"Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please!" Lieutenant Lewis began shouting into a megaphone. "This alarm is not a drill! If you are in the Vault Program, head to your designated Vault immediately! If not, please proceed in an orderly fashion to the lower level of the school! I say again, this is not a drill!"
"I bet they're looking to round us all in one place so they can kill us easier…" A man muttered.
"There were two drills the other day." The woman next to him grumbled in agreement. "What makes this one different?"
"DEFCON One has been declared!" Lewis ignored the mutterings of the crowd. "Missiles are currently in the air and headed for US soil!"
When the people were still hesitant, Simmons stepped forward.
"This is the real deal, folks! If you're in the program, head to the Vault! If not, get inside the…" A rumbling interrupted him, and he soon spotted the source. "Sir!"
Veronica followed her friend's pointed finger, as did several civilians, and saw the smoke trails of rockets erupting from Fort Constantine across the river. A combination of Delta IX ICBMs, Minuteman XIs and RIM-161 Interceptors took off from the base and climbed into the sky.
"This is it, people!" Lewis cried. "To the Vault, or to the school! Pick one and move it! Now!"
Most of the crowd, who were once protestors, began clamoring for entry to the elementary school. The street became so chaotic that Veronica jumped in surprise when a man appeared next to her.
"Lieutenant, Sir!"
"What is it, Gomez? We're a bit busy out here."
"The Vault recall, Sir." Lewis looked at him. "I just heard it over the radio. 101 is about to seal."
Veronica looked at Freddie for a time. He'd been alongside her from Fairbanks to the Aleutians, and with the rest of the Company for even longer. Now, there was a good chance they would never see each other again.
"Okay, Freddie." Lewis reached out and touched his shoulder. "Get going, then."
"Thank you, Sir." Gomez saluted his friend sharply.
"No need. I made a promise. I keep my promises." Veronica returned the salute. "Dismissed, Private."
Freddie nodded. "I left my gear in Second Squad's classroom. You guys are welcome to anything you can use. Good luck, Sir."
"Good luck to you, Gomez."
Federico vanished into the throngs of civilians heading for the Vault, just in time for Sergeant Baker to emerge from the school.
"Sir! The basement's filling up fast! Hawke says he doesn't have much room left!"
"We're not leaving anyone out here, if that's what you're about to say, Jim!"
"Which is why I didn't ask! Where's Maitland?"
"He's at the Pentagon for a meeting! He left this morning!"
"So you're in charge? Now I know we're fucked!"
Before Lewis could retort, she spotted a young woman at the back of the line. In her arms was what looked like an infant, but instead of moving forward with the crowd, she was frantically looking around. Veronica elbowed her way towards the woman, who appeared to be confused and terrified.
"Ma'am! Please, come with me! My men and I will protect you!"
"W-where is my husband?!" The woman cried. "He's not back yet!"
"He may already be inside. Where you two should be!"
"No! He ran back to our house to get something! He wouldn't leave me out here!" The woman stepped towards the row of houses down the street. "Andrew! Andrew!"
"Ma'am! We need to-!"
A bright light bathed the street. The air became dead still. A warmth washed over Veronica's back. She turned around wordlessly, and immediately had to shield herself from the light of five suns. Even with her eyes tightly shut, she felt blinded. She could see the bones in her hand through her gloves.
The seconds ticked by like hours, but the blinding light soon faded. Lewis opened her eyes, and was horrified by what she saw. A mushroom cloud towered over the DC skyline, dwarfing the Washington Monument. The sight was mesmerizing, just as it was soul crushing.
"This is it. It's over." A voice in Veronica's head said. "This is how I die. This is how we all die."
Somewhere, a voice that sounded like Simmons called out Lewis' name, but she was deafened by the incoming shockwave.
Veronica and the helpless woman were pushed backwards several feet, with the civilian stumbling and falling to the ground. The air became hot, like stepping inside an oven. Sucking in her sapped breath, she looked at the city again, in time to see the streaks of more incoming and outgoing warheads.
The dazzling sight was interrupted by Tommy running up to Veronica and grabbing her armor collar.
"C'mon, El Tee! We gotta get inside!" She spotted Zack running out and helping the mother. Still dazed, Lewis stumbled after the four and towards the school. As they crossed the threshold, Ricci and Baker shoved the doors closed, and everyone was ushered towards the basement. The soldiers collected themselves as they reached the bottom of the stairs, with Lewis stepping in last.
"What… what the fuck… just happened?" Ricci demanded, directing the question at no one in particular. Around him, the building shook with more shockwaves, some closer than others. A few men looked at him, and Simmons was the first to answer.
"The end of the fuckin' world, bro."
"Tom…" Martinez approached her friend. "I saw you on your radio. You heard this coming. What exactly did you hear?"
The Corporal shrugged, visibly uncomfortable from being put on the spot. "Just like I told Ronnie. 'Initiate Response Scenario MX-CN Nine One. Nuclear Launches Detected. Strike Imminent. Take Shelter.' It came directly from NORAD, and as far as I know… it's nationwide."
"We saw the launches from Constantine." Tsu pointed out, her voice a shaking mumble. "This is global."
"Are they saying anything now?" Joe asked. Tommy switched his radio on, turning the volume on the handset up all the way.
"...-vised, nuclear detonations detected." A computerized voice announced the news. "Primary epicenter located at thirty eight degrees, fifty three minutes north. Seventy seven degrees, two minutes west."
"That's the White House…" Mumbled Lewis.
"Fallout projected within a radius of five miles of primary epicenter. Secondary detonations detected across the Columbia, New England, Eastern, Northwest and Southwest Commonwealths. Philadelphia, New York, Dover, Boston, Hartford, Providence, Baltimore, Anchorage, Portland, Seattle, Reno, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego. Retaliatory strikes detected in: Hong Kong, Qingdao, Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Tianjin, Changchun, Pyongyang, Vladivostok, Novosibirsk, Volgograd, Mosco-" click
"There ya go." The Radioman said with a shrug.
"So the world is over?" Ash demanded. "Is that it?"
"I guess so." Simmons looked at his terrified Sergeant. He started to step towards her, but a rumble made him freeze in his tracks. Joe spoke up again.
"How long is this going to keep happening? And who's even attacking us?"
"My guess is China." Tommy began. "Scenario MX-CN?" He put emphasis on the last two letters. "CN is 'China' shortened. And who have we been fighting for the last decade? As for how long… it depends on the size of nuclear arsenals." He began to launch into a small, nerdy ramble. "I mean, we have quite the stockpile. Somewhere between 20 and 30 thousand warheads. But who knows how many the Reds have? Not to mention their allies, and ours." The man looked around. "I think this'll be home for a while."
A horrified expression on her face, Martinez shuffled forward and wordlessly hugged Simmons. Tsu and Ricci entered a similar embrace. But what caught Lewis' attention was the civilian woman she had tried to help. Her baby was crying, but she ignored him, instead staring at the door the group had come through. Dust rained from the ceiling with another shockwave, but she didn't flinch.
A few hours later…
"Well… I haven't heard anything in a while." Tommy stepped away from the door and down the short flight of stairs. "I think it's over."
"What's that? Two hours, or two days?" Private Greggor asked.
"Closer to hours." Ricci said, with an unusually hollow tone. "Ash hasn't needed to eat something yet." Seated on a stack of exercise mats across the room, the Sergeant wordlessly pointed a middle finger at him. Simmons wandered over and sat down next to her, looking around at his friends.
"So, what's everyone's predictions?" A few of the soldiers looked at him. "Land occupation, a quick rebuild, or thousand year winter?"
"Is all three an option?"Joe muttered.
"For the sake of interesting conversation… no." The Sniper rolled his eyes and rested his head against the lockers he was sitting against.
"Not thousand year winter, 'cause you'd enjoy it… quick rebuild is too boring. So I'll go with occupation. A guerilla war on home turf sounds like fun."
"What did we just get back home from?" Greggor said pointedly. Ricci sighed.
"You new guys always have to spoil the sport."
"What's your take, Sir?" Simmons directed the spotlight at Lieutenant Lewis, who was quietly sitting next to a water fountain, hugging her knees and staring at the floor between her boots.
"Millions of people just died." She said after a moment. "In a flash. Right in front of me. Billions more did all over the world. Our leader might have been among them." Veronica hugged herself a little tighter. "The world as we know it has ended, we're stuck inside the basement of an elementary school with all these civilians to look after, and we have nothing to do it with." Stonefaced, Veronica looked up. "That's my take, Corporal."
Tommy attempted to speak more, but Ash sharply elbowed him. Around the same moment, Corporal Hawke entered the space, carrying a clipboard.
"Sir. Pardon the interruption, but here's the headcount you requested." Lewis sat up and accepted the list. "We have forty two civilians. Twelve of them are under age fifteen, and the youngest is a six month old infant. Oldest person in the group is sixty eight. As for us, we have two missing. Captain Maitland, and Private Gomez."
Veronica nodded. "Maitland left for a meeting at the Pentagon earlier this morning. Gomez is… with his family in the Vault."
"Freddie got accepted?" Tsu asked.
"He didn't tell you?"
"No. He… didn't tell anyone. Other than you, I guess, Sir."
"Lucky him." Martinez said with a slight growl in her voice. "Kid gets a cushy Vault to hang out in and wait it out with his family. My family's in LA. Closest to China, so they got hit first. Woo! Go, Gomez!"
"Shut up, Ash." Tommy swatted her shoulder.
"Why? Why don't we-"
"Stow it!" Lewis barked, silencing the group of soldiers. "All of you! We're in this situation, and we have to deal with it as best we can. We can't do that by arguing with each other." The Lieutenant eyed each of her men for a time, making sure each of them heard her, before continuing. "Now, we have to head back upstairs and gather any of our stuff that we can use. Break out the MOPP gear and geiger counters. We'll give this silence another hour, and I'll take a small group of vol-"
"You can't go, Sir." Tsu interrupted, catching everyone off guard. Lewis blinked at her.
"...what?"
"I-I mean… what if radiation levels are really high up there? To a life-threatening degree? What if part of the building collapses? What if another bomb lands?"
Veronica arched a brow at the Private, before Hawke stepped in.
"I must agree with Private Tsu, Sir. Forgive the insubordination, but I request that you remain down here and not be part of the scout team. As ranking officer, you are our only leader figure left. The men… we… will be looking to you to lead us."
With a sigh, Lewis looked down. She absently reached under her armor and clutched her tags again.
"Fine. Hawke, spread the word. Volunteer only. Simmons, I want you and Tsu to get the radios tuned in. Any transmissions you pick up, I want to hear about it. And somebody make sure my terminal makes it down here." She looked around again. "Make it happen."
"Sir."
"Yessir."
"Rog."
"Hooah."
As the soldiers dispersed, Veronica looked down the list again. Christian had written a brief overall health description of the civilians inside the school, and since most of them were inside when the bombs landed, there was little by way of injuries or radiation exposure. Though the overall attitude in the basement was one of apprehension. The people in the other room had every reason to not like Lewis and her men, as six of them had been killed just the previous day. Not to mention the methods of 'quelling' the unrest around the country that the Army was utilizing. Tear gas, rubber bullets, real bullets, beatings, mass arrests, executions.
"Well, none of us have any choice now." Veronica thought, watching a handful of her boys file past in MOPP suits. "Things may have happened in the past, but now… it's all about survival."
Power On…
Rebooting…
Personal Log
Lieutenant Veronica Lewis
Operation: Soteria Day 6
October 23rd, 2077
18:25
It's finally happened.
The world is over. As we knew it, at least.
At least I have my terminal and books back. Hooray for me.
I think it's safe to say that Soteria has been a total failure. The fifty seven of us in this school may very well be the only ones alive in the city.
Maybe even the whole country.
Maybe the world?
Simmons hasn't had any luck with his radio. It works, but he hasn't gotten a signal from anyone yet. Other than that NORAD broadcast, which keeps adding more cities to its roster. Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Salt Lake City, Toronto, Delhi, Berlin, Warsaw, Kiev, Paris, Madrid, London... Weird. Where is everyone? I would think that if something of this magnitude were to happen, anyone who had even a HAM or a CB would be glued to it.
I haven't either. This terminal has lost contact with every network outside of the school's. Satellite connection is down everywhere. Something about electro-magnetic pulses. At least the journal tab works. When we're all dead, and someone finds us in fifty years, they'll know my life story, and what happened to us.
Through some poking around in the basement, O'Malley and Stowe found a crate of PIP Boys that were supposed to go to the students. Gabby has been calibrating them, and then we'll figure out who gets one.
God… the things James saw up there…
The whole city is on fire as I write. Radiation levels are surprisingly low, but give the wind some time to do its thing, and we'll be melting to the floor before we know it.
Hawke is passing out doses of Rad-X just in case. Me, Emily, and her baby got RadAway treatments, too.
Sean hasn't stopped crying since we sealed the doors. Who can blame him?
The school building is largely intact, as are most of the surrounding houses. Broken windows, missing siding, items in the rooms thrown around. The air was heavy with smoke and dust. Even with the masks on.
I guess we'll see how things play out.