The Lucky Clover

In the Beginning

The year was 2100. The location: New York City. The city streets were a barren wasteland covered only with the splattered blood stains of the fallen. Jack was sitting on top of a wrecked car, eating whatever it was he found in that abandoned supermarket. As he was eating, he thought about why the world had become the way it was, a war-zone for survival and, he knew it was all because of that bastard, "President" Clover. He had known from the beginning he's plan wouldn't have work. He knew what was going to happen. You see, years ago before this all started, the world was peaceful. The sky was always a beautiful shade of blue and the grass was always mowed and well-kept. The trees somehow always looked as old as time but, yet as young as a newborn. At the local park, the children would play and the mothers would watch, making sure the kids didn't get hurt. Everything was perfect. That was, until that dreaded day, the day Clover was inaugurated as President. "He's going to fix America!", his supporters used to say with a cheerful smile believing him, "He's the president that will fix everything, trust me Jack.". "I'm glad I didn't listen, I just wished they listened to me.", Jack said to himself​ as he finished his "meal". The timing was perfect for Clover. America had just gotten out of a war with North Korea and our government and economy were crumpling. Clover swore he'd fix it. He manipulated and lied his way into office. He gave empty promises, said he'd help the American people. He didn't care about anyone but himself. Once he was in office, he told everyone his plan to "save" them. Since America had just gotten out of a war that they were not ready for, he wanted to spend all of the resources available to build a strong army. He wanted to invest solely on military expansion. So naturally, there had to be cut backs. Clover decided​ to cut back the one thing he didn't find important, the the funding to prevent rising global temperatures or "global warming". Like most Americans during this time he didn't think it was real. He thought it was a fantasy. "Oh, how wrong he was.", Jack thought to himself as he was walking past a charred piece of clothing that was more than likely once part of a fallen one's coat before they met their demise. He tore down every greenhouse he could going to make room for more army bases. When people started protesting the decision, he silenced them by demanding the police "deal" with them on their own ways. He went so far to make sure nobody ever talked about, not even mentioned it. If you even spoke the words "climate change" or "global warming" in public, you were fined a price he know common folk couldn't pay. Only a fool would dare to challenge his so-called "wisdom". He slowing devolved from a kind-hearted president to a harsh and cruel dictator who eliminated anyone who questioned his authority. He burned more fossil fuels and greenhouse gases in one month then the rest of the world did in one year. He built more and more factories to help produce weapons, every factory burning more and more fossil fuels until eventually, they ran out, or at least in America. So Clover "borrowed" from some from other countries. "It's for the good of America", he'd tell both the American people and the countries he stole from. As to be expected, the countries fought back and Clover didn't like that. He didn't get what he wanted so he stupidly declared war on every single country that rebelled against him. After 8 months of useless fighting and bloodshed, Clover's army retreated and surrendered. One day as Clover was in his office, looking out his window he noticed something he had not noticed before, the normal blue sky was now dark and grey, the trees that should have surrounded the White House were dying and limp. Global temperatures have risen because of all his factories burning fumes for such a long time. Reports started flooding in from all over the country of people dying from heat stroke, dehydration, cardiovascular, respiratory, and cerebrovascular disease. The water that was normally clear was now acidic and unsafe to drink. People had nothing to eat because all of the crops had died and all the wildlife had either died too or left in search of safer places. The population dwindled every passing year. People were dropping like flies. Clover needed to act fast or else he wouldn't have a nation to dictate anymore. He decide the best course of action was to find a new place, a new country to live. He needed some place with a much cooler climate for his people to live. He choose to head North near Canada. He rallied his army together and started invading. Countless Canadian lives were lost in the battle to protect their homeland, but it was useless. He took over Canada with his massive army with ease. Once there, he started charging American citizens to get and to live there. Those who couldn't afford it were out of luck. Clover didn't care about them, he only cared about the money. Even if you tried to get there on foot, you would either be shot down by police, mauled by a rabid animal, or died from the poison in the air. Nobody would ever make it by themselves. The last remaining survivors would have to fight for what they could, killing each other over scraps of food. That was 20 years ago for Jack. Now, being one of the last survivors left in America, he roams the city streets of what use to be New York, searching for whatever he can find to help him survive in the hellhole he calls home.