by Keegan Long
The Awakening
Keegan Long
Copyright © 2016 by Keegan Long
ISBN: 9781521886281
Table of Contents
Dedication
Pg. 5
Note to Reader
Pg. 6
Prologue: Project Red Eye
Pg. 7
Chapter 1: The Hell of Kansas
Pg. 12
Chapter 2: The Mysterious Notes
Pg. 24
Chapter 3: The Executive Order
Pg. 36
Chapter 4: The Journey to Nebraska
Pg. 44
Chapter 5: Madam President
Pg. 52
Chapter 6: Origins
Pg. 59
Chapter 7: Colorado Bound
Pg. 67
Chapter 8: An Old Friend
Pg. 76
Chapter 9: The Runaway
Pg. 86
Chapter 10: The City That Never Sleeps
Pg. 95
Chapter 11: Project Alpha
Pg. 104
Chapter 12: The Battle of New York
Pg. 111
Dedication
To all my friends who make every day an adventure like this one.
Note to the Reader
First off, I would like to apologize to any of the writing and grammar mistakes you might find throughout this book. I'm not a professional writer and my main task in this project was to get this story out for everyone to enjoy. Secondly, I do not own any of these pictures and they belong to those creators. Lastly, this is a work of fiction and made purely for entertainment purposes. I hope you enjoy my story and that you find it just as entertaining and fun as I did making it.
Prologue:
Project Red Eye
No one knew when it was coming. It was what all of us feared and knew what was to come one day in the end. And that is destruction.
The year was 2037 and technology was at of what people would call a golden age. It was part of everyday life and was everywhere you went. Phones that projected holographic images which could connect you to the entire world in a matter of seconds. Screens that would light up the streets with advertisements or news broadcasts. Then there were the drones.
The drones were there to protect us from threats from within the country and outside. They would patrol the streets and skies 24/7. People were scared and uncomfortable at first but they soon would adapt and life moved on. Most people forgot about the drones or didn’t mind them as they too became part of our everyday life.
Crime rates went down to an all-time low as the drones helped catch and protect the people on the streets. Terrorism too became a thing of the past as the drones would spot them before they could strike. Everyone soon forgot about the evil that lurked out there in the world still waiting for the right opportunity to strike. I did not though.
Soon after the drones, the United States government wanted to even take technology a step further and make the world even a safer place. They then stepped forward and released on what they had been working on the past several years and they called it Project Red Eye. An army of the most advanced robots the world had ever seen and made for military purposes.
They could walk like humans and run like us. They could climb trees or buildings if told to do so or even pull the trigger of a gun if they deemed necessary to do so. They didn’t look like us but walked and behaved like us.
That is when the government went too far and the golden age was replaced with an era of fear. It made people uncomfortable and they were deathly scared of seeing a robot walk up and down the streets daily carrying an assault rifle that could end the lives of so many. That’s when people began to revolt. Protests were held daily and by thousands of people. They demanded that Project Red Eye be shut down and terminated for good. And the government listened and were willing to comply.
Project Red Eye was to officially be shut down and all the robots would be dismantled. All had seemed well and as we thought things were being sorted out chaos erupted. This is what no one saw coming.
They call it The Cerberus Hack and that’s when all our technology turned against us. A terrorist group called Cerberus came out from their dark tunnels and took control of it all. The drones, the satellites, and the robots. We didn't even stand a chance. People were slaughtered on the streets and the corpses of dead bodies could be seen piled up everywhere you went.
We looked to our government to come save us but they too were just as outgunned as we were. They put up a good fight but it would only last a good six months and they were wiped out. The President was probably dead along with anyone who could help. We were alone.
We tried reaching out for help to other countries but they too were fighting for their own survival against the technology that turned against them as well due to Cerberus. The fighting lasted another six months and then it was over. Cerberus had won and all resistance, for the most part, had been eliminated.
A couple of weeks after the fighting had ended the power of the entire world had been turned off and could only be used in the new states Cerberus had created. In other words, if you were outside these states you were living in nothing but a war-torn wasteland. Many people surrendered to Cerberus and left to go live in these new states. There were four states created in the United States and would house and control the citizens of the country.
The first state was California and like the name, it was located in what was used to be seen as California. Cerberus took control of the entire state. The second state was Kansas, which would make the state of Kansas one big territory as well. Cerberus would soon force the people to farm here to provide food for the other states as well.
The third state would become Texas and they too would be forced to raise crops and livestock for the new country created under Cerberus. Lastly, there was the Capital and located in our old capital Washington D.C. This is where Cerberus would control the country and supply their army. People would live in the Capital District but mostly just high officials and leaders who were part of Cerberus or traitors who pledged their loyalty to the new government to only make a better living for themselves.
There are still little resistance groups that pop up from time to time to try and fight against Cerberus but they don’t stand a chance and are wiped out easily or pushed back to their underground bases. Many people have lost hope on ever regaining our freedom back. Everyone dreams of the life they used to have and want it back. I can see it in everyone’s eyes. I too have almost lost all hope of ever returning back to a normal life. But that was about to all change when I met people who inspired me to not lose hope and to continue on the fight.
My name is Delaney Nordbrock and this is my story on how I started The New Revolution.
Five Years Later
1
The Hell of Kansas
The war is over and now we are nothing but peasants and prisoners to this new country. Welcome to the Cerberus Federation. That’s what they call it, our new government Cerberus. This place is my home and it will always be the great United States to me. Most have forgotten about the old country and have submitted to the new ways.
My name is Delaney Nordbrock and I have not forgotten our country. I still believe in our old beliefs and values we used to stand for. Equality for all no matter where you come from or what you believe in. It’s hard to have that nowadays.
I am 19 years old and have long blonde hair and blue eyes that I get from my mother everyone used to say. I remember it all beginning five years ago and the bloody One Year War. It has now
been five years of occupation under Cerberus and every day is longer than the last.
I have no idea where my family is. Two weeks after the war ended and the power was turned off they came for us. Cerberus came with their soldiers and robots and drones and separated us from each other. My dad was a mechanic in the old days and was taken to the Capital to build drones and robots for Cerberus. My mom was taken to California to do something for Cerberus as well but never figured that out myself. The hardest was when they took my twin sister McKenna to Texas to a re-education camp to force her to accept and love the new country. I was taken to do the same but was transferred to Kansas instead, away from my sister.
I will never forgive them for what they have done to me. They have broken my family and split us apart from each other to please this new country. Our simple life in Nebraska was no more.
I did everything with my sister McKenna. We grew up together, played together, learned to drive together, shared the same room, and now she was gone and I fear that I will never see her again. We look alike in some ways, such as both having long blonde hair, but we are different too and both have unique and different personalities. I now have to live everyday feeling as if I am missing a part of me.
For the past several years I have been located in a re-education school, that’s what they call it, but it’s really nothing but a prison. They drill us every day on how great they are and try to brainwash us. If we misbehave in any sort of way or even mention the United States we are severely punished and beaten at times.
Eventually, people submit or give in and they move on to work with Cerberus at the Capital with the government or become a soldier in the army. I would rather die than serve Cerberus. That’s probably why I have quite a good reputation here at the camp. Not with Cerberus though.
It was never a goal to draw attention to myself or stand out from the others. I just don’t believe in Cerberus and refuse to accept their new customs. I refuse to bow down to their officers as we are told to do so, or recite the Cerberus Pledge. One time I recited the Pledge of Allegiance instead which got me in some big trouble with Cerberus officers and landed me in the basement for a couple of days.
The basement is where they have several special prison cells different from the ones we stay and sleep in every night. The ones we sleep in have a window that shows us the outside, some lighting, and a bed with a mattress for us to sleep on. The basement cells are cold and dark with no windows and have nothing to sleep on but the cement floor. Many of the times they are crawling with insects of different types.
I’ve been put in the basement several times throughout my stay here. I always am looking for opportunities to get the officers mad or annoyed with me. As long as they see I haven’t given up my goal is accomplished. I will never bow to anyone, especially anyone associated with Cerberus.
Over the past years though I have made some pretty good friends who have stuck with me all the way, which brings me much pleasure. They tell me I have motivated them over time and they too have started to stand up to Cerberus like me. From time to time they will refuse to bow to the officers or any other little acts to annoy the guards.
Out of my little group of friends we have Bekah who is a strong and passionate person. She is 20 years old, just a year older than me, but has been here at this prison just as long as me. To her luck though, unlike mine, she was put here with her sister Nicole. Nicole, who is 17, has blonde hair like her sister Bekah. Bekah has a wavier hair style while Nicole has longer smooth blonde hair.
Our last member of the group is Sarah, who is the same age as me. She too is a fierce and passionate person and won’t let anyone tell her what to do, especially Cerberus. She has red hair that falls just beyond her shoulders, which reflects her well as she is a fighter and a good one at that. She has a reputation too and at times have punched the guards or have gotten in fights with them. She is probably the one person in the entire building who has spent the most time in the basement.
Today is a big day for the Kansas Reeducation School of Cerberus as we have the Principal of the camps coming in today. The Principal is the head of all re-education camps throughout the entire Cerberus Federation. In Kansas, there is only one camp but in bigger states, I know that have several. The Principal comes once a year to check in with the camps to make sure everything is up to Cerberus protocol. This year though I’m planning on making myself well known with the Principal.
The guards today announced that they were keeping us in our rooms all day today to make sure nothing goes wrong with the visit from the Principal. The only time they were going to let us out was when it was lunch time for us. That is when I was going to try and make as much trouble as I could.
The time was now approaching and the buzzers went off signalling that our doors had now been unlocked for us to leave. I opened my door and made my way down to the cafeteria. Once I got my food I sat down at the table where I always sit and were soon later joined by Nicole, Sarah, and Bekah.
“Well, this blows,” Nicole said with a disgusting face as she looked at her tray of food. “This isn’t even real meat.”
“They save that stuff for themselves,” Bekah commented as she eyed her food with disappointment as well. “How do they call this a hamburger.”
"Oh, what I would do for McDonalds again," Nicole sighed.
“Where’s the meat?” Sarah said in disgust as well. “I need to get out of this place.”
“One day we will Sarah,” I reassured her. “We have to just wait for the perfect opportunity because we will only get one shot at it.”
“Speaking of opportunities, I know you are planning on something with the principal here today,” Sarah said to me with a smirk on her face.
“Indeed, I do,” I answered with returning a little smile. “I plan on giving him a piece of my mind.”
“What do you have in mind?” Bekah asked me. “I would like to help.”
“Me too,” Nicole said. “They don’t scare me.”
“And you know you can count on me,” Sarah joined in with a bright smile on her face. “I don’t mind spending the night in the basement for a couple of days.”
“So, what’s the plan?” Bekah asked. “Let’s piss off some of these Cerberus officials.”
“A few months ago, I was able to salvage an old American flag that I found in a dumpster when they had me doing trash duty,” I explained. “At one point in the day I’m going to replace the Cerberus flag in the main hall with the American one.”
“I love it,” Sarah said with a big evil grin on her face. “That will really get them mad.”
“I know,” I told them. “I thought since the main hall is where most people are at most of the time it’s the perfect place to put it. And since it’s off limits today I can easily get in and switch them.”
“How have the guards not have found it yet?” Nicole asked me. “They do weekly room searches.”
“Let’s just say I have it in a pretty safe and secret place,” I answered her. “There’s a little crack in the wall in my room and I was able to hide it in there.”
“The guards would never think to look in the walls,” Bekah said as she started chuckling. “They are too stupid.”
“I love this plan Delaney,” Sarah said as she put her arm around my back. “This won’t just get the guards mad but will also inspire many others here and remind them who we really are.”
“My thoughts exactly,” I replied with a smile. “As long as people still have hope we can fight to live another day.”
“Plus, it will give me something to do,” Bekah commented with a laugh which was soon joined by everybody else.
“The worst they can do to us is lock us in the basement for all of eternity,” Sarah said. “And if they decide to kill us, which they won’t, no biggie. This world sucks anyway.”
Everyone laughed at Sarah’s comment as they looked around at each other.
“It’s been good guys,” I told them. “I’m glad I have met all of yo
u.”
“Same here,” Bekah said. “You’ve inspired me like no other Delaney. I will always be by your side no matter what.”
“Same here,” Sarah added.
“In honesty, I had almost lost hope,” Nicole said. “But you have taught me to not lose it and I will always be in debt to you for that. Thank you.”
“I’m glad I have meant so much to all of you,” I responded with an emotional tone in my voice. “Trust me. This is just the beginning and if we ever get out of here one day, which I god hope so, we will go out there and make a difference in the world.”
“Hopefully we can kill some of these idiots along the way,” Nicole said.
“I would like that,” Sarah said with a smile.
After some time passed a group of guards made their way into the dining hall and were guarding someone. All the guards were heavily armed with automatic assault rifles and were wearing heavy body armor.
“What is going on?” I asked the group as I scanned around the guards trying to find out what was going on.
“I have no idea,” Sarah replied.
“I feel like something is about to go down here,” Bekah said.
“Me too,” I replied with a low whisper to myself.
The guards soon later broke their formation and made their way towards the side to create an aisle for the person they were guarding. And that person was the Principal.