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Description
It was warm and breezy outside as the mid-spring sun looked out over the hills that stretched along the coastline. The breeze flowed smoothly through the sand on the beach, even causing the few trees nearby to sway softly, creating an almost unrealistic portrait against the sunset backdrop across the ocean. There was no need to move, no need to think. This moment was so beautiful that if it lasted forever, frozen in time that would be just fine. The birds flying all around sang in unison as the waves provided music as though it were all an opera performance. The voice of the wind spoke gently as it passed through his ears. It whispered, “Wake up, wake up.” He only smiled as the sound of the waves grew louder. He thought about how great the world was, no war, no disease- “Wake up, wake up,” and the waves grew louder- no government, no segregation, no politics or politicians. There was no hate, no poverty, no undereducated districts. Everything was equal, fair- “Wake up, wake up,” the waves again crashing louder and louder, “Wake up, wake up,” this time the waves were close, “Wake up, wake up,” he could feel the waves washing over him as the wind seemed to scream “Wake up, wake up,” and the wave landed with the force of a hurricane-

“Wake up, dude wake up! Wake up god damn it!” said a familiar, frantic voice. As he rolled over, Deon realized that he was no longer on the beach. Then the situation hit him.
“Shit!” he yelled as he shot up from the concrete sewer floor almost banging his head on a nearby, low-lying pipe. Everyone was running frantically as they tried to escape. It was dimly lit and hard to see anything in this moist and diluted underground prison they had called home for the past two weeks. Deon tried to focus his sight as a voice screamed,

“What should we do?”

“Run for the hills!” he replied almost as if he had been waiting to say it forever. “Split up and meet there, there’s no way they can catch us if they all have to separate.”

And they were off. Eleven people running in eleven different directions, which proved a little more awkward and difficult than when you just had four people. There were at least five escape routes from the sewer that they had found when they first arrived here in the underground. So even if they split up, there would be at least two people at each of the four exits and the fifth would have to liberate three. Luckily, they had practiced this strategy three days in a row to ensure that they didn’t have any problems.

Everyone seemed to find their partner instantly and not too soon, the main entrance was forced open and filled the sewer halls with blinding lights and shouts to stop and comply. Nobody stopped.

Deon had decided that as the elected leader of the group he would be responsible for the party that housed three fugitives as they would surely be the first target since there were more of them. He found his partners, his girlfriend Kimi and her friend Rachel and they sprinted for their exit. Theirs was also the furthest away from the main entrance so it would take more time to escape. He led them through the watery, decaying landscape of filth toward freedom. He turned to make sure they were keeping up when he noticed a
flashlight pointing in their direction.

The voice behind the light shouted “Stop criminals! You are to lie down and turn yourselves over to us. We will open fire if you do not comply.” As he stepped closer Deon noticed that the officer was alone for the time being. He nodded to the girls to comply with the officer. They lay down as Deon slowly walked toward the light. “Stop! Do not come any closer scum!” bellowed the officer.

Deon had to make a quick move and as he raised his arm to shield his eyes said “How about you take that fucking light out of my eyes and we can have a little talk here. I’m sure we can work something out. I have a lot of knowledge and I’m sure you’d like to get a promotion. Getting it this way is much easier than sucking it out of Wayne Noxa’s cock, right?”

The officer took a moment to think about the offer, “What information do you possess that would help me?”

Deon couldn’t help but smile, this pig was already his. “Well I know the locations of several Survivor Safe houses, not to mention the fact that aside from these two lovely ladies here, I’m the only person who saw you get taken out from behind.”

The officer mumbled “Wha-?” as he turned around to see what Deon was talking about. There was nothing. He didn’t even have time to turn back around before Deon snapped his neck and was on his way again. “Come on!” he commanded as the girls got to their feet.

They were almost to the exit, just a few more turns in the sewer depths. Deon could see the door now as they splashed through what he hoped was just water and seaweed. It was a makeshift exit that whoever had lived here previously had dug out into the side of a hill. They had to climb a mountain of garbage to reach so it they had to be quick. Deon was almost halfway up when he heard a scream from below.

As he turned he saw three flashlights surrounding one of the girls, then he noticed that Kimi was only a few feet behind him. It was Rachel, but there was nothing he could do now, they already had her and there were too many of them to fight off. Kimi screamed, “No!” as they restrained her friend and she tried to turn back. Deon grabbed her and told her it was too late. He pushed the door open as the two extra officers began their ascent to chase them. He pulled Kimi out then closed the door. Thankfully, he had prepared for the chase and he and Kimi pushed a giant refrigerator they had found in the ruins outside of the sewer over the doorway.

She kissed him briefly, crying, but he cut it short saying, “We still have to hurry, there could be more, there could be air support, we need to get to the hillside bunker.” She tried to argue for Rachel but she knew when to shut up. It was a lost cause and they had all agreed on the procedure.

They could’ve gotten there faster if the direct route wasn’t out in the open. They had to stick to traveling through the cluttered ruins of old Los Angeles. It used to be a nice city. Well, it was never a nice city, but it was better than this before The War and The Great Fire. Well ok, maybe L.A. needed this catharsis, but at least the pre-War scenery was innocent. Now it just rained all the time. Deon couldn’t remember the last time there was a nice, sunny day. Maybe the constant rain meant something.

They moved quickly through the piles of rubble that used to be houses, hospitals, banks and churches, though truthfully Deon could care less about the latter. It was easy to stay hidden in such an environment. The World Government would probably never clean this mess up, and it was their fault it was like this in the first place.

They had arrived at the perimeter of the bunker. The bad part was that the only entrance was at the front, where it was open space. They had to hope that nobody saw them while they made their way around. As they got closer to the entrance they could see down over the old city which never seemed to stop smoldering.

They could see, just barely, the flashing lights from the police vehicles at the sewer opening down the hill and across the deserted wasteland. The air outside resembled that of a bonfire that had been laced with poison ivy. The sky itself was a portrait of the pale, clouded aftermath of The Great Fire. The stale scent of smoke and poison was too much for them after being forced to hide for years without natural air or light.

Deon and Kimi arrived at the entrance and were instantly greeted by Ethan and Maggot. Their two man group had made it back first. Deon and Kimi told them what happened to Rachel. After about two hours only one other person had made it back. It was a bad sign. They had lost six people in the raid and now there were only five of them.
“What do we do now?” asked Kimi. “Let’s keep walking through the bunker and see if there is anyone living here. We can figure everything else out after that.”

They treaded carefully through the deserted halls of the old testing facility. It was once actually a secret underground passage that linked to Area 51. The bunker was discovered by the public during The War. It was how the World Government had surprise attacked the city and started The Great Fire almost eight years ago. The bunker was a massive underground facility that was completely hidden beneath the hills. Nobody knew how long it had been there before The War.

“I’ m hungry, when are we going to eat?” whined Kimi.

“After we search our nearby surroundings we can find food. I don’t know of a drop zone close to here so we’ll have to hope that we can find enough natural life for the time being.” He paused while looking at her then said, “Unless you have a better idea?” Deon was getting tired of playing babysitter to his girlfriend. She was three years older than him for Christ’s sake. She was definitely a good looking girl, and she was absolutely insane in bed but there weren’t many opportunities for that out here, they all had to stick together. So, needless to say he was on a short fuse with her.

She shook her head in embarrassment and they continued walking. Deon led, Ethan and Maggot flanked the left and right sides of the group, Kimi walked in the middle and Gary-The-Old-Man, as they called him, brought up the rear.

Thank god there is only one female here, Deon thought as they walked along the echoey halls. He knew that Ethan and Maggot felt the same but they were being respectful to their friend by not saying so. And Gary didn’t give a shit, he was a crazy old bastard anyway.

They wandered around the deserted hallways for what felt like hours before they stumbled upon an open door. It was the first door they had found that was even unlocked, never mind open.

“Let’s check it out,” Deon said as he walked through the doorway.

It was an old chemistry lab. There were desks piled up against the right wall and stacks of books, papers and what looked and smelled like rotted animal carcasses on the left. There was another open doorway straight ahead of them at the back of the room.

“What the fuck is that smell?” Maggot inquired as they passed through.

“Dead monkey from the looks of it, and maybe a family of rabbits. The stale air down here must be slowing the decomposition,” and as he mentioned it Deon looked over at the pile. Intestines, liver, hearts and brains were scattered while the mutilated corpses lied motionless in one giant heap.

“Jesus Christ. Fucking assholes,” said Ethan as he passed the mound of rotting flesh.

“It’s like a Nazi burial for dead Jews in here,” said Gary in a humorous voice that tempted them to laugh. And they would’ve if they hadn’t heard the voices from beyond the next doorway.

“Shhh, everybody hide!” Deon whispered as they all found refuge under the piles of desks.

Two figures walked in, both carrying assault rifles.

“’Coulda swore I ‘eared somethin’ in ‘ere, mayba I’m jus’ losin’ mah damn mind,” said the taller of the two guys. He was definitely the most threatening of the two. He was bald and had scars all over his face and he wore an eye patch over his left eye.

“You think it was them Government pigs snoopin’ ‘round boss?” said the second guy. He was clearly the taller guy’s subordinate. He could hardly have weighed more than a hundred fifty pounds and looked, ironically, like a Holocaust victim. Though, truth be told, this was basically another Holocaust. Genocide was the way of the world and it had been ever since man had begun evolving. ‘Kill what you can’t control’ seemed to be man’s biggest mantra.

So they were against the World Government? This made them friends.

“Mayba, let’s take a look outside ‘ere ‘fore we go an’ ‘ssume we’re ‘lone in ‘ere.”

As they walked forward Deon stepped out and stumbled and fell behind a desk as he said “Hi there.”

Both men turned on the spot and fired in his direction.

“Woah woah, holy shit, stop shooting!” Deon screamed from behind his luckily placed shield.

“Step out nice ‘n slow like. Hands up where we’n see ‘em.”

Deon did as he was told. As he stood up both men’s guns followed his head.

“Who are you an’ wha’ the hell do ya want?” said the big guy.

“My name is Deon and my friends and I just wandered in here. Our base just got raided and we made our way here. It’s ok, we’re on your side.”

“You got raided and you came here? You led them right fucking to us you idiot!” said the scrawny one.

“No no, they didn’t follow us we ditched them in the sewers about a mile back. They got half of our crew but we made our way around in the ruins of The Old City. There’s no way they followed us.”

It was the big guy who spoke next “Where ‘re yer friends? Didn’ ya say ya was wit’ yer friends?”

“Yeah, they’re all under the desks here. We were searching the place before we settled and this is as far as we got.”

Ethan, Maggot, Kimi and Gary stepped out from behind there safe places. They all looked at Deon as if he had stabbed them in the back. He knew they thought he was crazy for revealing them but he had a good feeling about these guys and they needed friends right now.

“Ya’ll come wit’ us, we’ll take you to the basement. We got food and water and lots o’ space.”

They were led through the back door of the chemistry lab and turned the corner into another doorway that went downstairs. They followed the two guys to the bottom of the stairs and when they came to trap door in the floor, the scrawny one knocked three times, waited two seconds, then knocked two more times. The door opened up and they all climbed down the ladder.

As they reached the bottom of the ladder they could see the surrounding area. This must be the tunnel that connected to Area 51. It was a giant tunnel that was filled with all kinds of testing equipment, jars with who knows what floating around in them and, further down the tunnel, what appeared to be a makeshift set of cubicles that seemed to divide bedrooms.

“Hi there, who are you all?” said the cute little brunette that had unlocked the trap door latch.

All the guys stared at her, forgetting that she had even spoken. They all seemed to be lost for words. Finally, Kimi smacked Deon on the shoulder with a face that said “Stop looking at her.”

“Uh, I’m Deon, this is Ethan, Maggot and Gary…”
“Ahem.”
“Oh and this is Kimi.”
“His girlfriend,” said Kimi as bitterly as she could.
“Ok… well my name is April, nice to meet you,” she said in just a barely noticeable southern accent.

There was a mesmerized group chant of “You too” from the guys and a sarcastic “Uh huh” from Kimi.

“Come on, let me show you around,” she said as she turned and walked toward the cubicles.

After they had been shown around the basic perimeter of the underground camp they sat around a fire eating what had been collected from the hills. They were treated to a few rabbits, a squirrel and what was probably the carcass of a dog but nobody wanted to know badly enough to ask.

“So how long have you guys been hiding here?” Deon asked nobody in particular, being careful not to make eye contact with April for more than a second at a time.

Of course, April was the one to answer, “About four months now I think. After The War we all headed out here from Mississippi. We thought we’d found a stronghold here in Old L.A. but after The Great Fire we were forced to find another home. We wondered around the sewers and all kinds of caves and tunnels until we stumbled upon this place. Now it’s our home.”

Ethan inquired slyly about her past and where she had come from but Deon was now in his own world, thinking about The War and The Great Fire. It had been nearly ten years since the World Government had been created and of those ten years, there had been war for nine of them. This wasn’t any different than the original United States. The majority of its existence was war fueled and power driven.

It was a slow take over. First the United States merged with the entire North American continent. Then they merged with Europe as an allied governing body. After the American and European Unions had joined forces and overpowered the army-less African Union and disorganized Asian Union, there only remained the South American Union. They conceded before war even began. And why not? They would surely lose and the now World Government leaders had offered them a place of power within the WG. The whole affair was inspired and constructed by the greedy American minds that seek to own and control the world. Even the European Union didn’t see the reality behind the merger until it was too late.

Now Wayne Noxa was the head of the current regime, the World Government, or just WG as it was usually referenced and oversaw the actions of the World Council which dictated laws and liberties and pretty much everything in between. He was an evil, but genius, man who constructed and perfected what was originally known as the V-chip. Once it was perfected, he renamed it the Noxa-chip. This chip was how the WG controlled all of the “Good Citizens” of New Earth. It had WG satellite tracking and pinpoint accuracy. The chip was mandatory for all and it was necessary to function in modern society. It provided a scan-able identification code (which replaced the Social Security System) that could instantly identify the person in which it was embedded. Without it, you could not have access to your bank funds, personal information, family history or any other information that proved your existence and right to life. Each chip was registered with the WG and uploaded with all the necessary files and information. Without it, you were not a citizen of New Earth. As far as the WG were concerned, if you weren’t tagged, you weren’t human and were therefore trespassing on government property, which conveniently included water and land on the entire planet. At this point, you were an “alien” and were subject to cruel and unusual punishment if you were found. The WG approved raids of every inch of New Earth to find those who had not conformed to the new laws.

It all started with the United States presidential election of 2012. Three idiots were running for election, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney. How could it not mean the end of the world? Nobody believed in the protector of the constitution, Ron Paul. Democracy had become a warped idea instead of a way of life.

The election wasn’t even officially held, the first act of the second American Revolution saw to that. Gingrich, Santorum and Romney were all assassinated the day before the election and Obama took a second term. But with the realization that his life was now in as much danger as those ass clowns’, Obama began changing the structure of our government to better control the population.

At first it was small, simple changes but before long he had convinced Congress and the Supreme Court to eliminate the four year term rule. He ran the country for another six years before he was also assassinated. Wayne Noxa took over from there since he had been working very closely with the president on the V-chip. Noxa had been appointed the Vice President in Obama’s eighth year and it was rumored that with the V-chip’s completion, he had ordered the murder of Obama. In either case, he quickly followed through with the plans to merge the continent and soon the world. The United States government that existed before the merging was still on top. The same group of people, Noxa at the head, and a few others from Europe were all that made up the World Council. The rest of the other Old World leaders were either murdered, forced into slavery or, depending on their willingness to cooperate, were given a humble job on New Earth with a modest salary and a willingness to forget the life they had.

The WG had only existed for about ten months before they began The War. They chose to call it “The War” because they saw need for only one more war to purify the human race, then it would be history. But The War lasted longer than they had hoped, just as almost every other war the United States had ever been involved in. Only this time, it was truly global, and nobody was safe unless, of course, you were a “Good Citizen” and got tagged with the chip.

The “Good Citizens” were granted entrance to the cities that were not destroyed in The War and the gates were locked and guarded by night to keep out the “Animals.” The problem was that every security gate had a scanner on it that had to scan the chip of each traveler before opening. Nobody without it could get in so the “Animals” were forced to hide and survive off of the land.

Deon, Ethan and Maggot had made their way toward L.A. from Indiana with hopes of finding refuge. On the way they picked up a few more people, including Kimi and Gary. Once they had made it to L.A. they settled in the landfills for almost a month. A nearby raid forced them to relocate to the city. Unfortunately, The Great Fire removed all that existed in Old L.A. The WG came in and burned everything to the ground by napalm. Thousands, maybe millions died and the fire lasted for what felt like years. That was almost eight years ago. And now here they were, still trying to find a home away from those pushy political dickheads.

A quick observation revealed that government would always be the same, no matter what. Even old governments had corruption, and even though this new one claimed to purify New Earth, it was just as twisted and fucked as the rest. The people with power would always step on those with none, those with money would always keep it from those without. It was a vicious cycle and no matter how you tried to fix it you lost.

Deon had come to accept these things but he wasn’t sure if everyone else had quite yet. Life seemed to overwhelm everyone else to a greater extent than it did him. Maybe he was burying it deep so that it didn’t show, but he didn’t feel bottled up, just direct resentment for those who ruined and continue to ruin the planet.

“Yeah yeah, I lived in California for a while just checking out the scene but it’s not as crazy here as it is out in-“

“You never lived in California dumb ass, you’re too lazy to walk to the bathroom to take a shit. How would you have the energy to move out here? You got here at the same time as the rest of us” Maggot interjected, leaving Ethan as red and embarrassed as humanly possible.

“Well, before we met… I mean, well ok ‘lived’ may be an exaggeration but-“
“You’ve never been here before now retard,” and Maggot killed Ethan’s up-talk.

Everybody looked confused at each other as Ethan looked at the ground, ears glowing. Finally, Deon thought of something.
“Do you guys remember the poster we saw on the side of the World Police van a few months ago? The one that said ‘THE END IS NEAR’?”
“I do, I remember it,” said Kimi, looking to see if April was impressed.
“What do you think it meant?” asked Maggot.
“I don’t know,” as Deon spoke he couldn’t help but almost hope it meant the end of New Earth, even if it meant the end of the entire planet.

“Well anyway ya’ll, let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow we’ve got to keep digging deeper through this place,” and in lieu of the day’s events everybody took April’s advice, even Kimi. But not before kissing Deon in front of her and smiling as they walked toward their sleeping area.

As Deon drifted off to sleep he could’ve swore he heard Ted, the big guy with the eye patch, tell Judd, the scrawny one that they would also be picking up another new addition to their group tomorrow. His name is David-

It was warm and breezy outside as the mid-spring sun looked out over the hills that stretched along the coastline. The breeze flowed smoothly through the sand on the beach, even causing the few trees nearby to sway softly, creating an almost unrealistic portrait against the sunset backdrop across the ocean. There was no need to move, no need to think.

Description
It was warm and breezy outside as the mid-spring sun looked out over the hills that stretched along the coastline. The breeze flowed smoothly through the sand on the beach, even causing the few trees nearby to sway softly, creating an almost unrealistic portrait against the sunset backdrop across the ocean. There was no need to move, no need to think. This moment was so beautiful that if it lasted forever, frozen in time that would be just fine. The birds flying all around sang in unison as the waves provided music as though it were all an opera performance. The voice of the wind spoke gently as it passed through his ears. It whispered, “Wake up, wake up.” He only smiled as the sound of the waves grew louder. He thought about how great the world was, no war, no disease- “Wake up, wake up,” and the waves grew louder- no government, no segregation, no politics or politicians. There was no hate, no poverty, no undereducated districts. Everything was equal, fair- “Wake up, wake up,” the waves again crashing louder and louder, “Wake up, wake up,” this time the waves were close, “Wake up, wake up,” he could feel the waves washing over him as the wind seemed to scream “Wake up, wake up,” and the wave landed with the force of a hurricane-

“Wake up, dude wake up! Wake up god damn it!” said a familiar, frantic voice. As he rolled over, Deon realized that he was no longer on the beach. Then the situation hit him.
“Shit!” he yelled as he shot up from the concrete sewer floor almost banging his head on a nearby, low-lying pipe. Everyone was running frantically as they tried to escape. It was dimly lit and hard to see anything in this moist and diluted underground prison they had called home for the past two weeks. Deon tried to focus his sight as a voice screamed,

“What should we do?”

“Run for the hills!” he replied almost as if he had been waiting to say it forever. “Split up and meet there, there’s no way they can catch us if they all have to separate.”

And they were off. Eleven people running in eleven different directions, which proved a little more awkward and difficult than when you just had four people. There were at least five escape routes from the sewer that they had found when they first arrived here in the underground. So even if they split up, there would be at least two people at each of the four exits and the fifth would have to liberate three. Luckily, they had practiced this strategy three days in a row to ensure that they didn’t have any problems.

Everyone seemed to find their partner instantly and not too soon, the main entrance was forced open and filled the sewer halls with blinding lights and shouts to stop and comply. Nobody stopped.

Deon had decided that as the elected leader of the group he would be responsible for the party that housed three fugitives as they would surely be the first target since there were more of them. He found his partners, his girlfriend Kimi and her friend Rachel and they sprinted for their exit. Theirs was also the furthest away from the main entrance so it would take more time to escape. He led them through the watery, decaying landscape of filth toward freedom. He turned to make sure they were keeping up when he noticed a
flashlight pointing in their direction.

The voice behind the light shouted “Stop criminals! You are to lie down and turn yourselves over to us. We will open fire if you do not comply.” As he stepped closer Deon noticed that the officer was alone for the time being. He nodded to the girls to comply with the officer. They lay down as Deon slowly walked toward the light. “Stop! Do not come any closer scum!” bellowed the officer.

Deon had to make a quick move and as he raised his arm to shield his eyes said “How about you take that fucking light out of my eyes and we can have a little talk here. I’m sure we can work something out. I have a lot of knowledge and I’m sure you’d like to get a promotion. Getting it this way is much easier than sucking it out of Wayne Noxa’s cock, right?”

The officer took a moment to think about the offer, “What information do you possess that would help me?”

Deon couldn’t help but smile, this pig was already his. “Well I know the locations of several Survivor Safe houses, not to mention the fact that aside from these two lovely ladies here, I’m the only person who saw you get taken out from behind.”

The officer mumbled “Wha-?” as he turned around to see what Deon was talking about. There was nothing. He didn’t even have time to turn back around before Deon snapped his neck and was on his way again. “Come on!” he commanded as the girls got to their feet.

They were almost to the exit, just a few more turns in the sewer depths. Deon could see the door now as they splashed through what he hoped was just water and seaweed. It was a makeshift exit that whoever had lived here previously had dug out into the side of a hill. They had to climb a mountain of garbage to reach so it they had to be quick. Deon was almost halfway up when he heard a scream from below.

As he turned he saw three flashlights surrounding one of the girls, then he noticed that Kimi was only a few feet behind him. It was Rachel, but there was nothing he could do now, they already had her and there were too many of them to fight off. Kimi screamed, “No!” as they restrained her friend and she tried to turn back. Deon grabbed her and told her it was too late. He pushed the door open as the two extra officers began their ascent to chase them. He pulled Kimi out then closed the door. Thankfully, he had prepared for the chase and he and Kimi pushed a giant refrigerator they had found in the ruins outside of the sewer over the doorway.

She kissed him briefly, crying, but he cut it short saying, “We still have to hurry, there could be more, there could be air support, we need to get to the hillside bunker.” She tried to argue for Rachel but she knew when to shut up. It was a lost cause and they had all agreed on the procedure.

They could’ve gotten there faster if the direct route wasn’t out in the open. They had to stick to traveling through the cluttered ruins of old Los Angeles. It used to be a nice city. Well, it was never a nice city, but it was better than this before The War and The Great Fire. Well ok, maybe L.A. needed this catharsis, but at least the pre-War scenery was innocent. Now it just rained all the time. Deon couldn’t remember the last time there was a nice, sunny day. Maybe the constant rain meant something.

They moved quickly through the piles of rubble that used to be houses, hospitals, banks and churches, though truthfully Deon could care less about the latter. It was easy to stay hidden in such an environment. The World Government would probably never clean this mess up, and it was their fault it was like this in the first place.

They had arrived at the perimeter of the bunker. The bad part was that the only entrance was at the front, where it was open space. They had to hope that nobody saw them while they made their way around. As they got closer to the entrance they could see down over the old city which never seemed to stop smoldering.

They could see, just barely, the flashing lights from the police vehicles at the sewer opening down the hill and across the deserted wasteland. The air outside resembled that of a bonfire that had been laced with poison ivy. The sky itself was a portrait of the pale, clouded aftermath of The Great Fire. The stale scent of smoke and poison was too much for them after being forced to hide for years without natural air or light.

Deon and Kimi arrived at the entrance and were instantly greeted by Ethan and Maggot. Their two man group had made it back first. Deon and Kimi told them what happened to Rachel. After about two hours only one other person had made it back. It was a bad sign. They had lost six people in the raid and now there were only five of them.
“What do we do now?” asked Kimi. “Let’s keep walking through the bunker and see if there is anyone living here. We can figure everything else out after that.”

They treaded carefully through the deserted halls of the old testing facility. It was once actually a secret underground passage that linked to Area 51. The bunker was discovered by the public during The War. It was how the World Government had surprise attacked the city and started The Great Fire almost eight years ago. The bunker was a massive underground facility that was completely hidden beneath the hills. Nobody knew how long it had been there before The War.

“I’ m hungry, when are we going to eat?” whined Kimi.

“After we search our nearby surroundings we can find food. I don’t know of a drop zone close to here so we’ll have to hope that we can find enough natural life for the time being.” He paused while looking at her then said, “Unless you have a better idea?” Deon was getting tired of playing babysitter to his girlfriend. She was three years older than him for Christ’s sake. She was definitely a good looking girl, and she was absolutely insane in bed but there weren’t many opportunities for that out here, they all had to stick together. So, needless to say he was on a short fuse with her.

She shook her head in embarrassment and they continued walking. Deon led, Ethan and Maggot flanked the left and right sides of the group, Kimi walked in the middle and Gary-The-Old-Man, as they called him, brought up the rear.

Thank god there is only one female here, Deon thought as they walked along the echoey halls. He knew that Ethan and Maggot felt the same but they were being respectful to their friend by not saying so. And Gary didn’t give a shit, he was a crazy old bastard anyway.

They wandered around the deserted hallways for what felt like hours before they stumbled upon an open door. It was the first door they had found that was even unlocked, never mind open.

“Let’s check it out,” Deon said as he walked through the doorway.

It was an old chemistry lab. There were desks piled up against the right wall and stacks of books, papers and what looked and smelled like rotted animal carcasses on the left. There was another open doorway straight ahead of them at the back of the room.

“What the fuck is that smell?” Maggot inquired as they passed through.

“Dead monkey from the looks of it, and maybe a family of rabbits. The stale air down here must be slowing the decomposition,” and as he mentioned it Deon looked over at the pile. Intestines, liver, hearts and brains were scattered while the mutilated corpses lied motionless in one giant heap.

“Jesus Christ. Fucking assholes,” said Ethan as he passed the mound of rotting flesh.

“It’s like a Nazi burial for dead Jews in here,” said Gary in a humorous voice that tempted them to laugh. And they would’ve if they hadn’t heard the voices from beyond the next doorway.

“Shhh, everybody hide!” Deon whispered as they all found refuge under the piles of desks.

Two figures walked in, both carrying assault rifles.

“’Coulda swore I ‘eared somethin’ in ‘ere, mayba I’m jus’ losin’ mah damn mind,” said the taller of the two guys. He was definitely the most threatening of the two. He was bald and had scars all over his face and he wore an eye patch over his left eye.

“You think it was them Government pigs snoopin’ ‘round boss?” said the second guy. He was clearly the taller guy’s subordinate. He could hardly have weighed more than a hundred fifty pounds and looked, ironically, like a Holocaust victim. Though, truth be told, this was basically another Holocaust. Genocide was the way of the world and it had been ever since man had begun evolving. ‘Kill what you can’t control’ seemed to be man’s biggest mantra.

So they were against the World Government? This made them friends.

“Mayba, let’s take a look outside ‘ere ‘fore we go an’ ‘ssume we’re ‘lone in ‘ere.”

As they walked forward Deon stepped out and stumbled and fell behind a desk as he said “Hi there.”

Both men turned on the spot and fired in his direction.

“Woah woah, holy shit, stop shooting!” Deon screamed from behind his luckily placed shield.

“Step out nice ‘n slow like. Hands up where we’n see ‘em.”

Deon did as he was told. As he stood up both men’s guns followed his head.

“Who are you an’ wha’ the hell do ya want?” said the big guy.

“My name is Deon and my friends and I just wandered in here. Our base just got raided and we made our way here. It’s ok, we’re on your side.”

“You got raided and you came here? You led them right fucking to us you idiot!” said the scrawny one.

“No no, they didn’t follow us we ditched them in the sewers about a mile back. They got half of our crew but we made our way around in the ruins of The Old City. There’s no way they followed us.”

It was the big guy who spoke next “Where ‘re yer friends? Didn’ ya say ya was wit’ yer friends?”

“Yeah, they’re all under the desks here. We were searching the place before we settled and this is as far as we got.”

Ethan, Maggot, Kimi and Gary stepped out from behind there safe places. They all looked at Deon as if he had stabbed them in the back. He knew they thought he was crazy for revealing them but he had a good feeling about these guys and they needed friends right now.

“Ya’ll come wit’ us, we’ll take you to the basement. We got food and water and lots o’ space.”

They were led through the back door of the chemistry lab and turned the corner into another doorway that went downstairs. They followed the two guys to the bottom of the stairs and when they came to trap door in the floor, the scrawny one knocked three times, waited two seconds, then knocked two more times. The door opened up and they all climbed down the ladder.

As they reached the bottom of the ladder they could see the surrounding area. This must be the tunnel that connected to Area 51. It was a giant tunnel that was filled with all kinds of testing equipment, jars with who knows what floating around in them and, further down the tunnel, what appeared to be a makeshift set of cubicles that seemed to divide bedrooms.

“Hi there, who are you all?” said the cute little brunette that had unlocked the trap door latch.

All the guys stared at her, forgetting that she had even spoken. They all seemed to be lost for words. Finally, Kimi smacked Deon on the shoulder with a face that said “Stop looking at her.”

“Uh, I’m Deon, this is Ethan, Maggot and Gary…”
“Ahem.”
“Oh and this is Kimi.”
“His girlfriend,” said Kimi as bitterly as she could.
“Ok… well my name is April, nice to meet you,” she said in just a barely noticeable southern accent.

There was a mesmerized group chant of “You too” from the guys and a sarcastic “Uh huh” from Kimi.

“Come on, let me show you around,” she said as she turned and walked toward the cubicles.

After they had been shown around the basic perimeter of the underground camp they sat around a fire eating what had been collected from the hills. They were treated to a few rabbits, a squirrel and what was probably the carcass of a dog but nobody wanted to know badly enough to ask.

“So how long have you guys been hiding here?” Deon asked nobody in particular, being careful not to make eye contact with April for more than a second at a time.

Of course, April was the one to answer, “About four months now I think. After The War we all headed out here from Mississippi. We thought we’d found a stronghold here in Old L.A. but after The Great Fire we were forced to find another home. We wondered around the sewers and all kinds of caves and tunnels until we stumbled upon this place. Now it’s our home.”

Ethan inquired slyly about her past and where she had come from but Deon was now in his own world, thinking about The War and The Great Fire. It had been nearly ten years since the World Government had been created and of those ten years, there had been war for nine of them. This wasn’t any different than the original United States. The majority of its existence was war fueled and power driven.

It was a slow take over. First the United States merged with the entire North American continent. Then they merged with Europe as an allied governing body. After the American and European Unions had joined forces and overpowered the army-less African Union and disorganized Asian Union, there only remained the South American Union. They conceded before war even began. And why not? They would surely lose and the now World Government leaders had offered them a place of power within the WG. The whole affair was inspired and constructed by the greedy American minds that seek to own and control the world. Even the European Union didn’t see the reality behind the merger until it was too late.

Now Wayne Noxa was the head of the current regime, the World Government, or just WG as it was usually referenced and oversaw the actions of the World Council which dictated laws and liberties and pretty much everything in between. He was an evil, but genius, man who constructed and perfected what was originally known as the V-chip. Once it was perfected, he renamed it the Noxa-chip. This chip was how the WG controlled all of the “Good Citizens” of New Earth. It had WG satellite tracking and pinpoint accuracy. The chip was mandatory for all and it was necessary to function in modern society. It provided a scan-able identification code (which replaced the Social Security System) that could instantly identify the person in which it was embedded. Without it, you could not have access to your bank funds, personal information, family history or any other information that proved your existence and right to life. Each chip was registered with the WG and uploaded with all the necessary files and information. Without it, you were not a citizen of New Earth. As far as the WG were concerned, if you weren’t tagged, you weren’t human and were therefore trespassing on government property, which conveniently included water and land on the entire planet. At this point, you were an “alien” and were subject to cruel and unusual punishment if you were found. The WG approved raids of every inch of New Earth to find those who had not conformed to the new laws.

It all started with the United States presidential election of 2012. Three idiots were running for election, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney. How could it not mean the end of the world? Nobody believed in the protector of the constitution, Ron Paul. Democracy had become a warped idea instead of a way of life.

The election wasn’t even officially held, the first act of the second American Revolution saw to that. Gingrich, Santorum and Romney were all assassinated the day before the election and Obama took a second term. But with the realization that his life was now in as much danger as those ass clowns’, Obama began changing the structure of our government to better control the population.

At first it was small, simple changes but before long he had convinced Congress and the Supreme Court to eliminate the four year term rule. He ran the country for another six years before he was also assassinated. Wayne Noxa took over from there since he had been working very closely with the president on the V-chip. Noxa had been appointed the Vice President in Obama’s eighth year and it was rumored that with the V-chip’s completion, he had ordered the murder of Obama. In either case, he quickly followed through with the plans to merge the continent and soon the world. The United States government that existed before the merging was still on top. The same group of people, Noxa at the head, and a few others from Europe were all that made up the World Council. The rest of the other Old World leaders were either murdered, forced into slavery or, depending on their willingness to cooperate, were given a humble job on New Earth with a modest salary and a willingness to forget the life they had.

The WG had only existed for about ten months before they began The War. They chose to call it “The War” because they saw need for only one more war to purify the human race, then it would be history. But The War lasted longer than they had hoped, just as almost every other war the United States had ever been involved in. Only this time, it was truly global, and nobody was safe unless, of course, you were a “Good Citizen” and got tagged with the chip.

The “Good Citizens” were granted entrance to the cities that were not destroyed in The War and the gates were locked and guarded by night to keep out the “Animals.” The problem was that every security gate had a scanner on it that had to scan the chip of each traveler before opening. Nobody without it could get in so the “Animals” were forced to hide and survive off of the land.

Deon, Ethan and Maggot had made their way toward L.A. from Indiana with hopes of finding refuge. On the way they picked up a few more people, including Kimi and Gary. Once they had made it to L.A. they settled in the landfills for almost a month. A nearby raid forced them to relocate to the city. Unfortunately, The Great Fire removed all that existed in Old L.A. The WG came in and burned everything to the ground by napalm. Thousands, maybe millions died and the fire lasted for what felt like years. That was almost eight years ago. And now here they were, still trying to find a home away from those pushy political dickheads.

A quick observation revealed that government would always be the same, no matter what. Even old governments had corruption, and even though this new one claimed to purify New Earth, it was just as twisted and fucked as the rest. The people with power would always step on those with none, those with money would always keep it from those without. It was a vicious cycle and no matter how you tried to fix it you lost.

Deon had come to accept these things but he wasn’t sure if everyone else had quite yet. Life seemed to overwhelm everyone else to a greater extent than it did him. Maybe he was burying it deep so that it didn’t show, but he didn’t feel bottled up, just direct resentment for those who ruined and continue to ruin the planet.

“Yeah yeah, I lived in California for a while just checking out the scene but it’s not as crazy here as it is out in-“

“You never lived in California dumb ass, you’re too lazy to walk to the bathroom to take a shit. How would you have the energy to move out here? You got here at the same time as the rest of us” Maggot interjected, leaving Ethan as red and embarrassed as humanly possible.

“Well, before we met… I mean, well ok ‘lived’ may be an exaggeration but-“
“You’ve never been here before now retard,” and Maggot killed Ethan’s up-talk.

Everybody looked confused at each other as Ethan looked at the ground, ears glowing. Finally, Deon thought of something.
“Do you guys remember the poster we saw on the side of the World Police van a few months ago? The one that said ‘THE END IS NEAR’?”
“I do, I remember it,” said Kimi, looking to see if April was impressed.
“What do you think it meant?” asked Maggot.
“I don’t know,” as Deon spoke he couldn’t help but almost hope it meant the end of New Earth, even if it meant the end of the entire planet.

“Well anyway ya’ll, let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow we’ve got to keep digging deeper through this place,” and in lieu of the day’s events everybody took April’s advice, even Kimi. But not before kissing Deon in front of her and smiling as they walked toward their sleeping area.

As Deon drifted off to sleep he could’ve swore he heard Ted, the big guy with the eye patch, tell Judd, the scrawny one that they would also be picking up another new addition to their group tomorrow. His name is David-

It was warm and breezy outside as the mid-spring sun looked out over the hills that stretched along the coastline. The breeze flowed smoothly through the sand on the beach, even causing the few trees nearby to sway softly, creating an almost unrealistic portrait against the sunset backdrop across the ocean. There was no need to move, no need to think.