FRONDER

"The old hold the present, the young hold the future". - John H. Cawess

Every time I close my eyes... I can hear those voices, those screamings... those laughings. Those sounds come from my buddies, those who fought along with me in that war. Just can't get them off my mind, I've gotten used to hearing those voices, for dozen of years. I just can't stand it every time I hear those voices in my mind. 

I can't stand it because... those mind's voices mostly come from the dead. Some voices will make me want to tear up, now only me is here alive. Most of them have died in that war. If I try to imagine closely while closing my eyes, I may be able to watch a battle scene that I used to fight... very, very real.

"Sir, your coffee's ready". - A woman's voice cut off my imagination, the scene of the battle of the Golden Gate bridge suddenly vanished

I open my eyes, I return to this harsh reality. I see myself sitting on a brown couch, inside my office private room. A white cup of coffee is on the wooden table, my secretary did this... she placed it there before waking me up to enjoy the cup.

I look around the room a little bit, but it has nothing special to describe. I will say that my room's windows are closed for a few reasons... I did that. Tapes recorded during the war are scattered all over the table's surface. Besides them are dossiers of characters in the war who are considered top secret, and many things else that I cannot say all.

There is a big and wide TV before my eyes. I was rewatching and re-reading documentaries and books about the Third World War. Somehow I dozed off, maybe I was too tired. I slowly try to get up, my old body gets sore when I move my right hand.

This hand is actually a replica, my right hand with real flesh and bones was lost at the end of the war. My left leg as well, I can hear the metal cracking sounds of my prosthetic leg when I start walking.

"Which one to watch, Sir?". - The woman who woke me up earlier, asked me if she could help me

"Right at the beginning of the war, quick".

The young woman nods to me, then swiftly approaches a bookshelf in a corner of the room to grab out a war book. That's my secretary - Lieutenant Seeley Vanton. She's a beautiful woman with white skin, tall, wearing a green cap every time at work. She covers her short brown hair, she is only willing to put her cap down when she is in her rest time.

I can't see her face from this side because she is choosing a book for me. But I can tell that she is opening her brown eyes very widely just to search for one good book for me to read. Right after she has done choosing a book, the Lieutenant returns to my position. Her green camo uniform has some sweat, maybe she was having some chores outside previously.

"You were doing things outside earlier?". - I asked her while receiving the book

"Collecting some reports, Sir". - She replied.  "We've got some new intel, you need to hear now or not?". - Then suddenly continued her words

"Leave me alone here, I don't have a need now".

"Roger...". - She returned to stand straight, but her eyes kept glancing at the coffee cup on the table.  "You must drink it fast, Sir, it'll be cold soon".

I just nod to let her know. Seeley just keeps standing before me for a while, as if she is reluctant to leave. However, she soon steps outside of the room, then slowly closed the door.

"Give yourself some free time... I'll call you here when I need". - I told her while opening the book

"Yes, Sir...". - She replied before the door shut by itself completely

When the room is again filled with silence, I comfortably get into my work. I flip the page to the table of contents, to read about the war's beginning. Then I put it on the table, looking at the book and making a sigh. It's like I'm reading my past, the time I was a kiddo till I joined the Army because of the war.

"Ugghh! Ugghh!". - All of sudden, I coughed

The symptoms of the B28 poison gas have started in my body once again. It's destroying my body, I have no choice but to fight against it. Although I'm not too old... I'm just 48 if I have to count since I was born in 2012. I'm struggling with walking right now, maybe I'll be disabled someday because of this gas.

I pick up the book once again, then start reading about the "before the war". I've read this book, so I can tell the next events without looking at it. I'm starting to recollect those events, maybe later I'll have a nap to deep myself in this war to remember my past time.

...

...

...

Hmmm... as far as I remember, everything bad started in 2020. During the presidential election of the United States, the current president was assassinated, by a black... he was blamed. That black guy was just a victim of an underground organization. Right after that assassination, everything in my country went dark.

That organization used the assassination to make riots in the country. Just in a short time, 15 states of the US were all in anarchy. Military and police couldn't do anything to stop this organization. They had already got a big army growing in their inside, they soon took over those 15 states, just only within a month.

California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida were in their hands.

Right after they took over 15 states, a government of that organization was founded. They claimed to own those states, and founded a new nation named "Republic States of America".

The second American civil war soon broke out inside the country. At first, the government from our side thought that the situation would be settled in 3 months. But they were wrong, the war kept continuing. The Republic States were backed up by China and Russia since they recognized that new nation.

Somehow... the President of the US at that time had made up a bad decision. Both sides had joined a truce, and the United States remained split in half. Military border lines, demilitarized zones were later set up all over the country.

That's the story from the west, big changes were from the east... I mean in Asia.

That same moment, a military organization was founded in China. Its name was "Union, Allies of Socialist Nations". Russia, North Korea, Republic States and other communist nations soon joined the UASN. According to their reason for founding the organization... those big countries were "scared of" the US and its allies' expansion in Asia.

India somehow was in the state like the US. After a year, a mysterious organization in that country also used a common man to eliminate the current President. This time, they did not just successful in overwhelming the military in that country... but also took over the entire India.

The world's situation kept going like that till 2025, everything in Europe was more tense than ever. Ukraine was allowed to be a NATO ally. Russia immediately invaded Ukraine in May, 2025 after that country joined NATO.

Once again, the US government joined to interfere with the war in Ukraine. NATO later declared war on Russia, that country on its own fought against the entire alliance. Luckily, the Ukraine-Russia war did not cause the Third World War. But it made the US military withdraw its troops in Afghanistan.

China and its other allies stood outside to watch the war in Ukraine. Luckily that the war did not spread to other parts of NATO's countries, Ukraine took all the damage from that long war. Russia's President was assassinated by his own soldiers when they couldn't stand it. He died at the end of 2027, the Ukraine-Russia war was over on January 28, 2028.

People were relieved to know that the war in Ukraine was finally over. But little did they know... that was just a slow start for another bigger war.

The Third World War, occurred on February 6, 2028. Its starting point was in Berlin, Germany. From 11:30 AM according to the country's GMT, the city was the first to be struck by the new prototype chemical weapon of China - B28 poison gas.

I remember that 200.000 of Berlin people lost their lives that day. No one knew what was happening since the internet and other ways of communicating were cut off. Three hours after the attack in Berlin, Washington got a call from Tokyo, Japan.

It turned out that not just Berlin got hit. Most capital cities in Europe got hit by that poison gas, and Japan somehow managed to get a light damage... they were lucky to not hit the gas.

When the US military was about to take action... the civil war started again...

Maybe I should loose my mind a bit. Now I will have to imagine, thinking about the day that I woke up and saw the war before my eyes...

I close the book after that, then I put it on the table.

I start lying on the couch, looking at the roof... hoping myself to deep in a sleep...