The Florida Wastes
Nick sat in the back of the ruined car, reading a
novel he had salvaged from the wreckage. Every once in a
while, whenever there was a sound, like the snapping of
twigs, his hand moved to the grip of his .223 pistol. Say
what you like about him, the fat kid was a survivor, and so
were his friends. They were part of a new generation,
children of the wastes that had never lived in vaults. All
he and his pals knew was the wastes, and they liked that
just fine. Nick didn't even look up as the car door opened
and the pimply face of one of his friends appeared.
"Hello Trevor. Good day in the wastes?" Nick said to
his friend, without even looking up
"Pretty good day, Laurence nearly got eaten by a
scorp. Dylan and I saved him."
"Again?" Nick moaned. Laurence was getting injured
more and more these days. "I swear, does that bastard even
use the fucking gun we gave him?"
"Yeah, he just has terrible aim" Trevor replied.
"then why bother to give him ammo?"
The group of boys gathered around the fire, eating
soup made from radscorpion meat and little green things
that they only hoped were herbs. Nick's watch had been
uneventful, as had their foray into the wastes. After
dinner, they moved closer to the fire to warm themselves,
and talk of important things
"We're running out of ammo" Laurence said
apprehensively. The other boys nodded, this fact was
becoming more and more apparent since Ben had fallen in
love with Burst Fire Weapons. The fact of the matter was,
however, that if they were attacked again they could not
defend themselves. Dylan raised the topic of trying to find
other settlements, but that sentiment was quickly put down
"Other settlements? Bullshit. " Trevor said, drinking
from a bottle of the flat, salty beer that he had brewed.
"The Nukes took out most of the US, We're only here because
our parents got into a vault, and how much good did that do
them? When it came down to it, Vault dwellers just aren't
fit for wasteland survival, we're only here 'cause our
parents had guns."
"The Vaults had guns!" Ben protested
"We're talking about guns here Ben, not toys" Nick
chuckled. "But if you like you can take some water and try
to find civilization, and die in the wastes. Our parents
trekked long and hard to get to the coast, to this land
which isn't completely ruined. I don't know about the rest
of you, but I'm not willing to give that up so easily."
"I know, I know." Ben conceded "I just wish that
things would change, you know?"
"We all do Ben" Dylan said, speaking up for the first
time during the meeting "We're running out of ammo and food
is scarce, and we wish that magically all our problems
would just go away, but they wont."
"Aint it the truth" the other boys said in unison, and
toasted with the salty, flat beer.
Squire Willkam walked alongside his friend, Squire
Magden. This dumbass scouting mission was taking longer
that anticipated. Willkam sighed, too much time away from
home.
"God, why does this little chickenshit group of kids
merit a inquiry?" He bitched out loud
"Because the ruins they have settled in are
significant, almost as significant as The Glow" the younger
man, Willkam's superior, said dutifully, although the long
days were beginning to wear on him too. The daily grind of
killing and investigating was beginning to grind at their
sanity. Magden wasn't in it for combat, he was training to
become a Scribe, or a tech, but the Brotherhood needed
soldiers. At nightfall, they reached the ruined city of
Inspiration, Florida.
Dylan walked through the Ruins of the city. Nick said
that in the beforetime it was called "Inspiration".
Apparently some private corporation had set it up to try to
completely eclipse the government. Nick had said that this
town was the first of many pre-packaged towns, and that
their architecture and values were similar to those of the
beforetime 'Fifties" according to Nick, this was when
culture had really started to break down (Nick had said "At
least the government's towns had some farce of democracy")
, but Nick was always saying things like that. It kind of
got on Dylan's nerves
"AUGH!" Laurence's scream ripped through the ruins.
Then again, thought Dylan, at least Nick can handle a gun.
"Now look" Magden said levelly "You are our prisoner,
we outnumber you 2 to 1. Cant you at least concede enough
to tell us who you are?"
"No" Laurence said, trying to look unafraid. Repeating
in his head that he shouldn't be here, he should be doing
what he was good at: making music. Then his thoughts ran
along the line of "ohshitohshitoshitI'mgonnadie!". However,
at that moment a voice sounded from behind the armored
figures
"Don't you mean that WE outnumber you 3 to 2?"
Magden started to turn, but he felt the cold pressure of a
handgun pressing into his neck. A quick look in Willkam's
direction showed that he was likewise occupied.
"We could take you" Willkam said "We can take you and
then you'll be dead. And then we will both be fucked."
"You take me?" the voice laughed "My pals and I have
lived in the wastes all our lives. Even Nick could take a
scorp in melee. What makes you think that you, after
dropping your guns like you are about to, can take us?"
"Well for one thing" Linden said with an evil grin,
and he grabbed the arm of his attacker from behind and
slammed him down on the ground. However, something he
didn't anticipate happened: his opponent grabbed his arm
and brought him down with him.
Laurence sprinted across the wastes, back towards
camp. Trevor and Nick were fighting with the soldiers, that
was their worry. Laurence wasn't a cruel or evil person, he
just thought that he should get a gun or some backup before
wading into battle. He ran back to camp and saw Ben
fiddling with some beforetime tech from the houses. This
place had been Hi-Tech once.
"quick… Guys… Fighting… Nick and trevor… lasers…" he
managed to get out before collapsing.
End Chapter 1
Nick sat in the back of the ruined car, reading a
novel he had salvaged from the wreckage. Every once in a
while, whenever there was a sound, like the snapping of
twigs, his hand moved to the grip of his .223 pistol. Say
what you like about him, the fat kid was a survivor, and so
were his friends. They were part of a new generation,
children of the wastes that had never lived in vaults. All
he and his pals knew was the wastes, and they liked that
just fine. Nick didn't even look up as the car door opened
and the pimply face of one of his friends appeared.
"Hello Trevor. Good day in the wastes?" Nick said to
his friend, without even looking up
"Pretty good day, Laurence nearly got eaten by a
scorp. Dylan and I saved him."
"Again?" Nick moaned. Laurence was getting injured
more and more these days. "I swear, does that bastard even
use the fucking gun we gave him?"
"Yeah, he just has terrible aim" Trevor replied.
"then why bother to give him ammo?"
The group of boys gathered around the fire, eating
soup made from radscorpion meat and little green things
that they only hoped were herbs. Nick's watch had been
uneventful, as had their foray into the wastes. After
dinner, they moved closer to the fire to warm themselves,
and talk of important things
"We're running out of ammo" Laurence said
apprehensively. The other boys nodded, this fact was
becoming more and more apparent since Ben had fallen in
love with Burst Fire Weapons. The fact of the matter was,
however, that if they were attacked again they could not
defend themselves. Dylan raised the topic of trying to find
other settlements, but that sentiment was quickly put down
"Other settlements? Bullshit. " Trevor said, drinking
from a bottle of the flat, salty beer that he had brewed.
"The Nukes took out most of the US, We're only here because
our parents got into a vault, and how much good did that do
them? When it came down to it, Vault dwellers just aren't
fit for wasteland survival, we're only here 'cause our
parents had guns."
"The Vaults had guns!" Ben protested
"We're talking about guns here Ben, not toys" Nick
chuckled. "But if you like you can take some water and try
to find civilization, and die in the wastes. Our parents
trekked long and hard to get to the coast, to this land
which isn't completely ruined. I don't know about the rest
of you, but I'm not willing to give that up so easily."
"I know, I know." Ben conceded "I just wish that
things would change, you know?"
"We all do Ben" Dylan said, speaking up for the first
time during the meeting "We're running out of ammo and food
is scarce, and we wish that magically all our problems
would just go away, but they wont."
"Aint it the truth" the other boys said in unison, and
toasted with the salty, flat beer.
Squire Willkam walked alongside his friend, Squire
Magden. This dumbass scouting mission was taking longer
that anticipated. Willkam sighed, too much time away from
home.
"God, why does this little chickenshit group of kids
merit a inquiry?" He bitched out loud
"Because the ruins they have settled in are
significant, almost as significant as The Glow" the younger
man, Willkam's superior, said dutifully, although the long
days were beginning to wear on him too. The daily grind of
killing and investigating was beginning to grind at their
sanity. Magden wasn't in it for combat, he was training to
become a Scribe, or a tech, but the Brotherhood needed
soldiers. At nightfall, they reached the ruined city of
Inspiration, Florida.
Dylan walked through the Ruins of the city. Nick said
that in the beforetime it was called "Inspiration".
Apparently some private corporation had set it up to try to
completely eclipse the government. Nick had said that this
town was the first of many pre-packaged towns, and that
their architecture and values were similar to those of the
beforetime 'Fifties" according to Nick, this was when
culture had really started to break down (Nick had said "At
least the government's towns had some farce of democracy")
, but Nick was always saying things like that. It kind of
got on Dylan's nerves
"AUGH!" Laurence's scream ripped through the ruins.
Then again, thought Dylan, at least Nick can handle a gun.
"Now look" Magden said levelly "You are our prisoner,
we outnumber you 2 to 1. Cant you at least concede enough
to tell us who you are?"
"No" Laurence said, trying to look unafraid. Repeating
in his head that he shouldn't be here, he should be doing
what he was good at: making music. Then his thoughts ran
along the line of "ohshitohshitoshitI'mgonnadie!". However,
at that moment a voice sounded from behind the armored
figures
"Don't you mean that WE outnumber you 3 to 2?"
Magden started to turn, but he felt the cold pressure of a
handgun pressing into his neck. A quick look in Willkam's
direction showed that he was likewise occupied.
"We could take you" Willkam said "We can take you and
then you'll be dead. And then we will both be fucked."
"You take me?" the voice laughed "My pals and I have
lived in the wastes all our lives. Even Nick could take a
scorp in melee. What makes you think that you, after
dropping your guns like you are about to, can take us?"
"Well for one thing" Linden said with an evil grin,
and he grabbed the arm of his attacker from behind and
slammed him down on the ground. However, something he
didn't anticipate happened: his opponent grabbed his arm
and brought him down with him.
Laurence sprinted across the wastes, back towards
camp. Trevor and Nick were fighting with the soldiers, that
was their worry. Laurence wasn't a cruel or evil person, he
just thought that he should get a gun or some backup before
wading into battle. He ran back to camp and saw Ben
fiddling with some beforetime tech from the houses. This
place had been Hi-Tech once.
"quick… Guys… Fighting… Nick and trevor… lasers…" he
managed to get out before collapsing.
End Chapter 1