Fire Fight

The sun spits on the Earth and the humans react by shredding one another apart. Resources dwindle, homes are destroyed, loved ones lost, and yet the only thing that matters is who has control of the board. Who cares about the starving child on the street, the millions hospitalized from the flares, or the loss of oxygen and water when the board is what matters?

Fifty years of attacks from the solar system, and what do the humans care about? My commander had the right idea before he died from The Sandstorm of 4080. Hoard what you can underground, and hide. The upper world was a scorched patch of skin that was beyond being saved, the lower world was the darkness that everyone feared would be all they would see after they died. We are ants, and our queens demand the blood of invading vermin.

The tunnels intersect and it is impossible to tell what belongs to who, even if you know how to get to Bazaar Central to Cascade Cavern, the simplest route that leads from the outside world to the market city, you could find several tunnels leading to and from hundreds of citadels. Few live on the upper world now, and if they do, they do so to get away from the wars in the tunnels. They are deserters who would rather face death in a free world, than face death in a corrupt one. I wish I had joined my commander when he left. He had this idea that war was never ending. I didn't see it before, but now I do. The flames on the upper world match the intensity of the battles in the tunnels.

At first, everything was fine, protect each man, woman and child for the greater good. And then people started fighting over territory. Not food, water, or something essential. No. The war started over who was allowed to step where.

As a soldier in the United Americas Military, I know I should protect our territory to the last breath, that is my mission. But how many wars have I seen through the pages of a history book where bloodshed is started over stupid shit. It is man's right to find happiness, and yet we are forced into peril with no ray of light in sight. Banished from the green fields by God Himself and sent to the pits of the abyss, we have been forsaken. If religions were still practiced freely, I am sure I would be praying for forgiveness with them. May this war underground end. May we find the ability to care more about life than territory. May we find peace in this never ending cycle of destruction.