The Dark War

It was midnight, and the cool air was welcomed across the small American town known as Huntsville. The hunt was on amongst those who preyed in the darkness for some excitement and a hint of danger, for others grinding to get the rent paid or the baby momma some formula. The late-night workers were closing their doors from their businesses and establishments and about to head home. The broke Fboy is looking to find an easy sucker to get seduced by lies, and the good wife breaks bad with the girl's night out. It was Friday night, and the action was at the one dance club in town or at one of the four bars. The teenagers were commencing their beer runs to head back to the cornfields or barns to celebrate their debauchery. Ambulances and sirens can be heard responding to calls, as the white knights of society maintained guard while the others celebrated. Trades and swaps, this woman feeding off the energy and resources of this man, this man taking advantage of this woman. This person, that person, was almost a working machine of upperhands and downs and outs.


The town was about twenty thousand strong. It was a mining town with coal that everyone desired to find and harvest. Above the surface of the Earth, farming was passed down from generation to generation. The Big Families of the town-owned it and sustained the economies of the families that dwelt and settled there.


Hansen owned the Farming Co-op, coordinating all the small farms with the massive bulky ones; this family also owned The Farmers Bank, a local bank in town that gave good rates to those who pledged themselves to the Co-op. The Hansen name carried weight with Distributors as far as China to get top dollar rates on all produce. With this Farming Co-op came heavy equipment, and heavy equipment vendors found working with the Hansen Co-op a very profitable business. Hansen Co-op also had heavy dealings with most skilled labor tasks, road construction, housing, and even building city hall. Half of all Contractors probably got their start learning from the Hansen Co-op, which this family was on the verge of starting a small construction company as a sideline business.


The O'Leary Family dealt in entertainment. The Irish Booze Baron of this small town owned three of the four bars in the town, three gas stations, two 24-hour liquor stores, the gentleman's cabernet, the nightclub, and the movie theater. Customer service and satisfaction often came from them. They also had a couple of buildings downtown that, at certain hours, hosted illegal gambling and prostitution. They were working with the state to get gambling, mostly card games, legalized to open plans for a casino between four other towns; it would be something for Grandma to sink her monthly social security check into. They rival the Bauman Family, calling them hypocrites and charlatans, declaring them righteous fools but perverse, just like the drunks in their bars. If Bauman throws you out, come over to O'leary's I'll buy you a drink and lunch.


The Bauman Family serviced the community's religious affiliations, telling men and women how hell was hot, but their money was not. They owned nine churches in the area: one was a mega church, and the others were smaller parishes. They also owned the other bar in town so they could shame participants after Sunday services. A multiracial family, thanks to the head of the family's taste of multiple wives, spawned multiracial pastors to fool the multitude of the community. They worked closely with Police and Fire for those grandchildren who fell short of being preacher material and would end up as white knights. They were on the verge of opening a hospital soon that would put small clinics to shame and more money in their greedy pockets. They rivaled the Oleary Family and constantly tried to publicly shame them due to their delinquency of morals.


The Last Big Family was the Winslow Family, who worked with the Hansen family and held the other half of the skilled laborers. They were the coal miners, the power plant workers, and the communications company. They held the Cable Contracts for the city, the Power contracts for the coal-burning plant, and the mineral rights for a huge portion of the town. They held positions in power, city counsel, Mayor, and land commission with the county. Not much is known about the Windslow Family, but they stay out of the limelight for the most part.