For one hundred years, the whole entire world has been divided into two. One side is called the resistance; the other side is the abductors. The resistance consists of any leftover humans in the earth. All of the remaining humans are all scattered throughout the earth. The abductors are an alien species that came to this world one hundred years ago, in the year 2050. When they first arrived here, they seemed friendly. They did that old, “We come in peace” thing that you usually see in the movies, and the humans were stupid enough to believe it. Once the abductors had realized that they had the advantage over us, they started to attack. It first started in Asia, then the Pacific Oceania, until they spread out through the whole world. The United Nations tried to fight back, but then they miserably got taken out, then, every human had to try and survive on their own. Now, we have been fighting a never ending war.
        I am James Smith.  I was born in war sixteen years ago, in a small camp right outside of the mountains of Oregon. I have been living here all my life with my dad and his best friend Justin. Our goal has been to be able to get to the capital. They say that the capital is like a safe heaven. Whoever gets there is technically safe for life, so we are obviously trying our hardest to get there. Luckily, we have a map with directions on how to get there. The map came from my mom. Way before I was born, she used to live there, until she got kidnapped and got taken all the way across the country. Then dad saved her, and they started a life outside the mountains, then they eventually had me. They used to go on weekly food runs to grocery stores nearby, and that’s how they found Justin. Justin actually had a wife back then, until dad, mom, Justin, and his wife went on a food run, where an abductor had killed both mom and Justin’s wife. Now it is just us remaining, with full directions on how to get to the capital, and now we have been trying our hardest to get there.
        “Wake up!” yelled dad, “We’re going on a food run!” he added.
        “I’m going!” I responded. Dad usually liked going on food runs right outside the mountains, and I usually had to come along with him. Once I got up and out of bed, I got ready in two minutes and got in the car with dad. “Is Justin not coming?” I asked.
        “No, he is going to stay at the base and see if it is all safe to go to the capital yet.”  Dad responded.
        “Dad what I don’t get, is how can we be going on food runs, but not be trying to go to the capital.” I exclaimed.
        “It’s because the stores are close to our hideout, the capital is a long journey, so we have to make sure that there are no abductors past the stores, so that we can head out.” Dad said
        “Okay, whatever you say.” I said in a sassy tone.
        “Don’t you dare talk to me in that voice young man.” Dad said. It sounded as if he was getting frustrated, so I just left it alone. Once we got to the store, all we did was get out of the car, we each got our bags, and then we went in to go get our supplies. We got stuff like food, clothes, and extra medicine just in case. Then, we headed back into the car to go back to the hideout. Once we got back, Justin came running toward us. He looked very excited.
        “Meanwhile you guys were away, I went out on a little trip to see if it was completely safe to go to the capital, and I saw no absolute abductors, so that means that we are safe to go to the capital!” exclaimed Justin. He sounded way too excited, so dad and I knew it had to be true.
        “Really?!” exclaimed dad, “That is great news!” he added.
        “Okay, I already got packed up, so I’ll wait on you guys to get packed up and we should be on our way.” said Justin.
        “Alright you heard the man, let’s go get packed up!” said dad. Once we had all gotten our bags packed up, we got in the car, and went on our way to the capital, Washington D.C. On the trip there, I was thinking about mom. I was thinking how great of a woman she was, and every good thing she did for us. I barely remember her, but I know she was a good woman, if it wasn’t for her we wouldn’t be here. Dad turned around, looked at me and said, “Don’t worry son, we will be safe in no time.” He always made me feel good.
        After a while of driving, Justin said, “I don’t want to warn you guys, but the car is slowing down.”
        “Wait what?” asked dad, “What do you mean?” he added.
        “I mean that the car is slowing down.” replied Justin. After that the car just stopped.
        “Let’s get out and check the engine, James, you stay in here” said dad.
        Dad and Justin both got out of the car to go check the engine. They opened up the top of the car and started to check. They weren’t there for more than two minutes, tops until they realized that nothing was wrong. They got back into the car, and I asked them, “Hey, what’s wrong with the car?”
        “I really have no idea, I’m just going to try and start it up again.” replied Justin. Before Justin could even have a chance to put the keys back in, we heard a loud bang right on top of the car. “What in the world was that?” I asked.
        “I really have no clue.” replied dad. Before we did anything else, we heard a loud screech also coming from on top of the car. Dad and Justin both looked at each other because they knew what it was, but I was sitting there clueless. Before I could ask anything about it, the car had gotten flung across the desert into a cave. Right at that moment, I knew we were at a very low point of our life.
        “What happened?” I asked
        “I don’t know, but I do know that we need to be getting out of here. This place seems very dangerous, and I don’t want anybody to be getting hurt.” replied dad. “Wait, where is Justin?” dad added.
        “I don’t kno…” before I could finish, we heard a very loud, “Heeeelp.”
        “Justin, is that you?” asked dad very anxiously. When he said that, it was followed by another very loud, “Heeeeeelp.” Dad and I immediately ran over to the loud screaming. “Justin!” I yelled.
        “Ahhh, I’m over here!” Justin yelled. Apparently, when the abductor had flung us across the desert, Justin went out of the window, and got stuck under some rocks. Dad and I quickly started to get the rocks off of him. It took a couple minutes to get about half of the rocks off him, but right as we thought things couldn’t get worse, the abductor had found us and was standing on top of the cave.
        “Okay guys, you’re going to have to trust me.” I said as I left.
        “James! Where are you going?!” asked dad.
        “Just trust me.” I replied. Once I said that, I ran up a little path way up the cave, and I pushed over the rocks the abductor was standing on, which had made him completely fall of, and it knocked him down into a ravine that was next to the cave. I went back to go help dad, but he had already gotten Justin out. He put his arm on my shoulder and said, “Good job son.”
        “Yeah.” I replied with a nod.
        “I don’t want to ruin the heroic moment, but we need to be getting out of here. So here is what we are going to do, we are going to scavenge up some of the remaining items in the car, take them and get the heck out of here.” said Justin.
        “Alright, let’s do it.” said dad. We had probably been looking for a good ten minutes until we started to hear a hissing sound. “Shut up.” said dad.
        “Wait wh...” before I could finish, dad interrupted me with another, “Shut up. Do you guys here that?”
        “That’s the engine, its hissing.” said Justin.
        “Alright, just grab the important things, and let’s get out of here!” exclaimed dad. At that moment, I had grabbed thing like food, extra clothes, and most importantly, the map. Once we all had grabbed different items, they started to follow me out of the cave. We were all running, trying to get out of there, but along the way, I had tripped on a rock, and dropped everything including the map. “The map!” I exclaimed. “That’s the directions on how to get to safety!” I added. “I’ll get it!” said Justin.
        “No, you’re hurt, I’ll get it.” I said.
        “No James, it’s too dangerous!” said dad.
        “I’m getting it I said! You guys just follow the trail up; you’ll eventually get to the surface.” I said. Dad and Justin both looked very frustrated with me, but still they got out of the cave. Meanwhile, I ran back to get the map, and quickly ran back up and out of the cave. I saw dad and Justin standing next to the road, and I immediately yelled, “DAAAD!” They had both turned around. Before I could get to them, the car exploded, and made fall face first onto the ground. “James, James!” I heard my name getting louder and louder. I opened my eyes to see dad and Justin in front of me. “Oh thank god he woke up.” said dad. “What were you thinking?!?! You could have easily died!” he added. At that moment I was still a bit drowsy from the explosion, so I said nothing. “Okay calm down, he just went through a huge explosion, let him rest a bit.” said Justin. That was the last thing I remembered before I went back to sleep. I don’t know how much time had passed since that incident happened, but the next thing I remember is waking up in a mobile home looking car. I was all the way in the back of the car, with some random lady in the driver’s seat, Justin in the passengers, and then dad and some girl were both sitting behind them. “Hey, he’s awake!” said the lady in the driver’s seat.
        “Hey big fellow!” said dad.
        “Where am I?” I asked in a very cranky voice.
        “This very nice lady, Jamie, and her daughter, Jessie, offered us a ride when she found us on the side of the road, after you know what.” said Justin.
        “Wait what do you mean, you know what?” I asked.
        “You really don’t remember?!” wondered dad.
        “No, not really.” I replied.
        “Well to summarize it, an abductor threw us in a cave, you retrieved the map from the cave, then the car blew behind you and you got a concussion.” said dad.
        “Wait what.” I said.
        “Okay you basically almost died, that’s what happened.” said Justin.
        “Well then, good to know I’m alive.” I replied. “How long was I passed out?” I asked.
        “For a good day and a half.” replied dad.
        “WHAT?!?!” I exclaimed. “How was I passed out for two days?!” I added.
        “That explosion really got to you.” said Justin. “We had to carry you around until we found Jamie and Jessie.” he added.
        “Are they the two people in the car?” I asked.
        “Yup, that’s us.” said Jessie.
        “Well nice to meet you guys.” I said.
        “Yeah good to meet you too.” said Jamie.
        “Jamie and Jessie also have agreed to take us to the capital.” said dad.
        “Oh that’s cool, well thanks guys.” I said.
        “That is our next destination, the capital!” said dad. “James grabs something to eat, and I think you should be going back to sleep.” he added.
        “Okay.” I said. I had grabbed a sandwich a pop tart, then, I went back to sleep, and that has been my biggest regret.
        Once I woke up, I was still in the car, but there was nobody in there. I went to the front of the car, and saw the map. I saw a bunch of cities (heading from Oregon to the east) circled and all but one were marked with an X. That last city was the one and only, Washington D.C. What could this have meant? Does it mean that those cities were destroyed or something? I had no clue. Then, I got out of the car, and realized it was parked in the back parking lot of a bar. I walked around for a bit, and then I heard a long deadly screech.  That could only mean one thing. I turned around, and saw the abductor. Hesitating, I ran around like a headless chicken, until I found a metal bar. I used it as a weapon against the abductor. I kept running, until I tripped on a brick, then, the abductor jumped on top of me. All I was able to see was his big mouth. I still had the metal bar, so I put it horizontally in his mouth, so that he had no chance of eating me. It was really hard to keep it up, but then, the metal bar broke in half. “I’m about to die! He’s about to eat me!” I thought. Right before the abductor went for the gulp, a lot of gun shots were fired, and the abductor died. He just suddenly fell on me. I pushed it off, then I saw dad Justin, Jamie, and Jessie standing right in front of me. “Oh my god.” I said with my voice cracking. Immediately, I went to go give dad a hug. “Whoa kid, who are you?” asked dad.
        “What do you mean who am I? I’m your son!” I replied.
        “What do you mean my son?” he asked. “I have no children.” he added.
        “Yes you do, you have me!” I replied.
        “Kid, I suggest you go find your parents. This is a very dangerous world, and none of us know who you are.” dad said.
        “What do you mean none of you know me, you are Chris Smith, otherwise known as my dad. You are Justin Chickelsten, my dad’s best friend, and you two are Jamie and Jessie.” I said in a very loud voice. “And where the worlds even are we?” I added in a very loud tone of voice.
        “Okay, first off kid, calm your voice down, second off, we are in the capital, and third off, how do you know who we are?” dad said.
        “I know you guys because you guys are family to me.” I said. “Now you guys will tell me what has happened in the last twenty-four hours of your lives.” I said.
        “Alright kid you’ve had your fun, now let's get you back to your pa….” before dad could finish, I replied with a very loud, “NOOOOOO! You guys will tell me what happened in the last twenty-four hours of your life!” I exclaimed while pointing a gun at them.
        “Whoa kid, where did you get that gun?” asked dad.
        “I got it when I went over to go hug you, but no time for that, you guys will now tell me what happened.” I said while still pointing the gun.
        “Okay kid, we’ll tell you. Twenty -four hours ago, we were driving to the capital, circling every destination on a map, and then crossing it off with an X once we got to there. Then, we got to the capital, and made a little pit stop here.” said dad.
        “So why did you guys come to a bar?” I asked.
        “Because sometime, bartenders have weapons behind the desk, so we came in and took them.” said Justin.
        “So what you're telling me is that you have been driving to the capital until you made a pit stop here?” I asked.
        “Yeah pretty much.” replied dad.
        “Well that's just impossible, because if this is you're only pit stop, then something had to have happened in that bar that made you guys lose all your memories.” I said. “So what we will be doing now, is heading into that bar.” I added still pointing the gun.
        “Okay kid, we’ll do, but just letting you know, there is nothing in there, we have already looted it.” said dad.
        “I don’t care, we are going in there.” I replied. I got them to go back into the meanwhile pointing the gun to their back. Once we entered, everything looked fine. At least that’s what I thought since I had never been in a bar. I kept walking around, until out of nowhere, dad grabbed me and pushed me up against a wall. “What are you doing?!” I exclaimed.
        “I got him!” yelled dad. I then started to hear a laugh coming from the back of the bar. It kept getting louder and louder, then that same exact voice said, “Oh little James.” Then I saw a man reveal himself from the back of the bar. “You really have messed up.” the man said. The man came up to me, grabbed me by the neck, and took me to the back of the bar, where he set me down on a table where he had strapped me up. He strapped me up so hard I thought I was going to explode. “Who are you?!?!?!” I exclaimed. “What have you done to my family?!” I added.
“Well little James, I don’t think that you would like to know that information.” said the man.
“TELL ME NOW!!!!” I exclaimed. “I deserve to know what you what you did to my family!” I added.
“Well you see little James….I erased their memories!” he said.
“WHAT?! HOW?!?!?!?” I exclaimed.
“With this!” he exclaimed as showing me a metal box, with a bunch of weird things on it.
“Where did you get that thing?” I asked.
“One hundred years ago, aliens came into this world with technology and resources. My father had stolen this machine and gave it to me, now I am using it to my advantage. Whenever I encounter someone, I wipe their memories, and make them work for me. I make them protect me, get me food and all that. It also makes them think that they are in the capital so they don’t go off trying to get there themselves.” said the man.
“So, what are you going to do to me? Swipe my memory?” I asked.
“Why of course.” said the man. Luckily, when he was tying me up, he was way too focused on tying me hard and secure, that he forgot to tie one hand. I had been untying g myself when we started talking, and I was able to get out. “NOOOOO!” the man yelled. “You will not do this!” he added. I started to run around his lab, until I stumbled upon a hammer. I picked it up, and knocked him out. “Gotcha!” I exclaimed. I then started dragging him by his arms, and put him in a closet. I grabbed the memory swiping machine, and erased the man’s memory. Before I put it down, I noticed a button labeled, “Reverse.” Maybe that brings back the lost memories! I thought.I left the lab and went out to the main bar carrying the machine with me. I saw dad and them standing in front of once I got out. “Can you guys please trust me?” I asked.
        “Yeah, we heard everything that was going on in there.” said dad.
        “We can trust you.” said Justin. I took them to the back of the bar and got their memories back, one by one. First it was Jamie’s, then Jessie’s, then Justin’s, and most importantly, dads. Once I had finished with everyone, dad came over and gave me a hug. “Whoa, who are you old man?” I asked sarcastically. “What?!” said dad.
        “I’m just kidding with you.” I replied, and then we all laughed. “Well, that man only got you guys to think that we were at the capital, but we’re really not, so I say that should be our next destination.” I added.
        “Sounds like a great idea.” said Jamie. We all grabbed our bags, our food and weapons, and we got in the car. “And this time I’m not sleeping!” I exclaimed.
        When we were on our way to the capital, we started talking. They told me how real it felt. How real it felt thinking they were at the capital. They also told me that they really didn’t know me, as if I was a complete stranger to them. Then I told them how scared I was, and how sad I was when nobody recognized me. Then we all were grateful that we through that part of our lives, and that now we can move on.
        We had been driving for a couple of hours, until we finally saw a big wall. I didn’t know what it was until Jamie said, “There it is, the promise land, otherwise known as the capital.”
        “I didn’t know there was a big wall surrounding it.” said Justin.
        “Oh, the wall is a new addition. It has been under construction for about a good fifteen years.” said Jamie.
        “Hey, that’s around my age.” I said.
        “I guess mom had left around that time.” said dad.
        “She just missed out on it.” I replied.
        “She just missed out on more protection.” said Jessie.
        “She never had the best of luck.” said dad. We started driving around the wall to see if there was any entrance or a door so that we could get in. We decided to stop the car, and go look for an entrance on foot. We had been looking for a couple seconds, and then Jessie finally yelled, “I see it! There are some big gates across this lake.” she said while pointing to the gates.
“That’s a good quarter of a mile.” said Jamie. “Alright, everybody back in the car, lets drive there.” she added. We all started running towards the car. Dad was about to get in the car first, but out of nowhere, the man from the bar came out from a bush, and wrapped his arm around dads neck while pointing a gun at him. “You guys didn’t forget about me did you?” asked the man. “How are you here?!” exclaimed Jamie.
“When little James over here locked me in the closet, I was able to knock down the door, and you were stupid enough to leave the machine in the lab so I was able to reversed my memories. I did that so fast I was able to track down the car trails.” replied the man.
“I don’t care how you got here or what you did, I’m just asking you to release my dad. PLEASE!” I said as I slowly got closer to the man.
“See, now why would I do that? You guys screwed me over back at the bar, how about I return the favor.” said the man as he was about to knock out dad with the gun. Before he could knock him out, there were three gun shots fired. Justin had been the one that shot the gun. He shot one at the man’s leg, foot and hand. “Everybody go back in the car!” exclaimed Jamie. We all ran to the car. First Justin got in, then Jamie, and Jessie. Dad and I were running to the car. I got in the car, but before dad could get in, another gunshot was fired. I looked back, and he was lying down on the ground with a gunshot wound. Justin then shot the man. “NOOOO!” I yelled. Justin and I went over to go pick up dad and put him in the car. We went to the front gate of the wall where the soldiers let us in. We quickly went over to the medic. After hours of waiting, we got the news that dad didn’t make it. We were all devastated. I was living in the capital all alone. Days past and I was still very much sad. I eventually had grown up. I found my wife, and I started my own family.