Children's Draft

Prologue

A nation watched in horror as the Chinese Army dropped a nuclear bomb on St. Louis on the morning of February 1st. The location wasn't chosen because of its closeness to the center of the country, or even because of the Arch. It was because the Chinese government had been informed, by spies, that the majority of America's most powerful weapons were being stored there. Now, not only was the United States attacked, but they were left nearly defenseless.

The explosion was deadly, killing nearly 150,000 civilians and injuring countless others, and the radiation would continue to do its harm. What was once considered America's most powerful weapon was now being used against them.

Citizens began to wonder, what can we expect next?

Days later, China's newly elected emperor, Xang-hao Li, made an announcement on live television about his views. He claimed he didn't want to destroy the United States, but merely take it over. He felt the land would be a great place to store the ever increasing surplus members of his homelands population. If the U.S. surrendered, he promised their country's debt, which was now approaching 31 trillion, would be forgiven, and there would be no more attacks.

But the U.S. wouldn't give up so easily. They responded by signing a declaration of war.

Because giving in and taking orders from somebody else was definitely not the American way.

                *                  *                    *

    Ms. Secretary fretted about nervously. She was already running late to her meeting--not to mention she hadn't slept in days, her left foot was starting to slide out the back of her high heel, and her disorganized stack of papers was about to fall out of her hands any second. This didn't matter much though. Most of her research and thorough analysis was ignored at meetings anyway.

    The meetings of Ms. Secretary weren't ordinary meetings. They were meetings with the president and his cabinet.

Meetings which I really should be punctual to, she thought to herself as she rushed down the final hallway. She grabbed the brass handle, opening the large doors to the oval office. She had naively expected them to have started without her, but to her dismay, the men were playing solitaire.

"Mr. President!" she said, mortified. "How can you be playing card games at a time like this? We have important issues to resolve."

Mr. President set down one of his cards. "Like what?" he asked, without even looking up.

"The war in China," Ms. Secretary replied in a shrill voice. "What are we to do? It's been almost a year since the St. Louis bombing, and we're getting nowhere. On top of that, the military's members are dropping at quite a considerable rate. Everyone's quitting and no one's enlisting."

Mr. President shrugged. "We'll just get aid from one of our allies."

"It's not that simple." Ms. Secretary continued to ramble on about foreign policy. "Nobody wants to get in the middle of this. Plus there's been a trend of attacking countries who owe you money, so they're all busy with their own wars. Britain's fighting France. Germany's fighting Russia--"

    "I don't believe Canada is fighting anyone," Mr. Attorney General stated.

    "Yeah, but what good is Canada," Mr. Defense pointed out.

    Only a couple of moments passed before Mr. President snapped his fingers. "I've got it," he announced. "We'll just draft the children."

    Ms. Secretary frowned and folded her arms. "Mr. President, if you're not going to take this seriously, then I suggest we focus on other pressing matters like ending the recession, boosting the economy, improving healthcare--"

    "I did set up my new healthcare plan last month," he interrupted her.

    "I said improve it," she corrected.

    Mr. President stood up from his rolling chair indignantly. "My healthcare system was the greatest thing that's ever happened to our nation. Although my new idea might beat it. I wasn't kidding--drafting the children is exactly what we need to do."

    "Are you out of your mind?" Ms. Secretary retorted. "We cannot send little boys to war."

    "Not little boys," he cut her off. "High school aged boys. And it works out perfectly. We won't have to worry about those pesky registration forms, we can just get all their information from their schools."

    Ms. Secretary couldn't believe her ears--or her surroundings. Not only was Mr. President's cabinet looking at him like he had just said a sane, sensible idea, they were also praising the idea.

    Ms. Secretary sighed. "Bringing back the draft would be one thing," she attempted to rationalize," but that's with grown men--"

    "No, that's just it," he explained. "This war is deadly. We can't afford to lose any more adults. If we lose adults, we lose our wisest, most respected generation, but if we lose children--well, we can always make more.

    Ms. Secretary's horror was drowned out by a chorus of "you're right", "brilliant" and "good point sir".

    Mr. President grabbed a hold of his black, leather briefcase. "Quick! I have to propose my idea to the House and Senate. This has to pass as soon as possible. Our country needs the Children's Draft."