Post-Pandemic: A New World

Chapter Twenty Five: The Base In The Desert

September 3rd 2025

Nevada...Nevada was the last State the Phoenixes had to cross before reaching California and finding the Antivirus in San Francisco. The last step before the end of the Phoenixes' journey towards the "Golden State" as people called it and the home of two important places: Las Vegas and the most infamous U.S Military base of them all....Area 51. Bridge had seen a few movies about the base and remembered that it was in Nevada. After some debate, the Phoenixes had agreed to go there and find out what was inside of Area 51. After all, there could be some answers there. For all they knew the Unity Order, the Shadow Government that had been secretly running the World for almost a century, could have been using the facility as a research lab of some kind. Also, Phinehas wanted to see if the theories about the base were true. The Nevada desert was a scorching one needless to say and the Phoenixes had been grateful that they had stocked up on water using rain water collectors. Louise, Stacy and a few of the younger kids were having the time of their lives building sand castles under the watchful eye of Michelle and Eleanor. Both of which were heavily pregnant and would be going into labour any day now. It was just a matter of time.

Bridge, Phinehas, Sebastian and Joe were walking on the road that lead up to Area 51. Bridge had come up with the idea that a small group should try and make contact with whoever it was that had taken up residency there. The rest of the Phoenixes stayed behind, ready to ram Phoenix One through the front gate if the group turned out to be hostile. Area 51 was a big base and had a barbed wire steel fence around it, imposing fear on all who saw it. As Sebastian took another sip from His water bottle, He felt the desert air breeze onto His face and longed for a nice day at a California beach. As the group got further down the road to the base, Bridge noticed two abandoned cars. They were flipped over, one of them on it's side with the bottom facing Them and the other upside down with it's door open. As the Phoenixes got closer, they saw something that shook them to the core and that was corpses! The corpses had a rotten smell to them and it was clear that they had been dead for weeks. One corpse was inside the car and had a bullet proof vest on and dried blood all over the floor below Him. The Man inside had been dead for months, with his skin rotting away and insects eating up what was left of Him. The other corpse was outside of the car and it looked like She had tried to crawl away after Her car was flipped over. She had died more recently, with Her skin pale and not smelling as bad as the other one. But Sebastian noticed the bullet hole in Her head and realised something terrible.

He looked at Bridge to speak, but then saw a red dot on Bridge's chest and yelled "Bridge, get down!" He pushed Bridge into Phinehas, almost causing the two of them to fall and a bullet was fired through the air. The bullet had missed Bridge and hit the road behind them, making a small hole where it penetrated the ground. Bridge then yelled "Take cover!" and the four Phoenixes all took cover behind the flipped over car that still had it's corpse inside just as more bullets were shot by snipers. It was clear that the group in Area 51 was hostile and had every intention to kill whoever came across the base. Bridge said while getting His pistol ready "Looks like it's time for Plan B". Bridge readied His pistol and said "Joe, You and I will draw the snipers fire while Phoenix One rams through the gate with Phoenix Two. The Strike Team will storm out of the R.Vs and give whoever shoots at them what for!" Joe pulled out his 45 calibre pistol and said "With pleasure". 

Knowing that the gunshots were the signal, Solomon slammed His foot down on the accelerator and Phoenix One began heading towards Area 51. So did Phoenix Two, driven by Maxwell Solomon and His brother Michael. There were five Phoenixes inside of each one, equipped with body armour and bicycle helmets. Joe Mason had stored some automatic rifles and body armour in Phoenix Home prior to joining the Phoenixes and had given the Phoenixes some shooting lessons. This was going to be Their first real fight and Bridge knew that They would have to be strong if They were going to win. As the R.Vs passed the flipped over cars and began headed towards the Base to ram the front gate down, Bridge and Joe periodically emerged from behind the car, took shots at the base and hid behind the car again. This lead to the snipers shooting at the flipped over car and not the R.Vs. Of course, one or two shots hit both R.V, but luckily they either hit the hood or the roof and didn't hit anyone. That was when the R.Vs rammed through the steel fence gate and they were now inside of Area 51.

As the R.Vs skidded to a stop, Solomon could see that there were dozens of people inside of the Base and many soldiers were inside as well. The people were going about their business, harvesting crops from a small garden outside of a hanger bay and doing maintenance on the equipment the soldiers had. The people then suddenly started attacking the soldiers, taking advantage of the confusion the soldiers felt, after one of Them yelled "Someone's come to save us!" The People began charging at the soldiers, tackling Them to the ground and stealing Their rifles from Them. The Phoenixes stormed out of Phoenix One and Two, firing at soldiers and the snipers on the perimeter watchtower. The Battle of Area 51 was a long and hard fought one. It lasted for twenty minutes straight, with the fifty civilians rising up against the one hundred soldiers who had been keeping them hostage for months. 

In the aftermath of the battle, all but five of the soldiers were dead, having been shot by Phoenixes or beaten to death by the people with knives and even their own fists. They all immediately started cheering, happy to be liberated by the courageous men and women who had stormed the base and ended the soldiers' tyranny. As Bridge, Sebastian, Joe and Phinehas entered Area 51, They were met with a cheering crowd and faces of relief and gratefulness. People started thanking the Phoenixes and Bridge for saving Them and Bridge asked "What's been going on here?" One of the people, a Man with a scar on His cheek, stepped forward and said "Armed Men arrived at our homes and dragged us here to grow food see to the soldiers' needs while We starved. They called us "Potentials" and said that if We proved ourselves loyal enough, We'd get transferred to something called "New Dawn" and didn't explain what it was. They treated Us no better than slaves and if We tried to escape, We would get shot!" Bridge's eyes widened with shock, He was about to ask where the remaining soldiers were, only to hear an angry crowd gather by Phoenix Two, with Phoenix Riflemen trying to calm Them all down. Bridge walked over and saw the five remaining soldiers of Area 51, with Their hands behind Their heads and Riflemen aiming their guns at them. That was when Bridge saw something that made Him freeze in place, something that made Him understand who these soldiers were working for, something that made Him know who was in control of Area 51: a surgical scar behind their right ears, where a Unity Order microchip was inserted.