Posted on 07/08/2009 7:54:33 PM PDT by GeronL
All I felt was a blinding pain. I didn't care about anything else at that moment. Somewhere in the back of my head I noted that my knees were on the ground, probably concrete.
I tried to open my eyes through the pain, but I only saw a bright light and nothing was in focus. I must be outside. I closed my eyes again, straining through the pain.
What happened?
If I could ask that, maybe the pain was starting to die down a bit.
Finally I felt my own self again. I was lying down on my back, my legs up to my rump were on concrete and I think the rest was on grass. I was starting to be able to think again, to feel again and to wonder where I was.
And why.
My sense of smell hit me all at once. I smelled burned wood, burning tar and rubber. I started hearing distant shouts and screams and sirens.
Something had happened, something awful.
The vague ideas were wearing off. I might not know who I was but I did know that I wanted to survive. Survive whatever this was.
I opened my eyes again, I blinked a few times to fend off the blurry images that returned to me. For a second I regretted it.
I was atop some kind of hill looking down, in the distance was a large city. Down both sides of the road I could see house after house were in ruins, piles of rubble, many of them on fire. Families were in tears, some were helping others, others were in a state of shock.
The city. The city was clouded in black smoke from hundreds of major fires. Buildings looked incomplete, some had partially collapsed. I turned my head, nearest me was a pile of rubble that had once been a house. Possibly mine, I told myself.
Survive. I must somehow survive.
I was still lying on the ground. It occured to me that I needed to get up and do something. I didn't yet know what I needed to do, but I felt it urgently. Then someone was above me looking into my eyes.
"You okay buddy?" a voice asked "You look like hell, join the crowd"
I opened my mouth to respond but merely stammered and choked. The man patted me on the back and then grabbed my arm and pulled me into a standing position. Then he guided me next to something, when my eyes focused I saw it was a brick-encased mail box.
"What happened?" I whispered as the man pulled a bottle of water from a gym bag.
"I don't know. I was listening to the radio and there weren't no news bulletins or anything before everything went out. None of the electronics I can find works, nobody else has any either. Power lines are all dead, even the solar panels on my house are useless right now, I think the electrical cords are shot." He told me as he put the bottle to my dry lips and made me drink.
"Nuke?" I asked between gulps.
He nodded "I would say that has to be it"
"Who?" I asked "Who could have done this?"
He was solemn. He had a better question to ask, "There might be other cities gone too, for all we know".
I couldn't fathom it. If that were the case, how would any of us survive? The whole continent may very well be a lifeless radioactive wasteland for generations.
"We have to do something. We have to know. We have to be prepared." I said. Prepared? I asked myself, the man just stared at me. Probably wondering the same thing, prepared for what, if not this? Something worse?
"My name is Paul" He told me "I live... lived... a block over, on Waldrop Lane".
I was silent. I couldn't even exchange pleasantries.
I didn't know my own name.
Yes, but did it involve the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series, that is surly the sign of the end of days.
Maybe I should throw that in there. The man is getting his memories back in bits and peices...
“The Cubs won the series? right?” he asked, unsure. Paul nods, “It was a sure sign of the end of civilization. And here we are”.
Very profound!
It sent shivers through me, because I have thought of this everyday since Zero entered the WH. All any of us can do is be prepared to sustain ourselves for at least 3 months, if not more.
Zero ain’t worried. He’ll be in a bunker somewhere.
“Zero ain’t worried. He’ll be in a bunker somewhere.”
########
Yeh! Hiding underground with the rest of the vermin!
I have just added a few paragraphs, nothing too important though. Yes, how do we rebuild afterward? Thats the real story.
Maybe “The Postman” with Kevin Costner might not be too far off from reality...
No postal deliveries in my story....
“Rangers... pennant?” I gasped the words from between blistered lips.
“Yes,” he replied grimly. They took the series in four. The last game was a no-hitter.”
“The-the opponent?” I stammered. “It couldn’t gave been—”
“The Yankees.” He closed his eyes. “The Texas Rangers beat the Yankees for the AL pennant. And as the umpire called the final out and the game for the Rangers, the sky turned the color of boiling blood, stinging locusts with crowns and the faces of men appeared from nowhere, and a huge white cat appeared in midair with its paws stuck out.”
“The Rangers won the pennant,” I sobbed. “Someone must have divided by zero. This can only mean one thing.”
We said it together: “Cätnärøk”.
I wasn’t actually referring to postal deliveries, as much as I was referring to the vast pockets of people that banned together to survive...
Oh my story is headed for clashes between rival groups
That settles it...I’m going for more ammo!
BUMP’T
This sounds like the background story to Fallout 3.
Excruciating pain wracked my body, but somehow, I stood. Charlene, addled and blinded by the blast, woozily clutched on to my arm for support.
“What..... what....?” I stammered, unable to complete the question.
“It was on the radio, Steve,” she sobbed. She paused, catching her breath. “Linux. Windows. The forces of both finally squared off. This is the battle we’ve all been dreading.” A sob caught in her throat.
Smoke assaulted my nostrils. The fires raged, spottily, as far as the eye could see. I heaved a sigh.
Suddenly Ronald McDonald flew past on a flying carpet and tossed me a cool Pepsi (20 ounce). A plaid-colored bird landed on my left shoulder and began reciting Shakespeare.
=o)
I think otherwise.
no collecting parts for building your own weapon
But what am I going to do with this lawn mower blade, this motorcycle hand brake, and this gas tank???!?
and no nuke bombs at the center of town being worshipped.
Go with the Glow of Atom!
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