They Called It The Apocalpse

Chapter 30

He led the boys round the back of the hut and past the barrier to a shabby looking golf cart that had yellowed with age, it had a drivers seat and room for a passenger then an extra bench on the back. Stu climbed in a buckled the seatbelt then gestured for them to join him as he gripped the steering wheel. Jason took the front seat while Tate hopped onto the back and they headed up the road into town. It was about an five minute drive to get to the point where they started passing buildings. Jason found himself captivated by the pristine symmetry of the buildings, they were all painted a clean white with well maintained gardens and ran backwards in rows. "Ok, so we have reached the outskirts of town." Stu announced, slowing a little so that they could take a look, "here we don't have a lot of infrastructure because as you can probably tell it is on the very edges of our village. Its mainly just housing out here but we have a couple of crop farms as you can see right here." He pointed to the left over Jason at a small square of green that Jason had assumed was a park but upon closer inspection it appeared to be a tiny crop field. "We're very sustainable here and we even managed to source our own food and water right here in the valley, our crops are a big part of our community and being a farmer is an essential role for our survival." Stu waved at a citizen in their garden and they stood up and smiled at him, warmly waving a neighbourly hand at the passing party. They came into a more central area of the town and Stu started up with his narrative again, "We call this the shopping district, you can secure anything you may need from food to clothes right here in the centre of our lovely town, we have butchers and grocery stores, just here." He gestured right as they passed a brightly lit, green painted store front. "As well as this you can get you're daily essentials or any prescriptions, or medical needs, right here at our pharmacy." They passed a clinical white building with a large Red Cross on a billboard above it. Streetlights lined the sides oft he road here and a couple people milled about on the pavement. "In our little slice of heaven we even have an ice cream shop, Dairy Bells is our premium class creamery, dedicated only to making fresh milk into this delicious frozen treat." Jason stared at the fibreglass cow that adorned the sidewalk near the display of the flavours and a smile broke onto his face, it really was like being in paradise. "Of course, there are plenty more shops in out village but our town centre has the widest range of options to choose from so most of our villagers prefer to shop here. But stores aren't the only places you can buy produce, we also encourage straight from the farmer purchases, which ensure you receive the freshest supplies to meet you're every need." Stu smiled at them, turning back to check on Tate, who was fixated on the surroundings with a wide open mouth. They turned a corner onto a side road and came back to rows of housing. "Alright, now you've witnessed the town centre i want to bring you back round to our main housing estate, with each house being almost exactly the same we can ensure that repairs are kept easy and efficient and that no one will feel left out. We'll be housing you two in some of our more recent empty properties right in the centre of this estate. He took another turn and held his hand out to showcase an example, "Take here for example, you'll receive an amazing community of neighbours and have a large house fit for a king, these accommodations are easy to take care of and even work for growing families so there will be plenty of space for anything you may want to do, like taking up a hobby in yoga. Speaking of which, if you do decide to take up and active hobby we have an excellent sports facility situated right in the centre of the house estate, specifically for keeping our residents fit and healthy." They looped back onto the main road and Stu drove them up to a wider, grassier area where the houses were few and far apart. "Welcome to our farming district, we grow the majority of our food here such as beef and lettuce and we always have a variety of crops out on rotation for a excellent and bountiful harvest each season." They looped back round into the main village and travelled down the road until they pulled up beside a large building. It seemed to be made of some kind of dark wood and was lit by bright yellow lighting. Stu disembarked the golf buggy and waited patiently on the sidewalk for the others to follow before stopping in front of the doors and turning to smile at them. "This is our glorious town hall, most of you're everyday information is processed here and its also where we assign jobs and housing. In here we're going to sort you out with somewhere to stay and you will be issued an occupation. This could be anything from farm hand to cashier or tutor could be handpicked for your abilities to be in the military corps. Now, unfortunately this d0es conclude our tour but inside y0u will find a range of stewards who can cater to you're needs and answer any questions." He clutched his hands together and looked between them, "but before i go do you have any questions for me?"
"Yes." Jason grumbled, not bothering to wait for a response, "where's Thalia?" Stu smiled wider then nodded.
"I understand you're worry but shes perfectly fine, in fact I'm going to go back and take over from Petunia so she can take you're friend on her own personal tour. She just took a little longer in the doctors office because of some medical equipment failures. Its nothing to worry about, I assure you and plus I'm receiving constant updates on all of you so that we can keep an eye on you're safe transfer into society." He nodded and crossed back round to the drivers side of the golf cart, climbing in then driving off as he waved to the boys.

They stood outside the door of the town hall, overwhelmed by the whole thing, a soft breeze blew past and helped them to collect their thoughts. "Shall we go in?" Jason asked and Tate nodded, pushing the door open and going inside. What they saw was a rush of smartly dressed people, who twittered over paper work or rushed about for this document or another. "Oh hello." A woman mumbled, she was shorter than both of them and had platted brown hair that had been wound into a bun on the back of her head, she smiled through a mouthful of red lipstick then gestured for them to follow her. "I'll be taking a Mr Jason and my friend Tiff will deal with a Mr Tate." She explained as Tiff joined her, blonde hair twisted into a regular bun. Tate mused at how similar all the people in the town hall looked but did as he was requested and followed Tiff off into another room with a desk. Jason and the first woman broke off into the third office in the corridor and she took a seat on one side of the table, gesturing kindly to the other. Jason took it and smiled awkwardly at her as she brought out her paper work. "I'm Kaitlyn, I'm one of our accommodation managers here in the village, I'm going to get you settled first with a house with the view that we can eventually work you up to the owner of said building." She smiled at him after spewing the information at him and he nodded, already feeling lost with the whole process. He nodded swiftly and she smiled wider, "Great." She lifted a pen to her sheet of paper and spun it round for Jason to see, it was covered with tiny squares in uniform rows and she pointed the pen to one in the centre that didn't have any letters written over it. "I'm proposing to place you here. Its a central property with a well kept front yard, its a one bedroom with open kitchen living room. Its not a bungalow so it has stairs to get to the second floor but i imagine you'll be very happy with this property. I can get you on the lease agreement right away, I'll just require a quick signature and i can get you on you're way home." She thrust the pen at him and he took it a little startled, leaning over the paper as she leant forwards and pointed at the house with a manicured nail, "Just sign here." She chimed and Jason did as she'd instructed, initialling the square then pushing the pen back across the desk to the woman. She smiled and took the papers, turning to a drawer and producing a set of keys with a yellow tag attached. "Here you are Mr Jason, you're new house keys, you're going to be living at number 206 in the middle region. When you leave the office, head straight outside and follow the path down across the road, take a on the second street and keep going until you reach you're number. Now these are for you." She thrust the keys across the table then spun to look at a monitor. "Oh, good news, Mr Jason, you've already been assigned a career, thats a sure step int he right direction. Now you're doctors note says to rest and relax for a week then we can get you into service. You're physique and health has generally been regarded as good and you perfectly meet the specifications for a career in our special forces. Now they are requesting you to be a part of the search and conquer operations, which involved shipping you out back into the world to protect our town right here from the evolved. Isn't that fantastic?" She chuckled and Jason took a second to process everything he'd just been told. He sat up straight in his chair, grabbing the keys off the desk then looking her straight in the eye, "No. I won't do it."