2021

Prologue - Fallout

"2020 was bad. Global pandemic, forest fires, and riots... Everyone thought that 2021 would be better, that it'd solve everything. Turns out, some third-world country decided to say 'F*ck it.' So, how's your day going?"

3 Months Earlier...

"Mom!" I was yelling. 'Where am I?' I couldn't remember. All I could see was orange as the dust storm raged on. It was hard to walk, and harder to breathe. I needed to find my mother, fast.

"Mom! Where are you?!" No response. "This is bad, really bad. God, please tell me she's alive..." I thought.

I tried to push forward through the raging clouds, my eyes basically shut. The dust was getting in my eyes, and the wind pushed me back through the storm.

"Raymond!" I heard a voice say. It was quiet, and distant, but it was there, and that was my name. I tried to follow the voice, but the wind was still pushing me back, and I couldn't hold my standing. "Raymond!" It kept calling to me. I wanted to go to it, but my feet were still being pushed back, I felt helpless in the moment. Tears were shed and the voice got farther and farther away. I tried calling for her, but my voice was silenced by the winds. "Raymond!" I heard it one last time.

"Raymond Joseph Naulder!"

"I'm awake!" I jolted up from my desk and made eye contact with my maths teacher.

"Sleeping in class again, eh? This is the 2nd time this week!" He was giving that look. The "I'm not mad, just disappointed" look that every teacher gives you at some point.

"Sorry sir, it won't happen again." I picked my pencil back up and hastily began copying from the whiteboard.

"It better not, or I'll have to give your mother a call." He briefly warned before he went back to discussing the topic at hand. As I kept copying down notes, I mentally wrote off my little daydream as nothing but that. A daydream. The 'End-of-Day' bell rang, I grabbed my bag, and right before I walked out of the room, my teacher called me over.

"Naulder, could you come here for a second? I'd like to speak to you."

I groaned. Mentally, of course. If I even showed a sign of groaning out loud, I'd be in for an even longer lecture, and all I wanted to do at this point was go home.

"Yes, sir." I walked over to his desk.

"Is everything alright at home? You don't seem to be getting enough sleep."

'And who's fault is that?' I thought. He gives me so much homework every night, so I'm usually up until 2AM trying to do it.

"Yes, I'm... fine. Just a little tired is all." I didn't lie, but I didn't tell him why, I wasn't about to get a lecture about why homework is important.

"Please try and get more sleep. This is important for your future, you know."

I nodded, and gave the occasional 'Yes, sir.' I just told him what he wanted to hear so that I could leave as soon as possible.

"Alright. Have a good day, Naulder."

"Goodbye, sir." I left the room and walked to the Metro Station. Luckily, since COVID hit, it's been free to use, so I could just hop on. I got in the train, and sat down, waiting for my stop.

About thirty minutes passed, and I arrived. I got up, and left the station. My home was a short walk from it, so I started walking so I could get home as soon as possible. The Station had the usual scene: crackheads, homeless people, and kids trying to get home. I see this almost every single day. Tip: Don't look the crackheads in the eye.