The Love Chronicles

prologue

Prologue

         When man aligns himself against nature there is a certainty nature will come out the loser. Nature defends itself in a slow fashion. When man aligns against man there are no winners. In this story both have occurred. In nature once this has happened the work of past stewards must rise to reassert itself. The only hope that remains is that somewhere the labor was greater than the damage. Hope that somewhere there is the fertile bed that can resurrect the phoenix rose.
         Mankind without a blueprint had blossomed from the fruit of the earth, until the only the fallen fruit remained and began to spoil. Hoarding and powerful alignments led to mayhem. Forbidden tastes continued until the decline and now awakened bloodlust ravaged a society that once stood at the forefront of humanity as an example. Anarchy arose first from those less fortunate, the feeding frenzy continued as vigilante groups tried to avenge the lost society. Denied the toys they worked hard to acquire some resorted to the violence long witnessed only in video games and movies.       
The Shattering had started as a reaction to government policies. First one country, then another decided that they would dictate who plays with whom. They cut off the oil supply. Soon other children thought it would be fun to join in. Without a backup supply of gas cars were soon sitting idle along with the economy. Angry politicians blamed the government for its failure to prepare. Angry people stopped paying taxes; anyone working in federal government became a target. Local governments responded initially in support of their people by declaring independence.
That was the beginning; local governments became the next targets, any group with a message, or enough people, now rose up. People spent their angst in increasingly vicious clan wars in the open street, spilling one another’s blood. Primitive urges arose as cultural diversions languished. Computer viruses consumed the Internet. The epidemic never traced. Most valuables were rendered inoperable by the outpouring of man’s primal cry. Except for guns, they all worked.
It came to be called, The Shattering because it broke, The American Dream.
River City fell under some of the quickest most brutal attacks. As a reaction the city government teamed with the police force and purged the population. Though it began as a military action, the military never took over, but simply burying themselves in border security as the self-elected city government drew up plans for the reoccupation project.
They surrounded River City with a high double-walled cyclone fence, fortifying the borders like a fort of olden times against invasion. Many laborers served inside the fences during construction and with security until the fence was completed. These workers became the first residents; all screened for relative health and sexual diseases. After the initial refill of a smaller city and a younger healthier population, measures were put in place to determine entrance by availability. Setting times for entrance and keeping a list became standard. After much trial and error gate policies evolved.
River City with the walls of love became a fertile bed.