One Country At A Time

http://www.onecountryatatime.net/

Discovery

Found from a new painting in Los Angeles. Picture of the Billboard

On the mural, The bullet carried by the blue winged guy, it says "54 40 or fight," a slogan from early 19th century expansionist America, referring to the latitude point now extending into British Columbia, Canada, but at one point was claimed by America. (Another slogan popular in the same era, "Manifest Destiny," is used by the recorded critic who answers 13102951040.

Also at the top right is written: 7769/7771 (possible shards?)

Synopsis

The story follows the narrative of a boy telling the story of his father's role in the military. His father was a Captain in the Syrian campaign. The story switches perspective throughout, from the son's narrative to the flash backs of the actual events that unfolded. His father joined the military while he was still a young boy growing up, and he never forgave him for it. He originally served in Iraq, but could not adjust to living at home again once finishing his tour of duty. He fought with his wife, and became paranoid of even children carrying water pistols. This is all more than likely due to the drugs given to soldiers to help them focus and become more aggressive. When the academy awards were bombed in 2008, it was his "excuse" to return to the fighting.

While in Syria, the regiment discovers a destroyed town and helps a young 12-year old Syrian girl. The group spots The Presence shortly after rescuing the girl. They attempt to help her to her relatives in Tadmur, 50 miles away from their current position. The trip requires the regiment to travel through a mine infested desert, with the constant threat of snipers looming. They lose their Medic, Gomez, along the way after he is blown up by a land mine while he is going to the bathroom. While on the mission to return the girl to safe hands, The Presence reappears, and the convoys come to a stop. Unaware of the other dangers around them, a soldier falls victim to sniper fire from a rocky hilltop as they watch the giant hand cross the sky. After disposing of the enemy sniper, the Captain charges forward towards The Presence screaming, "Is this how it was supposed to happen? Are you happy now?" as he fires towards the hand. The regiment's sniper, "Blip," then fires a round into the back of his head and kills him. While their new medic says, "But...this looks more like an entrance than exit wound," the other soldiers silently commend Blip with a pat on the shoulder, presumably for preventing harm to the entire group of soldiers by stopping the Captain from angering The Presence. The girl slips away during the fighting.

Prior to leaving for Syria, the son's parents planned their divorce. Later on, his younger sister Angie was abducted, raped, and murdered by an ex-Special Forces marine commando at the age of 14. He turned himself in and was hanged on a public telecast. His mother is currently suffering with an alcohol addiction. The son is, at the present, part of the resistance movement.

Pages

Street Artist
Campfire
Letter Contains lyrics from My Violent Heart, particularly the lines "On hands and knees we crawl, you cannot stop us all"
Tour In Iraq
Hand Contains lyrics from The Good Soldier, the question "Do you believe in what we're doing?", with the response, "I am trying".
Abducted
Soldiers This is the correct position for the American flag on the uniform, in accordance with AR 670-1. Also The Presence makes an appearance here.
Tadmur
100 Mile
Gomez
First Thing
Breathless
Get Down
Medic
Captain
Another
Goody Goody
Exit Wound
Form Letter The execution of the man who murdered the narrator's sister was by hanging. This means hanging has been brought back as a form of capital punishment, coinciding with the Mailstrom Wreckage: Gallows.
Reckoning

Each page is a page of a graphic novel, the next page can be reached by clicking a certain part of the page, or by hitting tab and then enter.

Hidden Numbers

24.11.1 found on the front page by ctrl+a.

The number 24.11.1 may correspond to a passage from the Bible. Jeremiah 11:1

Jeremiah 11:1-5 (New International Version)

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD : 2 "Listen to the terms of this covenant and tell them to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. 3 Tell them that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Cursed is the man who does not obey the terms of this covenant- 4 the terms I commanded your forefathers when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the iron-smelting furnace.' I said, 'Obey me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God. 5 Then I will fulfill the oath I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey'-the land you possess today." I answered, "Amen, LORD."

Background Text

The hidden text from the "Reckoning" page is an excerpt from the movie Pleasantville, in which a character living in a black-and-white world is put on trial and accused of using forbidden colors.

You are charged with desecration of a public building and the intentional use of prohibited paint colors in violation of The Pleasantville Code of Conduct and "Laws of Common Decency." Do you admit that on the night of May 1 you did consciously and willfully apply the following FORBIDDEN paint colors to the North Wall of the Pleasantville Police Station: Red, Pink, Vermilion, Puce, Chartreuse, Umber, Blue, Aqua, Ox Blood, Green, Peach, Crimson, Yellow, Olive and Magenta?