Trashmouse

Wasteland

Chapter 3

10 things about the Australian outback post-Omnics:

- There is no power because the electrical grid has been destroyed. Instead, people use generators or steam to power things.

- Similarly, the Internet has gone out. People were more horrified by this than the power going out. It is believed that some who survived the Omnic attacks perished due to Internet withdrawal.

- Water and food are scarce.

- Everyone steals to get these things. If they don't, they'll die of starvation, dehydration or exposure. Either that, or looters will rob them and take their possessions. Morality doesn't exist when it's kill or be killed.

- About the looters: they prefer to call themselves Junkers. They came from all walks of life before the attacks, but they are all the same now. All are ruthless and brutal, willing to shank a fellow Junker for a bottle cap.

- There are rumors of a "treasure" hidden somewhere in the outback, probably near a military base or a (formerly) rich person's house. No one knows what the treasure is, but it is highly coveted and every Junker in Australia wants in on it.

- The song Down Under by Men at Work has been adopted as the new Australian national anthem, at least until someone pointed out that there is at least one reference to gay sex in the lyrics. Surprisingly, not too many of the Junkers minded.

- The Junkers don't like each other very much. Most of them would prefer to kill each other over small trivial things or fight rather than do anything productive. Particularly despised are the Suits (corporate businesspeople) and anyone who sympathizes with the Omnics. Y'know, because they kind of destroyed pretty much the entire country.

- Despite their mutual hatred, the Junkers have formed something like a city in the outback. It's called Junkertown and, well, it's about as lawless as you'd expect.

- Oh yeah, one last little thing. When the Omnics attacked, they also attacked an Omnium fusion core. That fusion core was radioactive. Congratulations, a huge portion of the country is now irradiated. Yay! You now have what is essentially a harsh, radioactive wasteland!

This was Jamison Fawkes' world. He has been taken from a comfortable childhood to, well, whatever this was now. From his new family, the Junkers, he learned how to rob and steal and not give a single fuck. Because of his small size, child Jamie's job was to crawl in and out of small, partially-collapsed areas to grab little bits of metal and other usable debris. These could be used to make weapons or shelters. 

It was while doing this, that Jamie discovered his love for explosions; a love that radiation turned into a madness-infused obsession for making things go up "explody" as he liked to say. The older Junkers taught him how to make bombs, grenades and traps from the scraps that he scavaged. Jamie would either keep them for himself or trade them to other Junkers for food or water or, occasionally, batteries. These were essential for him, as they allowed him to stay up late into the night, assembling his explosives.

Chapter 4

These are the circumstances in which Jamie grew up, and up was probably the right word for it. Now 20 years old, he stood a good 1.96 meters, although he slouched a lot and would probably have back problems in 30 years time. He had a mess of blond hair that stuck up and usually some of it had burned off. He was muscular and fairly fit, so he would have no problem holding his own against almost anyone. This was a good thing, because it seemed like all of the other Junkers wanted things that Jamie had, things like his weapons (off limits, unless he was offered something in return), his supplies (also off limits, because he loved eating) or, once, his body (that was from a very inappropriately dressed middle-aged Junker lady, who Jamie ended up having to physically fight off). 

Radiation was also a problem in the outback. After the power plant had been destroyed, most of the country was now irradiated, and it had caused untold damage to the Junkers. There were many deaths yearly, some from different cancers, others from the immune deficiencies that radiation had caused. Still others had been permanently affected, either mentally or physically, and many children born after the attacks had some type of disability or mutation. Jamie, as you should probably know by now, had not died from exposure to radiation or its side effects. However, he had changed too. He'd always liked making things, especially explosives, and had always had a strong sense of what was fair and what was not. The irradiated landscape turned his interest in bombs into a maniac obsession, and his moral compass was a lot more violent and volatile than it otherwise might have been. Jamie had no qualms about throwing one of his bombs into someone's shelter just because they'd gone into his bag and stolen one of his prized traps, for example. To him, that was perfectly fair and square and something that he was allowed to do, and no one complained too much, mainly because he'd throw something else at them if they did, then detonate it from very far away, cackling manically.