Lamentations

Morning was coming and Jeremiah had been unable to sleep. The first rays of sunlight broke the heavens into splintered hues of pink, gold, and violet; its light pierced the window blinds casting striped shadows along the wall across from Jeremiahs bed. It was the dream again.  In the distance the deadly plumes rose higher and higher feasting on the sunlight; swallowing the sky. On the ground people were desperately running for their lives.  Sirens were blaring throughout the city, much too late to save anyone from impending disaster.  
     Disaster really wasn't the word for what Jeremiah was witnessing... this was Armageddon.  He was hopelessly ensnared in the belly of the beast, as it mercilessly devoured the heavens, and its igneous bowels torched the earth.  Baltimore was burning and there was no where to escape the fiery hell.  Everything he could see, skyscrapers, bridges, roads, cars, and every man, woman and child, were completely annihilated as the firestorm raged out of control.  The thundering sound of exploding concrete, twisting metal, and the tormented screams of the damned,  echoed loudly in his head
    Jeremiah sat upright in his bed, his body trembling.  Realizing he was awake, he sighed and sank back against the headboard.  Sweat glued his hair to his face and his favorite t-shirt clung tightly to his body.  He could barely breathe; it was the dream again.  Unable to escape the horrid images lingering in his mind; he silently wept for the damned.    
"What does it all mean?" he wondered wiping the fresh tears from his eyes.  This was the second time this week he had endured these abominations.  And there were many others like it.  All of them more nightmares than dreams.  Death and destruction permeated his sleep with fiendish visions of war torn cities, and blast defiled fields, littered with the lifeless bodies of soldiers of every color, race, and country.  All over the world the brown, white, and yellow faces of mutilated corpses sang out to him to behold the evil that men will do for power, money, and glory.  These songs of carnage escalating each night into an operatic climax that eventually toppled every government and society on the face of the known world.  Such was the dream he had tonight.  He wasn't sure, but it felt like the dream was trying to reveal something to him; information regarding the past.  It had all seemed so real, like he was really there watching the cataclysm firsthand.  Jeremiah thought the visions must have something to do with "The War That Broke The World."   
    In the 2,000 years following the "War That Broke The World" only bits and pieces of information chronicling the war had survived. In fact, most of the history of America's existence before the war had been completely lost also.  All Jeremiah had learned in school about his beloved USA was that it was considered the greatest country in the world before the war, revered worldwide for its policies regarding democracy, its diverse culture and civil liberty, and the characters of the men who had been elected to govern.   Jeremiah fervidly desired to be one of those men, and lead the country back to its former glory.  In all of the maps he had seen in Ancient History, the USA was much smaller then.  Jeremiah was amazed that such a small country could possess the best universities, have the largest economy, and boast the mightiest military in the world.  It's former neighbors, Canada and Mexico, were now just states, and its borders now extended from the North Pole  to the Equator.  The aftermath of war had altered the entire landscape of planet Earth.  
      According to historical accounts of the time following the war, chaos was rampant across the globe.  Desperate to survive, people robbed and killed one another over food and shelter, while disease and famine pervade every corner of the Earth .  The lucky few strong enough to survive formed large countries who could protect them.   As a result there were now eight super countries.  The USA, The Republic of the Asian States, Euro-Russia, The United Islamic States, East Africa, West Africa, South America, and Western Europe.  For centuries the countries fought relentlessly over border demarcation.  This period was known as the dark ages but over time governments emerged and trade between the countries was re-established.  Leaders were chosen, either by election, appointment, or by force.  It took nearly fifteen hundred years, hundreds of battles, and thousands of treaties for society to progress to its current status.  
    Once the dust settled and the ink dried the various leaders agreed to meet diplomatically and form an International governing body with ambassadors from each country to work together to resolve any future conflicts.  These ambassadors were to live and work in Australia.   Australia was neutral territory,  and the headquarters of the newly formed United Nations,  and International Courts.  Antarctica was neutral territory as well, and primarily served to accomdate the International Scientific Community as well as a proving ground for Advanced Cooperative Military Projects.
    The sun had completely risen and Jeremiah began rubbing his eyes when he heard footsteps fall lightly just outside his bedroom door.  He watched as the door slid open, and strained to see the silhouette of a female body just inside the doorway.  
    "Jeremiah, its time to get up," his mother called in a soothing and melodic voice.  Jeremiah's mother was a strong, bold woman.  She was beautiful with long blonde hair and a compassionate face.  She loved her family above all things and had mourned for months over Kevin's death.  As her only surviving child, Jeremiah thought that was why she was so overly-protective of him.
    "I am already awake mother," Jeremiah sighed and prepared himself for what was about to come next.
    "Jeremiah Christopher Manning,  you haven't slept a wink have you?  You know how Master Shoo gets when you are late.  How do you expect to be at your best when you aren't even getting a decent nights sleep" She exclaimed dramatically!
    "I am perfectly aware of what I have to do, I'll get ready." he replied calmly.  His mind was still consumed with the dream, and he wanted to let her know why he wasn't sleeping, but the last time had gotten him six months of weekly visits to a shrink.  And, it would have been more if Jeremiah hadn't pretended they had stopped.  No way was he going to tell her he was still having them.
    Jeremiah would have to forget about the dream for now and prepare for his combat training.  There was only a week left before the election and soon he would discover if destiny had fated him to fight for his life against the reigning President, Caidan Johnson and become the next President of the United States.  The constitution demanded a fight to the death.  A cold and determined hate, the killing kind, boiled the blood inside his veins; Johnson had killed his older brother Kevin.
     Four years earlier Kevin had lost his Presidential fight, while Jeremiah was studying in Tibet.   And now, it was Jeremiah's turn to win the nomination.  It was unprecedented that the "chosen one" had come from the same family as the previous Presidential candidate.   In spite of all the pressure from the election, Jeremiah did his best to remain calm.   The irony of his situation made him laugh in spite of its severity.  He was more afraid of running the country than he was of dying in a fight.  He sauntered over to his closet and pulled open the doors, pausing to look at the photograph he had taken of the mountains in Tibet sitting on his dresser.  
    Tibet was part of the The Republic of the Asian States where Jeremiah had spent an entire year studying when he was 13 years old.  He was being trained by the Buddhist Monks, called Bhikkhu in their native tongue when the dreams began.  They had started as fragments lasting only a few seconds with no discernible meaning.  The Bhikkhu seemed to be very interested in his dreams.  Incredibly, the Dalai Lama himself had intended to teach him to channel them while awake.  However, Kevin's death had forced him to abandon his studies early and return home.
    The details of that horrible day were so vivid, he could almost smell the incense burning in the monastery from his room.  The devastating news whispered to him while he was meditating during the morning ritual shattered his focus and rocked him to the core. He knew the hope of his family and the future of the Democratic party lay in his inexperienced hands.  But Jeremiah was confident he could win. After all he had been preparing for this moment since his parents first entered his name into the electoral pool twelve years ago.    
    Entries into the electoral pool were permitted only after a child's sixth naming day when their  Chromo-tags were activated for school.   For the last two hundred years every human being on the planet was assigned a Chromo-tag at birth.  But they were not fully functional until the child reached school age.  Chromo tags identified everything about an individual.  It was essentially a digital record of that person's vital information.  For example a newborns Chromo-tag would contain their DNA, blood type, and genealogy, an adults linked their bank accounts, credit history, criminal history, and occupations they held.  Each Chromo-tag had a corresponding numerical value registered in an international database.  Once activated, everything the potential candidate did academically, athletically, or otherwise was recorded onto the Chromo-tag and up-linked via satellite to be evaluated against the other candidates.  Competitions were held annually to determine who had mastered their studies, and debates were held every three months (beginning at the fourth year of their enrollment) to develop the skills they would need to go head to head with the other leaders of the world.  
     According to the online polls Jeremiah was  currently favored along with the beautiful and charismatic Jade Stone to win the nomination.  The daughter-heir of Stone energy, Jade had also been groomed since her birth for the Presidency.  At the annual competitions she proved to be his strongest opponent.  Her prowess in the sciences really came at no surprise considering her great, great, great, great uncle had rediscovered electricity from some old documents he had found in a basement of a dilapidated building outside of Alexandria, Virginia over 400 years ago.   Jade's father and his high-brow friends now controlled the energy conglomerate.   Stone energy had operated the energy grid in the United States for over three hundred years.
    Although they were opponents, Jeremiah and Jade seemed to have a mutual respect.  Jeremiah admired her. She was born to a wealthy family,  yet dedicated tremendous amounts of her time and energy to philanthropic endeavors.  And her shoulder length, lusciously dark hair, heart shaped face, crystal blue eyes, and perfectly toned body left Jeremiah breathless whenever she was near.    A man could easily get lost staring at her dazzling curves and Jeremiah had spent many nights fantasizing about her.  
    The thought of seeing her later that afternoon made him smile before the weight of reality crept back into his thoughts.  In just a weeks time he would be leaving  for the voting conference.  The conference itself was in Jeremiah's opinion, disgustingly extravagant and even their clothes were part of the charade.  His costume designer had promised that his would be the hottest one ever.  The only requisite was that each candidates family crest be displayed.  As of now all Jeremiah knew was he would be dressed as a warrior with his family crest, three lions with two swords crossing through a shield, displayed on the breast plate of his armor.
    Every Democratic candidate would meet at the National Democratic Hall in Kansas City, Missouri. Television cameras would then broadcast via satellite to voters the finalists individual accolades, accomplishments, results from debates, and briefly interview each one with a series of questions before the population would cast their votes electronically and the results would be displayed digitally beneath each candidate.  Once everyone had voted the winner was announced and revealed live in real time.  
    If the polls were accurate and he got the votes, Jeremiah was certain he could kill President Johnson, but running the country made him nervous as hell.  He was barely 18 years old.  How was he supposed to lead the US back to the former glory he had read about in the history books?  The War That Broke The World had left the US in ruins as civilization struggled to emerge from the carnage.  It was clear the journey back to Glory would be a daunting undertaking, but Jeremiah found solace in the words his father had shared with him about leadership a week before.  
    "Jeremiah remember, you are going to be a Democratic president.  And unlike the Reds, we Democrats seek to do whats best for everyone.   The number one problem the Reds have with our programs and policies, is that we design them to aid people who have the ability and motivation to do something great but lack the resources to see it through.  
    "Father, I want to be a great President, but I am afraid I am going to fail.  Jeremiah said somberly.
Jeremiahs father took him by his shoulders, looked him the eyes, and said, "Jeremiah I have watched you grow from a boy to a man.  I have watched you succeed and triumph, and I have watched you fail and make mistakes.  But what makes you so special, what makes me believe in you so very much, is the goodness inside of you; your humility and compassion for others.  Believe me those are both qualities your opponent, President Johnson, does not have. "  
"But father how will humility and compassion for others make me a great President?" Jeremiah asked earnestly.  
"Do you remember that time, you and Kevin were  playing outside in the back yard, and the two of you were throwing rocks at the Thompson's house? You were quite young then, and Kevin accidentally broke their window.  Do you remember what happened?"  his father asked smiling.
"Yes father, I remember, Kevin got a spanking because he broke the window." Jeremiah said matter-of-factly.  
"Yes, that's right, he got a spanking.  And, when you found out he was being punished, you came to me and said"Daddy, spank me too, I was throwing rocks too."
"Yeah I remember, my butt hurt for the rest of the day."  He remarked touching his backside as if it just happened.  
"That son is called integrity.  Greatness isn't only measured by your achievements, or accolades.  Greatness comes from within; it reveals itself during life's most difficult moments. Of course we can all aspire to be great.  But there are those precious few, like you, whose greatness is as much a part of them as their hands or their eyes.   All you need to do Jeremiah is listen to your heart.  It will always guide you.  Do you understand what I am saying?" his father asked warmly.   "When you are President listen to your heart and be a President for every American; Not only the rich...Not only the poor... EVERYONE..."
 There were two classes of people in the country now.  The rich and the poor.  The middle class had virtually disintegrated thanks to a second rate education system and President Johnson's policies on taxes and the economy.  The rich controlled 99 percent of the Nation's wealth and  Johnson helped no one but the rich and powerful.    
"I will father", Jeremiah replied sincerely, "I promise"