A single beam of light broke through the dusk to light on a man stirring on the floor below. The prison he was in looked tranquil, left as it was just after the invaders emerged in Vancouver. The U.S. was plunged into a massive war to defend its existence. None that had witnessed the enemy’s attack had survived.
The government had been forced to unveil a highly dangerous serum they were concocting to make a man invincible. The desperation of the people showed as more and more citizens volunteered as test subjects for the potion. Only one man had survived the injection.
A door opened in the Las Vegas holding cell. Light flooded the room, reaching the man in the corner. The man was tall, but not too tall, and was dressed in a hospital gown.
The commander of the U.S. army walked into the cell, and turned on the lights. He had no name, just a number, as military protocol required. He was 2, as he was the highest ranked in the army. 1 eyed the man in the corner.
“I have no doubt you will have many questions for me,” 2 spoke, “but this is not the time to answer them.”
The man in the gown looked up.
“All you need to know now is that you are the first man to survive being injected by Serum 4666785489. It is a serum designed to give immortality to the drinker, but we have no way of knowing how many chances you get.”
The man in the gown spoke. “Then why do you need me here? Let me go!” He stood up and revealed himself to be chained to the wall.
“Unfortunately, we have to know if the serum worked.”
2 raised a handgun, aimed it at the man, and fired.
The general, having completed his task, walked out, and shut down the lights. The beam of light still shined, lighting the man in the gown below, with a red spot rapidly growing on his chest. The beam wavered, and darkened.

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He was floating in a sea of blurred memories. As soon as he focused on one, it changed, remaining elusive. He reached out to find a grip on his surroundings. Suddenly, he could view one.
He saw a woman and a child kneeling in front of a rebel commander. The commander was speaking. He raised his gun and fired twice. The woman fell to the ground, dead, and the corpse of the child on top of her.
He screamed, not knowing why the memories pained him so much, and suddenly, he was in a dark room.
1 sat up on his military bunk, holding his head. 3 years had passed since his injection was a success. Since then, California and Arizona had fallen, and they were camped in a rural Mexican town.
His alarm was ringing. He shut it off and got off his bed. Memories of the woman and child had been plaguing him for 6 months now, and his memory blockers were not helping. He got dressed and headed to the mess.
As he walked down the mess room, he eyed soldiers of every race and gender in the hall. Not that he knew any of them. Friendship in ranks was forbidden, as emotions would affect the effectiveness of their fighting. Memory blockers were taken to stop memories of friendships before they were drafted. Also, old friends could be rebels, so traitors were less likely to exist.
As a result, of the memory blocker, no one knew why they had enlisted, or why they were fighting. They just had to believe their officers’ lectures about “unspeakable evil”. 1 finished his meal, and headed for High Command.
In High Command, the room was almost full as 1 took his seat near the back of the room. The general spoke.
“Okay, men, we have one shot at stopping their army from crossing into Mexico. Recent earthquakes have opened up a ravine at the California border. If we set our forces at the edge, we will be able to hold the ravine until reinforcements from Costa Rica arrive. So let’s move!”
The trenches were set up as the soldiers from the camp closest to the ravine were working since nightfall. All the troops present were working as hard as they could to fortify their positions, when they felt the earth shake beneath them.
“Air raid!” someone yelled, as more shaking resulted. Planes were seen zipping past the ravine, bombing the trench. Suddenly, there was an explosion behind 1. He was swept into the ravine by the blast wave, hit his head and knew no more.

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