No Man's Land

Prologue

Our world was once beautiful. Full of color and life. But that was before the wars. Yeah, as in multiple wars. Those World Wars back in the twentieth century had nothing on this one. Everyone basically chose a side, but during this one, there were no sides except for your own. People called it the Great War. It started in Antarctica. In a matter of minutes, an entire continent was nearly wiped off the map, and no one knew why. At first, people were surprised, but not for long. After all, Antarctica had a population of about 15 people a year. Then, Eastern Europe vanished. Millions of people just gone. Poland, Ukraine, nearly all of Sweden. Fingers were pointed and blame was placed on innocent shoulders. Not long after that, Africa, the Philippines, South America, and Southern Asia. Australia doesn't even exist anymore. Nothing more than an open expanse of water for thousands of miles. Those destroyed areas became known as dead zones. They are black craters, charred and uninhabitable. For some reason, North America remained mostly untouched, especially Canada, and for that reason, we were hated.

Nobody actually retaliated though. They didn't want to destroy the only refuge left on Earth, but it didn't matter. When refugees flooded in from other nations, all hell broke loose. People stole and murdered for meager supplies and rations. Then people started getting sick. I heard it was a combination from the poor living conditions and radiation from the bombs that super charged some virus. It causes insomnia and anemia, turning people basically into walking zombies. People started calling them mutants, since the virus literally changes DNA. My dad and I, we fled, laid low while chaos reigned, and only emerged under the cover of darkness. I never thought I would have to hold a gun, much less use it, but I did. Nearly every day. I've been on my own for a while now. My family is gone and I am all that's left. Will I survive? I guess only time will tell.