Chapter 2

And yet still…

Bear woke up in the usual manner. Screaming at the top of his lungs he looked at the clock 5:00 A.M. It had been ten years since the war had and his night terrors were still wakening him early. "Just as well" He whispered to him self he had decided to go to work that day. Bear ran a general out fitting store that had started as a weapon and pawn shop. Before he had moved in to the apartment he took the weapons cash his father had built up in the months before the war. He had had enough guns, bows, knives, ammo, arrows, grinding stones, imperishable food, and survival/user manuals to train and maintain a small army. Being that he worked for the old government Bears father had known that a war was soon to break out and didn't want his family to go unprotected. So bear had kept cretin of his favorite weapons and traded the rest on which founded his store that he started after the winter. (For three years after the war the world went thru a nuclear winter; which when all said and done killed a little over half of the world population. So with the casualties in the war and after the winter the world's population had dipped to just over 2 billion, and that's including the infected.)

Bear loved his job. Not only because he got to provide his friends with a trustable trading post, but also because he got to apprentice under one of (if not the) best blade maker in red sector. Even though it was work it was usually the highlight of his day. And yet still…

He stopped buy the memorial in the middle of town. They had built it shortly before Westland had made sent the first recon mission. It was to honor every one who had been lost in the war and any of the infections. He stopped and said a prayer when he found his parents, then again when he found Keith's. Bear set a picture of Keith at the end of the list, making a mental note that he would have to remember to get Keith's name put up on the wall as well.

He arrived at the shop at seven. The old man looked at him in a strange way and began with "Where in the Sam shit has your big ass been. I've had to make all the knives and run this goddamn store all on my own. You better have a fucking good explanation for this. I should dock your fucking pay for that." Bear stared him down. "Your old dusty ass knows that I pay you right."

"Shut the fuck up where have you been." The old man said waiving off his apprentices comment.

"Hey if I want to have a mental break down after the death of a brother, I am going to have a fucking mental breakdown." Bear added with a bit of coldness in his voice. He had nothing but love for the old man that had taught him every thing he knew over the last fore years. Bear respected his being old and crotchety but he was pushing a still sore spot.

The old man gave Bear the "Do you want to talk?" look and unlike every one else who had flashed him that look Bear flashed back the "Yes. Thank You." look. The old man verbalized "So what happened?" He had a wise concern in his eyes that assured Bear that the crotchety old man he always went round and round with was gone. He was replaced with the old man that had lived seventy-three years in a hectic and paranoid world.

"He came over, first time I had seen him in weeks, he got angry and broke my coffee table with one slam of his fist. He broke down after that and… well started crying blood…. I had to blow his brains out and torch the body." His eyes began to well up and he wiped away a tear.

The old man stared at him for a long time. He took a cigarette out of his pack lit it and took a drag and said "Well" he took a long pause to take another drag and let it out. He looked at Bear as if to size him up and continued with "It sounds like you had to kill him." The old man looked at bear and gave him a bit of a satisfied nod.

"WHAT!! THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY!?!?! WITH ALL YOUR INFANATE YEARS AND INFANATE WISDOM!?!?!? THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE TO FUCKING SAY!!! THAT'S IT!!! I ALREADY KNEW THAT!" Bear shouted expecting some thing deep and help full.

"WELL! If you had let me fucking finish." The old man said in an angry jerky tone. "You had to kill him but, now you see it as its you against the world." He said looking at the large young man like he was a dumb ass and his tone seemed to mach. "Which couldn't be further from the truth you big idiot. You've got every one in fucking red sector behind you. You are just to stupid and arrogant to see that." He took another drag off his cigarette and stared him down as if to see if the big man would hit him.

Bear stared at the old man and contemplated hitting him. He decided against it and grabbed his pack of cigarettes and lit one. At this the old man's eyes widened "Fucking old man." He said with the cigarette between his lips "you're right… Haven't smoked in like three years, you can tell me exactly what makes me light up again... The truth."

"Hurts don't it." The old man smiled at Bear and let him know that he would be okay. Bear got to work he thought about how right the old man was every one in red sector was supportive of him even Steve when push comes to shove and yet still…

Commander Franklin walked in the store and turned the sign on the door to "Congratulations were closed" rather than its usual "Sorry were open" a joke that had made Bear chuckle when he had purchased the sign but was now forgotten. "Hey I don't care if that was a direct order from L.A. but you can't just close us down when you want." Bear said looking at the official sternly waiting for him to do some thing stupid so he could start an uprising.

"I have a deal that I need to discuss with you. And before you ask no this cant be done with other people here." The military Commander looked at him with some concern in his eyes.

"Go on I'll listen but this had better be important." Bear said with a spectacle tone that matched his look.

"I need all the automatic weapons you have and as much ammo you can part with." The Commander looked at him hoping to get a yes. "All of our automatic fire arms are currently jammed or broken we need what you got. We haven't gotten a shipment in about fore months and we are out of every thing. We are going to check in with L.A. get supplies but we need to get there safely." He looked at Bear with concern moving into the final stage of his plan. "We are willing to offer twenty contamination suits. And we need at least ten guns. So do we have a deal?"

Bear stared in awe "You have twenty real, honest to god, walk thru a blast sight contamination suits." Any one in there right mind wants a contamination suite being that they protected against radiation they gave you full range of motion in the new irradiated world. "Frank… You got a deal, but I want the suits first." He said expecting a quick no but Frank went to the door slipped his head out the door and made a motion. Moments later several of the commanders men came running in carrying twenty boxes Frank took a box broke the seal then he pulled out a large white suite that wrapped around ones body and had a zipper up the back and two hoses in the part for the head. Out of the same box he pulled a cylinder that went in a back pack like compartment on the suit that allowed the hoses access to the air filter.

It was clear to Bear that this was no joke. "All right come in the back." He motioned to the men. He handed each man an M-16 and a box of ammo and they would return for a second one after they placed what they had in the truck. He only had enough M-16's for the subordinates he looked at the Commander and said "Frank lucky dog you get the M-14" Bear smiled at him he had always considered the earlier model of the two guns much more useful. The men returned got there second box of ammo and left, with the officers gone it gave Bear a moment to think. He went out back and smoked a cigarette and started mumbling to himself "These things are going to give a lot of people a chance. A chance to leave red sector, they could go to L.A. or even the eastern countries. And yet still… AND YET STILL… And yet still I could take one and leave this shit hole I could leave and never look back. I could start a new life without the memories of Keith, without the responsibility of working here, or living with these people. I could leave it all behind. Correction I AM going to leave it all behind and I will never look back." His head was reeling with his new resolve when one thought crossed his mind, And yet still…