Read Zomblog 04: Snoe for Free Online Page A

to the past. For those of us who have no recollection of the way things were…this day has always been about the food and the games and seeing so many people come together.
    I’ve seen pictures of fireworks. I guess they are much prettier in person, but to me, they don’t seem that special. Today, President Jenifer Emory gave her first speech since accepting office. I waited until she was busy and snatched all of the pages because I wanted to write it down. It just seemed really important. I realize that she is only the president here at Corridor 26. I realize that there is a person declaring herself the actual president of all the colonies. I could say I am the President of the Moon…that doesn’t mean a thing.
    So, here is the president’s speech:
     
    “Ladies and gentleman of Corridor 26, I want to welcome you to our Fourth of July celebration. Every year for the past fifteen years, we have come together on this day to remember the spirit that made this nation great.
    We come together to celebrate the accomplishments of a people who had no business winning the war that they undertook in the name of Life…Liberty…and the Pursuit of Happiness. Yet, for many of us, those words have held little or no meaning for too long.
    We live behind walls made from cars and trucks and cement. We leave the protection of those walls at great risk to our lives. None of us could have foreseen this all those years ago. The events that transpired were out of a movie that few of us would have probably watched, and none of us would have believed possible.
    By hard work and the determination inherited from our forefathers, we have carved out a life for ourselves and our children. Yet, to some, it seems that it has come at a cost of the very freedom we celebrate today.
    I say that is a load of crap! (There was a good round of applause here along with the laughter. I guess presidents didn’t use words like that in their speeches in the Old World.)
    As I stand up here and look out at all the faces, I can say that I recognize most of you. I have spoken with most of you. I have yelled at half of you. (More laughs.) I have cried with all of you.
    Since this crazy world got tipped over and all Hell broke loose, we have all had to start our lives over. We have done well for ourselves here. We have shown that pioneer spirit that the men and women displayed when they came out on covered wagons. We have endured hardships beyond imagining. We persisted during those two winters when there was barely enough food to survive after the terrible storms destroyed most of our crops.
    Now there is a new threat.
    Some of you have heard rumors, and I am here to clear the rumors out and give you truth. I know that today is a day of celebration, and I don’t want that to change. However, I need you all to know what we have ahead of us.
    It seems that the American government is alive and well. They have a stronghold in the old NORAD complex. From there, they have been building their strength and resources. We have all seen the trains that have come, and the fine men and women of the New American Army who helped us build stronger walls and dig channels to provide our community with fresh water.
    This government has decided to try and reclaim sovereignty over all the organized communities like ours that it helped. An individual has taken the office of president through assassinating the president in office when he refused to submit to her ideas of this New American rule. She has assumed control of a large part of the organized military and intends to wield it as a club to knock down any who would stand up to her regime.
    I say she better be prepared to wield that club personally because the citizens of Corridor 26 will not acknowledge any leader that we did not elect. We will not serve anybody who has not toiled in the fields or stood watch on the wall. We will not follow somebody who is unfit to lead.
    We will fight anybody who tells us that we are here to serve