WriMo chapter 1 (so far)
(ps- I voted early and I'm so excited. I don't know about wher you lived, but people were cheering when they left the booths, and more than once today some one saw my sticker and shouted "Go, Obama!" I couldn't be more excited)
Welcome to Free Radio, the ear-to-the-ground mouthpiece for the resistance on July 30th 2032, the four thousand, three hundred, and twenty-seventh day since the outbreak of the war. My name is Richard Byrd, and for those of you counting, this evening marks the third anniversary of the beginning of Free Radio broadcasts. I've chosen to commemorate the event with a special episode for you tonight. I will have an interview with a soldier, and with a Washington Insider who has recently joined the resistance. I won't be able to tell you their names. I can tell you that this soldier fought bravely at the front as was required of him by the government, and the Washington Insider who will be joining us tonight is a former Senator. As a special treat, I'm extending my show by a half hour, so I can play you music from the mid-1900's; a time when the American people were still allowed to express their feelings against the government, and were not afraid to stand up for their rights as citizens of this once great nation.
First, an old friend of mine; one of the few to return home to Hope from the front. He has been gone the entirety of these past three years. He returns to his family- his wife and his young daughter, who he met for the first time on his return- with only one leg and scars from severe burns covering half his body. Brave Soldier, first, what’s it like to be home?
Rich, first of all I want to say I’m glad you’re operating outside the FCC so I can say that it’s good to see you again, you big dumb fuck. All you Resistance supporters out there need to know that this guy is doing things the right way. Y’all don’t realize what a fine line the grunts on the front have to walk. Most of us don’t want to be there, but it’s required, and we best be following the orders, if you know what I mean. This man here, he doesn’t take orders from no one! Keep listening to Rich, he’s doin’ a good job.
It’s good to see you too, man. What’s it like to be back in Missouri from the Northern Front?
I regret having to be gone for so long, you know? I sure as hell didn’t want to miss the birth of Kaylee. I’m happy that I made it home at all, but now she’ll never know a father who’s a whole man. Fuck, man, three years old and a disfigured monster moves into her home. Can’t say I didn’t deserve it though. Karma’s a bitch, right? Loosin’ half your body is what you get for fighting on the side that you know is wrong because you were afraid you didn’t have a choice. I heard that it happened to other people, and I was afraid it would happen to me. That they’d come and drag me out of my house, force a gun in my hand and have me join the government. Or else they’d put bullets in my family and then in myself to keep us from becoming guerrillas and getting in their way. That’s the kind of town I was living in then. I wasn’t here, in Hope. I was in one of the towns on the front, right on the boarder; we didn’t join the Migration when we should have, and we didn’t get away fast enough. I thought that was fear. Man, try being the one bustin’ down doors. I know what it’s like to have a gun pointed at your head by some man who’s desperate to defend his home even though he doesn’t stand a chance against us. I know what it’s like to shit yourself with fear. And yeah, that happens to the biggest, toughest, dictator-lovin’ sons-of-bitches out there on the front. When your neighbor decides to dust off his constitutional right to defend his property, and he’s ready to die trying…. You don’t want to kill the man. You don’t. But it comes to kill or be killed really fast. And if you fuck up the killin’ part and live to tell about it, the folks in charge have no trouble with “educatin” you on how to make sure you get it done right.
I know you must have told this story to your friends and family already, but what is life on the front like?
It’s pretty grim, man. Pretty grim. I was mostly up around Lake Ontario and Erie; you hear being right on the lakes was the worst place to be, but you have to see it to believe it. First of all, it’s damn cold. You wouldn’t believe how cold it gets. More than one troop lost an ear or skin off his face from frostbite. Then, it snows like crazy. Used to be cities and states could clean up after the snow, but there weren’t enough people. So cleaning the streets fell on us. And with five, eight, ten feet of snow, and the rationing of gasoline… well, you can imagine how fun that was without a truck. Of course there are guerrillas, civilians, and Canadian military to contend with. Every day, if it wasn’t one of those groups it was the other, and some days it was all three! The Canadians apparently never got the memo that the war is over. The civilians are scared and only want to stay in their homes and stand their ground. The American guerrillas want us gone, and Canadian guerrillas want us dead. Then resistance fighters are the only people who treated us with any kindness, really. The government likes the chaos the guerrillas cause, but they hate the Resistance folks because they’re the only ones making progress toward turning over the damn dictatorship.
You’re clearly not a trained soldier. What are your feelings on the compulsory military participation?
I’m not a fightin’ man, by any means. And there’s still a lot of fightin’ going on. Sure, the war is “over.” Sure, there’s lots of boarder that only needs to be watched, where there’s nothin’ but trees and squirrels, and you go mad with boredom. And honestly, most of the towns on the front have been emptied. But there’s still a pretty wide expanse of boarder, especially up the river from here, that has a lot of big cities along it. That’s where they need troops, and that’s where the least experienced grunts end up. Both guys like me and ass-holes who are just joining up for whatever reason- usually to get a little extra money in their pockets by kissing some dictator-ass. But it’s mostly guys like me. Guys who didn’t agree enough to join up in the beginning, who were too naive to run away when the war first broke out, and who were too scared to resist when they were told they had to join the military. Karma’s a bitch, man. I guess that’s why I ended up north.
I’ve heard you refer to a “dictator” a few times now. Are you referring to our current President?
Don’t bullshit me, Rick, dude. You know I’m talking about the President. That fucker has no right to be in office. When this first happened, I understood wanting to suspend the elections. There was no way we could be in a war with our largest neighboring country and consider ourselves safe enough to hold an election. But it’s just a load of crap to think that man still needs to be in office. Don’t piss on me and tell me that it’s raining! There’s no way. No. Way. The current “president” of this country is our constitutional leader. I don’t think anyone is, man. I think that’s our biggest problem right now- not the Canadians, not the guerrillas on either side of the boarder. Getting some real leadership in this country, someone who wants to start following the constitution and who wants to start actually acting like a President instead of like a totalitarian-whatever-the-fuck it is you call this guy. That would cut back on the civilian fighting, and that would cut back on the need for more troops. I’m tellin’ you, a new President, a real leader, is the way to go.
Welcome to Free Radio, the ear-to-the-ground mouthpiece for the resistance on July 30th 2032, the four thousand, three hundred, and twenty-seventh day since the outbreak of the war. My name is Richard Byrd, and for those of you counting, this evening marks the third anniversary of the beginning of Free Radio broadcasts. I've chosen to commemorate the event with a special episode for you tonight. I will have an interview with a soldier, and with a Washington Insider who has recently joined the resistance. I won't be able to tell you their names. I can tell you that this soldier fought bravely at the front as was required of him by the government, and the Washington Insider who will be joining us tonight is a former Senator. As a special treat, I'm extending my show by a half hour, so I can play you music from the mid-1900's; a time when the American people were still allowed to express their feelings against the government, and were not afraid to stand up for their rights as citizens of this once great nation.
First, an old friend of mine; one of the few to return home to Hope from the front. He has been gone the entirety of these past three years. He returns to his family- his wife and his young daughter, who he met for the first time on his return- with only one leg and scars from severe burns covering half his body. Brave Soldier, first, what’s it like to be home?
Rich, first of all I want to say I’m glad you’re operating outside the FCC so I can say that it’s good to see you again, you big dumb fuck. All you Resistance supporters out there need to know that this guy is doing things the right way. Y’all don’t realize what a fine line the grunts on the front have to walk. Most of us don’t want to be there, but it’s required, and we best be following the orders, if you know what I mean. This man here, he doesn’t take orders from no one! Keep listening to Rich, he’s doin’ a good job.
It’s good to see you too, man. What’s it like to be back in Missouri from the Northern Front?
I regret having to be gone for so long, you know? I sure as hell didn’t want to miss the birth of Kaylee. I’m happy that I made it home at all, but now she’ll never know a father who’s a whole man. Fuck, man, three years old and a disfigured monster moves into her home. Can’t say I didn’t deserve it though. Karma’s a bitch, right? Loosin’ half your body is what you get for fighting on the side that you know is wrong because you were afraid you didn’t have a choice. I heard that it happened to other people, and I was afraid it would happen to me. That they’d come and drag me out of my house, force a gun in my hand and have me join the government. Or else they’d put bullets in my family and then in myself to keep us from becoming guerrillas and getting in their way. That’s the kind of town I was living in then. I wasn’t here, in Hope. I was in one of the towns on the front, right on the boarder; we didn’t join the Migration when we should have, and we didn’t get away fast enough. I thought that was fear. Man, try being the one bustin’ down doors. I know what it’s like to have a gun pointed at your head by some man who’s desperate to defend his home even though he doesn’t stand a chance against us. I know what it’s like to shit yourself with fear. And yeah, that happens to the biggest, toughest, dictator-lovin’ sons-of-bitches out there on the front. When your neighbor decides to dust off his constitutional right to defend his property, and he’s ready to die trying…. You don’t want to kill the man. You don’t. But it comes to kill or be killed really fast. And if you fuck up the killin’ part and live to tell about it, the folks in charge have no trouble with “educatin” you on how to make sure you get it done right.
I know you must have told this story to your friends and family already, but what is life on the front like?
It’s pretty grim, man. Pretty grim. I was mostly up around Lake Ontario and Erie; you hear being right on the lakes was the worst place to be, but you have to see it to believe it. First of all, it’s damn cold. You wouldn’t believe how cold it gets. More than one troop lost an ear or skin off his face from frostbite. Then, it snows like crazy. Used to be cities and states could clean up after the snow, but there weren’t enough people. So cleaning the streets fell on us. And with five, eight, ten feet of snow, and the rationing of gasoline… well, you can imagine how fun that was without a truck. Of course there are guerrillas, civilians, and Canadian military to contend with. Every day, if it wasn’t one of those groups it was the other, and some days it was all three! The Canadians apparently never got the memo that the war is over. The civilians are scared and only want to stay in their homes and stand their ground. The American guerrillas want us gone, and Canadian guerrillas want us dead. Then resistance fighters are the only people who treated us with any kindness, really. The government likes the chaos the guerrillas cause, but they hate the Resistance folks because they’re the only ones making progress toward turning over the damn dictatorship.
You’re clearly not a trained soldier. What are your feelings on the compulsory military participation?
I’m not a fightin’ man, by any means. And there’s still a lot of fightin’ going on. Sure, the war is “over.” Sure, there’s lots of boarder that only needs to be watched, where there’s nothin’ but trees and squirrels, and you go mad with boredom. And honestly, most of the towns on the front have been emptied. But there’s still a pretty wide expanse of boarder, especially up the river from here, that has a lot of big cities along it. That’s where they need troops, and that’s where the least experienced grunts end up. Both guys like me and ass-holes who are just joining up for whatever reason- usually to get a little extra money in their pockets by kissing some dictator-ass. But it’s mostly guys like me. Guys who didn’t agree enough to join up in the beginning, who were too naive to run away when the war first broke out, and who were too scared to resist when they were told they had to join the military. Karma’s a bitch, man. I guess that’s why I ended up north.
I’ve heard you refer to a “dictator” a few times now. Are you referring to our current President?
Don’t bullshit me, Rick, dude. You know I’m talking about the President. That fucker has no right to be in office. When this first happened, I understood wanting to suspend the elections. There was no way we could be in a war with our largest neighboring country and consider ourselves safe enough to hold an election. But it’s just a load of crap to think that man still needs to be in office. Don’t piss on me and tell me that it’s raining! There’s no way. No. Way. The current “president” of this country is our constitutional leader. I don’t think anyone is, man. I think that’s our biggest problem right now- not the Canadians, not the guerrillas on either side of the boarder. Getting some real leadership in this country, someone who wants to start following the constitution and who wants to start actually acting like a President instead of like a totalitarian-whatever-the-fuck it is you call this guy. That would cut back on the civilian fighting, and that would cut back on the need for more troops. I’m tellin’ you, a new President, a real leader, is the way to go.