Chapter 3

It was only a matter of hours for the colony guards to clear out the rest of the colony. Those Raiders who were left alive were wounded, and neither bullets nor medical supplies would be wasted on them. Many screamed or gurgled themselves till they bled out, others tried to quicken their death.

After that, though, it was only a hard… long time. Counting up the deaths of the civilians and guards, that was the toughest. Digging through rubble, broken tents and knocked over shacks… it was tough. Then there was the wounded, there didn't seem to be enough hospitals. Men, women, even children bleed from beatings and bullet wounds received during the small raid. Doctors were in short supply, very short supply, and everyone was meant to help out as much as possible.

Nate was put to work bandaging small wounds, and he helped see the majority of patients. Many did have simple scraps and cuts, but many more came right from the surgery ward, too busy to even bandage up the holes. Shatner went off, helping wherever he could. First, he searched for bodies of the wounded, digging in rubble for missing souls and sifting through broken tents and shacks for those in hiding or hurt. After that, he ran down to the surgery ward and tried to help as much as he could.

After six long hours, he sat back on the stairs of the Lincoln memorial, and stared at his bloody hands as the sun set in the distance. He stared, amazed, and then averted his view to the colony, many places still smoking from the attack. He shook his head, amazed at how drastic his world had changed.

A figure sat down next to him, Shatner could not see. He truly didn't care, but he had his ideas.

"Damn," said Nate, brushing off his pants, "I never thought anyone could bleed so much without dying before the blast. But… man… has this whole thing changed my view."

"You…" said Shatner, in a daze, "You… lead them here."

"No, no, no," said Nate, suddenly getting very defensive, "Look, you don't fully understand. That's… Impossible. I mean… I-"

"You lead them here," said Shatner, again, "And now… and now…"

"I… am so sorry," said Nate, grasping at his heart, "I had… no idea. I… I… I know your pain."

"This… changes everything," said Shatner, rubbing his bloody hands together, "This is the biggest change in my life since the war…"

It was quiet again. They sat in silence, watching as the last bit of the sun slowly disappeared over the horizon.

"Do you have any idea what this did to our moral alone?" said Shatner, beginning to get slightly angry, "I mean… how can anyone feel safe when their loved ones… their children… their wives, daughters, sons, brothers sisters… They're GONE! I mean… what about another attack? What about what they took? We need to rebuild… that takes manpower. We might be low on ammunition now. Some of our best fighters were killed today."

"Moral…" said Nate, and he thought for a moment, "I can't believe Americans would do this to other Americans."

"It happened to you," said Shatner, "It'll happen again. In fact, I'm not at ALL surprised… IN FACT: I'm downright sure this could only happen in America."

"If only there was America again," said Nate, "Our government… someone to lead us… a military to actually defend us."

"There is," said Shatner, "One in California, one here. That's all connected to the network."

Shatner began trying to remove the blood from his hands by whipping them on his pants. Nate scooted down a couple of steps to sit right next to Shatner.

"No," said Nate, getting serious, "There's one more. A secret one. In Africa!"

"Oh, no," said Shatner, rolling his eyes, "Please… don't. That's a rumor, one of the WORST ones I've ever heard. I'm not going to sit around waiting on some imaginary government to come over the horizon and save the day!"

"You're right," said Nate, crossing his arms and smiling, "Guess we're just going to have to go and find it ourselves."

"WHAT?" asked Shatner, standing up, "No… no, NO, nonono, NO! HELL no! What…. NO! Just… NO!"

"What?" said Nate, "We know it's there, I know a few people going."

"No, no comedian," yelled Shatner, "WE don't know it's there. WE don't know anything. There is no WE!"

"Then I know," said Nate, standing up as well, "And I believe I should chase it."

"What? Oh… you think so? You THINK so?" asked Shatner, "FINE! Fine… you go, you go and you… fly with your lunatic friends and you go chase… your hallucination."

"Fine," said Nate, "I'll leave in the morning."

"Good," said Shatner, standing up, "Things were definitely better before YOU showed up!"

Nate cringed at the comment, before hardening up, and glaring at Shatner. Shatner thought about what he had said, and shook his head.

"Oh yeah," said Nate, "I've heard that before…"

Nate turned and started to walk away, but stopped, unsure of where to go. He looked around, and shook his head. Shatner sighed and shook his head again.

"I believe we have some airplane fuel," said Shatner, "And we can't really use it for…. Anything else. Not sure why. You can take those, and head back. I can show you where you can sleep."

"Ok," said Nate, harshly, "Thanks for the bed, and the fuel… Gone by morning!"

Shatner shook his head, and took off following Nate.

The next morning, the sun was rising over the ruins of the D.C. Colony. Reconstruction had already begun, and at the early hours many of the workers had been most of the night. Nate stood at the same hill he had before. He was looking over the colony, sadness in his heart. Strapped to his side were four gallons of airplane fuel. A lot better then having nothing, Nate had said.

He turned, and began to walk away. They were a lot heavier then he thought… But he sighed to himself.

"No what," said Nate.

"Wait," yelled a voice from behind.

Nate turned, trying to see who was calling for him. He saw Shatner running up the hill, backpack on his back and a Rifle in his hand. Nate found himself wanting to smile, but he purposefully kept it hidden. Shatner came up beside him, and gasped heavily.

"We… I…" started Shatner, then he took a second and swallowed, slowing his breathing.

"I… I spoke with the Council," said Shatner, "And… they think that it isn't… a waste to go out looking for help. So…"

"That's what you told them?" asked Nate.

"I'm out looking for help… with you… to make us stronger and to see who else is out there," said Shatner, "To… rebuild America."

"So…" said Nate, "We're looking for… help…"

"Yes," said Shatner, "So… we better not be left down."

Nate looked to the ground, a sullen look on his face.

"It's going to be dangerous," said Nate.

"One of us might not make it back," said Shatner.

Nate nodded, "You're right," he said, "I wouldn't want to come back here. Ruin your lifestyle and all…"

Shatner cleared his throat, and an embarrassed smile spread across his face. He shuffled his feet on the ground before rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.

"Ok… ok," said Shatner, "I'm sorry… it wasn't your fault. In fact, you did a lot to help. So… we cool?"

Nate allowed an eyebrow to raise a little, glaring at Shatner.

"Ok… and I'll make it up to you," said Shatner, "I'll… put up with your stupid flying idea."

Nate finally allowed the smile to escape, and his grin spread from ear to ear.

"Day… Alright," said Nate, "Come here, big fella!"

Once again, Nate embraced Shatner, leaving an awkward moment. When nate pulled back, Shatner was shaking his head.

"Don't ever do that again," said Shatner, "That really ran its course."

"What if I do?" asked Nate.

"Have you ever been shot in the face?" asked Shatner, slitting his eyes.

"Fourth Grade, brother… BB Gun," started Nate, "Fat in the cheek kept it from going completely through."

Shatner shook his head again, and Nate began to laugh to himself.

"Come on, we got a lot of ground to cover!" said Nate, and he slapped Shatner on the shoulder and began to walk.

Shatner rubbed his shoulder, and slowly shook his head, thinking how long of a trip this was going to turn out to be. He followed along, walking next to Nate as he walked into the wilderness.

"So, where are we going?" said Shatner.

"You'll see," said Nate, "We head NORTH!"

Shatner stopped, and looked around. Taking out a compass from his pocket, he followed the needle with his arm, eventually stopping off to his right.

"North is that way," said Shatner, shaking his head.

Nate awkwardly stared back, and eye the compass in Shatner's hand.

"North," said Nate, again, and he turned, heading in the northerly direction.

Shatner shook his head again, and covered his face with his hand.

"I don't have much confidence in this already," said Shatner.

"One setback, bite me," said Nate, "Don't worry, I know exactly what we're doing. I trust these guys. And if you don't trust me, at least trust them."

"WAIT," came a cry from behind them both.

Nate looked at Shatner, and Shatner at Nate, before they turned around, and saw Pandora running up to catch up with them.

"Bailey," yelled Shatner, "What the hell?"

"You can't leave me behind," said Bailey, "I'm coming too!"

"Of course you can come," said Nate, as Bailey closed the gap and stopped alongside him.

"What? No… no he cannot come," said Shatner, "Can that plane of theirs even handle any more people?"

"Who cares, I think it's the more the merrier," said Nate, "Besides, it's a pretty big plane. So… I'm not worried."

Shatner rolled his eyes while Bailey beamed.

"Name's Brian, Comedian," said Bailey.

"Nate, and he's Shatner," said Nate, smiling.

Shatner glared, then shook his head, "Alright, let's go. But I don't want the plane going down because it is overburdened."

"That can't happen," said Nate, "Don't worry."

"Oh, by the way," said Shatner, reaching into one of his bags and bringing out a giant walkie-talkie looking device, "This is a cellular satellite phone, modified. It's very reliable. The best part, we'll have direct contact with Zurom at all times. I've used it on occasion."

"And Zurom can help us out informationally if we need it?" asked Nate, "Nice, let's try it!"

"No," said Shatner, putting it back, "I do not want it breaking."

"Fine," said Nate, "Alright, so… three amigos set off into the world. NICE!"

"I think I'm going to like this," said Pandora, smiling to himself.

"Oh, I highly doubt it," said Shatner, mumbling to himself, "Chasing after such a retarded plan…"