The Garden of Eden

The beginning of the end

"Wake up dear Adam, the sun is out." The voice, it sounded like it came from an intercom, it was so loud. It pierced Adam's ears who woke up immediately. He sat up straight. He was on the foor. Why was he there? Who was the voice? "Ah, you are awake. Good. Get up." Adam stood up and looked around. He was in an old warehouse. The windows were barred, the furniture and other products were covered by plastic. "You are in the middle of Amsterdam. Europe's capital of violence. Why? Ask around. Get to know the local gangs, their leaders. Choose who to help. Or help none. The fate of this city is in your hands. You can tip the scales. Like you did before. There is a gun in the crate in front of you. Take it. And set out." Adam wondered what he meant with 'like you did before' but he didn't dwell on it too long. He walked to one of the barred up windows and ripped aside the wood. He was on the top floor of the building and had a great view of the rest of the city. But it wasn't at all great. Buildings were crumbling, burning, collapsing. It was a ruïn of the great city it once was. But what was he doing here? The army thought him to not freak out in these situations but he didn't understand it one bit. Last he remembered he was falling asleep next to his wife, Evelyn. He decided that he couldn't stay in the building forever. He took the gun from the crate, a standard 9mm pistol, and made his way down the building. On his way down he passed a mirror and took some time to look at himself. His blonde hair was showing small streaks of grey even though he was only 28 years old, he was wearing a protective leather coat of which he had no idea from where it came. A scar he hadn't seen before decorated his face running from his forehead down over his right eye. But furthermore his face was just as handsome as always.

Adam noticed something on his coat, a symbol sown to the shoulder. But instead of showing a rank it showed 2 angel wings. He didn't give it too much thought and continued his way down the building. He looked around every room he passed, but found nothing useful. He wondered how he got here, how he had left the safety of his mansion without him noticing. But this almost seemed a different time. The Amsterdam he saw from the window was nothing like the Amsterdam he had been to before. He left the building and walked on to the street. It was abandoned but he could hear gunshots in the distance. He decided to follow the sound. See where it came from. He followed the street east. While walking he noticed that almost all buildings were broken, as if the city had been retaken by nature. The gunshots started sounding closer, and louder. He wondered who were shooting. Military? Terrorists? Gangs? He wanted to find out. The gunshots started getting closer and closer as he approached the Royal Palace which was now nothing but a ruïn. Men in metal suits of armour were shooting at men in leather gang jackets from the second floor of the old palace. The men in metal armour were using assault rifles and the gang members used hand guns. When he got closer to the palace he spotted something on on of the armour suits. A military sign. 3 stars. A Dutch military Captain. "John! Rechts van je!" Another soldier shouted. The Captain, probably called John, looked in Adam's direction and spotted him. He immediately started firing. Unfortunately, that also caught the attention of the gang members. Adam took cover behind a concrete block on the side of the street. He took out his pistol and started taking down the approaching gang members. During his army training he was the best marksman of the group, that certainly came in handy now. Adam wondered if it would be this way every time he ran into people. Violence and distrust. A bullet fired by the captain just missed his head. The gang members were dead, they had shouted in Russian, one of them had a tattoo on his chest. A star. With dots between the tips. A Bratva captain. "Hold your fire!" Adam shouted from behind his cover. "I am Adam. United States Military, Scientific Department 7, badge number Alpha Alpha four five nine!" "Wat zegt hij kapitein?" He heard a soldier ask. "Een Amerikaan. Soldaat, dat zegt hij tenminste." The captain responded. Adam had no idea whether they believed him, or if they were going to shoot him. "Alright! Drop your gun and step into the open with your hands up." John shouted. Adam followed the captains orders and soon a group of 4 soldiers followed by John approached him on the street. They all had their gun aimed at his chest. "You, who are you?" John asked. "Professor Adam." He answered. "What kind of professor?" John asked. "Nuclear energy." "That's bullshit. We haven't used nuclear energy in 500 years." A man behind John said. "Kapitein. Kijk naar zijn jas. Dat logo. Hij is een Engel. Een zoon van Eden." Said a soldier next to John. "Onzin, engelen bestaan niet Mike." John reacted. Adam felt a little insulted. He had no idea what they were saying. But they didn't seem to mind. "Vraag hem wanneer hij geboren is. Alstublieft." The man who Adam though was Mike said. "You, when were you born?" John asked. "1987, 4th of August." Adam said. "Kijk! Hoe anders-" "Oke dan!" John interrupted Mike. "We nemen hem mee naar de basis. Adam, follow me." The men walked down the street and took a left turn. There a camouflaged jeep was waiting for them. Mike stepped behind the wheel and John sat next to him. Adam was forced to sit between the other 2 soldiers in the back. "My name is Captain John Koopman." John said. "Where are we going?" "The Dutch main airport. Schiphol. After the nuclear meltdown the military rebuilt it into a fortress. It is now the biggest military power in Europe." The jeep started driving and not to long after we approached the airport. The walls were fortified. Electric fences were built around the runways. Guard towers and mines defended the area. You would be mad to attack this. "Welcome to Fort Falcon, Professor Adam."