My Immortal

Chapt 3: 97 Years Before - Part 3

-- Italics is Proto-Trigedasleng --

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Kiran:

Five long days, that's how long it took for us to walk from South Carolina to Jacksonville, Florida. Along the way, it was nothing but deserted towns and leveled cities. It seemed the entire Eastern seaboard was the target of the attack. It broke my heart to see the charred ruins of smaller cities. More than once on the journey, I broke down, violently attacking a tree or wall nearby. It was only Mako that kept me focused each time I snapped. Her calm words rang in my head each time. Another thing we noticed was that we were healing quickly, despite our injuries. The massive gash on my head was healed in two days, my broken hand healed in a few hours. We had no idea how this occurred, but it was another thing that we would keep quiet.

Midday on day five had us walking up to the gates of NAS JAX, a naval air station. A hasty barrier had been built, only allowing foot traffic onto the base. It was no longer the base I remembered my dad being stationed on when I was a child. As we approached the gates, I heard shouting from deep inside. The gates were locked, armed guards everywhere, guns trained on us. With several shouts of 'Halt!', we froze in our tracks, our hands visible to the guards.

"Whoa whoa, Lt. Kiran Snyder, Parris Island Technical Detachment." I slowly reached into my back pocket and pulled out my wallet, offering my ID to the guard in front of the gate.

The guard, a young man, his beard scruffy, moved forward, motioning me to walk forward slowly towards the gate. I passed the ID to the guard, before he nodded, turning to the gate. "She's good."

"MGySgt Mako Via." Mako slowly stepped forward, also offering her ID. He took hers as well, nodding as the picture and face matched. He motioned for the gate to open, nodding to it, as he went back to his spot. Grabbing Mako's hand, I slipped in the opening, meeting another soldier; an older looking woman, who motioned for us to follow her.

"Lt. Kiran Snyder, you said? I am Lt. Kristen Gavan." There was something about her voice that had me on edge. "The Parris Island explosion, we assumed you were dead. You were supposed to be brought here a few days ago."

"It was a missile, not an explosion. What do you mean I was supposed to be brought here?"

"It was a Nuke." Mako said under her breath as she looked around.

She nodded, looking at her. "We know it was a nuke, radiation has been spreading through the country given the sheer amount of bombs that were launched." She hesitated before finishing. "As to your question, Lt., I can't answer that. I am sure that Captain Perdia will want to speak to you on that." She led us into a building towards the med bay; she paused at the door and motioned for us to go in.

"Hey Doc, got two for you, give them a full check. I will be back in a bit for one of them." Without another word to either of us, she disappeared down the hall.

"Hello." An older man, his medic unit patch prominent on his arm, stepped out of a side room as we entered. His white coat hung open showing his camouflage uniform.

"Sir." I nodded, quickly falling to attention. He far outranked me. "Lt. Kiran Snyder, MGySgt Mako Via, Parris Island."

"Survivors?" He was clearly surprised as he quickly motioned us forward. "Please, sit down quickly. I must be certain of your exposure." We followed instructions, taking a seat on one of the beds. He pulled out a radiation scanner, holding it to various spots on my body. The machine made no sounds as it passed over both of us. I looked at Mako, wondering what it meant; medicine had always been a hobby of hers.