The Weight of the Rain

Chapter 1

   That day it rained. Harder than Strad had ever seen before. His older brother Oscar was putting together a portfolio. Getting a job, these last few years had been hard.  Someone had complained about a worker so he had to let the city know, they have to know about any discomforts that people feel is worth filing. My brother didn't think it was worth filing but the guy complaining clearly did so... Strad sighed and walked over to the couch and sat down, while the rain was amazing he was frustrated about how it ruined his plans, he was 16 and was planning on picking up some friends and having a fire, he loved fire as much as rain, maybe more, it kinda scared him but he found it so interesting the way it moved. 

   He shook his head, he'd have to call, reschedule for tomorrow. Good thing there was no school this week, that seemed to happen a lot more now, no one was worried about the virus anymore, they were more worried about the people, after the virus the people didn't trust the government. which lead to a large amount of rebellion, in so many different ways. first it started off small, harmless protests, but everyone was protesting something different, from no more government, to more government, left and right agreed it had to change, but how was the question. Then things went from bad to worse. from small protests, things suddenly got bad, people started dyeing mass murders that ended up getting blamed on the government, except almost everyone was doing it. Suddenly gangs took on a whole new meaning. from gangs, it became whole separate mophia parties, with thousands of people dead, from mass murder it went to full on war between cities and towns. 

   But some were lucky. Some saw they chaos and agreed that they wanted no part, but there was no way to stop, so instead they created safe homes, safe towns, which resulted in other people who agreed moving there. some towns turned into cities, and some just had hundreds of tents and homeless people wandering about.

   Strad was one of the lucky ones. Not only does he live in a great town that agreed to not fight, but he lived here before the chaos started, so he have a home, a bed, food, a family that's still alive, he even have my own car, an old 70 buick wildcat, with a working engine he had put inside. 

   He felt kinda bad having all these things when others were lucky to have a place to sleep. But when it comes down to it the only major things that changed is that he no longer had school as often. His house was small from the start so we don't house anyone but there's a family with a tent in the yard (the Petersons) and a widow that sleeps in the garage, they actually do take care of her as her mother was friends with Strad's. Overall it's chaos, but definitely he definitely got the better deal, and he knows it.

   Oscar sighed and put down the portfolio, "I'll finish this tomorrow, I can't work with this gloomy rain," 

   Strad and Oscars Mom frowned, "Strad, want to go check on the Petersons make sure there ok in the rain, or if they need to borrow a tarp? Oscar you can help if you like,"

   Strad and Oscar knew what that meant that they both needed to go and check if the Petersons needed a tarp, she would never tell Oscar as he was 27, and in her opinion she couldn't tell him what to do, but it still meant that nonetheless.

   Now you should know that these two have old parents, that they both love, and who both love them, there mom had Oscar around 34 and had Strad around 45 years old, they have an older sister who is 32 but she has a house that she bought here once things got bad, and has 2 kids a dog and a loving husband. 

   Strad and Oscar grabbed their coats and headed outside, the brothers were surprisingly close Strad always said it was because when he was young, his brother was really nice to him no matter what, and they've only grown closer.

   "so what exactly was the complaint about exactly?" asked Strad as they grabbed an umbrella and walked outside opening them in sinc.

   "stupid really, I don't think the upset customer was really that mad, they just wanted to complain, he was mad about how the cashier didn't ask if he wanted bags or a receipt," he said, almost getting drowned out by the rain, but Strad managed to hear him.

   "Wow, that is stupid, oh well, people are just sad their not getting noticed, this used to be a small town, and everyone was known, not anymore though," he shrugged his shoulders and grimaced as they stepped off the pavement and onto the muddy grass and scolded himself silently for not putting on different shoes.

   The Peterson's took the tarp, after lots of "thank you!"'s and "no problem, your welcome!"'s Strad decided to sit in the garage for a moment, escape the chaos, the noise of his parents "discussions" that were really arguments.The noise of doubt, because there in the garage he could stop, think. Imagine that the virus never happened, that the government never lost control, that everything didn't spiral until there was nothing left but a nightmare.

  His brother sat down next to him and Strad leaned against him, staring at the only thing in his life that worked out well, the 70 buick. He and his brother sighed in unison, both feeding off each others emotions, understanding each others situation, and giving each other comfort, all silently.

   That's when they heard the first boom. The first bomb. Both were startled, and didn't know what it was, what had happened? What was that sound? 

   "Did you hear that?" his brother asked, sitting up straight. The sound had seemed distant, far away, and it was, but less so than they thought.

  "Yea, that was weird I wonder what it was?" Strad said and stood up, "lets go check it out," he finished pulling out his keys from his pocket.

   His brother agreed, and they both got in the car. that's when the rest of the bombs dropped.

  Strad and Oscar whenever asked to describe the situation said that the didn't hear the rest of the bombs, the last thing they remember was getting in the car. So let me shed some light. The whole reason there was such a large amount of time between the first bomb, and all the rest is because, the bombs weren't supposed to be dropped yet, and one of the bombers dropped one too soon, mistaking a town not far away from the one they were supposed to bomb. this is the only reason that Strad and Oscar lived, while almost everyone else in town, did not. 

   The garage, the house was destroyed, however, it seems a 1970 buick sitting in a garage offers a surprisingly large amount of protection, and if Strad had not heard the first bomb and gotten into the car. They. Like many others. Would have died.

   Once the planes arrived where they where they were supposed to be, and dropped the bombs, the whole town was destroyed in a matter of minutes. roughly 6 500 casualties was the result.

  And Strad, when he did wake up, would wake up to a very, very, different world.

A/n (Authors Notes) Sorry about how long the next chapter is taking, but I promise it's a good one! I am so happy to see 10 reads, and I am hoping to show everyone some more interesting things in the next chapter!

       -KIllick