Orange-red light filtered through the broken window above and settled gently on the small group of survivors that had emerged from the rubble. The capsules behind them were littered with the debris of their revival. Empty stimpaks and adrenokits were testament to their rejuvenation. Aidan stole a glance out the ground floor window and saw broken rubble in every direction of the once grandiose office park. He thought about those who did not have the chance to get to a vault or to a capsule in time. He imagined how they would have been vaporized by the blasts and he tried to blot the thought out of his head. All Aidan remembered for certain immediately before the war was a running in a panic down to the storage room at the urging of his sister and climbing headfirst into a capsule. Lights were flickering overhead in the hallways and he could sense that a great cataclysm was occurring somewhere beyond the sleek granite walls of the clinic. Inside the capsule room, emergency iridium generators gave everything the appearance of normalcy for the last time in his life. That was in the year 2077, before the great war. Aidan knew where he was in the world back then; a fact that had not been changed over time. He still knew where he was located at physically in the world and the only question left to be answered now was the question of when.
Amara shouted at all of them to be quiet as she did a headcount and then a roll call. Starting out quickly, her pace grew slower and more measured as she realized just how many of them had been lost to capsule freezer failures and radiation poisoning. Her tone grew somber as she announced that only twenty three of them had made this improbable journey into the future. That was only twenty three shell-shocked survivors versus one hundred and seventeen casualties lost to atomic fire and the ravages of time. They knew the odds had been against them from the start, but it was sobering for them as a group to think of all of their departed loved ones no longer with them. From one hundred and forty souls at the beginning of the war to twenty three now, it was a loss ratio of staggering proportions. Aidan found Keera and leaned against her for physical and emotional support. They hugged each other as Amara read off the names of those who were lost and a gentle moment of remembrance passed between them.
"Do you think mom made it?" It was the only question that truly mattered to Aidan after hearing all of this distressing news.
"I don't know. Minneapolis might as well be on the moon for all we know right now. Look around you, all I see is a lot of rubble. I doubt we'll be able to call her or even find her tracking signal anytime soon. The only thing I can say for sure was that she was an executive with the company, so she had a much better capsule setup than we did. Perhaps that might have saved her. I just don't know."
At that moment, Amara started barking out orders to the survivors. They quickly double-checked all the containers to make sure no one had been left alive in any of the freezer units and then cleared out the rest of the supply room in the capsule chamber. Parts of it were still leaking radiation and had to be sealed off. Keera's PIP unit showed that the rads were not currently at lethal levels, but there was still nothing left to be done in the granite-lined room after the supplies were out of it. Its function had been fulfilled and there was no more use to be had of it. Once the granite doors sealed it shut to the outside world, it had simply become a giant tomb. After that, they all sat huddled in the old office entrance room to the chamber that contained the broken window. It was getting dark and Amara decided that they could risk starting a small fire because there would be enough ventilation to not smoke them out of the enclosed space. That first night was tough on people because no one knew what to expect now. It was as if a creeping fear of the unknown had set in. They might be completely alone now and from what he knew at the moment, it might be a literal truth and it was hard to get used to. No one really wanted to sleep because of the long period of time they had remained unconscious in the cold freezers, but no one wanted to venture out either. Mostly people just crowded together in small groups and talked about their personal situations or tried to cough out the last remnants of freezer burn, a liquid organic coolant that sometime lingered a bit in the lungs for a few days after revival.
The next morning was bright with morning sunshine. The PIPs showed the time to be about 9:00 in the morning when everybody gathered up for a briefing. The five PIP units were synched and working correctly. Amara broke the group up into four squads and Keera got leadership of the fourth one. This meant that their squad was comprised of Keera, Beth, Gabrielle, Aidan and Evan. This particular group composition did not sit well with Beth and she let her opinion be known.
"Amara, we have two young boys attached to our squad… that hardly seems fair. As you know, first squad doesn't have any."
"I know Beth, that's why I'm issuing all three of you power armor and electric crossbows. What you lack for in numbers, you can make up for in raw power."
That mollified Beth for the moment as she was clearly not expecting to get a suit of power armor, much less a powered weapon on top of it. Still, her criticism of them stung and they both exchanged glances with one another. As the only two boys on the squad, they were considered dead weight by the rest of the warrior women. They had not trained for missions with them and were never a part of the glorious NeoGene company team like all of the rest of the women were. They were younger than most everyone else and were only along because their executive mothers wanted to save their sons from certain death as well as their daughters. It had come at a cost; however, for even though they had been saved from a fiery death during the nuclear war, it had been made clear to them throughout the years leading up to the war that all the boys attached to the corporation were to be treated as if they were second-class citizens. Aidan had lived with his father initially, away from that poisonous corporate culture, but when his father went away to prison for being a war protester, his mother had taken Aidan in at her summer home near Lake Michigan while she hopped back and forth to the company headquarters in Minnesota. NeoGene had been a health and beauty empire of the first order. It had made billions of credits by catering to the healthy and wealthy elite of the world and it had been run by an aging matriarch who wanted to see a new world order arise out of the ashes if the unthinkable had ever happened. Now that the unthinkable had been made real, Aidan was literally and figuratively the odd man out.
"What is the plan then Amara?" Keera asked as a tactful way to change the subject. Even though her little brother was often a thorn in her side, she still did not like to see him humiliated.
"Okay, before we trek all the way to Minneapolis without GPS and sensor data, we need to assess the state of the world a bit before proceeding. For that reason, I'm sending out four scouting parties in each direction of the compass to see what is out there. Two days out, two days back. After that, we'll begin the march to HQ. I need detailed notes ladies. For those of you with PIPs, download pictures, geographical information and locations of promising sites. Scavenge what you can and save your rations for as long as possible. If you can't go very far in those two days due to debris or radiation, then don't worry about the data, come back earlier if you must, but we all need to be back here in four days total. Got it?"
There were a few side questions to answer, but those were mainly logistical in nature. Beth and Gabby handed the boys packs of supplies to carry with them and it made Aidan feel like a glorified mule. What was worse was when the rest of the weapons were handed out. There were a total of ten powered weapons and ten kinetic energy weapons that were left undamaged in the supply locker plus two training weapons. With his buddy Evan getting the last good one, a .22 caliber bolt action training rifle, there was nothing left for Aidan. When it finally came down to his turn, Amara looked at him with genuine sympathy in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, all I have left for you is a small lead pipe. I power-drilled a few nails into it to make it a little more fearsome, but it's essentially an old-school medieval mace." The others started to laugh, but a vicious look from both Amara and Keera put an end to that. Aidan tried to be stoic.
"I'll make do. Maybe I can find something in the world out there to help me out."
"If you do, you can keep it, I promise."
Amara ruffled his hair playfully, then turned sharply on her heel and addressed the group. "All of you, saddle up like you're on a buttercup and go to your assigned areas. Good luck and bring me back some good news that some part of our world is still functioning."
Evan looked over in sympathy. "Ouch, no weapon either… now that's harsh."
Aidan shouldered the pack and followed the group out of the NeoGene office building. When they got a few hundred yards clear, Keera turned and addressed the squad.
"Our assignment is to go east towards in the direction of Coopersville and Grand Rapids. I wanted to do a wedge formation, but with Aidan having no weapon to speak of, we'll do a diamond formation instead with myself in front, Gabby on the right, Beth on the left and the boys at rear flank guard. Any questions?"
They all shook their heads no and moved out in formation. The power armor was hot for the women wearing them, but it also provided a power assist in the suit so walking was a bit easier. The boys did not have any armor and they could dress lightly with their capsule suits unbuttoned down the front. As the sun rose, the heat got more and more intense until a break was called just after the noon hour. They rested under some shady pines and looked around frequently while drinking in their changed world with a little bit of water from their ration packs. Great swaths of forest had been cleared by fire, but new forests had also risen back up in their place. All of the insects they had once known so well had mutated to some degree and most had doubled or tripled in size at least. Crickets were as big as a fist now and tree frogs made so much noise they could hurt your ears if you listened to them for too long. At about three o'clock, they reached the outskirts of Coopersville. There existed only a ghost town in that spot where once a thriving community had lived. Keera wanted to make a little more progress during the daylight hours, so the order was given to push on. They passed by the southern part of town and kept on going until they reached Marne near nightfall. There, it was decided by Keera that they would camp for the night and they put out their mini-dome tents in the center of an old abandoned raceway with a good field of fire all the way around.
That night Aidan heard a few strange sounds during his watch, but nothing could be seen as he clutched the borrowed .22 rifle tightly. Once, he thought he saw a masked man peering at him from behind a rusty dumpster, but he blinked once and the man was gone. When he reported it the next morning, everyone laughed at him and made him feel like a fool, everybody except for Evan. He just smiled and offered Aidan a stim-stik. Evan had found a pack in the raceway office that he smoked while no one else was looking. He gave one to Aidan and put his finger in front of his lips. Aidan was only fifteen and feeling all alone in the world, but that gesture meant something to him. He put it in his pocket and nodded a bit of thanks. That next morning in the new world brought another warm day filled with a lot of the Michigan humidity that the area can be known for. The march out of Marne was a little bit slower than the previous day and a bit more conservative on the amount of energy that was expelled. Keera wanted to make the outskirts of Grand Rapids by the end of the day, but the truth was that they were not that far away from it. A few hours into the morning march and their PIP units started to tick off increasing amounts of radiation. At a huge hill near the northernmost part of the city, they stopped and looked down at the valley. None of them could believe their eyes. Where Grand Rapids had once stood proudly with a population of two million people was the remains of a desolate crater about four miles in diameter. Keera gasped and spoke with a catch in her voice.
"Oh no, there's nothing left."
With those five words, the group all stared for a good long time at the emptiness of that spot. After a while, Keera turned around silently and headed back the way they came. The others turned around after their own period of reflection and followed her. For each and every one of them, the reality of their existence had taken on a new meaning. Nothing could ever be the same. On the march back to the raceway for the night, Aidan pulled out the stim-stik Evan had given him and took a long draw off of it.
"Put that away man, they might see it." Evan said forcefully.
"Does anything really matter anymore? Who cares what anyone else thinks."
"C'mon man, you can get me into trouble. Keera might take my stash if she finds I gave you one."
Aidan realized what he was doing and put it back in his pocket.
"Sorry, it's just that I can't help but feel like a speck in the world right now. Everything's been destroyed, our whole way of life is gone and I'm carrying around Beth's nasty underwear in my backpack while everyone laughs at me. If that's not bad enough, both of my parents are gone and probably dead and so my only two emotions right now go straight between being bored silly or scared out of my mind."
"I hear you, I really do." Evan nodded and re-slung his rifle as they marched. "I'm a year younger than you are. I'll bet you didn't know that. You know something else? I'm Gabby's half-brother, not a full one. According to the family rules, she didn't even have to take me into the capsule area at all. She could have left me to sit at home in cloud of vapor. I owe her my life. She had a full brother she left behind. Said she was doing the world a favor because he was a rotten man who hated women and an evil monster of a human being. Do you know what that means man? It means she chose me to live in his place. Think about what a mind-fuck that is."
"Wow. That is seriously messed up. I'm glad you made it though. I really am."
With that, they walked back to the raceway for the night. Keera explained that she wanted to explore Coopersville a bit more during the day so they would be starting off early the next morning. They settled down before dusk and Aidan was asleep before ten. That night, about two in the morning, he awoke to the sound of electric bolts shooting from Beth's crossbow. The plasma bursts were loud and crackly, reverberating through the sultry night air. He heard a few other bursts from a crossbow and a couple of .22 rounds from Evan's rifle as well. By the time he wiped the sleep from his eyes, it was almost over. He spotted a large lumbering shape disappear behind a set of crumpled outbuildings and old racing trikes. The last bolt missed it by only a few inches. What he saw in that brief moment was beyond description. Keera appeared too late on the scene to get a good look at it.
"Ceasefire... ceasefire... Beth, what happened?" Keera was only half into her body armor as she marched up to where Beth stood.
"Over there." Beth pointed to a large pile of fur where two of the largest raccoons Aidan had ever seen lay split open like they had exploded from the inside out.
"Raccoons? All this commotion and gunfire over a couple of… "
"Those are just the babies Keera, " Gabby explained, "I saw the daddy boar of those things coming right for Beth and it was at least twice the size of a black bear or maybe even bigger than that. There can be no doubt that the monster we shot at is what Evan saw looking at him during his watch last night, a monstrous boar raccoon with his dark face mask peering over the trash dumpster. If it would have gotten hold of him, it would have ripped him limb from limb the way we open a Christmas present by tearing off the wrapping paper. I'm not sure even our power armor would hold it off for very long."
Keera just shook her head as if in disbelief and went over to take some PIP unit pictures of the babies for her report. She stood by for a moment while everyone gathered up their thoughts.
"Okay, let's double the watch until morning in case this thing comes back. I'll go throw some glow sticks on the perimeter to help lighten up the area."
For Aidan and virtually the entire party of reluctant explorers, it was no use trying to get back to sleep after that particular incident. Since it was obvious that everyone was anxious to leave, Keera gave the order to pack up at first light so that they could make the outskirts of Coopersville by noon. The march was quick-paced and everyone seemed glad to put the racetrack behind them. Once they were clear, Aidan and Evan started talking again, as if a veil of silence had been lifted from their spirits. Getting into the quiet city of Coopersville was a little unnerving because of the desolation. The air was still and heavy, with sound dampened by the closeness of the buildings. As they picked their way through the town, Gabby pointed out an old steam locomotive sitting at the center of the town, permanently enshrined by weed choked tracks and decoupled train cars. It must have been a sight to see in its day. Keera authorized a couple of scavenger hunts in some of the better-weathered houses and buildings. A lot of them had been picked over, but in one old ranch style house, Aidan found something worth all of his trouble. The basement of one house looked like it had recently collapsed from a storm and it revealed an old gun locker attached to the wall. Evan and Aidan had no luck prying it with tools until Beth came by and blasted off the lock with a plasma bolt. When the safe finally opened, it revealed an old 12 gauge double-barreled shotgun with an intact box of shells.
Aidan loaded the shotgun and slung it over his shoulder. He hung the mace from his belt and finally felt as if he had a real weapon in his grasp. Evan acted a bit jealous now that he had become the lightest armed person on the squad, but he also seemed relieved to have another fighter by his side. There appeared to be a lot of other houses available for looting, but in a couple of hours, Keera gave word for them to move out. She spread them out in a wedge formation now that Aidan was properly armed and they marched back to the office park in silent contemplation of their fifth day out in the world. Arriving back at the park was a relief for them all and the entire squad collapsed in a heap while Keera went to find Amara and make her report. Keera came back in an hour and joined them in their lounging as Aidan tore apart his new prize and cleaned it. Keera glanced over at him with a look of worry on her face, a look that he did not see. She found a comfortable spot on a broken office chair and propped her feet up. After a few moments, she told them the news that second squad had not made it back yet.
"What was their direction?" Beth asked.
"They went north towards Muskegon. They should be back at any moment." Keera tried to be reassuring.
"Were there any problems with the other patrols?" Gabrielle asked.
"Nothing so far, no one else had encountered any problems except for third squad when they found a hive of two foot long honey bees near some abandoned apple orchards. Jill got stung, but thankfully she's not allergic. First squad made it to the lake, but there was a lot of rubble, so it was slow going."
The day pressed on slowly and tension started to rise throughout the group as second squad failed to return to camp. At around two o'clock, Amara came out of the building with the news they had all been expecting.
"Saddle up people. It's time to go find our overdue members."
With that, the group formed up and started a steady march north with first squad leading the way. Amara shouted commands and they moved as one unit, spread out in a sort of column formation that lined both sides of the massively overgrown highway. As they walked forward with military precision, Aidan slipped a couple of shells into the now cleaned shotgun and snapped the barrels shut with a loud thumping sound. Everyone in the squad turned around and looked at Aidan. He just smiled and stared back at them with an unreadable expression on his face. Before this moment, he knew that he would have been the butt of some humiliating joke or on the receiving end of someone's laughter. This time, when he stared back at them, it was if he had passed some kind of unseen adult threshold where his youth had been supplanted by maturity and some form of growing subliminal power. This time had been different than all the times that had preceded it, for this time, no one in the squad even cracked a smile. Aidan felt ready to take on the world, but as he tried to remind himself, the world now was very different than the one he had grown up in. Very different indeed.