The Novel Analyst Podcast: Creative Writing Advice & Author Interviews Jed Herne

This might be one of the best writing podcasts out there.

Forget the American Dream, this sounds like the American Dread.

Underground churches and libraries were immediately blown up. It looked like Ben had won. Until...

A mailman came with 4 words that would change everyone's lives. Those words were,”Ben has been assassinated!”.Everyone was in shock that this could possibly become a democracy but no one could have guessed what would happen next. It was Cole Pendleton, the leader of CR. America: a democracy, a dictatorship, and a monarchy. Yes, Cole made America an absolute monarchy. People were still angry. People wanted the United States of America back. They wanted a democracy. They wanted to vote.They wanted protected rights. They didn’t want to hear the constant gunfire. Or the sound of bombs exploding. Or any violence of any kind. Some even considered taking there own lives to get out of this horrific torture that America has turned into. And desperate times call for desperate measures. Here is one terrible, terrible word that most people turn to in this situation. That word isn’t war. It was anarchy. People revolted. They had enough. They wanted independence. Independence from Ben. Independence from Cole. Independence from war. Independence from dictators. Independence from kings.

Independence from each other.

Independence from friends and families. It was everyone for themselves. There were no laws. They overthrew the government. For the first time in forever, people had freedom. Colonies were built. Some for good and some for evil. If you find something you want it’s yours. Stealing is now a way of life. Arsonists and vandals have destroyed most power stations. No more electricity. Who could possibly survive in this post-apocalyptic world? People who can make choices for themselves. That could never happen with the government in their way. In some places it was terrible and in some it was terrific. It was a utopia and yet a dystopia. Some people were jam-packed in large cities of broken wood and twisted metal, others were completely isolated and in those isolated societies religious teachers and storytellers and teachers were held in the highest respect. Rebuilding and development was happening everyday, but so was destruction and obliteration. Some tried to make another democracy but they all ended in assassination. Money is now useless other than kindling for fires. Trading was extremely popular. Different communities sprang up. Let me tell you the story of these communities. One was called Apocalyptic Crime Terminators or ACT. Their motto was,”We will always ACT against evil”. It was made up of police officers and FBI and CIA agents. It was basically the police of Armageddon. They had never seen so many anarchists try to kill each other at the same time. They had never seen anyone war like America. No one could compete with America’s death count in this time of anarchy. Another community that came up was called the Reconstruction Crew. They had plumbers and engineers and architects and construction workers. They built beautiful houses that were huge. They all worked together to build things. Their goal was to build a skyscraper that doubled as an apartment building. There was one community that was living proof that even when evil comes good always follows. They were a large group of farmers that made a very large abundance of crops, milk, eggs, and meat. So they did something pretty unexpected when the world became anarchy. They gave it away. They took what they needed and randomly gave the rest away. They were called the Farmers of Anarchy. One group didn’t have specialized people so they just worked with what they had. This place was called the Rebuilding Region. Now all that I have told you so far are the good groups but the bad groups easily outnumber and overpower the good ones. Most people joined places that basically honored vandalism and arson. Others joined places that honored looting and attacking people and places. Anyway, after a long time of drama, though some people are still independent, most people are in large colonies. But some places had become dictatorships. One of those places was Alaska. It was a prime target for people who wanted to be dictators because it was so isolated. No one would want to take the risk to take a voyage on a boat back to America. No one wanted to take the risk to take a trek on foot or a horse or in a car or a wagon or plane. You can interpret this in your own way and you don't need to call this a disaster. If you live in one of the many dictatorships then this was some assistance but if you live in a beautiful, glamorous, rich, city this was, without a doubt, insufferable. A very sizable napalm bomb struck the center of this broken country. That was, unfortunately, where the most good cities were and the dictatorships were on the outskirts. Soon their world turned to fire. The fire was spreading extremely quickly. And soon the Americas were engulfed in flames. Where could you survive?

(To be continued)