The All State

"And progress is not intelligently planned/ It's the façade of our heritage, the odor of our land/ They speak of progress in red, white and blue/ It's the structure of the future as demise comes seething through/ It's progress 'til there's nothing left to gain. As the dearth of new ideas makes us wallow in our shame/ So before you go to contribute more to the destruction of this world you adore/ remember life on earth is but a flash of dawn and we're all part of it as the day rolls on/ And progress is a message that we send/ One step closer to the future, one inch closer to the end."

- Greg Graffin



Chicago 2009…



Rex turned the volume down and plopped down on the ratty sofa next to Maria. "That song is always so right on," Rex said. "I mean, it's 2009 and the words are still meaningful almost thirty years later. The man had vision."



"Whatever you say Rex. I say it's time for Heroes, season 4."



"Maria." Rex tried to snap her attention away. "Maria! When are you going to take a look at what's going on out there? When are you going to realize that our band, the other bands that play with us and even more we don't know about, have this chance to shake things up?"



"Oh god, here we go."



"Look at the Seattle shows and the ones along the east coast. You saw how pissed off everyone was. Music holds the key to turning the tide Maria."



"You want my honest opinion? I don't think you have the first clue what you're talking about babe."



Rex stopped talking and stomped his combat boots on top of the old oak table. Maria smacked his head. On the radio, in the kitchen played the latest presidential address. The New American Millenium Anthem had just received congressional approval.



At times, our music, our literature, our films had predicted "The Great Upheaval," but we failed to do anything more than sit back and be entertained. We thought we were fighting a slow burn and there was time to go find the soothing elements. We were humanity, resilient and strong. We had the ability to overcome. But we were forgetting something. Ourselves.



Rex and Maria could still remember the days leading up to the Battle for Rock n' Roll. They were times of tremendous fluctuation in the stock markets, with corporations forming true monopolies - shutting down hundreds of thousands of jobs, bandits from the remnants of Bush, jumping ship in the White House, more than ever. Many had begun communal living. More than anything, people just cared even less than they used to, if that were possible.



By a narrow vote in an emergency session of congress, Bush had lost the re-election to a potential third term in 2008, with Congress citing that a president's executive powers should probably only be allowed to go so far. Though no one really cared what Congress had to say anymore.



Buying into liberalism as "the only answer" to Bush, Hillary Clinton solidified the rise of the next great political dynasty after becoming president. Vice President Arnold Schwarzenegger had been rumored to have delegates fixing the voting booths in what was called the Great States' '08 vote, which gave the Governator the ability to run for President of the American United States. He lost the election. Many pundits believed it was due to his inability to pronounce the America correctly. Chelsea Clinton made a strong swift rise into political life as the youngest Senator of New York, yet assuring the Americans that she would correct the mistakes of her father. She would soon be Senate majority leader.



We overturned the United Nations and slowly but surely entered into what was at first unofficially called the Western Commonwealth. Iran was reportedly "glad that we had decided to engage in 'humanitarian intervention.'" Our reason for more war this time around? We had to save the Iranian people from themselves.



A rise in domestic rebel attacks within the U.S. borders was being blamed on a new phase of al-Qaida that was homegrown and necessitated the need for immediate containment. Not long after is when the wall went up. "It was very regrettably the only way" according to President Hillary.



She gave this speech the day The Wall construction began just outside San Diego: "This moment is unprecedented for us, Americans. It's not the happiest of days, but as the host nation to the unity of all other world states we are consistently striving to set the necessary example. We had no other option to protect our own people, as well, our neighbors from ourselves. This will not be easy. There will be bloodshed, but let me promise you my friends, I will crawl through the trenches myself before I let this senseless killing continue."



How could the American U.S. argue with that sentiment? Some of the people still needed someone to love because they refused to believe that we had been defeated and Hillary gave them someone to love through our defeat. She was a "well-meaning liberal." She was once again, one of us. But it wa in early 2009 that President Hillary signed executive order 16,452 which began the seizing of property for anyone aiding or abetting foreign-born visitors to the American U.S.



Blackwater, was given ultimate protection and finally diplomatic immunity. The Moyock Compound in North Carolina had been exapanded. The company had been internally restructured and given the authority to oversee domestic disturbances without it constituting marshal law. Rupert Murdoch had made major use of the newly formed branch of the A.U.S. armed forces, (a branch that merged the best of the best in every branch of the 50 American United States). Most of the time it was because angry mobs of up to 50 people at a time, threatened to storm his office. Murdoch newspapers, a new subsidiary of News Corporation was on the brink of monopoly as the corporation had bought out Gannett, Disney and Time Warner over the span of a year.



After the fall of Iran, their allies soon retaliated, leaving several A.U.S. states devastated from small-scale nuclear attacks. No one actually believed this day would ever come. But this was 2009 and there was much to be done still. The war had not yet begun.



Chicago 2016…



(continued from "The War on Rock n' Roll rages on in 2016")



Maria continued to listen to the roar of the crowd. The people loved the music. Rex would have loved to be here, she thought. Tears began streaking her face with make-up. She yelled something into the air and started singing a rowdy cover of Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall."



Outside the warehouse in the lobby, the club owner, still expecting the Liberty Patrol to bust in at any moment, cursed himself for missing that phone call. Could've been important, he thought to himself frantically. He was drenched with sweat and worry. He wanted this to go well, but if anyone heard them, they were in for one hell of a battle with the Liberty Patrol.



Rex spit blood onto the floor and slammed the receiver on the table beside him. Shaken from an earlier skirmish, he had been trying to find a way to get through to Maria. The Liberty Patrol had worn him down. They had made him do things that he could never even speak of again. But somehow, it might be okay if he could just let her know he was alive.



There was a tapping on the door of the abandoned office where Rex hid. The commanding officer had found him.



"There you are friend. You know, if you don't like the Liberty Patrol, Blackwater has some spectacular new facilities that await the uncooperative," the officer said. He paused.



"You know, Rex, we traced your call. So, The Target, is it Rex? Does it make you feel a little reminiscent of your old life? Do you really want to rot there in those old clubs, playing third-rate tunes in some back alley shack? The officer kicked his way into the office to see that the window was opened. He immediately scampered off, barking orders.



Rex found his LP training suited him well as he ran, without getting winded, once again down the back alley of what used to be the Rogue Stage. He circled around the back, hoping that someone had gotten his message, stripping off the remnants of his Liberty Patrol uniform. He stopped, just before entering, realizing that he had been here before. He froze, remembering.



This is where they got me. This is where I died, Rex thought. "Maria," he said softly. He heard the Liberty Hounds in the near distance and stood still only a second more before running through the familiar old tin door. He could hear the music a he approached the massive warehouse and it sounded like a sound lost in his memory, but still there.



He climbed up a ladder and through an opening into the rafters, looking directly over Maria. She looked so good up there. She had to know first. Then he remembered the old PA system.



He started up the old machine and yelled into the dusty microphone. He yelled into the microphone. "Maria, can you hear me? Friends can you hear me? It's Rex and we're all about to die if we don't stop the show now. Maria dropped her mic and fell to her knees. She looked up. Her eyes met Rex and an involuntary yelp left her lips.



"Rex! Where- where-?" She yelled through the tears.



"Dry your eyes, Maria. This is no time to cry. Stand up. All of you. Quit gawking and stand guard."



A deafening squall rumbled down the corridor, near the entrance. Then a voice. "People of Chicago, you are not permitted to gather here in this fashion. You are in direct violation of executive order…"



"Make yourselves ready. We're one inch closer to the end," Rex said. "This is it. What you've prepared for without me. My friends, the battle is about to begin." Maria sat shaking with confusion.

To read the first installment go here.

To read the second installment go here.

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