Burn it, Burn it all

Necessity is the mother of invention, or in this case the mother of ingenuity. I found a small bag of potting soil, and an old broken box spring. Added some leaves, plywood and boom a raised bed. Planted some honeydew melon seeds and couldn't wait for them to produce.

Three months ago I wouldn't have even tried to build a raised bed or grow anything. But that's when my fellow citizens lost their minds. America has always been a dream for some, and a nightmare for others. Well the others decided to strike back at the ones living the dream. At first the working class beginning to unit seem like a good thing.

A young woman working in a warehouse, got hurt by one of the automated robots. Her name was Isabell Bondmen and she lost her foot because of the accident. The multi-billion dollar company claimed it was her incompetence that caused the injury. So they'd only offer her a settlement of $25,000. The company also said it would only pay her upfront medical cost, but not her rehabilitation.

This caused outrage across the nation, and massive support for her. She was able to raise over one million dollar on a funding site. That was more than enough to pay her medical bills including rehabilitation. Miss. Bondmen begin speaking publicly as soon as she recovered. She talked about the work condition in the warehouse she was injured. And the work condition of many people around the nation.

She used her voice to unit the employees of the very large company that caused her injure. All across the nation people were supporting her and her cause. She said on one of her social media accounts, everyone should show up to work one hour late. Amazingly 90% of the companies employees did as she said. The next day she asked them to be two hours late, again 90% did what she said.

The third day she asked all those that could afford it, don't go to work at all. Again 90% complied with her request and didn't show up for work. The largest online shopping company had to shut down because of one woman. The company threaten to fire any employees that participated in what they called a strike. The fourth day the employees showed up clocked in and just sat at their stations not working.

Inspired by her, millions of people from other companies began to do the same. Even truck drivers wouldn't deliver their loads. Pilots wouldn't fly their plains, flight attendants stopped showing up for work. Isabell Bondmen had a following of over fifty million people. And it seemed they'd do anything she asked of them.

She asked her followers to open their homes to those that needed it because of the strikes. People all over the country were opening their homes to complete strangers. People with large properties were allowing the homeless to put up tents on their property. It seemed like the poor and middle class were coming together and big changes were going to come from it.

Miss. Bondmen was given the nickname Truth. She was asked to come back to the warehouse she use to work, and give a speech. She agreed and the number of people that showed up to watch filled the parking lot. Her former coworkers bought her a gift. They presented her with a golden heart shaped locket. She put it on and walked to the podium to give her speech.

There were cameras covering her speech. It was being live streamed on almost every social media platform. The crowd thundered with cheers as she stood at the podium. Then there was a loud blast, that silenced everyone. Seconds after that loud blast the gold heart-shaped locket cracked in half. Truth fell to the ground and a pool of blood formed around her.

All the social media platforms began cutting the live stream. They also had to shutdown millions of accounts because people kept sharing the video. Every platform was full of messages of shock and disbelief. No one knows who shared it first. But the phrase began repeating millions of times on all platforms. "BURN IT, BURN IT ALL!

The image of Truth standing at the podium was screenshot, then made into posters and flags. A crowd marching in a major city in California was carrying this flag. A driver in a car passing the crowd screamed " good riddance, glad she's gone." The crowd pulled him from the car and beat him to death. Someone from the crowd screamed " BURN IT, BURN IT ALL!"

And so the first fires started in California. Then Texas, next was Arizona it seemed like every state was burning by that night. For the first time in history Martial Law was declared in every state. People were burning corporate offices, department stores and government buildings. Things got much worse once the governors realized Martial Law wasn't being enforced.

The soldiers were helping the civilians set buildings on fire. This went on for days before control was regained. But so much damage was done in every state. All fifty governors and the mayor of D.C. were requesting federal aid. There wasn't enough resources to start everywhere at once. All the grocery stores were looted, some were even burn after everything was gone.

It was around a month after all that when I went into the woods to make a go of it on my own. I had nothing but a backpack of food, my machete and a .22 pistol. I was definitely no survivalist, and had no clue what I was going to do. It's just the cities and towns became too dangerous. I was able to stretch what I had it the bag for a week.

I was afraid to go into town but I remembered a truck stop just outside of town. I found an abandon tractor-trailer and managed to get the doors open. There was nothing on the truck but caned beans and rice. I loaded my backpack and headed back to my hideaway. Of course I wasn't able to go unnoticed.

Three guys were waiting at the end of the trailer when I was about to leave. They were all wearing shirts with a broken heart-shaped locket drawn on them. They asked where I came from and why I was on their trailer. I didn't say a word, I just focused on their positions.

One of the guys kept talking but I didn't listen. I pulled my .22 and started firing. I killed all three of them, and had to hide their bodies. One of the good things about a .22 is they aren't loud. I hoped no one heard the shots and headed back to my hideout.

On my way there, I heard some rustling in the brush. I pulled my weapon and went to check on the noise. A young lady jumped out of the bushes crying. She screamed " PLEASE, DON'T SHOT!" I lowered my pistol and told her to calm down. I said to her " My name is Malum, what is yours?"

She told me her name was Vindica, and she was looking for her family. Her father, her uncle, and her brother they left her that morning and hadn't been back. Now at the time cell phones weren't working very well. And neither was the internet, I don't know the reason for that. Of course I feared I knew were her family was but I didn't say anything.

When she stood up I saw her shirt, it had the same broken heart-shaped locket drawn on it. I felt horrible but I couldn't tell her the truth. I told her it wasn't good for her to be alone. She ask if I would take her to her family's storage trailer. I told her it was getting dark soon, and we shouldn't be out much longer. I told her she could come with me, and we'd find her family the next day.

She agreed and came with me to my hideout. I told her to walk ahead of me so I could keep her safe. She did as I asked, and I found myself looking at her more than my surroundings. She was tall and slender, with a natural tan. Her hair was red and flowed down her back. Every so often she'd look back and I'd get a glance of her green eyes.

When we got to my hideout I showed her the place she could rest. I got her some fresh water and sat next her. I told her how beautiful I thought she was, and she smiled. She said " Is that why I felt your eyes on me as we walked over here?" I admitted my look my have lingered longer than necessary. She laughed and grabbed my hands and placed them around her.

She kissed me and told me she hadn't been near a man that wasn't family in months. Just as I leaned in for another kiss she asked " what's to eat around here?" I showed her the makeshift stove I was using, and told her about the food in my pack. She was talking up a storm as she walked over to my pack. The minute she open it she suddenly got quiet.

When I looked up at her she had a big smile. She said " I may just stay here with you. You have everything we need." I just smiled and let myself enjoy the thought of that for a minute. She began cooking our food and humming a beautiful tune. When the food was ready she brought it to me, while smiling the whole time.

As I ate the food I noticed it had a peculiar smell and taste. But I didn't want to hurt her feeling so I ate all of it quickly. It wasn't until I finished my plate that realized, she hadn't touched her plate. I asked her why she wasn't eating. She said she was just wondering, if I enjoyed it. I told her the food was great.

She said " I wasn't talking about the food, I was talking about murdering my family." I just stared at her not knowing what to say. She laughed and said " You were really thinking of being with me after what you did to my family?" I was still shocked into silence. Her finally words before she walked out with all she could carry was " You have hours left in this world, I suggest you write something of who you were. Maybe someone will find what's left of someday."