He was old enough to remember seasons.
Warm, sunny days of summer.
Cold, dark days of winter.
Spring rains.
Autumn leaves.
March always came in like a lion.
But it no longer left like a lamb.
The winds and storms had grown stronger and less predictable every year for the past twenty.
Dear Leader said any changes in the weather were a hoax, perpetuated by his enemies just to make him look bad.
He said it was part of a natural cycle.
He never bothered to give any real proof.
When it was convenient, he'd say it was God's will.
He'd say anything but the truth.
The fact of the matter was much simpler.
Humans were destroying their own planet.
All in the name of profit.
---
He had just received notice that his homeowner's insurance policy was being cancelled.
Thirty years without a missed payment.
Not once had he filed a claim.
The reason?
His house was old.
There were too many trees near it.
Most of his neighbors received the same notice.
---
The Wi-Fi and the power were now as inconsistent as a third-world nation.
The slightest wind knocked out the Wi-Fi.
Thunderstorms - common all year now - routinely took out the power.
During what used to be storm season, the power company cycled neighborhoods through scheduled outages.
These seemed more common during election cycles.
And times of national unrest.
National unrest was the norm.
---
The air felt more humid lately.
His doorframe swelled, making it difficult to open.
He had cut down the trees on his property.
Now daylight was blinding unless he closed the blackout curtains.
He couldn't afford to run the air conditioner anymore.
The house felt close.
Confining.
---
The retirement age was seventy-five now.
Retirement itself was mostly forgotten.
Most didn't live that long.
Congress had taken control of Social Security years ago.
There were no more payments.
It was still taken from everyone's paycheck.
Except the wealthy.
Congress promised that.
And delivered.
---
There was also the Defense Tax.
The never-ending wars had to be funded.
It was considered patriotic duty to pay.
The workforce was aging.
The young were sent off to war.
The old paid for the mistakes of the past.
Suicide rates were higher than ever.
The mental-health crisis assured this.
---
The once-greatest nation in history had reached its last chapter.
When the news broke that nuclear bombs were going to be used to end all wars, no one cheered.
No one jeered.
The world was too tired.
Two weeks.
That's when they would start dropping.
Russia.
Asia.
Europe.
South America.
All blown back to the Stone Age.
The rest of us would freeze.
Or starve.
Or worse.
No one complained.
---
Two weeks came and went.
No bombs.
The stories changed.
The threats softened.
The apathy grew.
Then the graffiti appeared.
And the signs.
And the memes.
TWO WEEKS
The country mocked Dear Leader.
Then they changed.
TWO WEEKS & YOU'RE GONE
The Wi-Fi became totally unreliable.
Blackouts more frequent.
Fuel shortages.
Food shortages.
Water shortages.
Dear Leader went silent.
---
All in all, it took three weeks.
The first bombs fell on Ohio.
They spread out from there.
copyright notice © 2026 Michael C. Metzger
Whew! That got dark! Want something, maybe less bleak? TRY THIS ONE!
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