Post-Pandemic: A New World

Chapter Fifty: The Birth of a New Era

February 28th 2026

Six months. That was how long it had been since the battle of New Dawn and they had been a great six months indeed. The Unity Order was no more and New Dawn was under the control of Leon Zaitsev and a Council of elected representatives. The "Commune of New Dawn" as it was called, had repaired the damage the bunker had sustained during the battle and enacted a system where all were equal and money had been abolished. Everyone in New Dawn worked to produce everything that was needed and did what maintenance was required and in return, got everything they needed. Many of the Privileged had some difficulty adjusting to this new role, some even outright refused and left for other States throughout the West Coast, but those who remained had come to terms with the fact that a culling was not the solution to Humanity's problems, but the problem itself. The First Phoenix Alliance, Scientist Directorate and American Tribe had also organised celebrations all over the San Francisco Bay Area and a reconstruction initiative had been established to rebuild the City and life was beginning to return to what it once was before the Fall. In many cities where survivor communities had come together to rebuild, power was back on, farmers were growing food, reformed police departments were rooting out gangs of escaped prisoners and anarchists and, what many including the Patriotic American Army, Democratic Union of America and Mormon Alliance saw as most important, free and democratic elections were well underway in many of the Post-Fall Era communities and countries. Although there were still problems such as raider gangs and civil wars it was clear, a new age of peace was dawning on a war filled world.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, many great changes had come indeed. All of San Francisco had joined the First Phoenix Alliance and a trade network had been set up between all of the settlements. The Scientist Directorate had eradicated starvation and climate change in the Bay thanks to the technology they were developing and crime had been practically eradicated thanks to the religious morals spread by the American Tribe. The three factions, though different in their ideals, had all come to see that they weren't that different. All three of them wanted to rebuild the world without the mistakes of the past and they all wanted what they thought was best for humanity. They just had different ways and ideas of doing so, which was why they were meeting once again at Coit Tower to sign a very important agreement.

Assembled around Coit Tower were thousands of people from all over San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Oakland, eager to witness this historic event and assembled on a massive stage were Bridge Winters, Raymond Milton and Navajo Jackson, leaders of all three factions. Bridge looked upon the crowd and saw the faces of the friends who had helped put a stop to the Unity Order's satanic plans of global genocide. There was Michelle Brown and her boyfriend Sebastian Mason and his dad Colonel Joe, along with Michelle's twin children who were now half a year old and had no idea how lucky they were to be alive. Along with Michelle were her little sister Louise and that lazy fat cat Azrael, who was just the most spoilt cat in the World. There was also Phineas Maze, who had been Bridge's best friend since the day Bridge arrived in America almost eleven years prior and had been invaluable during the Phoenixes' journey across the country and was in attendance along with his Uncle John. Finally there was Bridge's own parents, who had long since repented of their horrible decision stop loving Bridge following the horrible accident at the Zoo that claimed Tommy's life. They had remarried two months earlier and had been trying to rebuild their relationship with Bridge. They had agreed to take it slow and to not rush anything, hoping that things between them and Bridge would be okay soon. Next to Bridge was Anna, who was especially excited for what was to come as she said to Bridge "Go on. They are waiting for your speech". Bridge made a slight smile as he got to the microphone and began his speech.

With great courage and a hope for the future, Bridge said "Citizens of San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Oakland. Three years ago a mysterious virus appeared in St Petersburg and within two years, had killed seven billion people and reduced Human civilisation to rubble. Even though it was so long ago, I still remember the atrocities and the horror that followed. It was a dark and terrible time indeed". The people had looks of sadness on their faces as Bridge recounted what had happened following the Virus and thought back to the horrors they had experienced, such as raiders, cannibals and fanatic cultists. But they had looks of hope on their faces as Anna said "But then the Virus ended, thanks to the efforts of my father, Ivan. Who gave his life to save us from death. If not for him, then there would be far less people on Earth and all of them would be part of the Unity Order". The crowd had looks of anger on their faces at the very mention of the Unity Order. The madmen had created the Virus from an alien that came to Earth years ago and was stored in Area 51 for gruesome experiments. Everyone who was anyone had lost family members thanks to the Order and an dark era of suffering had occurred thanks to them. The crowd were then turned their attention to Bridge as he said "The Unity Order are responsible for the deaths of seven billion people and are therefore responsible for the largest genocide in Human history! Some of you may think that their sentence was too good for them, but many, myself included, believe that it was just". The trial of the remaining Unity Order leadership had lasted over a month and there had been hundreds of testimonies from just as many witnesses, including those who the Unity Order had directly caused the suffering of. In the end, they were sentenced to death for unethical experimentation, kidnapping, slavery and genocide. Alcatraz Island was famous for being a prison, but now it was famous for the place where they had been hung from five lampposts at the pier that tourist boats used to dock at before the Fall.