Eagle

Part 1

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Hello Everyone! This is my first piece of literature. I've enjoyed writing for a long time now, but this is my first story that's gotten past eight pages (at the time of publication of this version, the page count is 27 and 9,725 words) Feel free to enjoy this as much as you like. Share it with your friends, etc. etc. etc. I will probably publish this into a book, at which point, I will remove most of the story except for maybe the first part or two. Enjoy :)

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Prologue

August 18th, 2012

0900 hours

The hot sun beamed down on Miami Lakes West Park. A man set down an old milk crate and stepped up onto it. People instantly snapped their attention to him. Propaganda was rampant, people lived in fear. Anybody could be a terrorist. He mopped the sweat from his brow and took out a megaphone from the crate. He couldn’t decide if he was sweating because of the heat, or at the thought of this being his last speech. He clenched his hand tightly around the megaphone. He switched it on and began to speak.

“Humanity,” he paused to let everyone focus on him, “We are humans, not sheep. Not mindless droids who only have the ability to carry out our master’s commands. We are individuals! We do not need to be ‘protected’ from ourselves. We can think. We have opinions. So why is our government forcing us into compliance? Why is their only tool, no, weapon, fear?”

He paused to let his steadily growing audience digest this. He figured that his speech would be cut off in about two minutes. He mopped the sweat off his brow again.

“‘A government by the people, for the people.’" Isn’t that the vision that our founding fathers had in mind for us? Democracy is a government ruled by the many. Well, this doesn’t seem much like a democracy, does it? The President, the Vice President, the Treasurer, they’re the few tangible parts of this machine of a government, and for the most part, they’re cosmetic, a ruse to give a face to a nameless machine.”

Suddenly, something caught the sun from a nearby rooftop. A sniper scope. Time to finish up.

“Ladies and gentlemen, in just over a minute, I’ll be dead.” A murmur of astonishment went through the crowd. “I have seen it happen to dozens of like-minded people. They drop dead right before or during their speeches. Their demonstrations. Then the media will villainize them as psychos, or terrorists. Any witnesses will be convinced that they never saw anything. Or we’re killed by a mass murderer. Somebody takes the blame for that and they’ll be found guilty for numerous murders that most likely never happened. Then, they will be executed, turning the rigged justice system into a hero once again. A select few of us will die from ‘natural causes’. A syringe filled with palytoxin injected into the jugular vein will cause death in minutes. The coroner will rule it a heart attack, and everyone goes on their merry way. This is the beginning of a totalarian society, and we must take our government back.” His voice was reaching a frantic crescendo. “We are all mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers! We are the people of the United States of America, and this is our country! We won’t stand by like chess pieces, and let unknown forces rule our lives! We are human!”

As he reached his peak, a resounding crack echoed through the park. People screamed out as he clutched his chest and stumbled back off the crate. He stared towards a lone tree about fifty yards away, blood flowing up through his trachea. He stared at the camera phone recording, perched between the branches. He clicked a button on his megaphone, and as the second bullet entered his skull, the video of the assassination, along with videos of a few selected monologues and exposés were being uploaded to an offshore server, and soon, the United States of America would never be the same.