okay if you're new here let me just say this chapter is rubbish, its hard to do a good introduction chapter but keep reading and the others are much better, well in my opinion anyway.

just get to the next chapter and we'll be fine, kay?

Adam sighed as he trudged through the streets, everywhere you looked there was boarded up windows, steel doors and shops which had 'sold out' signs in the window, he knew exactly why this was

War

Some country had there horrid big nuclear war heads pointed straight at Britain, in the major areas, so far not a shot had been fired but the threat lingered all around.

Adam was just walking out of the school, his friends all lived scattered around town so they spit up into different directions each.

Maltby wasn't close to a major area, it wasn't close to anything, it was just a little town in the fields, but everyday the arguments between nations grew and the finger got nearer the button, the button that could turn all this into an ashen barren land, and as for the people...

he shuddered

he was out trying to find a shop that had at bit of food, it was all fallout this, fallout that, fallout of the window trying to nail on boards,

Fallout pun, ha-ha, he said sarcastically

each way he looked there was a big sign saying sold out and people doing the same as himself, everyone thought Maltby might take a 'small' bomb, it having a coal mine, but Adam thought this to be rubbish.

'Surly', Adam thought, 'Tesco would still have some food', even that Tesco brand tapioca rice pudding he couldn't stand, hell he would eat anything in fallout,

except pot noodle.

News of the war had spread far and wide, and it showed on TV, none of the cartoons he loved watching were on, every channel, even nickelodeon had done an anti war campaign and several war instruction shows.

They were animated but only in cheap flash effects, Adam couldn't stand cheap flash animation on major shows, he considered it tacky

His parents told him he shouldn't really watch cartoons, Adam told them seeing as he was on an animation course that was a bit unlikely.

his course was iffy at best, most of the time they just had to write about animation rather than actually do any much to his detriment, he hated written work and it was not what he had expected when he took that course at all.

he had realized long ago that as you get older things around you get harder, things you used to enjoy started to get cut off from you, either lack of interest or people saying you couldn't do that anymore.

in he case it was often the latter

and the one thing people seemed to say it most about was cartoons.

Adam loved Warner brothers animation, tiny toons and Animaniacs were his favorite, but unfortunatly due to there age they were very rarely shown on TV anymore except at stupid times like 5 o clock in the morning, and Adam hadnt seen a 5am since he had worked on the farm outside town, which was something he often tried to forget.

as he entered the supermarket he could see this would be a frugal effort, most of the shelves were empty, the cold war they were in had the effect of 5 black fridays it seemed and people were panic buying supplies, sighing he grabbed a few cans and went to go look around to see if there was anything even lightly appetizing.

there wasn't.

muttering something rude he took his half empty basket to the checkout and waited in line, as he did he zoned out and thought back to before all this had started, he didn't watch the news so had missed how it had all started but that didn't matter now.

all he really wished was this would end soon

Soon he started back up the hill to the house but the walk seemed longer today.

all the talk of war was getting him down and he didn't think his small town would stand up to it,

he was pretty sure a 200 megaton bomb could wipe it of the map like a smear on the window.

he was alone in a town what you could just barely call civilized in a country on the brink of a nuclear Armageddon,

Alone.

things hadn't been going so well recently, the uncertainty and fear, and Adam had to put up with it all. he had barely eaten for days, not much food was around anywhere, even Tesco trucks where occasional hijacked for there supplys, and if one did get through, well, its cargo wasn't around very long, he felt his stomach rowl and felt a bump under his coat that he was afraid might be one of his rips starting to show, he had wanted to loose weight but this was a bit of a overkill! it was the same for his friends, he thought back to the other night one had contemplated eating his cat and Adam had been up half the night convincing him that wasn't the smartest idea in the world.

they was all suffering.

they could think back to the times before the conflict but that was all they could do.

He thought about cartoons, all the lives they had, never aging, fun everywhere, young forever, all the skills,he smiled as he thought about it, he would love to be a toon, to have the enjoyment, the freedom, the laughter, sometimes he would think about what it would be like being one.

but then he figured he wouldn't be much cop as a cartoon, he didn't fancy the idea of having an anvil dropped on him.

he was just walking through the high street and as he passed an ally he stopped and looked through it, on a telegraph pole behind of some shops, which is where the ally led, there was an electrical fuse box fitted roughly halfway up, the door was open on it and he could see the spray painted fuses and circuits inside

It was faulty, everyday it sparked different bright colours, and it was a sight, people moaned to the council, but when there's a warhead pointing at you a small fuse box in a small town in the middle of nowhere seems pretty small and unimportant.

Adam thought little of it and made to move off when suddenly he was grabbed from the side, dragged along the ally to the yard behind the shops and forced against the wall, blinking he looked up to see a large unshaven man in a tattered coat, his eyes were dilated and his black hair was in knots and tatters, yellow teeth gritted out before him there was an almost overpowering stench of alcohol about him

A fine example of a Maltby civilian,

''Give me the bag!'' he stated gesturing to the bag Adam carried with his meager supplies, Adam wasn't sure if he wanted it because of the supply issue or just to victimize him but either way he was not happy.

''Why should I?'' Adam said defiantly.

The man took out a knife, a fairly large knife, not a flip one, it had a carved white wooden handle, it looked like a dagger,

Adam looked at it for a moment before flicking his eyes back up to meet the muggers dilated black ones, ''Good argument'' he said handing the bag over quickly.

The man snatched the bag away and looked inside keeping him against the wall by his throat, he coughed and spoke.

''Heeeey mate, what say you let go now, its been fun meeting you it really has, maybe we can go out for drink sometime and discuss football but right now I got to go''.

he couldn't help trying to use humour, it was hard wired into his mentality

Unfortunately, it proved to be mistake

''You're not going anywhere'' he hissed, he signified this with a punch out of no-where to the stomach slamming Adams back into the brick wall winding him with a loud splutter, ''and you ain't tellin anyone about this!'' he continued

Before Adam could even ask what he meant he thrust his knife hand forward.

Time seemed to slow for a moment, then he felt it.

No witty remark, no comeback, just agony, shear agony as powerful as a bull, he couldn't scream, it was too horrid.

The man thew him down and staggered off leaving his knife in Adams side, free from his grip he clambered upright and staggered back towards the ally, he gasped and kept his hand clamped tightly around the area trying to stop the warm fluid he felt leaking out beneath his tattered coat, not daring to look and see what it was. he tried to reach the alley but the shock and pain made him falter and he stumbled until he was leaning against the pole with the faulty fuse box for support, a million thoughts rushing through his head trying to process what had happened to him, what did he do?! he applied pressure but he felt like he was dying on his feet! if he could get to the street he could get help, people in Maltby were kind enough if you found a good one...

Then he heard it...

A dull noise that grew louder and louder then receded, then louder, then receded, he saw the films in class, I knew what this was too well and it made him freeze and pale up.

The three minute warning,

Adams heart started pounding, sending more blood out his side which he was trying to keep in with his hands, the man was gone but there were people in the streets running and screaming for cover as they dashed towards houses in the street.

Then the ground shook violently, he felt a powerful blast as the sky seemed to grow dark.

then the wind got more powerful as a shock-wave hit, it knocked him straight back into the pole, he clung onto it with all the strength he had, his orange ratty hair ragged and fluttered in the wind, the pole was secure but the glass fronts of the shops were not.

windows exploded everywhere and glass was sent flying into the shops, the houses across the street were taking a battering as tiles came hailing onto the main road between them but they stood up to it thankfully, he was far enough to avoid the tiles but the dust was starting to settle, his doc martins would help him against the glass but none of it would matter if he couldn't get help!

The knife in his side was searing into him, each movement he made sent a fresh shock wave of agony into his side and even the slightest touch made him bite back a cry and hie eyes well.

he needed to find cover! But Adam couldn't move! Everything around him! It was too much! The sirens! The people! The horror!

And then there was a white flash from somewhere not far...

The box above him began shooting out green electric bolts; they formed all around him and tore through his coat.

Suddenly everything was hot! the white faded and everything felt like it was in slow motion, there was no sound, he saw fires springing up out of nowhere, the electric must have been protecting him to some extent, the sky was red and orange like it was on fire! the tarmac of the road and pavement cracked shooting steam and molten tar, and the buildings rattled and cracked as they were rocked on there foundations, people in the street shouted and waved about as there clothing suddenly began to catch fire seemingly from nowhere!

suddenly he saw something coming towards him! it was the man from before! he was burning worse than anything else, it was like the fire was drawn to him! he didn't blink as he saw horrible burns and welts grow on his skin which started to get burnt in some places, he didn't blink,

he just stared,

Right at him.

Adam froze, the sight of the man was so horrid he couldn't look away, fire came from his mouth and his eyes but he staggered towards him sill, Adam could think of nothing, it was all too much! he just grabbed the pole and wished for it to end!

the mugger staggered towards Adam with his hand outstretched, Adam tried to force his legs to move but they wouldn't, they just quivered holding up his frame as the man reached out and grabbed his arm.

it was almost as if the muggers hand was made out of pure fire, Adams coat around the mans grip blackened and he screeched feeling the horrid burning pain that came with it, he looked up and saw the other hand reaching for his face! he thrashed and kicked out at last to try and get him off his arm! he didn't care what happened he didn't care about anything, he just wanted it to stop!

the sparking and the heat grew worse for one second, Adam's last thought was raising his arm and covering his eyes as he thrashed his foot forward and connected with something he hoped was the mugger.

Then there was a green flash,

A blankness of pure white,

Then it was dark.

Pretty grim i know but its difficult trying to do a universal transaction scene that doesn't involve a TV. I honestly hate this chapter because it just sounds rubbish reading back after so long but trust me keep reading at it will get better i promise, may the heavens strike me down if i tell i lie...

that was a mistake...

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