When it all ends

Chapter 1

Phillip looked around the abandoned town, searching for any evidence of food. He was starving, his unit hasn't gotten fresh supplies in weeks. To make matters worse, his unit ran out of soap, so he smelled awful. He knew it was no use but he desperately searched for something to eat, anything at all!

He came across an old gas station that was near the heart of this ghost town. By the looks of it, it was abandoned right after the great mistake, and was never returned to. Phillip then started to savage things that might be useful for his unit. The food was as old as the great mistake itself, so no one would be eating that, but he found useful things. Knives, matches, money, he even took a box with "hostess" written on it. One of the boys in his unit had said that the food made by hostess wouldn't go bad after an eternity. Then Phillip saw something... Strange.

"Nail... Polish?" He said nervously to himself. He had never heard of it, therefore he doubted it would be any use. Although, it caught his curiosity. So, he took it. After that, he headed back to his unit.

"Hey Philly! What did ya get from the ghost town?" It was one of Phillip's best friends, Charlie. "Just some supplies, and this weird thing." He said, picking up the nail polish and showing Charlie. His friend stood there for a moment, silent. Like Phillip, he didn't know what it was, and what it was used for. "Can you eat it?" Charlie asked. "I don't know to tell you the truth." Phillip set the bottle down on the table and started putting away the supplies.

"I hear unit 345 just ran out of food." Phillip knew that voice, it was his commander. Not only that, but he was the unit commander. His job was to keep everyone from fighting and dying. To keep everyone in his place. "Please tell me you got some food, Philly," he said. "Or we're next."

"I got hostess," Phillip said. "Does that count?" The commander looked at the box of sugary treats. "Hmm... Are they still good?" Phillip examined the box, "They should be, but I'd have someone test it before we eat any of it, just to be safe." "I'll run it down to testing right now!" Charlie said, grabbing the box and immediately sprinting toward the testing hall. Now Phillip and the commander were alone. "Sir," Phillip started to ask, "I was wondering if you could, tell me what this is?" He handed him the nail polish bottle. "Oh my!" He said with excitement. "This is what females use to decorate their nails! Do you know what this means Philly?" Phillip was now utterly confused. "Um... No?" "We could trade this in for fresh supplies!" His commander exclaimed. "They stopped production of such a product after the great mistake, and I hear females love this!"

"About the great mistake, what exactly was it? What was life like before it?" Phillip asked "You will learn about it when you are 18." The commander said in reply. "That's when I learned about it." Phillip would be 18 in 4 months, and he couldn't wait to find out what happened all those years ago...