Welcome! This is the first chapter of my story (no kidding, Einstein!) It's kind of a branch off of Metro 2033 and is my own take on what life would be like in the USA for survivors. If you're interested in being a Beta reader, please let me know. Any help is welcome! Constructive criticism is also welcome!

I only do this as a hobby with my mediocre writing skills, so help from better writers is nice. ;)

My name is Kolyat. Please don't ask about the name, because I won't tell you, no matter how much you beg and plead. Let's just say it was a gift from an over-the-top grandmother who loved unusual names. With a name like Irica, it's not hard to see why.

Debra has asked to me to record what we see and hear while trying to survive in this land. This is because Debra herself has very poor writing skills (or so she tells me) and apparently my handwriting is neat. I really think it is because Debra is too busy leading the group to bother writing about every little thing we do but whatever.

I am 23 years old and have been living on Dead Earth since the day I was born. There are still more human settlements here than in space but that's only because the rich were able to escape and the rest of us couldn't afford it.

The government does not care about us. It has left us here to rot. Us and the mutants that stalk this planet.

Let me explain a little more.

As everyone expected, the earth was ravaged during a nuclear war, only this time it was America versus the rest of the world. See, America had grown to become a 'super-nation' and was muscling in on other countries turf. This didn't go down so well, so everybody declared war on the good old You-Ess of Ay.

Unfortunantly for the rest of the world, America wasn't called a 'super-nation' for nothing. They won and pushed the rest of the world to the brink.

So the earth was mostly ruined, humanity done for and the rich decided to blast off into space to avoid the fighting. I have heard that things are just as bad up there but I don't believe.

Living on Dead Earth is truly like living in Hell.

Kolyat