Frank looked at Mount Vernon. Sarah had just suggested they walk up and ask to come in. Frank was unsure if it was the best idea but since he didn't have a better one, he slowly drove towards the city. About half way there two soldiers came into view. One had his hand up signalling for Frank to stop the van. He followed the instructions. Then the two soldiers walked up to the van. One had turned on a flashlight and aimed at Frank's face. Frank rolled down his window as one of the soldiers said, "What is your purpose here"? Frank said, "We need help. We heard the military was based here". The soldier said, "I'm sorry sir, we don't have the capacity or resources to spare. I'm gonna need you to turn around and head back to wherever you came from". Before Frank could say anything, Sarah leaned over to the window and said, "Please. We have wounded". The soldier looked at her and saw the cut under her eye. The entire area under her eye had turned black. Her eye was still blood shot. The soldier saw someone behind Frank. It was Gavin. However, all he saw of Gavin was his stitched up swollen back. The soldier said, "How many are you"? "Five". "Ok, please give me a moment". The soldier walked away and radioed someone. The other soldier continued to aim the flashlight at Frank. Shortly after, the soldier returned and said, "How many healthy people do you have". Frank said, "Two" then he looked at Sarah and said, "Other than her eye she's still healthy". The soldier said, "Well we can cut a deal here. If you three pull your weight and help us, we'll let you stay here. We'll even provide medical attention to your people. However, that also means all of 'your stuff' is no longer yours, its the community's. Everyone who enters has to do it. Everyone provides for the community. That includes weapons, food, ammo, and this van. Anything non essential you may keep. If at any point you feel like leaving for good you'll receive a reasonable amount of supplies to help you and if you provided a vehicle, which you did, you would get one as well. If at any point you endanger the group or unnecessary endanger people while out on a mission you'll be exiled with nothing provided but a pistol. After hearing this do you wish to enter"? Frank looked at Sarah and then said yes. The soldier said, "Fantastic. I'll just need you all to exit the vehicle and my partner will take it to the city to store it". Frank was uneasy and said, "Why can't I drive it"? The soldier said, "Well like I said nothing is yours now. It's the community's. This is just so we can start trusting each other that if we take the van, you'll be given food, shelter and medicine. Also, we need to drive it just to see if it needs any repairs done to make sure that when we use it, it won't break". Frank said, "So we're gonna walk the rest of the way"? The soldier nodded his head. Frank pointed at Gavin and said, "Well we have a person who can't really walk right now". The soldier said, "That's fine, he can stay in the vehicle. We'll send him to our doctor as soon as the vehicle makes it to the city".
By now Xavier climbed up towards the front and whispered, "I don't like the idea of leaving Gavin alone". Frank said to the soldier, "Is there anyway you could let one of us ride with him"? The soldier said, "Unfortunately, no. Our walk is more than just exercise, I'll be telling you a bit more about us and what it is you might be doing". Frank looked at Xavier who looked uneasy. Frank said, "Alright were getting out". As he rolled up the window, the soldier walked back to his partner and they began to talk. Frank said, "Ok everyone, you heard him say that they're taking our stuff. I don't know how much I trust him so I'd suggest keeping a knife or pistol on you once we get out". Everyone hid a knife or gun on them and then got out. As they walked to the soldiers, the one who didn't talk got into the van and drove it back to the city.
The soldier started off by saying, "So firstly, let me say welcome to Mount Vernon, the last city on Earth". As he started talking, they began to walk. He continued, "Before I discuss what you all will be doing, let me start off by telling you what our mission is. It's a three phase operation. The first phase was to secure Mount Vernon. The military was told mere hours before the outbreak happened to capture and secure Mount Vernon. We were told to kill any hostiles and fortify the city. That took us about a week. Luckily the government was, to some extent, prepared for this as they provided supplies and materials, left behind in Mount Vernon before the outbreak happened. Once we secured Mount Vernon, we moved to phase two, which was locate and retrieve all civilians from the local vaults. This is the phase were still working on. We managed to make it to all the vaults north and west of here. We're still locating some in east. However, the ones were having the most difficulty with are the ones in Seattle. It's too crowded and too many hostiles in large amounts. It's difficult for us to fall back and regroup in the city". Sarah asked, "How many are there in the city"? The soldier said, "We have located fifteen of the sixteen within the city". Xavier said, "And how many did you attempt to reach"? The soldier said, "Five. We did manage to get to one. There were many casualties but we did get them back to base. Anyway, the other reason why were having troubles with phase two is because other things have being coming to our attention. Hostiles have been attacking in bigger groups. We've had to constantly go on supply runs to keep the walls from falling. The second problem are the people to the west of us. They've been preventing us from scouting and expanding". Xavier said, "How so"? The soldier said, "We've been trying to expand the city to make room for more people from the vaults but they keep tearing down the walls and killing our people. So those two things are our biggest reasons why phase two is taking so long". Sarah asked, "And what's phase three"? The soldier said, "I don't have high enough clearance to know what it is. All I know is they'll either debrief me just before we begin phase three or I'll follow my orders and I'll see that phase three already happened". There was a moment of silence for everyone to soak in the information they just heard. Then the soldier said, "Now as for you guys, everyone has a job that falls under three categories : Medical and food, repairs, or collectors. Judging by the look of you all. None of you will be in repairs". As he talked, they were now at the entrance to the city. The whole city was surrounded by a huge wall made out of any material they could put on it. At the entrance were two guards. Once they walked past them and entered the city, it looked as though the world didn't end. Each house was lit by electricity, people rode down the street on bikes, no blood or debris in sight. It was also unreal. However, Xavier wanted to know if Gavin was ok so he found the medical center to search for him, Sarah followed to get her eye checked on.
The soldier then guided the rest to the houses that would be provided to them. All together they had to share two houses. Frank and Kyle would share and Sarah and Xavier would share. The soldier then said, "Now that you're here, I'll let you all be so you can get to know the place better".
Meanwhile, Xavier looked at the wounded patients, trying to find Gavin. Finally, he had found him, however there were several soldiers by him. Xavier walked up to Gavin. The soldiers noticed Xavier and one said, "Your friend here was in the military"? Xavier nodded his head. The soldier said, "I'll see to it that he gets the best of care". Xavier felt a bit more relieved as he finally left Gavin to be examined. However, before he left, he saw Sarah crying as the doctor told her she has to lose her eye.
As he walked down the street, he saw things he'd thought he'd never see again. Bowling allies, restaurants, a market, and even a daycare center.
Xavier looked through the window of the daycare and saw small children running around and playing with toys. Then he heard a voice say, "It's adorable to see them at the most innocent moments". He turned around quickly as he was startled. There stood a woman who quickly apologized. Xavier said, "So you like kids"? She responded, "Yeah I do, that's why I run this daycare. That and it's very convenient that I can watch my baby and work at the same time". Xavier said, "How old is it"? She said, "He's only two weeks old". They both sat down on a nearby bench. Xavier said, "Where's the father"? She sighed and said, "I don't know. We were separated when all of this started. He could be dead. He also could still be out there looking for me". Xavier said, "That's sad. I understand what it's like. I had someone in my group who had no idea if their significant other was safe. Now I don't even know if he's alive". They sat there for a minute before she said, "Well let's not be negative. I still don't even know your name yet". Xavier told her his name and he shook her hand and said, "And your name is"? She replied, "Grace. My name is Grace".
YOU ARE READING
In The End
Short Story"As he drove, he looked around and saw many sick people eating their comrades. Ronny was in pure terror. He even saw a newly wed, both dead, being eaten by, what seemed like a guest of the party. Ronny began to hyperventilate. He looked out to the f...
