It’s been twenty years since the world has been normal. Twenty years since ordinary people had a real say in what goes on.
It is now the year AD 2034, and things have changed in those twenty years.
I used to be a school girl, getting straight A’s, turning in all of my homework on time, trying my best, and falling in love with music. It didn’t matter what music, as long as it was there, ready for me to listen to when I needed it.
It was then, when the society I knew, took a turn for the worse.
The government seemed to feel power hungry that day, making new laws for us that they could not do in the democracy we had. They slowly took away privileges, rights, and freedoms.
Our democracy, was being turned to a monarchy right before our very eyes.
Every day it was the same thing, the news would report what we couldn’t have or do, and I would turn the TV off, disgusted by what the world was turning into. Every day, I would read the new list saying,
NO gum
NO transportation other than cars
NO out of the ordinary shoes. All people are to wear their black boots
NO nail polish
Have a nice day
It is like they are trying to get rid of our imaginative side, like they are turning us into soon to be minions, getting rid of what we look forward to every day. No, it’s not like they are trying, it’s they are doing.
Soon enough, they started pushing for the big things. On a cool spring morning, we were ordered to evacuate our homes, and go to the forest near the Rocky Mountains that is a mile or so away from us. We didn’t know what was going on, we just left… but then I heard a soft sizzling. 
I instantly ran to see. Our recent home was gone by the time I got there, taken down by some sort of purple acid.
We now lived in the trees. Yes in the trees, not under them, not above, but in. We dug in the bark, put platforms up in the branches, and created a tree society.
I was fine with all of that though, as long as I had some sort of school, and enough music to content me. I was fine.
But one day, on a warm summer morning, at 9:45 a.m., the government pushed the line too far.
It was all over the news, as it always was. But this time, I didn’t turn the TV off. All I could do was watch, and tremble in anger.
“According to government officials, we’ve recently got a new list of lost privileges,” the 9:00 newswoman reported, “We will be reporting the list right after this.”
Then there was a commercial on the brand new line of makeup products.
“Having trouble getting your makeup off? Well we have good news for you…” The commercial hummed as I turned away from the TV to talk to my only friend since the world changed.
“They’re making another list Kaylee,” I shouted to the short, sweet, but can be a very tough girl that is in the other room.
“Doesn’t surprise me,” she replied as she walked in the room while cleaning her glasses, “What, isn’t it like the fiftieth time?”
“More like fifty fifth time,” I corrected. “I’ve been keeping count.”
“Well it’s starting to get annoying,” Kaylee groaned.
“Starting? I was already annoyed.  I don’t know where you’ve been,” I joked.
“Whatever,” she replied. “Just turn the sound up, the news is coming back on.”
“Yep, it’s official. We now have a new list of things we can’t do, here is the post,” the heavily make upped newswoman said. The screen went quickly to the list.
No. That’s not right. Infuriated, I quickly stood up and left the room without saying anything.
“Whoa, what got you into such a bad mood?” Rhiannon, one of my school buddies asked as I shoved through a platform in the still, green trees.
“You didn’t see it did you?” I yelled.
“See what?” Rhiannon asked, perplexed.
“The news, the new list of things we can’t do!” I yelled back turning red.
“Listen, Gabby, I know you get angry-“
“They outlawed only two things, school and music!” I cut Rhiannon off.
“What? But those two things are your life!” Rhiannon gasped.
“I know. This is really bad right?” I asked, sitting down on a cold, metal bench cooling off from my temper and feeling the large hole in my heart.
“It’s O.K. Gabby, it’ll get better.” Rhiannon said, trying to comfort me.
“No, it won’t. Not unless someone stands up and fight.” I argued. “Which is how I will fix this. The government will lose their power Rhiannon, and it will be today!”
I immediately stood up, grabbed my walkie-talkie and reported to everyone on my channel, “We are to report to meeting room 117 stat, anyone late will lose their right to be here.” I took a breath, thinking of what to say next. “We are about to get our lives back.”
In command room 117, there was a slight hum of whispers as my team waited for everyone. There was a cool breeze from the fan in the window. Just as my close training partner arrived, I got down to business.
“Listen, has everyone heard about the new outlawing that took place this morning?” I wait until everyone nodded their head yes.
“Yeah! You don’t know what to do with yourself right?” Joked Chuck, my other short, funny, but can be annoying friend/partner.
I quickly gave him a look of disgust and moved on, “No, it’s not just that. I am sick of the government taking away our lives! They took our homes for Pete’s sakes!”
“Wow, did you hear that? She actually said Pete’s sakes! Now it’s serious,” Smirked Harrison, my training partner.
“Oh shush, Harrison let’s get down to business here,” I said, turning back to the table.
“Well really, I think we should start a rally. That could work,” Kaylee chimed in.
“No,” Chuck shouted, “We should sneak into the government, and turn everything back without the government knowing!”
“That could work,” I agreed.
“The government could just change it back again though,” Harrison replied. Honestly, that does make a good point.
“We should fight, and take over the government,” Harrison added.
“No!” Kaylee yelled.
“My plan!” Chuck shouted.
  “Why I ought-a-“Harrison started.
“Enough!” Rhiannon shouted, “Quit acting like children! Now if you all shut your mouth and listen up, we will surely find an answer to all of this!”
I instantly cleared my throat, “Thank you, Rhiannon.”
“Well, what are we going to do?” Chuck asked.
Then it hit me, “I got it!” I was getting excited by then, “Why don’t we do all of your ideas!”
“What?” they all asked at the same time.
“I mean, if we all do our ideas at the same time, we can surely succeed! Kaylee, you can plan and organize the rallies. Chuck, when Kaylee is rallying, the government won’t expect you sneaking in! And Harrison, if Chuck can take down the security system for a long enough amount of time while doing everything else he was going to do, you could get a whole army in the government and attack them!” I exclaimed.
“Well, what will you and me do?” asked Rhiannon.
“You could help make sure the rallying runs smoothly and watch the outside, and I will help take care of inside,” I answered.
“So is it a deal?” I asked.
“Deal,” they all said.
“But wait, Gabby,” Kaylee said, “We will pull this off, right?”
“Listen, everyone,” I said slowly, trying to say my words the right way, “I cannot guarantee we will survive. Actually, I think it would be a miracle if one of us lives. But I am willing to take the risk. What about the rest of you?”
Everyone nods their heads slowly, taking in what I just said.
  “Good, now let’s get to work. If we want to win this, we have to be ready,” I ordered.
The rest of the day moved fast as we were all getting ready for the next day. Kaylee quickly found enough ralliers to last a lifetime. Harrison just needed a few more people to join the fighting group, and Chuck and I were just finishing up our training for sneaking in.
By the time it was night, I hit the pillow and fell asleep.
The morning was chaotic. Before any troop goes out for their job, Rhiannon and I went and made sure everything is ready for the takedown of the government.
I went on my walkie-talkie when we were in place and said, “Alright, we are ready for takedown. Kaylee, bring the rallies.”
“Copy that,” Kaylee replied.
Within minutes, ralliers were pouring in from all over, chanting and waving their signs all around. That would be a perfect diversion.
And sure enough, government officials were pouring out of the gray, dreary government building and trying to control the crowd as we hoped.
“Gabby, there are a lot out there. Should we call Chuck?” Rhiannon asked over the walkie-talkie.
“No, give it a minute, there are still people in there and I would like to get as many out as possible,” I replied.
In a few minutes, less and less officials were coming out, “OK, Chuck, start sneaking. Meet me at the back entrance,” I told Chuck.
“OK, try not to get caught,” he replied.
I quickly jumped off my perch I was sitting on, and carefully started to make my way to the back. But before I could realize what was happening, a security shockwave went off from the pressure of my feet and threw me at least three feet back. I stood up assessing the damage. I only had a few scrapes and minor cuts so I went on.
“Chuck, be careful. There are shockwave panels that go off if stepped on. Don’t set them off,” I said
“Yep, found that out the hard way,” Chuck groaned into his walkie-talkie, “I’m almost to the back.”
I got to the door and I saw that Chuck was in worse shape than I was. He had a huge cut on his forehead that he was tending.
“You ready Chuck?” I asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he responded.
“Now Chuck, if I don’t make it through this-“I started to say.
“You will. I have your back, and you have mine,” Chuck cut me off.
We quietly opened the door and go in, only to find that the place is completely silent. And empty. As we search the rooms, Chuck finds a room that is supposedly the main room for everything. Our jackpot. But it was locked.
“Hold on,” I said as I walk to the door and grab my ID card. I quickly picked the lock, heard a soft click, and opened the door.
“We found the control room. Harrison, get ready and charge on my word. We are trying to take the security down,” I reported.
“Ready at your word Gabby,” Harrison replied.
I stood guard as Chuck tried to take care of the security system, “When you get the system down, I’m going to have to leave you to help with the fighting. Can you take care of everything by yourself?” I asked Chuck.
“Yeah, I should be able to get it soon enough, and when I’m done I’ll guard this place to make sure no one gets in till it’s done, it will be tricky though, you’re the computer whiz” he answered.
“Ok got it. Tell Harrison and go!” Chuck yelled.
“Harrison, it’s down. It’s now your time to shine. I’ll get to you in a minute,” I said as I ran out the door.
“We are now starting to fight. Gabby hurry,” Harrison told me.
I quickly got to the scene and started to fight. Everything was happening too fast and it just turned to a blur.  We took our way in the building, and did what we had to. There were officials in brown suits, trying to stop our forces.
It was almost over and in our victory, when I saw someone was hurt, badly. I immediately ran to them but I never made it. All I remember was a searing pain in the back of my head and the world going black. Blacker than any black a paint can resemble. Blacker than when it was midnight out. Then a rush of jumbled up memories of my life came into my head and I heard a distant humming.
The next thing I knew, I was lying in some sort of hospital room in my clothes I wore when I was fighting. My partners were all standing above me.
“W-what happened?” I asked trying to sit up. “Why does my head hurt so badly?”
“We won, Gabby!” Rhiannon cheered.
“Yeah, when you went to go help Amy, the person who was hurt, a government official saw you and hit you in the back of the head really hard with a piece of wood,” Chuck laughed.
“Oh,” I moaned. “What about Amy?”
“She’s fine. Everyone’s fine. There is no more government,” Harrison assured me.
“So everything’s going back to normal? None of this outlawing stuff?” I asked, trying to get my thoughts in order.
“No more government,” Kaylee said, “Now lay down, you need to rest. You were out for three days.”
“See I told you everything would get better!” Rhiannon chimed.
“Yes you did,” I replied, and dozed back off to a deep, dark sleep.
Now, my job is to keep people safe. Anyone who is both in the green trees and on the hard ground, is protected by me. And those government officials, well, if I get any calls for them, they get locked behind bars, never to see our orderly and perfectly safe world again. And in my mind, I think of how evil I thought the officials were. But now I guess I have that under control. And it turns out that now, those officials fear me as much as I feared them.