By Reese Whipple, TIWP Student

It was minutes before sunrise when I was geared up beside my friends and ordered by our Verkande Leader to send a quiet, religious farm town to fiery hell.

God’s Hidden Valley was one of the largest towns in all of The New Californian Empire, yet held a rather small population. I took a long breath, inhaling the taste of sweet honey and the scent of fresh morning dew that lingered through the landscape. Then I looked upon this peaceful world, taking in as much of the beauty as I could.

The morning sun was just beginning to gaze upon the everlasting orange orchards and cornfields that sprinkled the green, flat grounds with warm colors. Wealthy, Victorian-style homes had been refurbished since the apocalypse, standing miles apart, each with their own unique personality, character, and backstory. A rushing river snaked around the different properties; it was a clear, clean color, but sparkled orange in the morning sunrise. A water mill rolled like a bicycle wheel in the hub of it all, collecting resources for all the people of the town to enjoy. I counted only two people out, a boy and a girl walking together, both with brown hair and light skin. The boy wore a pair of snowy white overalls while the girl wore a matching pair in black. Though they were supposed to be watering a small field of tulips, they were watering each other more, belly-laughing as they soaked each other with the morning river water.

Marina Jackson ordered us to turn it all to ash…