Date Skipped [2014WC]

It was 11:54 on September 10th, 2014.

Dale Gripper sat at his computer staring at the clock. He felt sort of bad about standing up the lovely Erica. He just couldn't trust anyone anymore. Not even this girl, now a women, that he'd known all his life.

They went to high school together in Alaska back in the 80's and had a spark back then. Dale borderline loved her. But she stayed with family in Russia for a few years after and they lost touch. Dale met his wife, now dead from breast cancer, and had kids. Since Grace died in 2008, he hadn't been on a date. He hadn't even considered going on a date until he found out Erica was in town again.

He looked at the clock, 11:55. It was good to have internet and TV again. For so long, there was no electricity. Luckily Dale caught a steady supply of fish out on the frozen lake, and always kept a years supply of non-perishables.

Dale cursed having to bring up a family in this environment. But he wouldn't ignore the blessing of living in Alaska. The mainland was much worse off, but things seemed to be improving.

On September 11th, 2012, there was a power outage in the Gripper's small town. Cell phones didn't work, they were isolated. After a few days people went to Anchorage for anwers but didn't return. Two weeks later a platoon of international troops showed up and declared the land now under Coalition rule. They wouldn't answer any questions. One patriot tried to fight and was executed instantly, so everyone complied. For over a year they lived under strict martial rule, with an unsatisfied hunger for answers on what was going on.

Then in January 2014, the town came under attack from what looked like killer robots. They turned out to be American. The bots swiftly targeted the Coalition troops and the town was free. Soldiers came with a story.

The day the power went out, 9/11/2012, America was attacked on multiple levels. A cyber attack wiped out information systems, an EMP shut down electronics, missiles hit cities. No nukes, because among many Coalition justifications for the sack of America was the bombing of Japan in WW2.

The Coalition was made up of an anti Western faction originating in China in the 50's, then spreading to Russia, then Arabia, then Africa and South America. The goal was a worldwide communist government, considered by the Coalition to be the highest potential for humanity. Who would of thought that the Soviets weren't actually fighting the Taliban in the 70's, but were making friends with them?

Americans made the mistake of thinking their government was all powerful and invincible. They thought the CIA was behind 9/11 because they must know everything. Turns out, the original 9/11 was an initial attack by the Coalition to warn America that the capitalist society was coming down whether they liked it or not. The attack came with a video message of world oligarchs promising further violence if their plan wasn't accepted. Western power brokers refused appeasement.

So 11 years later, the Coalition kept their promise and took America down. On that day "only" a million died. Missiles hit areas close enough to population centers to get the point across without driving the casualty count too high.

The next day, the land was invaded by an army of 30 million. Waves of planes and ships. Chinese, Korean, Iranian, Pakistani, Brazilian, Russian. Soldiers. Nigerian, Ethiopian, Kenyan, Venezuelan, Cuban, Indian, Indonesian. The Coalition would claim members from every single nation world wide.

There were already five million agents on American soil, undercover immigrants living as citizens.

Europe was invaded by a force of another ten million, with six million undercovers already present

Europe folded within a week, America was officially defeated within a month. 50 million Americans died, to 10 million Coalition soldiers.

By January, the Coalition Communist world government was set up with a command economy. They hoped to have a prosperous, fair, and peaceful world for the next generation.

But they didn't know about the secret research project under the Greenland ice sheet. There were 300 scientists and engineers working on advanced weaponized robotics. On the micro scale and macro. They already had a stock pile, and within a year they felt comfortable launching the counter attack.

By February 2014, the world was back under American control.

Now, on September 10th, daily life was somewhat similar to what is was two years earlier. Disregarding all the traumatic memories, of course.

Dale regretted skipping his outing with Erica, but she was Russian. How could he trust her?

He watched the clock change from 11:59 to 12:00 AM, and the date go the the 12th.

It was decided by the new government that the 11th would be omitted from September's calendar and a 31st would be added.