Perhaps we in the United States should've seen it coming.But apparently, no one did. Not until it was much too late.
In 2010, following several years of international unrest, the President of the United States agreed to meet with a potentially-hostile foreign dictator over dinner to discuss the possibility of smoothing relations between the two countries. It seemed as if it would be a very low-key event, with both men standing down most of their active guards in order to show that they came to the meeting in peace. Unfortunately, all things went horribly awry faster than anyone could’ve guessed. Both leaders were kidnapped and assassinated by infiltrators in the foreign palace. The US Vice President was rushed to power, and called an emergency session of Congress to discuss the next best course of action.
Apparently, however, the enemy was expecting this.
The bombings took place right in the middle of the congressional session, destroying the entirety of Washington, D.C. and large portions of the surrounding area.
The people of America were shocked. Within moments, nearly every important governmental figure in the country was dead. Who was in charge now? Did anybody know? There were a few Senators and Representatives that hadn’t made the special session, but they had (wisely) gone into hiding for fear of their lives.
( Read more... )Now surrounded by fenced borders, Vermont’s government never let go of the idea that the best way to keep the people calm was to run a tight ship. They stepped down the “military” outlook, but imposed a mandatory 8:30 curfew (for “safety” reasons, though really it was to try and quash the illegal activities of nightlife), increased the drinking and smoking ages considerably (for “health” reasons, but everyone knew it was because it was expensive to buy from breweries and tobacco farms now that everyone was on their own), took away almost everyone’s right to own a car (for “environmental” reasons, which translated to it being too expensive to import from overseas), and put the Officials in charge of everything. Vermont kept on trading terms with several other states—they’d always been quite friendly with New York and New Hampshire, both close neighbors—but the state was, officially, Closed. It was occasionally possible to get hold of a visa to enter another friendly state, but the amount of paperwork one had to go through was absolutely ridiculous, and the process usually came back negative anyway. The truth was, the government of Vermont was scared; the better it kept its people down, the better.
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