Extinction

Chapter 1: Jason

Jason breathed heavily as he trudged along the muddy hillside. He looked up and saw the Moon was covered by thick clouds, with rain pounding Jason relentlessly as if blaming him for the world being in ruins. Jason shivered visibly, "These days, once the sun goes down, the temperature just drops." He thought to himself.

"Jason, come in Jason." His earpiece crackled.

"This is Jason, come in Command."

"Where are you, we've picked up readings that this weather is about to turn into a Hellstorm. You need to get back to Extinction A.S.A.P. Over"

Jason cursed. "Eta, 20 minutes, I'm at Starkers hill."

"Your gonna need to shorten that to 10 the Hellstorm is going to hit in 12.

"Roger that Command, Jason out."

Jason started to run, he didn't want to be caught out in a Hellstorm, about a century ago, ever since the fallout, Earth had become twisted and threatening. As he ran he thought about the history he had learned. According to his teachers, the U.S. had started the war, they were in so much debt, that the only way they could see a way out was war with China. Well, one thing came to another and that's when the fallout happened. Everyone called the fallout, The Reckoning. Earth became a barren rust infected planet that barely had any life left. Those who survived stuck together and formed their own "bands". Jason belonged to the band called Extinction. Extinction was a giant L.S.S. or Life Survival Sanction. It was basically a dome that had giant filters to make the air breathable. After The Reckoning it had turned the air toxic.

"Jason, what's your eta?"

"I am in sight of Extinction, eta 6 minutes."

"Pick up the pace, over."

Jason sprinted, though he wasn't breathing hard, Exctinction had basically become a military camp. Recruits drilled daily, they were taught how to survive, fight, and just normal schooling courses. According to the maps that had survived The Reckoning, they were based in the Americas where the U.S. used to be. Somewhere to the east and south of the "Rockies" that explained why the weather was so unstable. They were a ways away from the ocean, about 372 miles, which had receded because of The Reckoning, and the teachers thought that was why there was such unreliable weather. The wind currents had become changed, and instead of the regular wind patterns, wind traveled east to west along the equator, and rose north and south periodically. Hellstorms were the spawn of the wind currents picking up rust, dust, and water from he ocean and hurtled it up towards them.

Jason looked towards the ocean, and could see a Hellstorm approaching. A wall of water and dust as far as the eye could see, towering over the tallest hills around. Inside filled with bits of metal rusted and broken up, basically if you were caught in one without a L.S.S. you were as good as dead.

"Jason, Command, this is gonna be a close one, the high winds are going to hit you any second, your going to have to run through them, copy?"

"Copy, preparing for high winds."

Jason lifted up his left arm and turned on his wrist display. He navigated through the settings with his right hand and turned off circulation mode. There was an audible hiss as the air sterilization filters sealed and he began breathing air from his tanks. When you left a L.S.S. your suit had filter that cleaned the air for you, but in a Hellstorm, the winds could reach up to 300 MPH, the wind would rip through the filters tearing them apart,  and then you would be breathing nothing but toxins, so in a Hellstorm you sealed up the filters and used air from the tanks instead.

"I've prepped for high winds, I'll reach Extinction in.... Ooooof!"

The high winds slammed into Jason, tossing him like a rag doll to the ground, bouncing and dragging him along the soft muddy earth.

"Jason do you copy, Jason!"