Below is an excerpt from the Novel (or Novella?) I am writing, called Chaos. THIS IS NOT EDITED. THIS IS NOT POLISHED. This isn't far from a vomit draft. I'm sharing it here as…

Below is an excerpt from the Novel (or Novella?) I am writing, called Chaos. THIS IS NOT EDITED. THIS IS NOT POLISHED. This isn't far from a vomit draft. I'm sharing it here as part of my creative process. Before I publish, this entire piece will undergo edits 2-3 times, or more. Later on down the road, I just wanted to share the initial rough draft of the epilogue (chapter 1, but mainly intended to be the beginning). --- America… we used to be the home of the brave. Now we are the home of the fucked. We’ve always had a lot of national debt, but it reached an all-time high about twenty-three years ago. We got so far in the red that the government considered breaking the USA into territorial segments and selling them off to the highest bidder. One last-ditch effort to prevent that led to a six-month blackout shutdown while they strategized over options. During those six months, the federal government released a series of statements about internal decisions, and they got progressively worse over time. The first of those statements, announced the American Salvation Act passed. It reformed the fundamental structure of American society and laid the ground work for what was to come, none of it was good. Each section of the act took effect in waves, with a slight gap between waves to give the government and citizens time to acclimate. First, the government activated the Inmate Audit protocol. All prison systems were given internal instructions to itemize and organize all inmates, their associated crimes, and evidence history. It included prisons, jails, detention centers, and even juvenile and mental health facilities. All the prisoners were then passed through a new government program intended to classify them into two categories, Fatal and Non-Fatal. Prisoners guilty of murder, rape, and certain crimes against children were automatically classified as fatal and sentence to death. The others were released back into society labeled with a prison strike against them, meant to serve as a warning that if they broke future laws, their penalties would weigh heavier. After the massive release, executions were handled the old-fashioned way, with pistols and body bags. Prisoners’ remains were released to friends and families where possible, and cremated in situations where they had no family. Nationwide riots and protests were already starting to form, but that didn’t slow down the fast changes that were happening everywhere. Prisons and mental health centers started shutting down, each converted into something meant to generate income to go toward the national debt: museums, gift shops, and community centers. Right after, all laws were abolished at the state level, and federal laws were rewritten to apply nationwide. The new, simplified legal code fell under three main umbrellas: the Violent Code, the Sexual Code, and the Possession Code. Violent Code covered anything related to murder, serial murder, or other forms of violence committed against another person. Sexual Code covered any sexual act done to someone against their will. Possession Code covered anything related to stealing, looting, or taking anyones items without permission, including kidnapping. These codes comprised the totality of the law, and they sometimes overlapped. After the restructuring, all courthouses, criminal and civil, were shut down and replaced by a nationwide American Standard Court that operated twenty-four seven, handling both criminal and civil cases. Cases were tried within hours, assigned a classification and punished right after. Any new case was tried within an hour, assigned a classification and punishment was carried out immediately. Fatal cases were executed, and non-fatal crimes were punished with fines, restrictions on liberties, and public labor to work off the debts. As riots and protests worsened, so did the government’s response. Not long after, two more statements were released: the Save Yourself Amendment and the Government Stabilization Act. The stabilization act did two things. First, all police departments were disbanded, and police were voluntarily enrolled in the military's new Domestic Enforcement Unit. Police stations were refitted for that purpose. Second, the new Domestic Enforcement Unit was equipped with a new license to kill in situations where violence was necessary, including protests, rioting and resisting arrest. The Save Yourself Amendment was what came after that. When someone committed a crime against someone else, the victim could enact their own justice and judgment, as long as they submitted sufficient evidence to the American Standard Court, after the fact. If their judgment was approved, they were protected under the law. If they were denied, then they faced punishments bound under the normal operation of the law. Laws broken in any capacity, were required to be reported, or that alone was a breach of the law. Not long after, the government reopened. But nothing was ever the same. ((Sorry for the formatting, it's how i copied/pasted into here))