I didn't deserve this. Nobody did. Not a soul on earth could have been prepared for what happened on August 21st, 2021. It was just like any other day, until I heard the siren that silenced the whole town. I think about it every second of every day. Whether I want to or not, it’s always there… always.
It’s a different world now since the machines took over. Almost makes me feel like I took everything I had for granted. I miss those days where I’d wake up to about four or five missed calls from my mother telling me to get up and get ready for my job interviews. It used to bug the mess out of me having to deal with that but now? Those are nothing but memories inside my head… memories that bring back a sense of comfort inside my heart even though I know I’ll probably never hear her voice again. The apartment she lived in just a couple blocks away from my house is the first place I went after the world started coming down, but by that time the whole neighborhood was already destroyed. Nothing but debris and a couple of my mom’s special-scented candles laid waste where she used to sleep. All hope was lost in my eyes after that moment, I mean when you lose every single person who was once close to you what else do you have to live for? She was the only person important to me at the time and I didn’t know how to cope with the pain. I hadn’t exactly been “living the big life,” I guess you could say before this entire machine vs. man war business started going on. Late nights staying up trying my hardest to conjure up a new drawing for my company who had been threatening to let me go if I hadn’t produced what I promised to accomplish is what most of my boring life consisted of. I wasn’t satisfied with the way things were going and I knew something needed to change. That’s how I came to my mother. I hoped she could somehow help me find a new career. She always knew what to do when I was in a slump. The thought brings tears to my eyes every time. None of that mattered now, I could never get her back and I had to tell myself those exact words over and over again. The more important thing is that it’s draft day. Every three weeks the troops scout whoever they see fit to enter this war as a soldier. Aside all the amazing achievements in my past life the one thing I knew I could do was fight in combat. It’s in my blood. All I ever wanted to be growing up was a marine, to fight for my country and make my mother proud. That was just my imagination though. I never thought the day would come where I could be a part of an army. It certainly never crossed my mind that it would be against machines. I stood in line at the old bakery where I used to get art supplies to take home. Now people gather here to wait their turn to get an assigned number that’ll allow only trained soldiers into this madness. My three weeks was up. I had all the skill training I needed, “I’m ready,” I told myself as I walked up to get stamped. Beyond those gated doors was something that’ll either make me or brake me. It made me. That’s how I got to where I am today, sector 12 battle station 002. Every day is a struggle around these parts. The men and I knew nothing was going to change unless we did something about it though so we’ve spent months strategizing different ways to take over the machines main weapon source. In my eyes it was a suicide mission from the start. The big ship floats one thousand feet in the air and anything that has come close to it has got blown into a million pieces. In order for us to take control of our world we had to have six brave men skydive out of a Z-16 aircraft, the only working plane that we have now because all the other jets have been destroyed. Once we get to a high enough altitude we should have enough oxygen in our tanks to be able to handle the air pressure. The second step is to take down the six main tunnel-like hallways. That’s the tricky part; we don’t know what’s past those long black tunnels. Whatever it is we had to be ready for anything no matter what. After that it was up to our retired astronaut who we found almost dead in a ditch a couple weeks ago. The mission wouldn’t be possible without him so our captain reassured many people that nothing can happen to him. He was the ticket to getting the machines out of here because he’s the only person who can fly the ship that’s hovering over the Empire State building. How do I know all this you’re probably wondering? Well during my training we had a supervised visit every other hour to check up on how we were developing and they took interest on how easy I took out other men. They trust in my skills enough to