Which Side?

Thomas climbed out of his shower and onto a pile of dirty clothes that acted as a floor mat. And bent down and picked up a shirt from the pile and tossed it on, seeing how it was the most clean of the entire pile. He drew himself to the sink and splashed some water onto his face before starting to shave the now rather large beard he started to grow for a while now. He moved slowly as to not make any harm to himself, but when reaching just below his ear he jolted to a loud knock and cut himself.

He dropped the razor in the bloody sink and grabbed a sock off the floor and held it to his wound, and made his way to the door. As he walked through the flat it was dirty, but still seemingly well kept as best as possible. The bedroom, kitchen, and dining area were all the same room, making it easy to walk around and find stuff in the same room, but having little living space made Thomas' already large claustrophobia a big problem.

When Thomas reached for the doorknob he quickly peaked through the hole on the upper-center to see who it was. Upon seeing it was an officer, he quickly attempted to make himself as presentable as possible. When he opened the door he made sure to open it only enough to talk to the officer without any door interference as well as to help block out his flat from view.

"Hello sir, I have gotten a tip from a man back down in the first floor about you having multiple meetings in this here room. Now I ain't sure how true this is, but I just wanna be sure there isn't gonna be trouble if it is, got that?" The Officer seemed to stiffen up, as if to seem more intimidating.

"No officer, I haven't the time to even sleep with work, no time for parties either." The Officer took a peak behind the door and then glanced back at Thomas before pushing his way into the room. Taking Thomas by suprise he fell to the ground and the Officer towered over him before grabbing him by the collar and lifting him up on his feet.

He shoved Thomas to a wall and spurted out "Think I don't know about your parties you commie?" The Officer then grabbed Thomas by his arm and pushed it behind his back while walking to the door leading to the outside of Thomas' home.

Once they made it down the stairs and to the outside it revealed a well sized city, but the only towers being those of pipes that pump out smog and smoke. The city rumbled with noise and shouting, mostly coming from down the street.

When walking down the steps of the complex, a large crowd turned the corner. All chanting "Break the Chains" and "So Left, Two, Three!" When they were in the middle of the street they happened to look upon the Officer and Thomas. Once seeing how Thomas was in pain due to the position he was in, the crowd charged at the Officer who instantly let go of Thomas and drew his pistol at the crowd.

Only being able to fire twice, he was overrun and torn apart. He was kicked, punched, spat on, and finally dragged to the streets. They begun to tie a rope around his neck and dragged him further to the top of a large bus, tossing him on top of it. They tied the other end of the rope to the top of a lightpole, standing him up at the edge of the bus so when they kicked him off it would snap his neck instantly.

While tying the rope to the pole, the Officer began to sing the American National Anthem loudly. He was soon to be interrupted by singing of the crowd, who sung the song of the 'Which Side Are You On?'

When the rope was done being tied, John Reed himself stood atop the bus and the whole crowd went quiet.

He cleared his throat and stood proudly and tall. "These thugs from Long have tortured us for far to long. These grafts from the corrupt politicians have ruined are nation since the very beginning! No more will we be slaves! No more will we be forced workers! The emancipation is the working class is here today! We will march on Chicago for our freedom and solidarity!"

Once done with his speech the crowd roared and cheered, and the Officer was sent to his death by being kicked off. His neck didn't snap instantly but instead suffocating him, giving a long and gruesome death.

Thomas watched the whole thing from afar, amazed by how authority can be so easily destroyed if working in a syndicate, a collective. He joined the crowd and chanted along with them as they marched for Chicago. Soon after leaving the town Reed left to have a debate with the president Huey Long himself.

Like the coward everyone thought of him to be, Long wanted to solve the situation without problem. Of course this would cause later problems down the line...

Once outside the city limits of Chicago, a line of National Guards were outside with guns, trucks, and even a tank. All blocking the crowd from entering. A standoff would brew for hours until a certain piece of news reached across the entire nation.

Douglas MacArthur, five-star General of the Army, and big political man had marched into the senate and declared a state of emergency. A military junta now controlled the federal states. MacArthur attempted to arrest both Reed and Long, but both fled to Chicago and New Orleans to organize a revolt against the 'Caesar of America'.

The news had been seemingly passing around for days. But this all happened in a matter of a few mere hours. Thomas stood at the rear, as to not be shot and get a chance to run if anything went down. But almost as soon as Reed arrived to the scene, the Guards stood down and allowed the crowd to enter the city. Thomas followed everyone until they all stopped at a large platform where Reed, Schachtman, and other prominent syndicalists stood upon.

Reed spoke... "Everyone, as you know by now I have now a warrant for my arrest in the United States of America. I have a warrant for attempting to express my freedom. This is just proof of our corrupt government silencing freedom and serving to the rich, to the capitalists who run this country. Us working class have no say, we are forced to slave away and let the capitalist pigs take all the spoils! No more!"

The crowd slowly fell silent as they listened to Reed speak... "It is time to say the working class should run this nation, and abolish our borders! To free workers around the world! With that I hereby announce the secession from the Union to form the Combined Syndicalists of America!"

The crowd roared and cheered for the new commune of America. Almost as fast as it was aired on TV across the nation, all states within the Steel Belt, Pennsylvania, New York, and Minnesota joined the CSA.

Word came around fast how Federalist troops began to border the outskirts of the commune, and how the nation fell apart rather quickly. Canada annexed New England for protection as well as Alaska, Hawaii left the Union, Cuba took Guantanamo Bay, Panama took the canal, Puerto Rico left the Union, as well as two other prominent factions rising up to control the USA. The American Union State under Huey Long, and the Pacific States of America to 'restore democracy'.

Many factions also backed these nations, with the Reichspakt behind the AUS, Entente behind the USA, Japan with the PSA, and of course the Third International with the CSA.

The war would drag out for years and would cause Canada to intervene against the CSA, helping the USA in return for promises to help the British Exiles return home against the Communion of Britain who took control of the island years ago.

Many lives died to fight a pointless war that caused the collapse of the American state.

All just fo gain power and glory...