“Should we?” Jackson’s hands rest on either side of the lid hoping Joe says “no” but secretly wanting him to say “hell yeah!”.
Hesitantly Joe masks his anticipation. “Yeah. Why not?”
That’s
not confirmation filled with enthusiasm, but Jackson pries the rusty
box open without delving into the endless reasons as to why or why not.
“A book!” Joe instantly shouts, the memories flooding back to him.
All
fear is gone. Joe yanks it out and begins flapping dust in every
direction as he flips through the delicate paper pages. Jackson counts
it and every artifact carefully to create a mental inventory: a black
fat book, three dark blue books, an ancient audio device, a series of
discs and a chain necklace.
Immediately
Jackson reaches for the only object that won’t get him killed and
begins to examine the tiny metal links of the necklace. He slips it
over his head and dangles the relic from his neck, watching the ancient
key swing from left to right until his jacket stops the momentum. Next
he reaches for the audio device, surprised technology like this can
still be found.
“Holy
Bible? Odd word, bible.” Wonder why it’s holy, he thinks before
slamming the black book down, creating a wave of dust in the process.
Frantically, he then reaches for one of the discs and asks, “What’s a
CD?”
“And
what’s an iPod?” Jackson mumbles to himself, reading the metallic
lettering. He flips the device over and notices a small red button.
Pressing it, the screen illuminates. A small white apple appears for a
short while until a bright menu takes its place.
“Wow!” Joe proclaims. “It still works!”
“Yeah, I think it has one of those solar, nuclear, forever lasting batteries.”
“Where the hell did yuh hear that?”
“A friend.” Jackson thinks of Conner and the tidbits of random knowledge he’s accumulated from him.
Joe
is about to delve in and interrogate Jackson as to which friend he is
talking about, but becomes distracted by the shimmering of the CD
object. “What do you make of these?” Joe hands him a small stack of
plastic square casings. Inside each casing sits a shiny, compact disc.
Joe picks up one labeled John Mayer and is quick to discover the glare that can be created when angling them just right. Without hesitating he blinds Jackson.
“These things are awesome!” He giggles with joy. He can’t believe he found it, and in all places Grandma Lisa’s old yard.
“Yeah,
super cool.” Jackson places the small stack down and goes back to the
iPod device. He scrolls through the various menus until finding a
series of foreign words. “American Backstory, The USA: a founding?”
“Hey Jackson! This one has yer name on it. Well kind of.” Joe hands him one of the shiny encased discs labeled: The Rouge Family: DIA BBQ USA HQ Oct 14, 2037.
Jackson shivers at reading the words, and as Joe continues to reflect
light throughout the room, Jackson makes one more discovery. Picking up a petite tan envelope found in between one of the blue books labeled Journal,
he compresses the contents to feel a number of different pieces of
papers. He spins it around to reveal one last spooky sight.
“To
Jackson from Mom and Dad.” He reads it reverently and in seconds, a
rush of adrenalin floods through his veins. “Joe. Put everything back
in the box. Now!”
Change affects everyone and it is no different for Jackson. Living in Area 38 for as long as he can remember, he knows of no better way to exist than under the tyrannical rule of Christopher Stone, son of Stewart Stone from The Nine of The United Governmental Areas, aka The UGA. This all takes a dramatic turn when Jackson finds a red, metal box buried in his yard, filled with illegal artifacts—journals, a Bible, CDs, etc.—that are from a man of whom he has no recollection of: Mica Rouge.
The year is 2036 and Mica, unlike Jackson, does know of a better way of life but is torn apart as he sees his country, The United States of America, crumbling from within by group known as The Political Mafia. The Mafia has infiltrated levels upon levels of governmental resources and it is up to Mica and a vigilante group known as The USA Division to stop them and their dark Utopian vision. To their demise, and at the country's expense, The Division fails and has no choice but to watch The Constitution dissolve and transform into The UGA.
In a final stand, having not given up hope, Mica and what is left of The Division, give one final fight in Colorado, or better known as Area 38. However, all is lost as The Division is betrayed by one of their own, Stewart Stone. Mica is left with no choice but to hide in exile, leaving what little history he can of himself and the great United States of America, with his wife, long time friends, and newly born son in hopes that they will one day finish what he could not.
Jackson, having found this legacy twenty-seven years later, decides to start the war that will end The Nine, and he with an outcast group known as The Raiders, begins his fight with Christopher Stone in Area 38. Filled with betrayal, unity, despair, hope, hate and love Area 38 follows both Mica and Jackson in their attempts to restore what they believe to be true freedom, and where one fails, the other rises to the seemingly impossible challenge.
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Genre – Dystopian Thriller
Rating – PG13
More details about the author
Website www.mikeydb.com
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