Green Fields

Grass is forever. People will die, roads will break and buildings will be built and collapse before grass becomes extinct. Grass... those fields, those are what makes the green Earth green. That's what makes us breathe. Grass has survived millions of years through millions of trials and tribulations. I remember running through such fields with Valerie. I remember sitting in those fields and staring at the endless fields, her hands in mine. I remember staying up late in her backyard, watching the stars, holding her closely while she slept, but I remember when those stars started to move. I remember when those stars hit us.

First it was New York City, then Los Angeles, then from the south into Miami. I remember the news stations showing the same images of destruction before they finally signed off forever. The monotone siren sent us into frenzies, trying to find out what is happening. I gathered that Iran got New York, while Korea claimed L.A., and Russian troops under Cuban military control invaded Florida. We fought back against Cuba and won, but the others never set foot on U.S. soil. I didn't need information to know that Iran and Korea never touched us. I figured that when the last image on CNN was a double-shot of a large red mushroom cloud next to a shot of another, different one.

Bush was gone, long gone, but a Democrat found his way into office. He pulled back the troops, Iran took Iraq, and the stars feel soon after. Iran, Korea, and Cuba became one ultimate power. We did nothing but wait, wait until Iran or Korea made the first move. This was a mistake. Saudi Arabia got Washington D.C., and the United States of America was lost. I remember when the riots came. I remember when my father yelled for hours until me and mom decided to move up to Canada with him. The Canadians refused so many American immigrants, treating us like diseases that carried the disease of war. We were no more than an infection that found it's way into an open wound in Canada's sweet, innocent, pure flesh. Canada poured alcohol quite vigorously upon us, denying every American who found his or herself at the mercy of a country that we believed to be our ally. We traveled days to turn right back around.

When we got home, our home was empty. What wasn't gone was too torn up to be desired by anyone. I remember my dad crying. I remember those tears made me think of Valerie. I remember running. I hadn't seen Valerie since this all started, I prayed she was still around. She was. I remember the tears and fears in her eyes when she fell upon my shoulder. Her mom and dad were gone, leaving Valerie in her sister's hands. We were going south. We picked up my parents and were in Amarillo in mere hours. The death and decay we witnessed along the way showed how bad things had become since the drive to Canada when the most violent thing we came upon was a small riot in Des Moines. It now seemed every town had at least three cars upside down and on fire. When night came and everyone in the car, except for the driver, was asleep. I could hear Valerie crying next to me, and I began to cry too. Her tears always killed me.

We ran out of gas in Amarillo, things were relatively calm here. Eerily calm. No one walked the streets, no one. No cars drove down the highways or roadways, none. Buildings had burnt down. Towers that once stood proudly against the modest but impressive Amarillo skyline were now gone. There was death around. The smell of dead people is unbearable, from what I can remember. I can remember a man named Floyd. He ran the gas station we stopped at. He told us horrible horrible news in his drunken slur. Cuban armies were coming. In the chaos, Cuba got the upper hand when they took Corpus Christi, then San Antonio; and, from there, east into Dallas, west into Houston and finally north into Lubbock.... Lubbock, one hundred and something miles from Amarillo, stationed armies ready to end the lives of my family. I remember the anguish my family felt trying to escape but only finding a place to hide.

I remember the bank. I remember sleeping in the vault for three nights, waiting for death. I remember Wes and Matt, their ideas of resistance... and mine too. I remember joining them. Soon after, the majority of the town was in with us. I remember maps, maps of streets we could not walk because they were now minefields. Our munitions were made from everything from gasoline and styrofoam to the powder in bullets that we stole from the police stations. Minefields, for Christ's sake... these were streets people used to walk on to get to work, see their kids, kiss their loved ones, marry their wives and husbands, and now these streets will never see such joy again. I remember when the Cuban armies moved in.

I remember telling Valerie how I loved her and how I didn't want her to leave the vault. I wanted my mom to take care of her, her sister and herself. I loved them, they were my family. I kissed them goodbye, and told them I loved them. The vault door closed and I became a soldier. I remember the thunder of those minefields, the roar of those tanks, and the bangs from our police rifles. I remember the artillery. I remember the pain in my arms. The window I shot out of was now bigger than the room itself. I remember crawling down five stories to the vaults. I remember passing out before I got there.

I remember being carried by Matt and Wes. I remember being set down in a field... a grassy field. I remember learning about the fates of the vaults. I remember my stomach falling to the floor. I remember my arms, back when they worked and Valerie slept comfortably in them. And at that moment, as the sun glared down upon me with buildings collapsing only yards away, I started to remember. I remember those nights before the stars fell, before Canada became our enemy, before the riots, before maps kept us alive. I remember these things. Most of all I remember staring at the blades of grass that surrounded me as Wes shot Matt and turned the gun towards me before he'd turn it upon himself so we wouldn't be captured. I remember thinking this grass will last longer than me, my love, my family, my friends, and even the things that I've done, but I know in my heart, I'll always remember the grass fields at night, with Valerie asleep next to me while I stared, stared up at the stars.