on its back, which had a rose on top, and having the word “Obey” and some symbol on it. The hat on his head was light blue. The top of it was behind his head and a clear glass plate somehow attached to it was covering his head, but still showing his hair.
He had a blue shield on his arm. It was almost as long as the arm he was carrying it with and about as wide. It looked like a curved oval with parts from its longest radius removed. The shield became more of a gun when Anna saw that the end of one of the sides had a barrel.
Sometimes, the soldier exposed the other side of the shield. There was a strap that kept the gun on his arm. There were a few sensors near the front of the barrel, a large magazine, and some of kind battery in the back. Instead of a trigger to fire it, the gun had some kind of handle to squeeze with the wearer’s hand.
It also had some kind of circular symbol on it. It had a green outer circle and inside was a somewhat circling red rose, white dove, and blue leaf on a yellow background. Anna could not recognize the symbol immediately, but she felt like she has seen it before. She had a feeling that she has seen the soldier’s gun before, too.
She decided to worry about that later. For now, she said, to the middle soldier, “Thanks for getting me out of there. I owe you.”
“There is no need for you to repay me. I’m just glad that you are safe and not one of them.” the soldier responded. It sounded like he was Norfall.
“I heard what you and your men were talking about with the so called ‘Confederates’.”
“I was thinking that you may have heard that from my men.”
Anna then looked the other two men who were dressed similarly like Norfall. Maybe I’ll be destined to be once of them and cause a huge change just like what my image said, Anna thought. That reminded her that she needed answers, and knowledge of what happened after she was knocked out.
She then turned to Norfall and asked, “Could I ask you a very broad question?”
“I know what you’re going to say, but you ask me anyway.” He replied.
“What has happened since I was knocked out?”
There was silence as Norfall stretched and turned his head, thinking about what he should say. Moments later, he directed his head back to Anna and answered, “Come with us and I’ll tell you.”
Anna found no other choice. She said, “All right. It’s probably the best choice I have in order to get started in knowing what happened here.”
“Good, follow us.”
The three armed men turned around on a ruined stairwell, the possibly same one Anna was near when she was unconscious. She followed the soldiers up the wrecked stairs.
Norfall then turned around asked Anna, “By the way, I forgot to ask your name. What is it?”
Anna looked down then back up and answered, “My name is Anna. Anna Chello. My parents worked in this city until I saw them murdered before I was knocked unconscious. Although I heard some of your names, I also want to ask. Who are you?”
Norfall repeated what Anna did, “You may be pleased and lucky to meet me since you’ve probably heard about me,” Norfall said smiling. “My name is Norfall, Ray Norfall, and I am one of the founders, the founder, of the military of the Humane Commonwealth.”

Chapter 2
As Anna followed Norfall and his men through the torn landscape, she observed the outer surroundings. She already knew what it was possibly going to be. Buildings were torn apart and pieces of them continued to fall and burn. Asphalt roads were dotted with potholes and craters. Concrete and cement slabs on the sidewalks and stairwells were fractured. Power lines were touching the ground and the poles carrying them were lying on the ruined structures. Cars were tossed onto their sides, flipped, or were huge wrecks. Many trees also had fallen down and there was more debris and rubble on the ground. Most of the time, Anna was unable to walk without stepping on smooth even ground. It was a miracle that her shoes were still intact.
What was not a good thing were all the bodies that she had to step on and could not avoid. There were countless dead bodies everywhere she turned. The possible age and gender of the carcasses ranged from infant girls to elderly men.
What was more shocking was that regardless of age, some had guns near them. Anna was approaching one weapon and stopped at it. She stared at the gun. It was smaller than a rifle, but bigger than a pistol. It had a long curved magazine and it was thin looking. It was in the hands of a deceased overweight 30-year old man that had several holes in his shirt, which were stained with blood. Anna crouched near the gun and lifted it up by the handle and the barrel.
Norfall had realized that Anna was not walking; he turned around to see her near the gun. The other two men also turned. “Be careful with that!” Norfall called to Anna as they raised their wrist guns’ shields, fearing that she would fire it.
“I’m okay,” Anna responded. “I’m aware of guns.”
Ray still warned her, “You should still be careful, Anna. If you fire that, you could hurt one of us and give away our position. Even though someone may already know our position.”
“I know how to handle guns. I’m not going to fire it, I swear.” replied Anna.
“Please keep up with us, so we can keep moving.”
“All right, I’m coming!” Anna then caught up. Her eyes were more concentrated on handling the gun than watching where she was stepping. She didn’t want to put her hand on the trigger and pull it by accident. She also did not want to point it at anyone and because so, she pointed it to the side. The gun felt light-weighted and loose; she could hear the parts within it.
As soon as she caught up with Norfall and the other two soldiers, they put their wrist guns down. Norfall requested to Anna, “You give the gun to me, Ms. Chello. I wouldn’t want to trust you in carrying a gun just yet.”
“I knew you were going to say that. I remember seeing children using a gun like this.” She said this since she remembered the shape of some of the guns the militias were carrying before she was knocked out. She gave the gun to Ray and put it in the pack on his back. She did not realize that he had a backpack.
“Anyone can use that gun,” Norfall commented as they turned around and began walking again. “Well…except babies, but anybody still can master it, regardless of age.”
Anna was wondering what kind of gun it was. She has heard of the names of some guns such as the M-16, AK-47, and Uzi, but not this kind. She took the liberty to ask, “What gun is it?”
Norfall turned his head to Anna and answered, “It called an M-72 submachine gun. It’s not as accurate or powerful as our weapons, but they still hit hard. They fire 10mm armor-piercing bullets very quickly and are very easy to produce. They’re very light, too.”
“I noticed that,” since Anna was lifting the gun with ease. “I could also hear something within that gun.”
“That’s because the components inside are loose. That makes it able to fire without jamming no matter what you do it.”
“Wow, that must mean the so called ‘Confederates’ must have some very good weapons.”
“Well, you could say that, but their technology is not very advanced compared to ours. So is their greenness. For example, their bullets can not really penetrate the shields on our wrist guns.”
“So what is the weapon you have strapped onto your hand?” Anna pointed to Norfall’s wrist gun.
“This? This is my CM-1 Safeguard Wrist Gun. There are many like it, but this one is mine.” Ray and the other two soldiers chuckled, but Anna did not get the joke. Ray explained, “I’m quoting something the Marines say, but it’s also true. I made this weapon.”
Anna was curious. “You built your own gun?”
“I didn’t just build my own gun, I designed it, too. I designed many other weapons such as the CM-8 Rig Demo Charges we used to get you out of the rubble. I mostly keep my originals.”
“Are there ones where you don’t keep the originals?”
“Some of them I don’t, but they’re mostly vehicles. Some of them are already destroyed and the others like them are just mass produced by the Commonwealth.”
“I could see why they call you the founder of the Commonwealth’s military.”
“You could say that.” Norfall then began to walk faster as Anna tried to keep up with him. “I wish I could tell you more about my weapons, but we are low on time. We need to get to our command post so we can get ourselves out of here.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I’m also a Major General in the Commonwealth’s military, but I still have a commanding officer.”
“You’re a general and you still have a commanding officer?”
“That’s right. He is a higher-ranking general named Ronald Freeman. Usually, I’m supposed to plan attacks on battlefields rather than participate in them. I really do the opposite and when I do, Freeman would be the one giving me orders.”
“That does not make any sense. Why would you be fighting the war more than you plan for it?”
“I mostly do it because I like going into the fight. I don’t want to leave it all to the poor. It fulfills my personal goal of revenge on our enemy, too.”
“Who do you want revenge on? The Confederates?”
“Close. Extremism.”
Anna did not understand. As they approached to a road and intersection, she noticed a sign showing the words “Pennsylvania Avenue”.
They all turned right and saw the remains of the White House. The circular center of the palace had collapsed with fragments of its marble pillars scattered. There were huge holes within its wings. Its gate was knocked down into two pieces and the lawns around the monument were scorched earth. When the quartet got closer, they could see what used to be the Oval Office. The entire office was trashed with debris, bullets, and shrapnel. Nothing was still in one piece. Everything was destroyed. They could even see a bunch of dead bodies of officials who may have worked within the building. Anna looked down with her hands on her face and cried.
“This…is what the Confederates have done?” Anna cried out.
“Yeah,” Norfall answered. “And before I say anymore, I want you stop using the word ‘Confederates’. We only use that for taunting.”
Anna looked at Norfall and asked, “Then…who should I call whoever did this?”
“Extremists. Or what they call themselves the Brotherhood of America.”
Anna stopped crying so she could listen more. “Brotherhood of America? Who are those people?”
“Fanatics,” one of the soldiers shouted.
“Terrorists,” the other one said.
Norfall said, “They are our enemy. The Brotherhood of America is an organization of right-wing extremists made up of other organizations similar to them.”
From those words, Anna sort of knew what Ray was talking about. Right-wing extremists, she thought. That sounds like the growing organizations I keep hearing about called the Tea Party.
After having this thought, she asked, “You mean like the Tea Party?”
“Exactly, Anna.” Norfall responded. “I don’t know what happened that made them cause all this trouble. All that I know is that they are lead by some person named ‘Liquid’.”
“Liquid? That’s an odd name.”
“It really more of a nickname or codename since he likes to keep his organization loose and flexible like water.”
“I get it now. So he is responsible for this?”
“For attacking this city, that is correct. But that was not the cause for the whole war. We actually started this civil war.”
Anna became shocked, “Civil war? Do you mean that is what is happening all over the country? You started this?”
“Yeah, do you remember before you were unconscious? The event that we called Operation Boston’s Ferry?”
Just then, that all came back to Anna. The Commonwealth, Ray Norfall, the wrist guns, Boston’s Ferry; she remembered it all as if she knew everything.
The Humane Commonwealth was an alliance of several leftist organizations that supported rights within a wide spectrum from animal rights to gay rights to human rights. It was formed in order to improve the organizations as well as educate people and help them achieve their goals. Although it had a few large successes, opposing organizations such as the Tea Party were interfering. This gave so much trouble for the Commonwealth and no matter what they did non-violently. Many people thought that the Commonwealth would eventually fall apart because of it.
That eventually changed during the event known as Operation Boston’s Ferry. During that time, a Tea Party rally was formed at Boston Common in Massachusetts. There had been an increase of violence within some of its members who eventually went on rampages whenever a fight happened. There has huge news coverage where these members attacked a group of Commonwealth members. Only this time, the Commonwealth was armed. Ray Norfall led the group and they fought back with their wrist guns. After seeing the news, the police ordered the rally to disband. Eventually, there were huge clashes between the rally and the police. Norfall and his men supported to police and were given reinforcements through a large-underbelly aircraft.
The aircraft was the same one that Anna saw in her dream. She remembered some things about it. It was called the Quiver. Its underbelly was shaped like a fat trapezoid. It had two turbines on its wingless sides, but had four nozzles. Two of them were near the front of the turbine. The other two were in the back and were able to turn from facing downward to the back. On them were large cones, while the nozzles in the front were of openings for a fan. The aircraft had two large openings each guarded by a machine gun. The front of it had two more guns and a huge array of missiles and rockets. Anna could neither remember how many weapons nor how many people it carried. This was all she knew about it.
The Quiver hovered over the clashes and the men on the machine guns shot anybody who was attacking Norfall, his men, and the Massachusetts residents. After a few minutes of clashing, the rally started running away. They got in their cars and buses or whatever they used to get to Boston and fled. Some stopped to attack their enemies, but most of them were hit by Norfall’s men who kept shooting even though the police were telling them to cease fire. The operation ended when there were no more gunshots and the survivors of the rally left Boston.
Anna could still remember the casualties, which were devastating on both sides. Although only four of Norfall’s men were wounded, the police and residents suffered the worst on their side. About 6 policemen died in the clashes and 32 were wounded. Fifty-seven residents were killed total on that day and probably 100 more were wounded.
The casualties were a lot bigger on the other side. The rally had about 25,000 people and the casualties were nearly 1,000. Only 35 of the men survived the clashes. The others died either instantly or of their wounds.
Anna now understood what Norfall was talking about. She now felt like this war Norfall was talking about was more complicated than she had thought. She looked down and cried again. “Now I remember everything. Your weapons…you…Boston’s Ferry…everything. This is more complicated than I thought.”
“It is,” Norfall replied. “The Tea Party called it the Second Boston Massacre. We had to intervene violently because there was no other way to reach our goals. The Tea Party kept interfering. After that event, they blamed it on the U.S. government for our killings. They were quiet for five days until they became the Brotherhood and attacked this city calling it ‘liberty and justice for all’.”
“I…I don’t know what to say now. I don’t even know I could trust you, now I remember you and your men killing those people.”
Norfall walked close to Anna as she crouched down. “You should still trust me. I admit that what I did was terrible, but I did it because I wanted the Commonwealth to survive and we had no other options. Besides, you said that your parents were murdered. Think of them. Would you want to side with those who killed them? Or would you want to honor and avenge them by joining us?”
Anna could not think clearly because of her crying, but she still thought it over. She was still able to hear Norfall say, “It’s your call, Anna. You could run from us. Or you could stay with us and help do something about your parents’ deaths.”
Anna first thought about the amount of dead people Norfall and his men killed during Boston’s Ferry. She knew that she didn’t want side with a person who was favoring violence on opponents.
But then, she thought of her parents. What would they think if she ran to join those who killed them? They would be crying just like Anna. Besides, Anna loved them. Her father was very busy since he worked for the U.S. government, but he found her very pleasant whenever he came home. She even remembered him saying how he couldn’t live without her. Her mother would always play her. They would always do something that was interesting no matter if it was playing games or doing dangerous science experiments. She had a soft spot for her parents. She didn’t want to just do nothing about their deaths.
That converted some of her sorrow into anger. She put down her hands that were covering her face. Then, she looked at Norfall and said, “I know that you didn’t have to kill those people.” She got a shocking look from Norfall in reaction at first, but he returned to normal, wanting Anna to finish her decision. “But, those people you killed also killed my parents who I loved so much. I’m probably just as angry as you now because of it. Therefore, I will help you fight them.”
Norfall and the other two men sighed. Norfall spoke in soft voice in response, “All right.” Then in a louder voice, he said, “We’ll continue on foot until we reach the command post. To tell you the truth, it’s not far from here. We actually have about two blocks to go. Are you ready to start walking again?”
“I think I am. We should get going.” Anna raised herself.
“We should. Besides, we don’t want the Brotherhood to find you. If they do, they may either attempt to kill you or report you, which could jeopardize things. Anyway, let’s get moving.”
The quartet began walking again through the half-demolished White House. They were coming to broken fences at the other side when Norfall stopped and said, “By the way, Anna,” The rest stopped to listen, too. “If you ask me, I think you have made yourself a good choice to side with us. We can always use new recruits. And anyone can make a difference in the world no matter what condition they are in.”
That reminded Anna of what her image said. It was almost the exact same thing. However, there was only one problem. What did it mean by three-way balance? Is there another force besides the Brotherhood and the Commonwealth? Anna needed to find out.
“Besides,” Norfall continued. Anna repaid attention to him. “We’re not the only ones who think these extremists must pay. Because out of all the trouble they have caused before and during this war, extremism in this country…has a world to pay for.”