Eh, La Bas
October 8th, 2037
It felt like he got hit by a truck as he sat right up and started breathing heavily. Taking in deep breaths, he wasn't focused on anything as the world was in and out of focus.
"Shh, hey calm down." A masculine voice said in a soft tone. "Just breathe and relax, your okay."
Doing what was instructed, he started to slow his breathing as the world around him finally came into focus. Looking around, he noticed a group of people dressed in what looked like military attire holding guns. One of them had a vest on that said W.L.F on it and had what looked like a wolf on it. A man who appeared to be in his very late 20's or early 30's sporting a beard and short brown hair held his hands up.
"I'm Owen." He announced, he then turned to introduce the others "This is Abby, Mel, Manny, and Jordan.". Owen turned to look back at him "So do you know what year it is?"
He shook his head "No, I don't know."
Owen nodded "And what about who you are?"
He nodded "Oui je m'appelle Sebastien Delacour, I grew up in Dulac, Louisiana."
"You speak French?" Mel looked surprised.
Sebastien nodded and smiled "I'm a Cajun, I grew up in Terrebonne Parish working on fishing and shrimping boats with my uncles, siblings, and cousins, it's all we spoke in a way to preserve and keep our identity and culture alive."
"So." Owen steered the subject back to the matter at hand "What all do you remember?"
"Well I was working and living in downtown New Orleans in a warehouse for a small mom and pop company who were contracted to Amazon. My job was ending sometime in October and I was applying to multiple fire departments all over Louisiana who were looking for recruits. I wanted to get into the fire academy and become a Firefighter/Medic. Then next thing I know military forces were moving into New Orleans and I remember going to Café Du Monde on Decatur Street and getting coffee and then all hell broke loose. People who were sick started biting and attacking others. I guess the military said fuck it and gave the order to kill on sight. I got surrounded by two soldiers with their guns pointed at me. I heard a gunshot and saw a bright white light and then nothing but darkness."
Owen who had now pulled up a chair and sat down, was leaning forward with interest "Then what happened?"
"Well I was raised Catholic but I didn't go to church like I was suppose' to so honestly I guess I thought the darkness was purgatory and I was waiting till it was my time to be judged. I ended up going to a Pentecostal church with my grandmother a few days before all this happened and got saved. Now I'm waking up here surrounded by y'all and in reality it felt like I was sleeping in terms of time passing." Sebastien looked at Owen "You asked if I knew what year it was, so I'm curious what year is it?"
"Today's date is October 8th, 2037. You are currently in Fort Polk an ol-"
"I know what and where Fort Polk is, my uncle came here at one point during his time in the military." Sebastien cut him off "Do I still look 26?" It was the age he was when his world went dark.
Mel stepped forward "Yeah...you were in stasis in a cryogenic pod of sorts. You didn't age physically at all in the two decades since. We don't know exactly why you were frozen as well as the others. When we stumbled upon this base you were the only one still alive. A few of the pods were empty and so we figured others got out and some didn't as in they couldn't get out." She looked down "When we got you out, we thought you were dead until we did CPR and found defibrillator so welcome back to the land of the living I guess...I'm sure it's not what you expected."
At hearing this Sebastien let out a small chuckle "Merci beaucoup." He felt tears starting to form as reality started to hit him. It'd been 24 years since he's last walked the streets, since he last saw his family and friends. Where they alive? He wondered about it and it was a question he needed answering. Grabbing the side of the metal table he was on, Sebastien threw his legs over the side and tried to stand. Falling to the cold, hard floor he groaned in pain as Owen and Jordan helped him up to his feet.
"You've been on ice 24 years, it might take you a minute to get your muscles working again in proper order." Owen steadied him. Once Sebastien was upright and steady, Owen held onto his arms and guided him around the room for a bit to get the blood flowing through his legs again.
"Owen quit babying him, we need to get back on the road." Abby groaned "He's of no use to us it's better we leave him to his own devices."
Owen glances at her and shook his head 'You are such a pessimist, he could aid us in our mission."
"What's your mission?" Sebastien asked as he began leaning on the wall to support himself as Owen followed him around the room.
"We're with the W.L.F better known as the Washington Liberation Front. When the world ended and people were under control of FEDRA, we were basically in quarantine camps and people got sick and tired of how they were being treated by the government and stood up to them. Now we're trying to bring part of the old world back with thriving communities and a safe place for everyone, that's to make a long story short. Should you choose to join us, you'll understand further." Owen answered his question.
Another few moments and Sebastien felt he had gained enough mobility in his legs to be walking without any support. He wasn't embarrassed that he was in his underwear in front of strangers, he's been in a similar situation before on Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras. "We found a locker with your name on it." Jordan said, pointing towards the wall of lockers.
"Well hopefully all my shit is in it, or whatever they deemed worthy of storing." Sebastien made his way over to his locker and noticed there was an actual lock on it. Abby nudged him out of the way and with a pair of bolt cutter's, she broke the lock on his locker and opened it. Inside were the clothes and shoes he had been wearing along with his wallet, car keys, phone, and phone charger.
Grabbing his #37 Steve Gleason New Orleans Saints jersey, he pulled it over his head before grabbing his pants and putting them on one leg at a time, he then grabbed his blue suede Adidas shoes and laced them up before pocketing his personal items in his pants pockets. It felt surreal that it'd been 24 years since his world ended in the blink of an eye.
"So what's out there? I take it it's like the Walking Dead?" Sebastien asked as he stretched his arms out.
"Worse, there's different variants of infected. The most common are runners, stalkers, and clickers. Runner are people who have just recently turned and they usually attack in hordes. Stalkers are infected who've been infected from two weeks to a year and hide in the dark and attack at opportune moments, they can also hide on walls and stay there to let the fungus fester which keeps them alive until prey walks by in which they'll break free and attack. Clickers are infected who've been infected for at least a year. The fungus has completely taken over their body making them blind which forces them rely on echolocation and they can be quite difficult in close quarter combat." Owen explained. "So what's your game plan for now?"
"Gotta see if any of my family is left, if my home is left."
Owen nodded "I get that, I do but you gotta think realistically. Unfortunately, realistically thinking in this situation sucks because the odds of what you seek being there are slim to none.". Owen reached into his backpack and pulled out a handgun and box of ammunition "If you're gonna go look for your family you'll need this."
"OWEN!" Abby snapped at him "What the fuck are you doing? We can't just give him our supplies, most of all ammunition!"
Owen put the gun and ammunition back in the backpack and threw his arms up in protest "Abby I'm just trying to help the guy out. Quit bitching and let's be decent human beings for once.". At hearing this Abby stormed out of the room, followed by Mel, Manny, and Jordan.
Owen shook his head "Don't mind her, if you decide to come with us she'll warm up to you in time I promise. It's better if you make a decision right now what your doing though. If you wanna go look for your family you'll be all alone. If you wanna come with us back to Seattle your more than welcome to. We're leaving at first light, it's gonna take us a month and some change to make it back there. You said you wanted to be a medic, we need medic's in the W.L.F and they'll train you up of course on how to do everything. I'll vouch for you." Owen looked over at the doorway where his squadron disappeared through "I'm gonna go talk to them, take a few minutes and come join us when you make up your mind, sound good?"
"Yeah, yeah sounds good." Sebastien nodded.
Owen disappeared through the door to find his friends as Sebastien walked over to a wall that had a mirror on it. It still felt weird looking at himself with short hair as he had recently donated his longer hair to kids with cancer just a week before his world ended. He looked at his reflection in the dirt mirror. His brownish-blonde hair was short and started showing signs of receding a bit, if anything he'd make a case and say he kind of resembles the actor Jude Law just a bit. He rubbed his greenish-blue eyes and sighed. He knew Owen was right, part of him wanted to go look anyways but if his family wasn't infected, what about the hurricanes that could've occurred in the last two decades? Would his family even still be alive then?. He knew the choice was obvious and maybe one day, he'd get an answer.
Sebastien stepped out of the room and walked down the hallway where he heard multiple voices coming from. As he rounded the corner he saw the group, Owen was talking to Abby. She looked upset with him as he had his arms crossed. Manny, Mel, and Jordan were just making small talk. Sebastien cleared his throat which got the groups attention.
"Owen I've made my decision."
Owen nodded and walked over to him and held the handgun and box of ammo out to him "Either way you'll need this. So what did you decide?"
"I'm coming with y'all.". At hearing this a smile formed on Owen's face as he handed Sebastien the gun and ammo.
"I'm glad to hear that, we found a backpack and some warmer clothes which your gonna need by the time we get back to Washington." Owen picked up a backpack and handed it to him "Had a feeling you'd join us so I already packed this for you, you hungry and thirsty?"
"Very much so."
Owen patted him on the shoulder "We'll get a dinner going, you know how to cook?"
Sebastien smirked "You like jambalaya?"
"Never had it before."
"Let me see what y'all have to work with and I'll try and see what I can do." Sebastien replied "Shrimp, andouille sausage, vegetables, rice, celery and spices with a side of red beans with a beer or sweet tea to wash it all down now that's good eatin' but that's creole jambalaya which I'm biased since my best friend Martin is creole and his mom always made the best jambalaya in my opinion, and if you got all that we'll be cookin' and you can call me Justin Wilson."
"Justin Wilson who's that?" Owen asked, amused at what all Sebastien just said.
"A long gone Cajun TV chef who was quite popular here in Louisiana back in the day." Sebastien answered "So what all you got to cook with because I'm in the mood for some jambalaya and I ain't care how I gotta cook it, since I ain't going back home I wanna taste of home one more time before we go."