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Sydney wasn’t where he wanted to be when the bombs fell. Where would one want to be when nukes fell? Most would say a fallout shelter; Sydney would say at home making sure his mother and father actually made it to safety, or hugging them as the nukes closed in.
Instead he was being dragged by the arm by his best friend, Isaac Cast, towards the Nuclei shelter that had been built under the school just for this purpose. Isaac was dragging him because he knew that if he lost sight of Sydney for just a minute or let go that he’d take off towards his house.
And it really wouldn’t be hard to lose Sydney in a crowd like this. The students were panicking, shoving into one another just to get down the stairs to the Nuclei, some even full on falling down them due to their franticness. Sydney and Isaac were in the worst situation they could be, stuck in the crowd that was on the stairs and trying not to break their ankles from all of the pushing.
No one could really blame them though; how could you blame someone for panicking when speakers were screaming a high pitched beeping sound and a robotic voice was saying the same thing over and over, “THIS IS NOT A DRILL. I REPEAT THIS IS NOT A DRILL. REPORT TO THE NUCLEI.”?
Not a drill. Not a drill. Not a drill. Those words repeated over and over in Sydney’s head. Not a drill. Not a drill? How could this not be a drill? How could any of this actually be real? This had to be some sort of sick joke, right? Right?
Sydney swayed slightly on the step he and Isaac were on, the second to last step before they’d be face to face with the giant door that led into the Nuclei. The urge to throw up was strong. The urge became even stronger as Isaac pulled him down the last couple of steps, worry evident on Isaac’s face as he took notice of Sydney’s shaking hands and picked up, panicked breathing.
Isaac couldn’t help but groan; it wasn’t out of frustration or anything of that sort. Nevermind, it definitely was a little bit but he didn’t mean it rudely. Just now was not the time for Sydney to be having one of his panic attacks. Now was actually the worst time for him to be having a panic attack.
“Gosh, Sydney, come on, man. I swear to Yesmel, you can not seriously be doing this to me right now!” Isaac was currently pretty much dragging Sydney to the open door of the Nuclei, people streaming past him. As much as Isaac would love to set Sydney down and talk him through the panic attack he knows that he can’t do that. Not just can’t do that, but also can’t afford to.
The school hadn’t exactly designed the Nuclei to hold all of the students, just the ones that made it there on time. That’s what happens when your government doesn’t really care for you.
Isaac finally managed to pull Sydney and himself up to the guard at the front of the door, although it wasn’t easy with the people pushing up against him desperately in an attempt to get in instead.
“Please,” Isaac pleaded, “Is there still room for me and my friend? We’ll share a room if needed.” Sydney was wheezing at this point, trying hard to get ahold of his wrecked brain so Isaac didn’t have to drag him into the Nuclei too, though it was to no avail. Sydney wasn’t sure what the response was from the guard, just that it was a good one, considering Isaac was beginning to drag him behind the giant Nuclei door and deep into its confines.
. . .
Sydney felt like he was beginning to float on a cloud, his mind felt all fuzzy and his teeth felt they were constantly vibrating and buzzing in his mouth. Not only that but there was this weird…cushiony fabric on his back? Sydney’s mind struggled to make sense of impending doom and the softness he felt on his back and his head, blurry eyes focusing on Isaac who had pulled up a chair to Sydney’s bed.
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Eternity's Fallout
General FictionA world of Irradiated creatures after nuclear fallout Devastated the world can be a lot to handle. Ten years after the initial explosion and 26 year old Sydney Renferro is left to try and explore the wastelands left behind and wonder why exactly he...