When Borders Become Boundaries

One bright day on the Atlantic Ocean (in the not-too-distant future), a commercial jet and a private fishing vessel simultaneously approach U.S. waters. The jet is on route from England to New York City.

The skipper of the fishing boat is on deck when the Boeing 747 crashes into a wall of nothingness. Bearing witness to the calamitous explosion, the captain thinks it’s a terrorist attack. Seconds later, his own ship crashes into the official border of the United States. The commander and his crew will survive the collision... only to be eaten later by sharks.

In the hours that follow, dozens of other aircraft crash into national boundaries.

Immigrants, legal and otherwise, find invisible barricades along the Mexican and Canadian borders, the first indication this event is something much larger, much more inexplicable than terrorism.

Communication between the United States and the rest of the world is cut off. Presumably, it's the same in every country worldwide.

Two months, three days later, as Americans continue to grapple with their imposed sequestration, the inexplicable phenomenon reoccurs. Suddenly, the borders between states become the newest boundaries.

The resulting carnage is unprecedented. Planes, trains, and all other motorized vehicles impact unseen state lines, in some places (especially on many Interstate highways), creating veritable mountains of twisted metal. By one estimate, more than a hundred thousand automobile accidents occur simultaneously.

Floods of casualties overwhelm hospitals.

Every state effectively secedes from the Union and is forced to live off only its own resources. In Idaho, people begin eating a lot of potatoes. In Wisconsin, most meals include cheese. In Indiana, the cornfields are quickly stripped bare. In all but the most southern states, citrus fruit is utterly eliminated from people’s diets.

The smaller states suffer the worst.

As isolated populations face harsh winters alone, incidents of violence increase. Riots break out in some of the bigger cities. In most places, medical supplies are soon at a premium. Little segregated epidemics become common.

In laboratories on university campuses, dedicated scientists try to discern the nature of the imprisoning force fields, to no avail. No type of known energy can be detected at any border-boundary, and yet radio broadcasts are unable to pierce the invisible partitions. The only form of matter that passes through the enclosures is air, and that only deepens the confusion of physicists, because sound doesn't penetrate.

Then, five months and seventeen days later... once again, the Unknown is made real. Every state is further subdivided: counties become the new cages.

Claustrophobia squeezes America in an ever-tightening grip.

While the intellectuals grope for any plausible explanation that doesn't defy accepted physical laws, the religious continue to find their own apocalyptic answers in the Bible. Convinced the imponderable impediments are the work of the Anti-Christ, the entire populations of some towns join together for final poisoned punch bowl rituals.

All across the divided country, the suicide rate skyrockets.

Martial law exists virtually everywhere. Gangs and various clans fight amongst themselves for control of fuel and food. In all large communities, the mad laughter of the unhinged and the popping of gunfire breaks the stillness of every night.

Sixty-one days later (there is no predictability to the Unaccountable) city limits are made tangible. Every metropolis is locked up tight. In the tiniest rural towns, with the most restricted living space, people will soon start to starve.

Everyone feels trapped... with just cause.

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About this same time, in one moderate-sized Midwestern city, a cartographer named Bob discerns the means of freeing everyone.

Before borders became boundaries, Bob was mapping a brand new housing addition in his hometown. Driving cautiously to that neighborhood now, he parks, gets out of his car, gropes in the air, and is quickly able to find a perfectly transparent barricade that feels like hard plastic.

Bob wonders, Did I create this particular division?

Testing a theory, he uses an eraser to obliterate the marks he drew while creating this map. His heart pounds loudly as he watches the lines disappear.

When he reaches out to touch the barrier again, it’s gone!

Bob immediately realizes the significance of his discovery. To free everyone means destroying every map... everywhere. 🤯

Since he can’t use a phone to call out of the city, signs will need to be physically shown at the invisible barriers to the people beyond... and so on... slowly spreading the word. The level of cooperation it will take to burn every map, to erase every man-made boundary... it’s impossible to think it can be done.

He doesn’t even know where to begin.

Then Bob remembers his old Uncle Trevor's saying about how to disseminate information to the masses. There were three ways, his Uncle Trevor used to joke: "telegraph, telephone, and tell a woman."

Bob decides to drive over to his mother's house to tell her first.

It’s a start.

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_____________________Bolt ⚡