When I was first created, I never thought I would be used in such a sinister way. So much death and destruction has been caused by me. Day after day, taking soul after soul for years. The worst part is that I was captured and used for the wrong purpose. Peace was supposed to be spread by my well-founded actions, but when the enemy stole me, they modified me into a killing machine. Who, you might ask, is this enemy, well let me sum it up into two words; the Russians.
     It all started on May 5, 2017 when a boy named Ethan made an astounding discovery in his lab (he was a young scientist at the time). He created a machine that would be able to make medical supplies, like a 3D printer but more futuristic and more powerful. I, am that machine. I could make body parts for amputees and medicines that could cure cancer without the harmful effects of radiation. Basically, I could make anything you could imagine, but only in the field of medicine.
     Scientists took the idea as if it was just an exaggeration, but when they tested me, I was a huge success. They made a copy of me, but much larger. With this giant model, they decided to study and improve me further. About two months later, they realized that they could use me for military purposes. When the scientists discovered this, the Russians just happened to hear about it. The president at the time was still Vladimir Putin and he sent troops over to retrieve it. Obviously I would be guarded, right? Wrong. They left me out to display to other scientists from all over America. Russian soldiers went in and gassed everyone so no one saw what happened to me. Like the wind, they were gone in a flash.
     The Russians also took the research done to improve me and used it against the world, creating toys of weapons. A month later, they attacked Ukraine and in a week, took the whole country. A year later, Russia had expanded down into Mongolia and China and took half of Europe.
     The U.S. sent soldiers in with the original ‘me’ and used me against Russia. About five years of fighting went on until Russia took me and moved towards America. They settled in Georgia and advanced farther throughout the country. Years have been spent struggling to stop the Russians from conquering America. Now, the story takes place with a young man named John with dreams of helping his father fight to take back Georgia, with the help of his best friend, Carter.

     As they walked down the chamber halls, John could still hear the ringing in his ears from the alarm. He noticed how dingy and dirty it looked since the last time he was down here. The air seemed dry and musky and as they descended, the only thing John could hear then were loud, echoing footsteps. Once he and the other troops reached the end of the suffocating dark tunnel, they found the vault door leading to the lab base.
     John put the code on his wristband to the monitor and heard a click, and then the door swung open. Inside, there were multiple hundred inch computer screens in which maps were shown. There were also tons of keyboards and controls for the station. Here and there you would see a scientist run back and forth with papers in his hands. Then, John noticed some Generals nearby the main panel board discussing matters between the situations at hand.
     “John, there you are!” General Chandler hailed from across the room. As soon as that was said, everyone in the room looked over at John and his troops. Then General Fowler walked over and reached out his stern hand as if to shake John’s.
     “Nice to meet you,” he said as they shook hands, “your father told me a lot about you.”
     Of course John’s dad Chandler was always bragging about John being the best of the best.
     “Good to see you dad,” John replied to his father as he walked over and hugged him.
     “So, how was the training going for you?” Chandler asked.
     “It’s been alright, but a few soldiers went home. Most qualified though.”
     “That’s great news, but we’re getting off track,” he replied. Chandler walked over to the panel controlling the main screen. He brought up a view of Georgia and asked, “Do you see these two routes? They both lead to Atlanta but there are pros and cons about them. The first path goes straight to Atlanta, but it would be tricky trekking over the ruble. The second path takes a curved direction but hits another base nearby where you can pick up more supplies. It is longer and more dangerous with the radar signals from the Russians hitting over that area.”
     “We don’t want to alert the Russians, just surprise them,” John said, “so let’s take the first path.”
     “Alright, then it’s settled, we’ll take the first path,” Chandler said raising his voice. Fowler agreed and sent the troops back up to the landing pads.

    When John and the troops were in the elevators, John noticed how damp and crowded it felt in there. It reeked of smoke and every once in a while, you would hear someone cough and the occasional ‘bang’ noise of the elevator going up a shaft.
     Finally, when they reached the top, they found six helicopters waiting for them. John boarded one and heard the pilot say, “Welcome aboard the Hornet 113,” in an accent that John couldn’t distinguish.
     He put it to the back of his mind as everyone started buckling up for the ride. John was lucky to get a seat next to Carter, his best friend from the training program.
     “You ready for this?” he asked in a teasing way.
     “Of course Cart-man!” John replied using Carter’s ‘beloved’ nickname.
     Once he said that, the helicopter took off like a jackrabbit. The pilot was yelling something in Spanish at the co-pilot for him to understand before they left. You would have to shout to talk to someone because it was so loud on the journey over.
     It felt like it would take ages for them to get to the checkpoint, but it only took just about a few hours. Eventually, they reached the drop zone too. But, as John geared up to land, he and Carter realized they were going past it.
     “Why are we turning away from the drop zone?” Carter asked confusingly.
     “I don’t know,” John replied. “I’ll go up and ask what he’s doing,” John walked up to the pilot and asked, “Hey pilot, where are you going? The drop zone was way back that way,” he said pointing west.
     “Oh I’ll take you where you’re supposed to go,” the pilot said in a demonic way.
     Then John realized, that accent was so clear now. The pilot of the Hornet 113 was Russian!
     “You’re Russian!” he shouted. Almost everyone in the helicopter heard him as he went to grab him from his seat. Just then, the Spanish speaking guy pulled a gun from his sash and fired at John. He fell backwards stunned, but not injured. Only a tear in his vest showed where the bullet hit him.
     Carter ran up and snagged John only seconds before another bullet was fired. After he gained his balance, John picked up his assault rifle and, as the co-pilot went to shut the c***pit door, shot multiple rounds at the door like a mad man. Carter and four rookies came up to the door and the co-pilot jumped out at one of the soldiers. He stabbed him and pulled his body up as a shield from bullets fired. John went up and grabbed the co-pilot by the neck and threw him into the wall. He choked from John’s powerful grip and fell limp to the floor.
     Then, Carter busted the door down and grasped his hands around the pilot. The Russian man had a struggle with him until he reached for his gun, in which John stepped in and pulled it from his hand. Carter let go and John pushed him to the floor. The three other soldiers came in and tied him up.
     “Why did you try to fly us to the void?” Carter questioned with authority. He didn’t talk quick enough so Carter went to strangle him and tightened his grip every few seconds until his face went purple.
     Finally he said,” Lieutenant Hopper wants John and his troops captured alive.”
     He passed out before John could ask why. John knew Hopper well enough to know that he’s got a plan on how to stop him, but why captured alive?
     Carter started to steer the helicopter back when, suddenly, the engine and controls made a click noise and sparks flew. A loud ‘bang’ erupted and the helicopter started to crash!
     John panicked until he realized there were parachutes installed in the suits they were wearing. Right after he noticed that, the helicopter ripped in half. It was falling apart! Everyone started getting sucked out along with John. He started spinning around in the air and saw the other planes blow up, sending bodies flying everywhere. Some soldiers even blew up from suit malfunctions. John looked up and saw Carter’s limp body falling above him.
     He tried to swim through the air to get him, but falling debris kept hitting him. Carter, dazed looked around like he didn’t know where he was. When Carter’s eyes fell on John, he gasped and pointed behind John. He yanked the pin of his parachute and went rocketing up in the air.
     John spun around and realized what Carter had seen. John was nearly a hundred feet from the ground when he pulled the pin of his parachute just in time to make a rough landing. Soon after Carter came down, the debris and bodies fell with a massive ‘thud’.
     John looked up after the destruction settled and saw Carter standing not too far away between the flames and rubble.
     “Carter, are you okay?” John asked.
     “I think so,” he answered with uncertainty, “Where are we and what just happened?”
     “I don’t know and I’m not sure,” John shouted back over loud crackling noises, “we have to find more survivors, alright?”
     “Okay,” Carter began, “I’ll start over here.” He walked over to the destroyed aircraft closest to him. Instantly, he found four bodies, but shook his head and kept going.
     John looked through a compartment room until he heard a slight shuffling noise. He saw a body moving and pulled him out from the scrap metal he was under.
     “Are you okay?” John asked him.
     “What happened?” the soldier asked hoarsely.
     “We crashed.”
     “How did we crash?”
     “They blew the circuits before we could steer back towards the drop zone.”
     “So, where are we now?”
     “I don’t know but I can assure you that we are near Atlanta.”
     There was a long silence before he asked, “And the others?”
     “We’re searching for them, and I need your help if you’re fit enough.”
     “Yeah I’m fit enough,” he replied. “Let’s go.”

     Two hours later they had found the remaining troops. They scavenged what they could and headed west towards Atlanta. They also met up with multiple rescue patrols and more soldiers guarding what they called ‘The Gate to Hell,’ Atlanta’s ruins. John was able to get a good analysis about the land that lies beyond. He told them what had happened to them and they took in the wounded. After they got more supplies, they set out towards the city.
     Soon, John met up with a patrol and found one of the machine’s toys lying on the ground. He and Carter attacked them, taking them out fairly quick. The toy was like a canon from the movie ‘Men in Black’. When Carter went to get a closer look, it fired, blasting grenades everywhere. He ducked just in time and John ran up to it, picked it up, and flung it into a brick wall nearby. It shattered the instant the surfaces touched.
     They had to continue on at least two more miles to get to a barrier surrounding Atlanta. It was constructed mainly of building debris, crushed cars, and steel piping. As they climbed over, they found what looked like an apocalypse on the other side. Atlanta’s remnants were rotted and burnt right to the ground. The air smelled foul like many sewage pipes had leaked and the sky, a hazy grayish color. There were rusty water pipes visible everywhere along with the murky brown water left behind puddling in cracks and crevices. John could still even feel the burning sting of the ashes in the atmosphere.
     They found a trail leading towards what sounded like distant voices. John thought that walking down that path would lead his team into danger, so he told Carter, “I think we should stick to these surroundings for cover. Also, if any patrols come by, take them out.”
     Five hours had passed until it was morning and they had taken out five patrols. They had marched at least one mile closer and now just made it to the heart of Atlanta. There were too many soldiers to fight, so John called in extra heavy support. This time, American flown ships moved towards the gate, sending tanks, APCs, infantry, Humvees, and much more towards Carter and John. He hoped that the Russians didn’t hear, and, to his astonishment, they thought they were the noises from the city ruble.
    When they arrived, they took the Russians by surprise and were able to advance quickly before they had a chance to retaliate.
     “Come on!” John screamed over the blasting commotion, “We’ve got to clear this area before they bring out the machine’s other toys.”
     Where’s the void located?” one of the soldiers asked.
     “It’s underground in a vault-like storage room that was part of the sewer worker’s area.”
     “Then let’s go-.”
     “BOOM”
     “Ah, what was that?” Carter asked.
     “Here comes one of the toys!” John cried out, “We got to go, now!”
     By the time John got to a large building foundation, he realized that he had separated from the soldiers in their platoon, and Carter!
     “Carter, Carter!” John yelled.
     “I’m over here!’ he said. He was behind a shattered car.
     John ran over to where he was hiding before any Russians fired at him. Luckily none of them saw him. The car wouldn’t provide them with sufficient cover, but it was good enough for now.
     “We need to make it to the elevator before they bring out more toys!” Carter shouted.
     “How about we pick up some of the toys and use them as cover or protection until we get to the elevator,” John suggested. It was a good idea, but when he picked up a riot shield, it sprang on top of him and trapped him. Bars came out of the sides of the shield and locked John in. He tried to bust the bars down with the stock of his gun, but the shield wouldn’t budge.
     Carter tried to pry it off, but when it popped up, John saw that the bars went underneath him too. John fired at the bars and ripped about three apart until Russians advanced. Carter looked up and ran, shooting at them while ducking for cover.
     The Russians started shouting things John couldn’t understand. When they reached John, they picked up the cage and said, “Hopper will be pleased,” in a husky tone.
     Right after he said that, John broke out of the cage, sending the Russians stumbling back. He ran over to where Carter was, and said, “Run on the count of three. One, two, three!”
     John started running towards what looked like the elevator. Carter followed and they made it there without anyone noticing. He hit the button, the door opened, they jumped in, the door shut, and the shaft started going down.
     They were about thirty seconds down when Carter asked, “You ready for this?”
     “Always have been, always will be,” John answered. After he said that, the doors swung open and they jumped out, looking around for any other soldiers. To their advantage and to their surprise, no one was there. Probably up in the battlefield, John thought.
     They walked down five hallways until they came upon a massive vault door. John went to open it when, suddenly, he heard something coming from the other side of the glass wall behind him. Did I hear voices? John looked through the glass wall and saw multiple people dressed in white lab coats running around yelling out Russian words at each other.
     “Are they Russian scientists?” Carter asked.
     John just looked at him and shrugged. Turning, he opened the vault door and Carter stepped in. There were more scientists and about five to seven guards. Carter stabbed the first two, and then John shot the others. The scientists went scrambling for cover, and some picked up guns and fired back. Those idiots, John thought as Carter shot them all. He sprung toward the giant black cavity of doom.
     John slid the dead bodies off the controls and went to touch them when he realized they were all in Russian.
     “Here’s the panel,” Carter said as he ripped a piece of the machine off. Just as John was about to start disengaging the void, a deep voice came from the ceiling of the room.
     “I’ve been expecting you,” the voice said.
     John looked up and saw a shadow-like figure sitting on a support beam. It vaulted down with robotic grace and agility in front of Carter and John.
     “Hopper!” John exclaimed. Carter ran up and tackled him. Hopper threw him off and pounced on top of him. He pulled out a micro chip and stuck it into Carter’s neck, electrocuting him.
        “That’s just so he doesn’t get back up,” Hopper told John. John ran at Hopper, but missed and went tumbling on the floor. He got up and ran at Hopper again, but still was sent tumbling across the floor. Hopper walked towards John and said, “You don’t have to kill yourself to try and kill me. Just leave now and we’ll be done in about two years.”
     “Never, I would die to save America,” John boldly stated. He got up and went to punch Hopper, but Hopper caught  John’s hand and twisted it, making John try to twist out. He moved his body closer to Hopper’s and Hopper put him in a choke hold, then went to take John’s spare gun. John freed his other hand and grabbed Hopper’s hand before he could pull up the gun. Hopper was trying to aim the gun at Carter as he was stirring. John kept fighting for air when, suddenly, Carter got up and ran at Hopper. He freed John from Hopper’s grasp and sent him flying across the floor.
     He stood up and yelled, “You think you can stop me? I will destroy you both.” He aimed the gun and shot Carter, stunning both John and Carter. Carter fell over and pressed his hand over the wound, blood pouring out.
     Filled with rage, John tackled Hopper and they had a bloody beat down on the floor until Hopper grabbed the gun again. He fired the rest of the clip in the air, and then threw the gun at John’s head. John fell back, almost unconscious, landing next to Carter’s bloody, beaten body. Carter rolled his eyes over to look at John and managed to rasp, “Go get him tiger,” before his eyes fell to the floor and his body went limp.
     “You’ve already lost John,” Hopper said viciously, “There’s no use killing me now.” Once he finished talking, the void spit out an elephant of a container onto a tray. The tray drove away on a conveyor belt up to a launching pad. “That bomb will launch at your capital and poison gas will leak out within a one thousand mile radius, killing hundreds of thousands of people.”
     “I won’t let you!” John yelled back as he went to get Hopper. Hopper turned him around and pulled John’s arm up his back until he heard a pop, then felt searing pain in his arm. It was broken! John staggered then Hopper kicked him in the face. John could taste blood from his bent teeth.
     “Of course you will,” he said sarcastically, “But, because of your bravery and determination, I’ll kill you now instead of having you suffer.” He walked over towards the control panel and grabbed a gun. Before he could turn around, John got up and threw a knife at Hopper’s hand.
     “Arggh,” he grumbled. Hopper ripped it out and made more grunt noises as his hand bled out. John picked up another knife and ran at him. Hopper turned too late and John jumped on him and stabbed him in the chest. Hopper flipped out, trying to throw John off his body, but he went limp quickly. His arms and head fell to the ground.
     John rolled off Hopper’s body and felt all the pain surging through him and smelled nothing but death. He breathed a breath of relief.  It was over. We’ve won the battle-The bomb! John completely forgot about it. He got up and limped over to the controls of the launch pad. The keys, of course, were in Russian and it was hooked up to a computer screen. There was nothing John could do to stop it from launching. Hopper was right, he was too late to stop it. Just then, he heard a shuffling noise and then a scratchy, hoarse voice.
     “Heh heh,” It began, “I didn’t think I would have to tell you this now.”
     “What is it?” John asked in a harsh tone.
     “Before I die, I want you to know this . . .” Hopper trailed off, “the reason I know you is because I know your father and your mother. When your mom got captured by the Russians, they wanted a ransom for her return. That ransom was me; your father gave me away for your mother.”
     “How do you know this?” John asked.
     “Because John, your father was my dad too.”
     “What, that doesn’t-, how does-.”
     “John, I’m your brother,” Hopper managed to move his head up and look into John’s eyes, “You’re my brother.”
     Suddenly, the launch pad started beeping and alarm lights came on. John looked at the panel, then back at Hopper. Hopper put his head down and sighed. John turned back and saw a map of the targeting system for the bomb. He looked down and saw keys that looked like arrows. Then, he saw coordinates on some keys. John clicked an arrow button and the target moved on the screen. John realized, he can launch the bomb towards Russia! He kept clicking it until he worked his way all across the globe to Russia. Then, by hitting a big red button, he launched it.
     A countdown appeared three seconds later, saying sixty seconds until the bomb launches. He turned around, still in shock about what he learned from Hopper, to leave before the place smokes up. On the way out, he noticed Hopper’s body, walked over to it and said, “I hope you’re living up there happily with mom.” Then, John walked over to Carter’s body and said, “I hope you’re up there too buddy.”
     As John walked down the halls and into the elevator, he heard the countdown make it to ten. When he entered the elevator, he could hear the gas ignite and the bomb take off.
     The elevator door opened twenty seconds later and all he could hear was the silence of the battlefield as everyone watched it lift off towards Russia.
     One soldier spoke up and said, “It’s supposed to go north?!”
     Not anymore,” John told him, “It’s going where it belongs. Home.”

     About one week later, all of Russia’s forces had either retreated or been killed. Troops isolated the altered void in a large container and, within three days, had it sent to the original scientists to disengage it, along with the help of military engineers. John talked to Chandler about what happened and found out that it was all true. He also found out that the bomb that hit Russia had ended the global war, and, along with it, the original void. The world was finally at peace again.
      And me? Well, I got something greater. The end of the killing and destruction. The end, of ‘the machine.’