The Moxy Byrd

Chapter 2

June 21st 2040

"Ok, let's get started." Amia Risk, daughter of the Clan Leader of Armaria, stood on a small wooden platform tapping her fingers against a podium. Stocky and broad, the little of her body which muscle hadn't claimed had been hardened over by calluses. In her hand, she held a worn book labeled, The History of Our Dome.

In front of her was a group of ten children ranging from eleven to fourteen years old. They sat cross-legged on the barren ground, skin a pale green in the light of the Dome. All around them were rough but well-constructed houses, made from a hodgepodge of materials. Cinder blocks and roughly hewn wood, metal bars scavenged from ruined buildings; anything available had been blended together to make the small cluster of buildings.

The landscape was made up of scraggly trees, grass, and plants that seemed almost colorless, shrouded in greys and greens. The sky itself was green; the sun, a lusterless green orb. The weather, as always, a dull chill. The half-dead grass was still a bit damp from the morning drizzle.

"Alright, repeat after me. These are the laws of the Dome." The children stood and placed a hand over their heart. "I, a proud survivor of the Final World War, do solemnly believe that all men and women are created equal. I will do my part to help all those in need. I promise to respect and obey all elected officials and to pay my taxes. I will never enter the Badlands, nor kill criers without reason. I will fight to survive until the day we may once more roam under the blue sky." The children obediently repeated Amia line-by-line.

She nodded in satisfaction, lips pulled into a tight line. "Ollie, stand up. Please repeat yesterday's passage."

A scrawny boy of about twelve stood. He began chanting in a monotone voice, looking at his feet as he kicked at the dirt, "This is the history of our people."

"Ollie, come on now, a little louder, will you? Look at me when you're speaking," Amia said.

Ollie glanced up and then back down and continued a bit louder, "In the year 1941 David Foxe, then a senator in Alabama, after multiple attempts to convince the U.S. government of the dangers of the outside world, began a series of tests designed to create a barrier to protect the population should the war become too dangerous. The people mocked him and refused his plan. However, Senator Foxe, being a wise and determined man, was not swayed from his plan to save his people. He created the technology necessary to make the Dome. As quiet rumors began to spread... of..." the boy trailed off.

"Sit down then, Ollie. Who can finish?"

A tiny girl in an oversized burlap dress raised her hand. Her long hair was pulled up into two braids on either side of her head. "I can, Miss Amia."

Amia nodded assent. "Go ahead, Crissy."

Crissy gave Ollie a haughty look. "As quiet rumors began to spread of the power of the Nazis, and the probability of nuclear war increased, Senator Foxe began to create a huge machine. He hoped to create a better form of protection for all citizens of the U.S. However, before he could do that, there was a horrible attack on Pearl Harbor. Sources told the Senator that there would be another attack within days, using a technology called an atomic bomb."

Amia motioned for Crissy to sit. "Okay, Jackson, give the end bit a go."

A lanky sixteen-year-old scowled as he rose to his feet. Having been slightly too young to join the last set of classes, he was a full two years older than the other students. "Senator Foxe argued with the senate about the necessity of shielding the U.S. borders, but he was derided. Then, just as he had feared, there was a second attack. Moments after the bomb hit the ground, our Governor turned on his machine.