Tomorrow War
Page 25
Tune in on 1030 AM nightly at six for more on this developing story, and for continuing coverage of the provisional government trials.
February 10
Northwest Arkansas Free Press
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CHINESE TROOPS ON THE RUN
According to the newly elected President Christopher Newmauer of the California Territory, West Coast harbors are being flooded with Chinese troop carriers, but they’re not dropping off troops says one eyewitness.
“They’re loading those ships down with men like a boat full of Cuban refugees. Surprised they don’t sink leaving the harbor,” says Michael Shure of San Diego.
With most territorial leaders issuing a “shoot on sight” order on any UN troops operating illegally inside North America, this comes as no surprise. With more than four hundred million guns in American hands before the defunct provisional government’s failed attempt at disarmament, the Chinese military has a lot to be worried about.
Tune in on 1030 AM nightly at six for more on this developing story, and for our continuing coverage on the public executions of convicted provisional government officials.
April 23
Northwest Arkansas Free Press
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LOCAL FED CONVICTED, SENTENCED TO DEATH BY FIRING SQUAD
Former Special Agent in Charge Lon Peterson was convicted of seven hundred and forty three counts of murder today. The jury only deliberated five minutes in this landmark case deciding the fate of the agent known to many as the man behind the Jailhouse Massacre, among countless other atrocities. He will be awarded the death penalty by firing squad in the Fayetteville town square this Saturday at noon. Patrons are asked to leave children under the age of sixteen at home. A raffle is being conducted to choose ten executioners. Any able-bodied adult citizen may apply. Interested parties are asked to see Sheriff Baker for details or contact her on citizen band channel eighteen.
Tune in on 1030 AM nightly at six for more on this, and for our continuing election coverage of the Arkansas Territory presidential election.
July 4
Northwest Arkansas Free Press
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INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION TAKES ON NEW MEANING AMIDST SINO-TERRITORIAL TENSIONS
Arkansans take to the streets today to celebrate independence from the former Provisional Government, at times expressing intense outrage on last year’s Sino-Territorial occupation. Pressure from newly elected Arkansas Territory President, Jim Sparks, has driven talks with the nuclear capable Dakotas Territory regarding potential retaliatory measures.
Sheriff Baker reminds Arkansans not to discharge firearms into the air in celebration, and to take appropriate firearm safety precautions during their Independence Day celebrations: “Please, people, we’ve had enough accidental injuries. It is true that all federal firearms laws have been nullified by the Territorial Supreme Court until further notice, but let’s try to police ourselves and have some commonsense fun out there tonight. There ain’t any more Chinese running around in the Arkansas Territory; just because someone might look like they could be Asian, that don’t mean they’re a damn Chinese spy. Just keep a level head out there, it’s all I’m asking. Long live the Independent Territories.”
Although emotions run high as more details are uncovered regarding the circumstances around the Sino occupation, most territorial citizens remain hopeful for peace.
Tune in on 1030 AM nightly at six for more on our coverage of the developing Sino-Territorial crisis.
//END COGNITIVE TRANSCRIPTION
The previous record has been classified as a protected historical document, transcribed from petabytes of text, audio, and video recovered from various sensors that were located in the territory formerly known as the United States of America. Hub records indicate that there were nearly a thousand fragmented personal accounts of the Rebellion of 2021. The Max account clearly stands out from the rest, as it is widely considered by historians to be the most accurate and definitive depiction of how, where, and when the rebellion began and eventually ended. This sixty-seventh edition includes archival evidence that the nuclear device detonated in February 2023 was most likely the single event that triggered the nuclear/EMP exchange of 2025. Although the redacted digital portions of the record outlining the early days of the rebellion survived the nuclear/EMP exchange of 2025, not until 2093, when the yellowed pages of the handwritten volume were discovered at an estate sale in the ArkansasTerritory, was the bulk of the Max account made available to historians. Quantum digital forensics worked diligently for a decade to recover the missing pieces of history that took place before the nuclear/EMP exchange of 2025.
The identity of Max remains unknown as of this printing.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This is merely a work of postapocalyptic fiction; I do not advocate violence. Some may call it thought-crime, but that’s exactly where this plotline belongs—in the dark recesses of our minds where we explore the primal side of humanity.
By the time this novel hits the shelves, I’ll be walking between the sideboys to the tune of a bosun’s pipe, retiring from the United States Navy. I’d like to thank the United States naval service for a wonderful and sometimes challenging twenty-two years of high adventure. I’d like to give special thanks to my agent for his solid and insightful guidance throughout the years. Serpent Road would not be possible without the surgical editorial work of my editor (who it turns out was always right from DBDA1 to now—thanks!) and the rest of his great team up at Rockefeller Center in New York City. As always, my family patiently put up with my long hours upstairs in the writing dungeon to bring you this novel, so I’d say they’ve earned some hearty thanks as well. There would be no professional writers without readers, so, from the bottom of my heart, I’d like to thank you for picking up Serpent Road and traveling all these pages with me.
As far as Max goes . . . well, let’s just hope he lives out a happy and peaceful life somewhere in the Arkansas territory.
—J.L. Bourne
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
J.L. BOURNE is a retired military officer and the acclaimed author of the horror series Day by Day Armageddon and the dystopian thriller Tomorrow War. With more than twenty years of active military and intelligence community service behind him, J.L. brands a realistic and unique style of fiction. He lives on the Gulf Coast but is sometimes spotted toting a rifle and a Bowie knife in the rural hills of Arkansas where he grew up. Visit him at JLBourne.com before the grid goes dark.
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ALSO BY J.L. BOURNE
Day by Day Armageddon
Day by Day Armageddon: Beyond Exile
Day by Day Armageddon: Shattered Hourglass
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Gallery Books
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright 2017 by J.L. Bourne
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First Gallery Books trade paperback edition July 2017
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Design by Lewelin Polanco
Cover art by Tony Mauro
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Bourne, J. L., author.
Title: Tomorrow war: serpent road : a novel / J. L. Bourne.
Description: First Gallery Books trade paperback edition | New York : Gallery Books, 2017. | Series: The chronicles of Max ; 2 |
Identifiers: LCCN 2017020293 (print) | LCCN 2017021774 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Survival—Fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Technological. | FICTION / War & Military. | GSAFD: Dystopias.
Classification: LCC PS3602.O89274 (ebook) | LCC PS3602.O89274 T64 2017 (print) | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017020293
ISBN 978-1-5011-1670-4
ISBN 978-1-5011-1672-8 (ebook)