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Chapter 1 - A Giant Wasteland

Chapter 1 – A Giant Wasteland

United States Armed Forces HQ
Arlington County, VA
Date unknown (Some forty-two years later)
08:19 EST GMT-5

My eyes suddenly opened, and the chamber was empty, no longer filled with any cryogenic gas. Where the hell am I now? What the hell is going on? Has six months already passed? I then opened my container, and alas; what the hell do I see? What on Earth am I looking at? The place is a ruin. The atmosphere, yeesh, what is that smell? It's getting hard to breathe. Quickly, I put my neck bandana on, covering my face, to make it easier to suck in air. Thankfully, my oxygen filtration was still working. I hadn't even checked it before entering the chamber. I ran to the other two containers, where Ranger and Aurora were. I then knocked on them both.

"Sir, you in there? Lieutenant colonel?" I asked as I banged on the chamber door. "Julia? You okay, baby?"

I then heard some muffling sounds. Suddenly one container opened. It was Ranger's.

"You okay, boss?" I asked him.

"Never better!" he shrugged. "Where are we?"

"Seems like the HQ. Guess it didn't survive the meteor landing." I asserted. "More important than 'what' right now is, 'when'."

Suddenly, the other container opened, and out came Julia.

"When?" asked Julia. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think we are in the future, but not six months. Perhaps much nearer, or much farther in the future." I declared, not trying to joke nor scare anyone.

It was then, my iPhone began to buzz, and suddenly, out came on the display was I.V.A.N.A (Intelligent Virtual and Noticing Assistant). Basically, it was a virtual and sentient artificial intelligence program, designed by great software engineers around the year 2030, for homes, businesses, and government organizations. It was responsible for helping around with pretty much everything. It also had a face to look like a young woman, who was by default Anglo-American, which beautiful black hair, and seemed as someone in her mid-twenties. Of course, all these features are customizable, along with spoken languages.

"Good morning, Aaron!" said I.V.A.N.A, with a smile on its digital face. "Welcome to the future, it is Wednesday, April 29, 2076."

Hearing this, my jaws dropped, and so did Julia's and Rangers. In the back of my mind was, 'What the hell? What in Goddamn?'!

"2076!!!" shouted Julia. "MEANING I AM NOW SIXTY-SIX YEARS OLD? IT'S BEEN FORTY-TWO YEARS?"

"Technically, yes!" told me with sheer honesty. "However, since we were in hibernation for forty-two years, it's kept us alive, and we haven't aged a single bit, at all! If it makes you feel any better, I am almost sixty-nine on paper. My birthday is May 9."

"Oh, yeah!" said Julia in anger. "That makes me feel a lot better!"

"Relax!" said Ranger. "You guys have it much easier. I just turned eighty on paper, last week."

"Okay guys, let's leave this ruin, and find out more on what happened." I said.

"Agreed!" said Julia, this time very calm.

We both stepped outside, and we were shocked. The lively Arlington County, which was once flourished with grass, trees, and vegetation, now looked very dry, barren, and nothing but sand and wind. Then we saw it. Vehicles hovering across the ground, drones in the sky, some newer tall buildings, and walking robots.

"This is Arlington County?" I said in shock.

"It was." Ranger answered. "Now it's a giant wasteland."

"I.V.A.N.A, what happened?" I asked my AI companion.

"Please keep moving and go West. I'll explain later. And put on your oxygen masks too. This atmosphere isn't what it used to be." I.V.A.N.A instructed.