1 Just Another Day

John is a handsome, 42 years old man with salt and pepper hair, he is lean and has decent muscle tone. He is a civilian scientist, physicist, mechanical engineer, and inventor for the U.S. Department of War. Lately, though he has become an advisor to the War Department and Department of Defense.

Beep… beep… beep… beep… …

"Mmm… coffee…."

John mumbles as he opens his eyes and shuts the alarm clock off. As he lays there in bed, he looks over to see the time of 0500 shining into his eyes. Sighing he gets up and goes about his daily routine. Start the coffee, shower, shave, drink his coffee, brush his teeth, and finally get dressed and ready for work. As the clock displays 0600, he finally heads out to work.

During his 45-minute drive to work, he tunes in to the morning news on the radio. "Today, 18 July 2056, is the 2nd anniversary of the end of the decade-long war between the three great superpowers, leaving over 3 billion dead and wounded globally. There will be a moment of silence for all those who have sacrificed their lives today at noon. In other news the senate has voted and passed a defense budget bill…" the news anchor droned on.

"What have I done," he thinks to himself. "I may have ended the war earlier but at what cost? So many dead, I have created a new era on this planet and one that no one can control."

Arriving to work he is stopped by an armed soldier, "Identification please." The soldier standing there stated as if he was extremely bored. Presenting his identification card and waving his wrist over a scanner he is allowed into the underground parking ramp. Several retinae, fingerprint, voice, and even DNA scans later he is greeted by a pristine white warehouse. This is where they stored all prototypes and, in the middle under a tarp, sits his creation that ended the war. Well, the weapons that won the war years if not decades in advance. Rifles with auto-targeting that rarely miss, rifle ammunition that explodes upon impact spewing white phosphorous, exoskeleton combat suits that protect its user against all but the largest small arms munitions. Unmanned auto-loading tanks with their GPS and Laser guided ammunition, recon and targeting micro-drones, and the bombs; nuclear, hydrogen, fuel-air, white phosphorus (WP), cluster, chemical, mainly Chlorine trifluoride and, the game-changer, antimatter.

Walking past all the weapons of war and entering his office John finally sat down at his computer. Once again, he was losing himself in thought." Today the whole country was celebrating the official end of the war, but the war ended months before this day. One could say the war ended the day I discovered and created the AM Bomb. As soon as I discovered this, I knew the government wouldn't hesitate to use it. I just can't believe they dropped 22 of them at the same time." he thought. "Well back to work. They want me to figure out how to condense this technology down. But should I? maybe I should just procrastinate and prolong the project until it is postponed indefinitely."

"Hey, John!" Mark called out to him startling him out of his train of thought. Mark is a short muscle-bound black man about 5' 7" tall, with black hair and a striking resemblance to a certain actor that played a vampire, vampire hunter. He is 39 years of age and had a family of 4 kids and a loving wife. "Are you going to come over for dinner tomorrow? It's Friday and the missus is expecting you. You know what happens when she gets mad."

"Yeah, I will be there at 1730, right? Is there anything she would like me to bring?"

"She said that you can start bringing food again when you bring a date," Mark said in a teasing tone.

"I can't date yet again, not so soon." John sighed. "It has only been a couple of years since the accident."

Mark got serious and grabbed John by the shoulders and looked him in the eyes, he then hung his head and spoke slowly and softly, "Look man, I know that, and she knows that. She is just trying to help in her way. She misses Andrea more than either of us knows, they were inseparable. Always going to get drinks, always looking after the kids together, always planning for things we couldn't. Because of our jobs, we weren't always home, and they had to rely on just themselves. I know I don't have to tell you this but sometimes it is always good to hear out loud how others are affected by the loss of your wife also. Just so you know you aren't the only one grieving, and you don't have to grieve alone."

Mark let go of John's shoulders and started to walk away, he called out from over his shoulder, "Oh by the way the president has called a meeting, my sources say they are going to present you with an award for your part in ending the war. Check your email for the details." With that, he disappeared around the corner.

John was left sitting at his desk head hung low and his hands were unsteady. Lifting his head, he steeled himself to get to work. Logging on to the department network he looked at the time, 0700. Checking his email, he reads:

John,

There will be a board meeting today from 1330-1600 in the Misty Waters Conference Room. We will be discussing future projects so bring any ideas and suggestions with you. Also, we will be presenting with commendations so dress nicely.

Very Respectfully,

Dianna.

President Secretary

"Well, I better start putting together some project ideas and plans then. It is just another day."

~1300~

"SHIT! I must get going, I am going to be late, Fuuuuck! How did I lose track of time? Shit, where did I put those files, hell do I even need them? Gaaaah! Fuck it. I will bring them later." Panicking John grabbed a bunch of files on his desk and started to run through the warehouse floor. He didn't even put on his hard hat, Safety Glasses, or Reflective vest. Sprinting through the aisles of the warehouse he started to get tunnel vision as he started to focus on his destination and freaking out about being late at the same time. As he ran out of the shelving units' section and into the loading bay. That is when he heard someone yell, what they yelled he didn't know, but it sounded urgent, so he looked up to see what was going on. All he saw was a shadow the blocked out all light. He didn't even feel it.

What everyone around the area witnessed that day would cause them to go through years of counseling. Today they witnessed John getting crushed by a weapons crate that was being transported by a forklift. It was the ground guide that John ran past in his hurry that yelled to the driver to stop. Unfortunately, when the driver didn't hear or see him or John in time and ended up crushing John.