*Day of Fire

Sorry about the late posting. It was saved as a draft and so didn't post when I scheduled it.

Intro: I wrote this story while thinking about various dystopic novels I've read. I actually wrote another flash story, Night of Thunder, for my friend's blog. This can be considered a prequel to the story that will be posted on Wednesday at Josh Hoyt's blog. You will find he writes really good posts about applying psychology studies when creating fictional characters.

Georgia smelled the sulfur from the gunpowder as she drove into the city. There were a few survivors holed up in the rubble. She saw dirt stained faces looking out as she passed. They wouldn't know who she was and instead were looking at the soldiers filling the streets behind her truck. The black and gray uniforms stood out stark against the brown stone. This was probably the first time anyone had seen the soldiers in the light. Her troops were called Shadowalkers, taken from a children's story about assassins who walked the night.

A young man ran into the street, gun raised. He fell dead a second later. One of her personal guards ran forward and dragged the body to the side. Most of the time the body would be left, but since it was in the path of her truck the man risked his life if there were a bomb. She kept her face forward so she wouldn't have to look at the hunger in the eyes. Food. Life. Hope. These people starved.

Thousands of people milled around the town square. They fell silent as the truck rolled in. More hungry people. They almost salivated at the sight of men marching in straight lines. Though there were only a couple of hundred men in the city, thousands more surrounded the city and that was less than a tenth of her army.

Guards flanked her as she climbed the broken staircase to a wooden platform.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the dawn of a new day." She made sure to meet the gazes in the crowd as she spoke. "None of us living have experienced anything but a war torn life. I am here to bring peace."

Silence. Exactly what she expected when she spoke of fantasies.

"My name is Georgia Price. I am the price of peace. I am the one who can bring your fantasies to life. These troops are only the beginning. Everyone will have a job. Everyone will have a future. Everyone will be satisfied. Join with me in creating a new world."

"And how do you expect to do that?" a woman yelled from the crowd. "In case you haven't noticed, there is nowhere left to live."

Georgia smiled a little. She held up a lighter. "We are phoenix. We rise from our ashes. Come with us to the new city we've built. There you will be provided with homes, food, clothing, and education." She waved for her first in command to get things organized. This was the last major city on tour. Already there were close to three million people living in their town, living by the martial law. For now it was enough to promise food and shelter to keep people in line. When that was no longer enough the soldiers would be the incentive. Her government wasn't perfect, but it was the start of something greater.

As the last of the refugees streamed out of the city, Georgia opened the lighter and flung it at the fuel casks. The fire warmed her flesh even as her mind calculated her next move. Now the real training would begin. Three hundred years of war did not end easily.

The three month trek back to the compound gave her the time she needed to bestow her benevolence on the new group of people. When she walked by they recognized her face. They clamored to touch her and shared their food with her. She said blessings over them and practiced fair judgment. Back in the city the others she'd already gathered welcomed her back with a celebration.

She left the celebration early and under the cover of darkness. The people were too drunk to realize she was gone.

"Madam President." Her chief of security, Kyle, stood at attention. "We have the road blocks in place. The last casks have been distributed as you ordered, and we have the testing centers set up."

"And the Shadowalkers?"

"We have moved the weaker soldiers to other government positions and they will be part of the testing."

"Have the uniforms recycled. The soldiers are no longer to be called Shadowalkers. They are to be called Security Officers. Remind people gently but if it persists for more than a few months you can use force. At the beginning of the year we will be instigating prohibition."

"The people may revolt."

"Then you stop them. It's not like they can leave the compound. All you have to do is remind them what war costs." Georgia shuffled a few papers on her desk. "Besides, they don't have anywhere else to go."

"Of course." Kyle bowed and left.

Georgia looked out the window and sighed. If the people wanted government, she was going to give it to them. She was going to shove it down their throats.