Zen's War: Captivity

It had been nearly a year since the war had begun on American soil. The worst part was not even the government saw it coming. The government’s focus was elsewhere. While responding to the nuclear blast in Baghdad, the battle for America began. As they slept in their beds the President and First Lady were assassinated. It was not known that they were dead until the following morning. When the president and first lady did not appear for breakfast, a White House aide went to their bedroom. When she arrived, she knocked on the door. When no one answered she entered the room. What she saw could never be erased from her mind. The president and first lady were on their bed in a pool of blood. On the wall scrawled in blood in Arabic, were the words Zion must fall.

After the fall of the United States government, food and water became very scarce. In a panic many of the now former Americans left their houses in search of food, medicine and water only to find none. People did not know how to survive without electricity or running water. Some families managed to survive and stay together. Others did not have the survival skills necessary to cope. The elderly and disabled suffered the most. Charles Darwin’s theory of the survival of the fittest became all too evident. Thousands of elderly and disabled were left to die. If someone was injured or became sick, there was little that could be done. The battle for survival had begun.

The world had reverted back to a more primeval time. Many found solace in their religious beliefs. Some felt that humanity had brought this on itself. Fundamentalists of all religions came to believe that humanity had incited god’s wrath. By fighting wars in God’s name and committing innumerable other sins, the seeds of destruction had been sown. I don’t think God or any gods should be blamed for man’s decisions. The decisions influenced by arrogance, and the belief that one-man is superior to another. Throughout history battles have been waged with religion as justification, fueled by the belief that all men are inherently evil; that if only those in the darkness of sin saw the light of God, then only then would they be considered free of sin. If they did not convert to their religion, they should be forced to or suffer a heathen’s fate. The fate of a heathen has always been slavery or death.

With America already fighting wars on the three fronts of Israel, Iraq, and Afghanistan resources were dwindling. The vice president called a meeting with the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The attack had been linked to a Muhammad’s Martyrs cell operating in and around the Washington, DC area. These were not your stereotypical terrorists. The department of homeland security had never seen it coming. These were American citizens and to top it off they were white not Arab. These men were the antithesis of average terrorists. All ten men were interns at the White House at one time or another. Some were interns right up until the time the president and First Lady were assassinated. They were all in their early twenties, and only four of them were Muslim. What had led them to commit such treachery? This had not been the first time an American citizen had committed treason, or assassinated a president. This was however the first time a president had been assassinated within the White House. What could be done to ensure that this would never happen again?

The country was split down the middle. Republicans and Democrats could not agree on what to do. Many of the right wing conservatives wanted to go to war, while the Democrats were not as certain. The president declared a state of emergency, suspending the Bill of Rights. All Muslims were required to report to internment camps. Republicans believed that in order for American citizens to remain safe, many freedoms would have to be sacrificed.