2048 A New Era: Part 2

Note to the reader This is the part of this series that gives the background on why the bombing took place.  I understand that this will probably  piss off almost everyone in the far left or far right camps of the political ring.  Or maybe even everyone.  We'll see what happens.  
___________________________________

 After that sentence there were a few moments where I was taking a few minutes to recuperate after an interesting night so far, that was still far from over.  I turned and took a look at the clock and it read that it was only around 12:45 am.  Even though I was really tired, I was still  very intrigued as to what was to come.  A tightness in my chest had formed from the shear emotion from what had just ensued in front of me.  I was really fascinated at how Tristan had grown to be, given the fact that had been born to me when I was to be 37.  I was just really fascinated at what type of kid he had turned out to be.  Even though he was one of the most popular kids at the school, he still had a heart of gold.  His attitude about everything reminded me of one of my friends from high school who still treated me with respect, even though I felt like i was on the bottom of the schools totem pole.

There was just this warmness that I was feeling just talking to him.  Some tapping on the screen interrupted my thoughts.  And sure enough, my phone went off again.  I went off of the Facetime screen and clicked on it, as previous, and I was standing in what I assumed was my future family room.  Shortly after, Tristan popped up next to me.  "Hey,"  I said and then asked, "Where am I."   Felling like it was a really dumb question.

"You are in my.  I mean our family room in the future.  Samuel and I just got back from his house.  That is us just sitting down at the couch."  then The video started.

 ***

Tristan and Samuel spent the rest of the afternoon and night recovering after one of the most exhausting afternoons of their young lives.  Samuel had been quiet for the last several hours since he arrived at Tristan's house.  Tristan could only imagine what had been going on through Samuel's head so he did not push to get him to talk.  Samuel's dad had died a few years ago in the conflict on Russian soil, so Tristan gave me a short briefing on what he had learned about in history.

***

I was having a hard time making note of all that he said, but here is the jist.  30 years ago, in the election of 2017 the American people had elected Donald Trump as president.  The whole election was one of the most controversial in recent years.  It was so controversial, that the Democrats decided to do a little digging into it.  The one thing that they kept bringing up was that Russia was involved.  God forbid.  the FBI launched an investigation into the happenings around it.  This investigation lasted for about 3 years, but then the FBI closed the case.  

One year into the following presidents election, upon pressure from his party, the elected president reopened the case.  There were some pretty interesting finds in the reinvestigation.  Tow years after the discovery, the President decided to not release the results for awhile.  Right as he was about to release the information, he got assassinated.  An investigation into the murder of the president revealed that the Russians had been responsible.  In retaliation, the acting president put the person who was accused to death for treason.  

The two power nations went back and forth for several years.  One thing led to another and the tensions ultimately culminated in the US invasion into Russia, in 2034.   Samuel's dad was on the front line.  The conflict continues to this ad.  About five years ago, in Tristan's time, Samuel's dad died in combat.  The war in Russia had been cold for around 6 years, but now (again in Tristan's words) it seems that Russia has been planning to do the same thing that Americans did to them 12 years ago.

***

The two of them sat looking at each other for what felt like over two hours, and I finally entered the frame, looking terrible I might add.  My hair was a mess, my face super dirty, and when I came in, i seemed, quite honestly, rather grouchy.  But after a few minutes of being home, and seeing that most of his kids were there, I was back to my own optimistic and genuine self.  Riley was already in the kitchen, and Tristan was still in the family room with Samuel just sitting quietly, almost bored, but it seemed like I knew that things would be better in time.  I entered the family room, walked through me and the Tristan who were observing.  He plopped down on the couch between Tristan, and Samuel and asked, "How are you guys doing?," and was greeted with silence.  Understanding why the two were acting like that, I just said, "OK, take your time.  When I comeback down, we are going to have a little bit of fun OK."  Just as I turned around, in my peripheral vision, I apparently saw Tristan crack a smile.  I turned around quickly and said, "I see that!"  Eventually the Tristan on the couch started to laugh.  "I knew that would work."  I gave Tristan a look and ran upstairs.

Tristan anxiously tapped his fingers on the arm of the couch, and eventually gave up sitting around twiddling his thumbs.  Surprised that his dad did not instantly come back down the stairs because there was no upstairs left, Tristan turned to Samuel and said, "Instead of just sitting here, why don't I show you to your room.  Samuel hesitated at first, and then shrugged his shoulders and said, "Why not."  

"He speaks!"  Tristan said loud enough for everyone in the house to hear.  Then, he saw Samuel crack a smile,  "I almost forgot what that looks like on you.  It looks quite good honestly."  

Tristan helped him up the stairs and led him to where he was going to be staying for the night. When they reached the top of the stairs, they hung a right.  There was a bit of a chill here because there was a whole in the roof over both the Master bedroom, which was on the right, and partially over what he described as Devin's room.  Thankfully though, it wasn't over his bed.  The two of them followed the hallway, towards Tristan's bathroom. Tristan pointed to the room on the left and told Samuel that was his room.  "My bedroom is right on the other side of the bathroom, so if you need anything, you know where I am.  Riley's bedroom is in the basement."  Tristan dropped off samuels things and the two of them headed back downstairs

***

That is where the video ended.  I found myself back in my warm room talking to Tristan.  "I just have one question before we move on?"

"Yeah?"  Tristan replied.

"Why did you share all that information on the history leading up to the bombing."  

"Honestly, just to give you some information on what is going on in my world.  You could do with it what you like.  I am going to go find Samuel, so you could get a different perspective.  I could see him walking by a few kids.  The girl looked familiar, so I assumed that she was his sister.  Riley I think was her name.  Next to her, as he shuffled down the line was a younger kid that I had not scene  yet, but I assumed that was his younger brother, that Tristan had mentioned a couple of times. I did not get a good look at the other kid he walked by, but he seemed pretty upset.  Eventually, He reached Samuel.  Unsure how to open up the conversation I introduced myself.  "Hey there.  I am David.  I think you may know me from some events that have happened in the future."

"Yeah I know you.  Tristan told me to let you in on some stuff, so here goes nothing."  Shortly after I got a text from a different number, same format though.  I clicked on it and I arrived back on the scene that was going on prior to the weird perspective shift that had just occurred.  A few seconds passed and Samuel was now standing next to me.  "You ready?"  He asked.

"As I'll ever be."  I responded.

***

In front of me, I saw Tristan leading Samuel down the stairs.  At the bottom of the steps, Tristan's (or I) was standing on the bottom of the stairs, with a smile on my face.  Again, The strange sensation of understanding Samuel's thoughts kicked in:  How can he be smiling?  He asked himself.  At the bottom of the stairs, Tristan leaned into me, and gave me a huge hug.  Then my gaze fell into Samuel's eyes.  The way Samuel's body language changed gave me a clue that it was a bit of a surprise, as he just stood there watching until the me that was in the scene in front of me said "Are you just going to stand there or what?  Get your behind down here and bring it in."  Samuel did as he was told.  He had not had anything like this happen in  a long time.  Before, when he entered the house, Tristan's dad just gave a handshake, and bro hugged.  That was it.  This however, felt different.  Could it be that I may finally have some sort of dad?  He ran the cross that he was wearing through his fingers, thinking back to when he heard the news that his dad was not going to be coming back.  He quickly swallowed that feeling down as he remembered that just for now, he was a guest in his house.  

Tristan's dad could tell that the invitation was making Samuel a little uncomfortable, so he said, "Before we do anything, we have to get you some stuff for a day or two.  Does that sound good?"

"Sure,"  Samuel replied. 

"Good, we'll take my car."  The threesome made their way out the front door, and I guess my future vehicle was sitting in the driveway.  That is a bit more like a truck than a car I thought to myself.  The three of them hopped into the truck, and I drove the two of them to Samuel's house.  Before they left, I grabbed a few headlamps.  

***

Samuel hesitated when they first got out of the truck.  The last time he  and Tristan entered his home, the first thing they saw was his mother laying in the entry, motionless.  This time, however she was not laying in the entry.  Samuel turned around behind him and Saw Tristan's dad cracking a smile.  "It did not feel right to see her lying there when I stopped here after I got my wife's text, so I buried her out in the backyard.  You could pay your respects after we get you some stuff if you want."

"Thank you, Mr. Picha."  Samuel flashed a grateful smile in his direction.

Tristan opened the door, and headed to Samuel's room to see if it was still accessible.  Samuel's house was one of the few single story homes on the block, so it was always easy for Tristan to find Samuel's house before.  Samuel's room was on the left side of the house next to the guestroom.  Sine the sun was on it's way down, the hall to his room was dark, even though there were still a few hours before sunset.  The three of them put on their headlamps and entered Samuel's room.  Inside of the room it was dark, and a few of the pictures that were hung on the wall had fallen down from the bombardment this afternoon.  Quite honestly, I was surprised that not more things had fallen on the ground.  The most notable picture had always been next to Samuel's bed.  Next to me, I heard Samuel say, "That was the last picture that my family had taken before my dad had left to go to war."

The Samuel in the scene in front of me instantly headed over to that picture and picked it up.  I moved closer to get a better look at it.  The way it was cracked will always remain in my mind.  His mom and dad were standing in the background, and he was at the center of the picture.  The glass was broken in such a way that it framed him.  Tristan was on his hands and knees looking for Samuels other duffle.  "It's under the bed,"  Samuel said.   While Tristan and his dad were packing up, Samuel was looking around his room, almost seeming distant from what was going on.  It seemed as if this was the only room he had ever known, and chances were he was not going to be coming back.  Tristan's Dad noticed him standing off and looking around.   He Sat down on Samuel's bed, and motioned for him to come over.  Samuel went towards Tristan's dad, and just stood next to him.  

"Grab a seat," Tristan's dad said.

"OK"  Samuel said and followed instructions.  

"What is going on in that head of yours?"

"A lot." 

"Like?"

Samuel and I Sat in silence for about 15 seconds, while Samuel was thinking about what he was going to say, and how he was going to say it.  Finally he came to a conclusion.  "Today has been really long.  I am now a freaking orphan, I have lost a few of my friends.  It's like I don't know where to turn.  My grandparents live 4 hours away from here, and I have no family any closer than that.  I am just real scared, and I feel so alone right now it's not even funny."  Those words spilled out in like a run on sentence.  There was so much pain and desperation in his voice,  That it made it hard for me to believe that this was the same kid that had so much confidence just several hours before.  I felt my eyes start watering, but I swallowed those feelings real quick.

"I want you to take some time to think about that last sentence." 

"OK."  Samuel was quiet for a moment as he contemplated.  He then continued, "But its true."   His tone reminded me a little bit of Luke Skywalker when he was training to become a Jedi in Star Wars.  

"You can't see what is right in front of you."  I said softly.   "We wouldn't be here right now if we did not care about you.  Heck, if that was the case, we wouldn't be letting you stay at our house about you."  Samuel looked like he was taking in every single detail.  

"Really?"  He sounded like a kid in the candy store.  

"Yes."  

The trio finished packing in around a half hour and then headed back to Tristan's house.

***

The video then stopped and I found myself back just laying on my bed.  I turned to my left and I saw that Samuel was not not next to me.  I started to think about what do do with the information that Tristan gave me before we started to get back to the future.  I thought about how he delivered the information to me before we got deeper into the future.  Though broad, the way he delivered it sounded different then the fact that it was one side or the other that had a part to play.    It almost seemed as if both parties were wrong.  I thought about the current events that were happening.  Both parties were going at it constantly.  It seemed as if every single day leading up to this point somebody was saying something about somebody.  Everyone seemed to be pointing the finger at everyone else, rather than themselves.  Could it be that just not one side was to blame about this event that had happened in the future  Wow that makes perfect sense. I thought to myself.  If both parties had not picked the candidates for president that they picked,  maybe the future would be a better place.    

My phone rang again.  This time it was Tristan, and though the lighting was really low I could see that the group was walking.  "You moving?"  I asked.

"Yeah."  Tristan replied.  "the bosses told us to move away from the door.  We are going to be staying here for the rest of the night." 

"OK."  And just like that, my phone went off again.  this time it sounded real different.  I clicked on it,and I was transported back to my house in the future.  I heard a door open and right in front of me The trio that was at Samuel's house was walking in the garage door.  I saw myself tell the kids to head down stairs and that I would be right down.  Tristan and Samuel looked at each other and Tristan asked, "Should we go and get Samuel's stuff and bring it upstairs instead?"

"Sure,"  I replied.  "Just head downstairs afterwords."  Tristan looked really confused and I could tell that he could tell that something was up.  I saw myself mess with his hair shortly after that.  As I was observing I rolled my eyes and thought to myself, I would totally do that.  Afterword's I could tell that Tristan felt self conscious in the way that he pushed his hair back over to the side.  He then disappeared behind the door.  Shortly after I heard the door open and closed I saw Tristan reappear with his friends other duffel bag.  He said something to Samuel and the two of them  of them parted ways,  Samuel walked towards the basement door, and Tristan ran towards the stairs and went up them.  I heard the pounding of his steps, as he was keeping his pace up.  By the time Samuel was at the basement door,  He was already back at the bottom of the stairs.  He opened the door for Samuel, and the two went to the basement.  

I turned my attention back to the kitchen and saw my future self ready to start a conversation with my future wife.  She was really pretty, with brown hair, and freckles.  Around her neck she was wearing a small neckless, though I could not get a good look at her from the position I was in, so I crept closer.  When I started to examine her facial features up close there was something almost familiar about her.  Like the two of us had a long history, even back to 2018 and maybe even beyond.  I did not want to jinks myself so I backed off examining her.  As good as it would be to know what my future wife looked like,  I felt like somethings should just happen.  I heard the basement door close, and then I saw myself start to speak.  For some reason I didn't have to open the conversation "David, why did you send the boys away?"

"I wanted to talk about something with you."  I replied.  As my 2018 self was standing there, I felt uneasy as it was really weird hearing my name. 

"Should I be worried?"  My future wife replied.

"No.  At least I hope not."  

She seemed to pick up on some unnamed cue or quirk of mine.  "It's about Samuel isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"OK.  Lets talk about it.  You first."

Just like that I cracked, "When we were at his house packing, Samuel and I had a really serious conversation.  He brought up a few points.  He feels like he is now an orphan and he doesn't feel like he has anyone.  The rest of his family is cross country.  Quite honestly,  I fell like he dose not want to to move in with his grandparents, who are the closest members of his family, and they live a ways away.  I know those two, and the odds of them coming down here just to pick him up is slim to none.  Also I think he is way too young to be cut loose."

"So what are you saying?"  Asked my wife.  

"I am saying that we take him under our wings on a more permanent bases."  That tugged at my heartstrings, as I watching this unfold right in front of my eyes.  

"Do you think that we can handle it, especially now?  We do not even know how long we can last in this situation."

"That is why I am turning to you.  You know I lead with my heart when it comes to these things but right now I feel like we can do this."

A motherly tone and look fell across my future wife's face.  She thought for a bit and then came to a solution.  "You want to tell them or shall I?"

"I think we should tell them together.  Now which would be better:  Telling the kids before bed, or telling the kids at dinner?"  

"What do you think David?"

"I think dinner would be good.  that will give the kids some time to come to grips with it before bed, and we would not have to deal with Tristan and Devin running around the house crazy hyper before bed."

"We'll do that.  Right now, I have got to make dinner for 6.  We better get rid of that chicken in the fridge before its to late."  

"How do you recommend we cook it?  We don't have any power."

Sarcastically, she replied, "babe, could you check the generator to make sure it's working?"

"Oh.  Right.  I forgot about that."  

A few minutes passed and the generator kicked on. 

***

Dinner was done by 7:15.  The smell of it once finished drew all the kids from their cracks.  Devin was the first to appear.  I studied him as he walked by.  I was really surprised that he was one of my kids.  He was about 4 foot 6, and his hair was practically jet black in color.  It was a buzz cut.  I would say that the blade the buzzed his hair was about a four or a 5.  He was quite pale in color, but his hue is slightly tan.  His eyes were a light grey, which really completed his hair color What the heck did I just think.  I thought to myself.  I went back to focusing on what he looked like.  Under his eyes, he has fairly obvious darker freckles.  When he smiles, he gets dimples on both cheeks.  On the right side of his face he has a scar that is about 2 centimeters long.  I could tell that when he was healthy he had a lot of swagger about him, but right now he seemed a bit worn out.  I at first thought it was because of the day he had had but as I looked closer, I could tell his nose was running a little bit.  

He grabbed a seat at the kitchen table, and then Riley, Tristan and Samuel soon followed suit.  Realizing that there was going to be six people in the family for awhile, my future wife went over to the family room and grabbed an extra chair.  Lucky for them, The kitchen set was originally for 6.  

Before dinner was dished up the future me addressed the family, focusing more on the boys than Riley.  "Kids.  Your mother and I have been talking.  Today has been a long day for all of us.  Some have had it harder than others,"  I made eye contact with Samuel.  Self conscious, Samuel dodged his gaze, but Tristan, seeming to know what was up, gave Samuel a look to encourage him.  "At this table tonight, some of you may have noticed that Samuel is sitting here with us.  He has gone through a lot today to say the least."  Samuel raised his head up and looked at my future self expectantly I paused for dramatic effect, breathed in deeply, and released it slowly.  "Tonight, mom and I have decided to expand the family to 6 -"