The Last American(Zachary) Now believe me when I tell you that I never expected that this day would come. The day that we would all be stuck in a world of death and destruction. Armed forces searched every block for a certain type of person... For the people like me... They searched for the Americans. The year was 2300 and all of the United States was hiding in fear of the many armies that patrolled the streets. Russia, Britain, and Mexico joined forces to take down the single most powerful army... Ours! Not one of the countries alone could take down our forces, not even when doubled could they penetrate our walls... But when all three joined together we finally fell. First they infiltrated and became citizens in our society fooling us and we were blind to see what they were doing. They corrupted our systems leaving us defenseless as they prepared themselves for an invasion. We never saw it coming, it just happened one day... But It still feels like it happened yesterday. All of America was enjoying their free lives. Going to the movies, enjoying each others company, and just living life to the fullest. Everybody was happy until they came. The ground started shaking and we all just thought it was an earthquake... And after what happened we wished it was. They rammed the wall surrounding the country smashing into it time after time. Rubble and debris poured down from the sky. Everybody was running and trying to find shelter dodging the huge boulders that hurtled toward them! I was in downtown St.Louis, almost five miles away from my home, when I saw the first boulder smash into pieces as it came in contact with the concrete ground leaving a crater in its place. Not knowing what was happening I immediately began to run home to check on my family. As I ran I pulled my phone out and began dialing my mother. The phone rang three times but went to voicemail. I hung up and then dialed my brother, but yet again it went to voicemail. I ran faster feeling that something was wrong. It came down to the point that I only had one person left to try and call. My youngest brother was only 13 so I knew he had to be home and he always answered his phone under any conditions. I dialed his number and it began to ring. It rang only once then went straight to voicemail. I ran faster and faster almost causing myself to trip over my own feet. I was so close to my house I could see it in the distance. I picked up more speed trying to get there and get my family out but then it happened! I stopped in my tracks as I heard a loud crack and the ground rumbled. I looked towards the top of the wall and saw a giant chunk break off and hurtle towards the ground... Right towards my house. I bolted towards my house screaming out for my family calling each of their names. My mother came out on the front porch and then the boulder smashed my home and my family. I watched as my mother became flattened and her blood spewed in every angle. I was horrified and destroyed inside by this sight. Broken wood and concrete rained down over me and where my house once stood was now a huge rock. I ran towards it ignoring the danger wanting to locate the rest of my family... Or at least their bodies. I searched all over but couldn't find them until I got to the farthest side of the rock. My youngest brother was cut in half by the rock and was barely still alive. I ran to him wanting to save him but knowing he wouldn't make it much longer. He was coughing out an immense amount of blood and I could see the pain in his eyes. I began to cry knowing these would be my last moments with my brother, but then all of a sudden he pushed me back with all the force he had and managed to speak one word "RUN!" I stammered back and then jumped up and ran towards a hole in the country's barrier wall. As I looked back I saw a man in an army suit dragging my mothers smashed corpse and throw it into a truck bed. Then he walked over to my brothers body and ripped what he could out of the ground and threw it into the truck bed alongside my mothers and many other corpses. I gasped as I saw this and the man had heard me. I tried to duck and hide but I wasn't fast enough. The man signaled on his walkie talkies for back up as he ran towards me holding up his AK-47. He let go of the talkie and then began shooting at me. I was finally able to unfreeze myself from the horror and turned and ran through the hole. Bullets flared past me and I heard nothing but the immense sound of gun fire and I knew that every shot was pointed towards me. As I ran the only thought that coursed through my head was that one day I would come back and take control of the country that belongs to me.... That belongs to the Last American.

Running... I had to keep running! Images of my family's mutilated corpses and the rock that crushed them all raced through my mind but I knew that I had to keep running. If I stopped it wouldn't be long before the army's either caught up to me or found me. I ran for what seemed like 20 minutes straight just running forward hoping to find an ally. As I slowed down a bit I saw that in the distance was what looked to be a creek. I walked up to it and dropped beside its edge. My legs ached and my lunges were burning like an intense fire but I ignored the pain and tried to get a drink. The water was a dark shade of green so I filtered it threw my shirt to purify it and drank almost three handfuls. It was the most refreshing thing just to feel the moistness of the cool water trickle down my throat. It filled my gut with a cold sensation that sent a chill up my spine. The pain in my legs began to dull and I looked back over my shoulder to see if anyone was tailing me. I no longer saw the soldiers or the country wall. All I saw were trees and little animals scurrying threw the forest. The sun began to set and it was beginning to get dark so I decide to make camp by the stream. I broke a few branches of the trees and did my best to fashion up a bed. I took multiple of the huge palm leaves that hung above and pulled them down over me as both a blanket and a roof. It wasn't the best campsite but it was enough to get me through the night and keep me alive until sunrise. I lay in my make-shift bed and pulled a leaf down over myself. My eyes began to feel heavier and heavier with every second and before I knew it I was fast asleep. While I was asleep I dreamed about my family...Mostly about my mom though. I thought about the way she held me whenever I was scared like I wanted her to now. I thought about the way she used to calm me down... The way only she could. Her face flashed by threw my dream. Moments from our past seemed to fly by and I saw every good time I had ever had with my mother. Then I thought about my youngest brother. The way that he looked as he sat in front of me and died. The terror and pain in his face. All I kept thinking to myself was... "It's my fault". Then in a split second a burning image of my mother’s body being smashed by the boulder woke me up. I jumped out of the bed and slammed to the ground. I laid there for a second paralyzed by fear. Horrible thoughts still pulsed threw my head of death and destruction. Then I finally snapped letting out a loud scream. I busted into tears at the thought of never seeing my family again. At the thought that I might not make it past tomorrow if I wasn't careful. I somehow found the strength to lift myself off the ground and to my feet. I looked in every direction seeing nothing but trees and a dark void of nothing below them. My pulse raced as my anxiety grew. I began to get more frightened and bolted into the void. At the time it seemed like a good idea but after running for a few seconds I found out it wasn't. I stumbled upon some soldier’s campsite with them inside their tents asleep. I cautiously began to walk through the camp when I stumbled over a box and fell to my face with a loud clatter. I heard the soldiers beginning to wake up saying things like "What was that" and "Did you hear that"? I jumped to my feet and tried to find a hiding place. The only things I saw around me were the soldier’s tents, forest, and their army vehicle. I ran to the armored truck and jumped inside. It was dark and when I hunkered down in the truck it felt weird like I was sitting on some weird squishy cushions. I ignored it and just sat silent waiting for the soldiers to fall back asleep. There was a small hole in the truck that gave me just enough visibility to see outside. The soldiers were now all out looking around the campsite for any intruders or thieves. They all had their AK's at the ready with their fingers on the trigger. I held my hand over my mouth not wanting my breaths to be heard. I moved my arm to the right because it began to cramp in the position I was in and one of the cushions fell on top of me. I grabbed it to throw it off and when I did I was horrified. I realized that I jumped into the back a truck that hauls corpses to the PIT. I could barely hold in my deep sobbing breaths as I trembled with fear. I remembered that I had my phone and pulled it out and turned on the flashlight. I slowly moved the light looking at all the dead bodies sprawled out across the truck bed. My hearts pounded and then the worst happened! I looked down with the flashlight and saw my brothers face staring up at me. Fly’s floated out of his mouth and swarmed his corpse. I saw his organs piled next to his body and from there it got even worse. Propped up next to me was the top half of my crushed mothers body and he face was staring me in the eyes. He eyes were smashed and dangling from their sockets and were also crushed. I couldn't bear to see it anymore and whipped my head to the right and saw the other half of her body on the other side of me. I stammered to my feet and fell into another pile of decaying corpses. In my attempt to get away from the bodies I made noise alerting the guards to where I was at. I looked around for anything to protect myself from the and only found a half of a broken broomstick and picked it up in hopes that it would defend me. Then it happened... The soldiers yanked the doors open and before they could realize it I smashed the broomstick across both of their faces. The stumbled back in a daze and I jumped out of the truck. I whipped around them and stuck the broomstick into the right soldiers back. He screamed in pain as I pierced his skin with the sharp wooden spike. The other soldier pulled up his gun and aimed it. Before he could fire it I slammed the stick down on top of the gun. It fell to the ground. With a quick motion I jabbed it up into his jaw. He fell to the ground alongside the first soldier. They both sat in pain as I slowly approached holding both AK's aimed directly at their chests. They looked up at me coughing up blood and saying "The time has come... We are taking over and you’re the only one left.... And we will catch....." Then I fired both guns until both rounds were full emptied into their bodies. They slowly fell limp less to the ground as blood leaked from the multiple wounds. In a feat of revenge I dragged both of their bodies over to the fire and set them both half ways in letting only half of their bodies sizzle and burn to a crisp. I found the keys to the armored vehicle and hopped inside the driver’s seat and started up the vehicle. I drove off into the forest down a previously made path. I drove the truck until I came upon this old lake that my family used to visit for vacation which we just came to last year. I and my younger brother had the idea that we wanted to hang our towels as flags to claim the lake. As I drove up the headlights flashed out and I saw them gently waving in the wind. A tear slid down my cheek as a memory of me and my brother hanging the towels flashed threw my head. I turned the truck around and backed it up to the lakes edge. I got out and walked to the back of the truck opening the large double doors. I jumped up into the truck bed and began throwing bodies into the lake. I kept dumping the bodies until there were only two left my mothers and my brothers. I picked up them both and set them gently I to the lake saying "At least I know your somewhere you love to be" and I walked back to the front of the truck. I looked back one last time and I shed tears at the thought that this would be me last time I saw my family. I smiled as I climbed into the truck and drove off back down the path. Now that my family's spirits were at rest I had only thought left in head.... I had to stop a world war from happening and I was the only one to do it!

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