He took a step off the plane and looked around. It looks different, he thought to himself, but then again, it has been six years. The airport was old, but still in decently nice shape, with one landing strip where a commercial airliner sat after its long trip. The air was damp and muggy, and the sun was beating down on the boy’s tan face. He wore an army uniform with green camouflage, and a name tag stitched to the front that read: Ryan Carter. He smiled as a navy blue Honda drove up to him. The window opened and his mother’s face appeared as she welcomed him back. He got in, and he began the drive back to the house in which he hasn’t seen since he was drafted.

It was the year 2078, and warfare was about. After India became a very strong political power in the world, Communism engulfed it. They had made an alliance with China, North Korea, and Italy. After Italy, some other European countries joined as well, but others wanted nothing to do with it. Eventually, pressure led to the European Union being dismantled, and conflict started. War was declared between India and Britain, when Indian leader Ishmael Sakihr the Third was assassinated. France then joined Britain, and eventually so did the US; but by that time, World War III had begun. After 7 long years of war, India, China, Italy, and North Korea all surrendered. We had won again, but not without great loss. About 200,000 US soldiers died, and about 600,000 more injured. The war had also left America’s economy in great turmoil.
There are also the Doves; an organization that is planning to overcome the U.S government. Don’t be fooled by the name, they are terrorists, and will stop at nothing to destroy anything and everything that they don’t like. They had originally begun as an anarchist group during the war. But after business took over the Doves, they began committing crimes much bigger than before; beating down government officials and murdering them savagely. They had recently assassinated the vice-president, and the current president is in lock-down. Now these criminals are about small towns wreaking havoc, killing people to show that they will do anything to overpower the rest.

Ryan opened the door and jumped as he heard,
“Surprise!” He smiled at all his friends and family that came to welcome him home. There were even a couple of new faces as well. The house looked just about the same as he remembered; except for a repainted room and some new furniture here and there. He saw a girl walk up to him. She introduced herself as Jenny, and said that she was renting out the room where Ryan’s grandma used to live.
“Doesn’t smell too bad?” he asked jokingly. Jenny giggled, and replied
“No, your mother cleaned it out well.” They looked at each other in a moment of silence, and Ryan noticed how very stunning Jenny’s eyes were. He though she was very attractive. She had long brown hair, and was wearing a short floral dress. After a couple of seconds she broke the silence, “Is it true that the drill instructors beat you down if you did the slightest thing wrong?” she asked.
“Honestly, although they were loud, they weren’t as mean as everyone thinks them to be. Stand up straight and make your bed nice, other than that, there wasn’t much they would yell at you for,” Ryan explained, “Well except this one time, some idiot talked back to the Drill Sergeant. That poor soul. He was given hell during training; they made him run 5 miles in under 30 minutes, and if he took too long, he did it again.” Jenny shuttered at the thought of it. Suddenly her face got serious.
“Do you know about the Doves?” she asked. Ryan shook his head,
“I’ve heard the name, but I don’t have the slightest clue what they are.” She told him about the organization that has been slowly tearing apart the government.
“And the worst part is, I’ve heard rumors that there is a small group passing by close to here; maybe a couple miles up north. They’ve already killed 12 people in St. Augustine. Now they’re on their way to Orlando, and were in the path. ”
“How close will they be passing by?” Ryan asked, thinking of a way to avoid them.
“Probably very close, considering that the highway is near.”
“Well if worse comes to worse; we can hide out in the basement,” Ryan said uncertainly, “But considering those stories you told me, I should bring a weapon.” He went into his room and came back with his Glock 18. He tucked it into his pants and sat back down.
By this time, most everyone had left the party. The only people left were Ryan, his mom, Jenny, and some of Ryan’s mom’s friends. Jenny and Ryan were talking as if they were making up for lost time, although they had met each other just today. Ryan liked this girl, but he felt that she was uneasy. She always glanced at the window, as if waiting for something.
After an hour of talking to her, Ryan had started to yawn, and felt tired. He got up to go to his room when he noticed headlights shining through their window. A car had pulled up in their drive way. Jenny noticed this and ran to Ryan pushing him into his room and quietly yelling, “Hide! Get in the closet, we need to hide! Now!” she was rushing and he obeyed and they closed the shudder door.
“What is the meaning of thi…” she shushed him and covered his mouth. Outside of the room they heard the doorbell ring and Ryan’s mom answered it.
“Hello, I’m here with the church. May we come in?” It was a man’s voice. Since Ryan’s mom was quite religious, she let them in.
“It just the church, why are we hiding?” Ryan whispered.
“Just the church? Why would a church group be going around from house to house at this time of night? Trust me it’s not the church.” She sounded frantic, but Ryan had enough. He opened the closet door and walked out. Jenney followed uncertainly.
The church group consisted of about five people, all dressed in white robes. There was one who stood out with red lines around his robe, probably the one in charge of them. He did all the speaking.
“Hello, I am Tyler, and have you found your God?” The phone rang and Ryan’s mom apologized, and went to answer it. He looked around a bit, and when he saw Jenny he stared at her for a few seconds with a malicious grin on his face. “Well look here. It’s our old friend Jenny.”
“I told you, I don’t want to be part of that anymore, leave me alone!” she was tense, and slightly shivering. Ryan looked at Tyler and knew that he wasn’t to be trusted. How do they know each other, he thought.
“I think it’s time you and your little party left my house.” Ryan declared. He stepped toward the man to show that he was slightly bigger.
“Look, your new friend wants us to leave. Sure we’ll leave, and Jenny will come with us, won’t you.” He looked back at her and she reluctantly stepped away from them. He suddenly got angry and yelled, “That’s a mistake you don’t want to make, Jenny!”
“Leave now, or else!” Ryan warned the man for the last time.
“Listen kid! I could make your life miserable and make you suffer! In fact…” The man stormed out of the house and took quick strides toward his van. On the side of the van they lay a symbol, a red dove flying upward.
Jenny yelled at him, “Go! We really need to hide now! I told you to hide in the first place!” Ryan ran after Jenny toward the basement. He remembered there was another door to get out from there. They closed the door behind them and locked it. Then Ryan quickly remembers his mother. He was about to run back up the stairs when he heard loud scream and gunshots. M…m…mom? Oh God no! Jenny, with tears in her eyes, persuaded Ryan to get away from the door and hide somewhere. Ryan’s blood boiled. He shoved jenny against the wall.
“THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!” he screamed. He was overflowing with hatred and getting lightheaded. “How do you know him?!”
“Ok! I’ll tell you, but calm down first.” She pleaded.
“Don’t tell me to calm down.” He whispered angrily. He pushed her harder against the wall, but then took a deep breath and loosened his grip. “Tell me now.” He stared deep into her with his water-filled eyes.
“This Tyler guy is a high ranking Dove commander, and he is my ex-fiancé. When I first met him, I didn’t know about the Doves, and when he did tell me that he was involved, I believed him when he said they do good for the world. But after I leered about their real intent, I ran away. He found me two days later and told me that if I ever were to run away again, he would find me and kill me. So please you need to hide, I don’t want you to die because of me! Please!” She began quietly weeping, and slumped to the floor.
“Alright,” Ryan said calmly, “but you’re not just turning yourself in.” He picked her up off the ground and carried her through a door into a laundry room. From there, he opened up a pair of shuttered doors that seemed well hidden. He put her down there and walked out, opening the doors to the outside. He walked back into the room and closed the door. After he slumped in the shuddered closet, he calmed himself and began praying silently that they would make it through. He pulled out his gun for protection and waited, listening as carefully as he could.
A crash was heard as the door to the basement slid down the stairs. Loud footsteps approached the bottom. Ryan swallowed nervously.
“It seems as if that they left through the back door, sir,” a henchman called.
“Well look around anyways.” It was Tyler this time. The sound of the door to the laundry room seemed to echo. Through the shudders in the door, they saw a menacing figure come in and look around.
Jenny started to shake. Shaking soon turned in to heavy breathing, as if she was going to begin crying. Ryan tried desperately to calm her, but to no avail. Out of the corner of his eye, Ryan though he imagined Tyler looking at him. Not near him or through him, as if you were looking for something but couldn’t see it, but at him. Jenny began weeping, very quietly, but the noise seemed to be amplified by their fears. Tyler didn’t seem to notice because he walked out of the room.
“They’re gone.” He explained one of the henchmen. After a few more minutes of silence, the sound of footsteps leaving was heard. Ryan let out a silent sigh of relief. Heart was about to jump out of his chest. Suddenly, a slight tap of metal to tiled floor was heard and the room went white before fading to black smoke. His mind scrambled to figure out what happened as he noticed shrapnel in his thigh. He looked over to see Jenny slouched over, bleeding heavily out of her forehead. She didn’t move any, and her breathing had stopped. Ryan felt enormous pain from his thigh and his left arm. The closet door fell. As the smoke cleared he saw Tyler standing in the mess of the recently blown room. He pointed his gun at Ryan and fired. He felt warmth spread through his body and everything went slowly black as the pain he had just felt seconds ago leaked away from him.