Pandemonium

By J.T. Catalano

In a futuristic, lawless society that once was America, a lone soldier struggles with his haunting past while saving people and battling sinister evils.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493184347

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Copyright © 2014 by J.T. Catalano.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 04/11/2014

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Isolation

Chapter 2 Confusion

Chapter 3 Choices

Chapter 4 202

Chapter 5 No Way Out

Chapter 6 Reunion

Chapter 7 Rebirth

Chapter 8 Up In The Air

Chapter 9 Hours

Chapter 10 Shadows

Chapter 11 Dark Sides

Chapter 12 Salvation

Chapter 13 Choices Part II

Chapter 14 Retribution

Chapter 15 Requiem

Chapter 16 Retaliation

Chapter 17 Absolution

Chapter 18 Salvation

Epilogue

World War III, global poverty, oppressive governments, and nuclear warfare have left the world in a ravaged and unstable state. Unaccountable amounts of the population have been killed by nuclear destruction and unjust war. One of the main culprits of the needles wars is the nation that used to be called the United States. In the year 2110, the United States embraced a new kind of leader and an unprecedented government system. Years prior to 2110, the USA was a civilization destined for failure due to the numerous faults of the government and its leaders. The year 2110 saw the death of the United States and the birth of New America. A nation founded out of oppression like the United States, New America demanded change and world power. The newly elected leader of the fledgling nation, Thomas Shields, is a man of vicious integrity and perseverance. He knows what it takes to get what he and his nation wants. Shields was the leader of a massive national rebellion that helped overthrow the United States, gaining him enough favor and popularity to become his people’s president. To ensure no one stood in the way of himself and his new government, he built up the military like never before. New America’s military became known as the Fury. Millions upon millions of idealistic men and women joined the Fury to support their new nation. Conscription became legalized once again, forcing many more into the service. By 2112, over half the population (not including children) was enlisted and serving in the Fury. Posing a threat to New America’s world dominance was China, a nation with similar ideals. Shields refused to allow China to evaporate his domination plans, so he engaged the Fury into conflict with China’s military by 2112. It wasn’t long before many other world nations joined the conflict, throwing the world into World War III. At first, nuclear weapons were avoided at all costs, and traditional warfare ran its course. But by 2116, the war was getting nowhere and only becoming bloodier. The war managed to stay off New American soil, but the nation’s luck would run out. Thomas Shields was still ruling the nation with an iron fist. In place of the title president, Shields had taken the title Father Shields around this time. Subsequent leaders of New America would adopt the same title. In 2116, nuclear war became a threateningly hostile possibility. Furious that World War III had not ravaged New America, China sought revenge by releasing numerous nuclear bombs onto New America’s West Coast. The bombs eradicated everything in its path along the west coast, destroying California, Oregon, Washington, and some of Arizona. All the lives in the west coast were lost. The bombings were unpredictable and devastating. Father Shields demanded the Fury avenge the west coast and the millions of lives lost. New America released a newly created, undetectable, and unstoppable nuclear weapon on China. The bomb (known as Exodus) left most of China in a wake of destruction. The nation had no choice but to surrender in 2117. New America simultaneously was carefully building a quarantine to prevent the radiation from the west coast from spreading. Father Shields demanded the surrender of China’s leader, Wo Yung. Shields met with the surrendered leader and killed him for the entire world to see. World War III continued without China. New America now faced little opposition and couldn’t be stopped. The Fury was stronger than ever before, and Father Shields now could focus on the government system of New America. While World War III raged on, the citizens not serving in the military (mainly women and children) were left behind, poor and starving, as society collapsed on itself. The only focus of New America was on the Fury, leaving those not in it to fend for themselves. New American society was thrown into anarchy, a society without rules or laws to forbid or protect the people. Father Shields was fully aware of what society had come to, yet he let it survive as he sought the Fury’s goals. The year this story takes place is 2119. World War III is still in its prime, and there seems to be no end in sight. Yet New America appears invincible alongside the Fury. This story focuses on the destructive society of New America. With so much attention and money backing the Fury, general necessities for the nonmembers of the Fury are hard to find. Many parts of New America lack power, electricity, and gasoline. Society was flung from a state of unlimited technology to a state of limited generalities of life. This story focuses on the struggle of a discharged Fury soldier trying to survive in this lawless, primeval New America. So far, he’s been able to make it day by day, until he finds himself in a position to save people he barely knows. In New America, the first day the power went out in most parts of the nation and never came back, flinging society into chaos, is known as Pandemonium.

sci-fi/dystopian/action/thriller

the first entry into The New Millennium Saga

Once upon a time in New America…

Chapter 1

ISOLATION

Year: 2119 /day: 5/3/time: around the afternoon

A lone man (about twenty-three or twenty-four), wearing dark clothing (black designer leather jacket, jeans, and black driving gloves) and possessing a typical soldier look and demeanor, walks into what looks like an abandoned grocery store. The man treads around the store, looking desperately for items of food. After a lengthy, tedious search, the soldier finds the store to be almost completely ransacked. Whatever food still there is stale and rotten. The soldier appears discouraged and walks out of the store empty-handed. He makes it over to his dirty red bike. The soldier reaches the bike, pulls out the keys, and prepares to ride away, when he suddenly hears a couple of cars speeding in the distance. The sounds come closer, and the soldier realizes the cars are heading in his direction.

He feels for his sheathed katana blade beneath his jacket, slinging on his back. The long ninja blade is concealed by his leather jacket. He eases his grip as he hears the cars approach. The racing cars eventually reach him and pull to a sudden stop. The cars are Hummer-like vehicles, and the windows are pitch-black tinted. Two Hummers are parked before him. Simultaneously, three and two men get out of both cars; five men total. They are dressed in outlandish yet menacingly red clothes. The soldier eyes each one of them before they get a word out. Suddenly, the biggest guy of the group speaks. He asks the soldier what he’s doing. The soldier tells him what he did, nothing exciting. The man then asks if the soldier is from around here. The soldier replies he’s far from home and just passing through. Another one of the men in red asks the soldier if he served in the Fury. The soldier smirks at the man’s observation and tells him, Yes.

The big man in red asks how long the soldier served. The soldier claims he fought for five years. The men in red are obviously not really interested in the soldier’s career or doings, and the soldier realizes this. Another one of the men in red who has yet to talk asks for the soldier’s name. The soldier stays boldly quiet. The big man in red reiterates the question. The soldier yet again stays quiet. Then he tells the man that he’s going to be on his way. The big man in red angrily refuses to allow the soldier to do so.

The soldier calls him out as common lowlife that he crossed paths with many times before across New America. The big man in red then denounces that the soldier served five years, claiming barely any guy can survive that long in World War III. The soldier replies, I did. The big man in red whips out a pistol hidden in his back pocket. The other four men in red do the same. The soldier stays calm and asks them to put away their weapons or he will have to kill them. The big man in red laughs the threat off. He then advanced over to the soldier and forces him down on his knees, with his pistol on the soldier’s temple. The big man in red quickly says how there are no rules and that when a guy like him (the soldier) annoys him, he has the right to kill him.

The big man in red is about to pull the trigger when the soldier quickly twists the man’s wrist painfully with one hand and pulls his katana blade out with the other hand. The other four men are too slow to react as the soldier rapidly slices them and cuts them down, killing them. The big man in red is still alive when the soldier walks over to him and punches him. The big man in red cries out in pain. The soldier then tells the big man in red that he should have adhered to his earlier threat before stabbing him.

The soldier sheaths his katana and takes notice of the two Hummers. He manages to place his dirt bike in the Hummer of his choice and finds the keys still in ignition. The soldier drives off in the Hummer-like vehicle, leaving the dead men in red behind. Later, the sun is setting as the soldier continues on his drive. In the background and surrounding him, poverty and devastation seems to have hit virtually every corner of this town. The soldier notices that the fuel tank is closing into empty, so he seeks refuge later in the night at a decrepit motel with an empty parking lot. He gets out of the Hummer-like vehicle and locks it. He then makes his way to the front office. The soldier looks for anyone to be around. There’s no one, but a couple of keys to the rooms hang on the wall behind the front desk.

The soldier takes one for room #9. He reaches the room on the ground floor. The inside of the room contains an unmade, messy bed and a broken TV on the ground. The soldier ignores the mess as if he doesn’t see one. He takes off his leather jacket (revealing him to be wearing a black sleeveless undershirt beneath) and his katana and black driving gloves, and places them on the table nearby the bed. He then lies down on the bed.

When he closes his eyes, memoires flash across his mind. He sees his young ten-year-old self playing with his younger five-year-old brother at a park, his mother on a bench not too far away. The young boys are having fun on the swings, and the day is shining. Then his memories flash into the moment when the soldier turned eighteen and was forced to sign up for the Fury. He remembers hearing over the television birthdays being called for conscription (the draft) in World War III. One of the dates, 12/16/92 (2092), is his own. Fear rushes across his face.

The soldier finally finds peace and slides into sleep. He is awakened the next morning by the light shining through the window and the sounds of sharp screaming.

Chapter 2

CONFUSION

The soldier shoots up from his sleeping position on the ugly motel bed. The screaming has genuinely shocked him. He quickly jumps off his bed and makes his way over to his leather jacket on the table nearby. He searches through one of the pockets and pulls out a pill bottle most likely. On his right, a black tattoo of a phoenix can clearly be seen. As he opens the bottle and takes one of the pills, his left forearm reveals a numbered tattoo, 202. The soldier puts his pills back as the sound of screaming resonates outside once again. He then takes up his katana and wears it across his back. The soldier moves over to the door and slowly opens it.

He takes a quick peek outside, looking for any sudden movement. He doesn’t find any. He walks out of his room, feeling secure, and closes the door behind him. After he does this, he notices another car is now parked in the lot. It’s an older vehicle and very dirty. The soldier begins to walk over to it, and as he does, he hears the screaming ring out again. He quickly looks around the motel, taking in the second floor. That’s when he sees a woman running frantically along. The soldier looks baffled and watches the running woman for a bit.

After a little while, the man hears the woman scream again; only this time, he can hear a name being called, Cody. The soldier shouts to the woman. The woman doesn’t seem to hear at first. So the soldier yells out again, Hey! The woman suddenly stops dead in her tracks and flips around to see where the shouting came from. She then sees the soldier standing in his place. The soldier notices the woman sees him now, and he asks her what she’s doing. The woman yells back that she is looking for someone. The soldier asks who. The woman, who sees the sheathed katana blade from afar, tells him she doesn’t want any trouble. The soldier replies that he means no harm. The woman eases up, but tells him that it’s OK and that she doesn’t require his help.

The soldier accepts the woman’s plea and moves back over to his hotel room. He looks back at the woman just as he’s about to go in, noticing that she still is yelling out for this Cody person. The soldier then goes into his room and walks over to the bathroom. He tests to see if the shower is working, with a look of doubt on his face. The shower doesn’t turn on. No surprise, it seems, for the soldier. He then collects what little items he has and heads out the door, with his gloves now put on and carrying his jacket over his shoulder.

He puts the key for room #9 back where he found in the front office and then turns back to his Hummer-like vehicle. The woman, now not in sights, can still be heard in the background. The soldier unlocks his stolen vehicle, preparing to leave and throwing his jacket into shotgun, but he holds back. He stops himself from putting the keys in the ignition, deciding to help the woman despite what he was told. He gets out of the Hummer and maneuvers over to the stairs leading up to the second floor. He walks along and comes into close range of the woman, without her knowing. The soldier then calls out to her, Hey! like before. The woman turns around, a little frightened to see the soldier standing there with the katana blade slung against his back. The soldier tells her that he is going to help her, whether she likes it or not. The woman, a little taken back, asks for his name. The soldier gives it as Oliver. The woman laughs a little because the name doesn’t seem to fit his frame. Oliver smirks and tells her he’s not lying. He asks for the woman’s name. She’s now calmer, and she gives her name as Summer. Oliver, for the first time, notices how beautiful and young the woman is.

He then inquires who Cody is. She tells him that Cody is her son. He then agrees to help her. They walk along the second floor together, keeping conversation to a minimum. They begin to shout Cody in succession, with the mom starting first. Oliver asks how she lost her son here. She says that they came here late last night for sleep. She noticed his car and admitted that she was kind of fearful of the other guest. But she, like Oliver, found the motel had no one around. So she got a room for her and her son, room #17 on the second floor. Oliver then asks where she thinks Cody would run off.

Summer believes that he is running around the place, trying to find anything to collect. Oliver finds them remarkable because he finds nothing around here to be exciting. Summer admits that her son is kind of eccentric and enjoys time alone. Then they continue to shout her kid’s name. After their minisearch on the second floor brings them nothing, they head down to the ground floor. They walk over to the front office, with Summer hoping he is there.

As they pass his Hummer-like vehicle on the way over the front office, Oliver decides to quickly check his stolen car. He opens one of the passenger doors wide open and finds a young eleven-year-old admiring his dirt bike. Summer screams out her kid’s name, and Cody stares at Oliver. Cody asks Oliver who he is. The soldier gives his name. The young boy then asks if the bike is his. Oliver tells him it is. Summer then orders Cody out of Oliver’s ride. The son obeys. Summer then gently reminds him that he can’t keep going off like that. Cody acts like he’s listening, but he isn’t really.

The eleven-year-old returns his attention to the soldier, asking him where he’s going. Oliver tells the kid that he’s heading for Miami. The boy asks him how far of a drive it is from North Carolina (their current location) to Miami. Oliver replies that the journey is about some twelve hours. Cody, who obviously enjoys interrogations, asks what the tattoos on his body mean. Oliver tells him that the phoenix on his shoulder is the symbol of the Fury, New America’s unstoppable army, and that he served. He hesitates to tell him the meaning of the tattooed numbers on his forearm, but his mom butts in. Summer tells Cody to stop pestering Oliver. The soldier tells Summer that her kid is fine and not bothersome. Oliver then tells Cody that the numbers mean nothing important.

Summer thanks Oliver for his help and tells him that she will be on her way with Cody. He asks her where she is going, and she tells him that Alabama is their destination. Oliver then says his good-bye and watches the family of two leave him. As they do, Cody is loudly reminding his mom that they should go with Oliver. Summer tells her kid to calm down but doesn’t say no. The soldier can’t help but overhear.

After some thought, Oliver yells over to Summer, asking if she would like to ride with him. Summer turns around to face the soldier and is about to deny the offer when Cody continues to beg her to let them go with Oliver. The soldier awkwardly watches this play out. After some insistent pleas, the mom refuses the offer kindly and tells Cody that it’s time to go. Oliver yet again wishes them good travels as he loads into his vehicle. He takes the katana off his back and sits up against the shotgun seat along with his jacket. As he starts up the car and pulls out of the motel lot, he sees Cody looking at his car through the rearview. After some hesitation, the soldier pulls out of the lot and back onto the main road.

The sun is now high in the sky as Oliver drives along. He drives for some time, passing a lot of empty fields and even driving along a road on the coast of the ocean. The view is beautiful. However, the vehicle is in desperate need of fuel. After some time and the gas gauge as near to empty as can be, he pulls into an off-road gas station. He gets out of his car and takes his katana. He puts the sheathed blade over his back once he’s out of the car.

The soldier sets his sights on the small building off to the side. He’s desperately hoping that there is gasoline here. He tests the pump he parked by, finding that it works. He’s in luck. He then puts it in his car’s tank. As the pump fills his tank, he makes his way over to the small building. From the outside, it looks like no one is in there. The soldier reaches the front door and presses against it, opening it slightly. There are no noises to be heard, so he cautiously walks inside and finds the whole place to be covered in the shade of darkness. Oliver looks all around, finding the place to be a ransacked mess. The small snack stands have been thrown over, and nothing is in place. Then the soldier smells an awful scent from behind the register counter.

Oliver walks behind the counter and finds the shot dead body of an older man. The soldier doesn’t glance at it long before he decides to head out. He reaches his car, finding his tank to be full. He pulls the pump out and puts it back. As he