Tent City

Chapter 30

I typed the coordinates into the computer in the Dash. The computerised voice filled the cockpit,

"Location could not be found. Coordinates invalid. Please try again."

I sighed in frustration. It looked as though we would be finding the lab the old-fashioned way, exploring the destination with only the little information that Kelsie had about the bunker or by some miracle I worked out the code.

I put the new coordinates that will take us to the blue gum ranges. Then, I went through all the checks that were required to even start the vehicle. I told Ben, who was sitting beside me, to check that the back entrance door was up, even though I could close it from the dash. He excitedly ran to the back of the transporter and ran back.

"Yep, it's closed. Where are we going, Andy?" he said his eyes wide with excitement and awe.

"Well, first we'll have to travel through Farantown. We'll then go on the road to the Eastern Fara Ranges, but we've got to be careful here because the road is rough and about halfway to the gully, theres a huge wasteland caused by a nuclear bomb. We'll have to do radiation readings before we continue to the gully." I said, hoping Ben understood what I was going on about. Ben just looked at me blankly and smiled.

"You're really, really smart, Andy." He said, confirming to me that Ben did not, in fact, know what I was going on about. I just reached out and messed up his hair. Then, once the remaining checks were complete, the Tortise sprung to life, and we started our journey to Farantown.

Kelsie joined us not long after we started. They sat at the chairs and looked out of the cockpit, their eyes wide with awe. I smiled. They were experiencing something that a lot of surface dwellers only ever dreamt about, being safe from harm when travelling.

It was about 3 hours into our journey when an alarm let us know that something was within 2 kilometres of our vehicle. Soon, the computerised voice filled the cockpit,

"Movement detected within 2 kms of the vicinity of the vehicle. Scanning initiated, please wait..."

My heart caught in my throat as we awaited the results of the scan. Kelsie glanced over to me. Her face was pale, and she looked nervous. Ben just looked confused. There was a heavy silence in the cockpit. The computerised voice took me by surprise.

"Scan complete, species identified as human. Danger level, medium. Initiating MDP protocol. Please stand by..."

Kelsie seemed panicked,

"What's MDP protocol, Andy?" She whispered,

" MDP protocol means Medium Danger Protection. It means that everything is locked inside, and shields are lowered to protect the tyres. Also, even though the glass in the cockpit is bulletproof, a second shield is lowered over the glass, and the transporter goes into autopilot mode to free me to get weapons if need be.

Don't worry too much, though. This is just in case the humans are raiders or slavers. If they are just your run of the mill mutants, then we don't have to fear them unless we are outside the transporter."

The sound of all locks clicking and the whine of the shield coming down over the cockpit and clunk of the shield covering the tyres signalled that the MDP protocol had been finalised.

"MDP protocol complete, Autopilot activated." The computerised voice filled the cockpit.

We watched the blips on the screen with intensity as they got closer and closer to the transporter. Soon, they came into view, as soon as I saw what the humans were wearing, I let out a sigh of relief. They were wearing unhooded capes with torn pants and tops. Their skin was twisted and scarred. Their faces oozing pus and fluids. They were just mutants, good news for us.

The mutants would normally just ignore tanks or transporters purely because they were big and intimidating. It would be another story if it was a troop on foot or in light unarmoured troop carriers, then they wouldn't hesitate to attack them, their fiery unwavering rage the only thing that would give them the strength needed to defeat the troops.

I looked over to Kelsie. She seemed scared but sad at the same time. I swear I even saw a tear run down her cheek. Ben just looked terrified, frozen in place.

" Ben, Kelsie. It's okay. Mutants ignore transporters/tanks as they're too big and heavily armoured to even bother with the effort to fight, so we're safe." I said, trying to reassure them that everything would be okay.

We watched them walk around the transporter as it moved slowly along the damaged road. They didn't even lift their heads to look at the transporter. They continued walking as though the transporter didn't even exist. They had to have lost their minds due to the poisons and radiation eating through their flesh, brain, and bones.

Ben looked over at me and asked me curiously

"What's wrong with their faces, Andy?"

I paused and glanced at Kelsie for permission to tell him. She nodded. Now, I had to find a way to tell a 5 year old about radiation sickness, gene mutation due to radiation exposure while in the womb, and the effects that chemical waste and weapons had on humans in a way he could understand.

" Okay," I sighed to myself as I planned out the conversation in my head.

"Ben, before you or I and even before your parents were born, there was a war.

Now, some people were lucky and escaped to bunkers under the ground, where it was safe. Others like you and me weren't that lucky, and some lived in certain cities that were bombed using atomic bombs. When the bombs go off, they cause a massive cloud that looks like a mushroom. The cloud creates poisonous dust due to what happens to create the explosion, in that dust is an invisible poison called radiation.

When humans breathe in that dust or are within a certain distance of the bomb and they don't die due to the explosion, they are exposed to the poisonous dust.

Now, the poisonous dust will slowly start to kill them. Even if the area of the bomb was left alone for years, the poisonous dust remains, and anybody who walks near it or touches the dust, they get sick too.

Even if a mum has a baby inside her and she breathes in, touches, or even walks on the dust her baby can die or be born sick or look different to you or I because of the poisonous dust. Mum also gets sick.

"How come big Sis and I aren't sick?" He questioned,

" Well, that's easy. Some places weren't bombed by an atomic bomb or were very far away from a bombed place, so far away that the dust couldn't reach them. They were safe places.

Some places weren't as lucky and had normal bombs dropped in their cities. Those bombs destroyed buildings, roads, and killed people, others had chemicals released in their countries, cities, and homes.

These chemicals killed people and poisoned their water and food supplies, made their farm animals sick, and killed them too.

Sometimes, the chemicals would make babies be born different and also slowly make people sick. Some chemical weapons killed people quickly. It seems that your relatives escaped or lived in a safe area, that's why you and big sis are not sick."

I hoped that my explanation was enough to educate him, but also help him understand. I hated that I had to explain these things to a child, who just 2 years ago was still a toddler.

Ben looked at me and asked

" How long have bombs and chemicals hurt people?"

I sighed again and looked over to Kelsie to get permission to continue. She nodded again. It seems she was also enjoying my stories.

"People have been hurt and killed by bombs since humans invented them many, many years ago, before your grandparents were even born before their parents were born. Humans have hurt other humans since the beginning of time. It just wasn't always bombs or chemicals."

"Will it stop?" Ben asked.

"We can only hope that humans will stop hurting or declaring wars with each other." I answered, trying to keep a ray of hope alive in his innocent little heart.

If he only knew that humans would never stop hurting others by bombs, weapons, or by any other means if it meant they would gain an advantage over those they hurt, in our case as long as the bunker dwellers remained safe and wealthy.