The rest of the day goes by without much else happening. Neither Allison nor Olivia are in any of your other classes, and you don't seem to run into either of them. You walk home with Ian, and spend the rest of the day lounging around your home. You're beginning to feel like you've fallen into your old routine from back in the day.

The next morning, Ian arrives at your door, as per usual, except this time he doesn't seem to have his backpack.

"Yo, Jacob."

He says while standing at the end of your walkway.

"Hey Ian, where's your backpack?"

You ask while walking towards him, a bit confused.

"Ah, well about that, I was thinking we'd do something a little more interesting than school today."

He replies.

"Such as?"

"Well...you'll see when we get there."

He says with a bit of a laugh.

"It'll be fun man, just hide your bag somewhere first, we won't need it for where we're going."

He adds. If you remember right, skipping school so haphazardly wasn't something Ian often suggested. In fact, if you recall correctly, you were usually the one suggesting it and he was the one rejecting the idea. This makes you really wonder what he has in mind for the day. You stand there and consider if you really want to go or not. After all, if you go you'd be missing school, and you guess that would also mean you miss a chance to see Olivia or Allison.

"You won't give any hints about what we're gonna do?"

You ask, hopeful.

"Not a single one."

Ian replies smiling.
> You go to school instead
Thinking it over, you decide it's better if you don't miss school today. You'd miss your chance to talk to Olivia or Allison if you did after all.

"Sorry, I think I'll just go to school, Ian. See ya."

You say, walking onwards without him.

"Alright then, your loss man. Later."

Ian replies with shrug and a wave. He then turns and goes his own way. The walk to school is uneventful, and surprisingly when you arrive you find that Allison isn't there in your first class. Olivia is there as per normal, and she seems to ignore your presence, although you occasionally catch her glancing at you. The class itself is boring, and you start to regret not skipping it with Ian. However, once it ends and you finally have spare time, you jump up and approach the teacher.

"Hey, um, Mr..."

You begin, however the realization hits you that you don't actually know his name, so you quickly just ask your question.

"Why isn't Allison at school today?"

Your teacher looks at you confused.

"Allison?"

He asks. A brief moment of panic comes over you where you think you may have imagined her entirely. Then the teacher begins to speak again.

"Ah, the new girl that joined us yesterday..."

He says. Internally you breathe a sigh of relief, happy to know you haven't gone insane.

"Yes, it appears she is absent today. Strange, she only just started yesterday..."

He continues. You thank him and quickly exit the room. In the hall, you can see Olivia making her way towards the cafeteria.
> You look for Allison
More concerned about where Allison could be than school, you decide to look for her. With that in mind, you really have no idea as to where she could be. Your initial search is just around your high school, in the usual spots you might expect to find someone. The library, cafeteria, gym, courtyard, and the outside field all turn up nothing. If nothing else, it's clear that she's not at school. Undeterred, you decide this is a good time to skip school to continue your search.

You find yourself aimlessly walking around town in search of a girl you hardly even know. Sometime during your search, you find yourself wondering why you care so much about finding her. Do you intuitively know something is wrong and must find her? No, that can't be right, you don't think anything in particular is wrong with the situation. You were about to skip school yourself today, so it's not that big a deal that Allison would skip.

Then, maybe you're just drawn to her? She is an odd one after all, so it's only natural you'd be curious about her. There's also the matter of her probably knowing more than she lets on. Maybe she even knows about your current predicament...

"For the love long since lost, the old friend forgotten, the new one neglected, the sister he could never see, and the brother he could never be."

Were the words she said to you when you first approached her. You hadn't really considered any real deep meaning to them, but considering your circumstances, it probably has to do with you. Then, which are you, and for that matter, who is she? Does she actually know that you went back in time, or is this simply a large coincidence? You shake your head a bit. It's probably better if you just ask her again what she meant by all of that when you find her.

As your mind was wandering, your feet were still moving. You now find yourself outside of your sister's private high school, oddly enough. You guess it's about time school was over, as students seem to be exiting the school in an orderly fashion. That would mean that you spent three hours looking for Allison with no results. You sigh to yourself, although not finding her really should have been expected.

You're about to leave the grounds when you notice your sister walk out. Tina exits the front doors of school looking rather nervous, a normal sight with her it would seem. Thinking you should probably head home now, you turn to leave, when you notice a group of students approach her.
> You watch what happens
You stand on the other side of the gated fence and watch as the group approaches your sister. From this distance you can't hear what they're saying, but you should be able to tell the general mood. Tina isn't really a social type, and when she's put into social situation she tends to just try and hide, which is why a group of students talking to her sparks your interests. The group consists of three girls and four guys, all dressed the uniform of the private school. They speak to her for a few minutes, during which time your sister attempts to cower back into the school. Eventually, one of the girls walk right up to your sister and push her to the ground.

A chill goes down your spine as you wonder who the hell these people are. You don't remember your sister being bullied in her high school, so why is this happening? Immediately after pushing her to the ground, the group leaves the school. You watch as they pass you by the front gate, but decide it's best not to confront them for the time being. Shortly after, you see Tina timidly walk by. She turns and notices you standing by the front gate, a mixture of fear and confusion in her eyes.

"Why...are you here?"

She asks. You pause to think for a moment, and just as you're about to say something, your mother pulls up beside the two of you.

"Tina, who is...wait, Jacob? What are you doing here?"

She asks, repeating Tina's question. Not wanting to admit you skipped the later half of classes to search for a girl you barely know, you lie.

"I just decided to pick up Tina is all."

You say. Your mother looks at you skeptically, but tells you and your sister to get in anyway. On the drive back, she reminds you that you need to wake up early to bring Tina to school tomorrow, since she works all day Saturday. You groan in response, but otherwise say nothing, and the rest of the night passes by without anything happening.
> You wake up early
Remembering your mother's words, you quickly spring to life early in the morning, and prepare to take your sister to school. Though, all that really involves is you walking a few blocks with her. Although you should have your license at this age (and after a quick check you confirm you do), your mother has the only vehicle, so driving your sister is out of the question. After getting ready you exit your door to find Tina standing there, her fist seemingly prepared to knock. An awkward moment of silence follows as you look at her, contemplating why you two never talk in the future.

"We...have to go soon."

She manages to say, looking down at the ground to avoid eye contact. Why the hell does it seem like she's afraid? It annoys you, but you try to ignore it. Your own sister, afraid of you.

"Yeah, let's go."

You say, walking past her and towards the door. Come to think of it, you moved around a few times while you were a child, and a good portion of it was due to her. Even though Ian is your best friend, now and in the future, you had only become friends with him a year ago at this point in time. You had lived here before, years ago when you were a child, but you had to moved because of your father's work. You moved back eventually, but it was only due to Tina getting accepted into the private school she's currently attending.

Finally ready, the two of you exit the house and begin the walk towards her school. It's done mainly in silence, and as you get closer to the school, she seems to unconsciously move closer to you, distancing herself again whenever you notice. It always annoyed you how quiet and shy she seemed to be. Once at the school's large and elegant gates, you stop.

"There, have fun at school."

You say, as you begin to walk away.

"U-um..."

You hear a small voice say behind you as you go to walk.

"Can you pick me up after...after school...?"

You hear your sister request. Turning to her you sigh.

"Why?"

You ask in an obviously annoyed tone. Tina nervously moves back as she clutches her bag.

"Just because..."

You remember how yesterday you saw her get bullied by that group of students. Maybe that has something to do with why she wants to be picked up...


Thinking it over, you decide it's better if you don't miss school today. You'd miss your chance to talk to Olivia or Allison if you did after all.

"Sorry, I think I'll just go to school, Ian. See ya."

You say, walking onwards without him.

"Alright then, your loss man. Later."

Ian replies with shrug and a wave. He then turns and goes his own way. The walk to school is uneventful, and surprisingly when you arrive you find that Allison isn't there in your first class. Olivia is there as per normal, and she seems to ignore your presence, although you occasionally catch her glancing at you. The class itself is boring, and you start to regret not skipping it with Ian. However, once it ends and you finally have spare time, you jump up and approach the teacher.

"Hey, um, Mr..."

You begin, however the realization hits you that you don't actually know his name, so you quickly just ask your question.

"Why isn't Allison at school today?"

Your teacher looks at you confused.

"Allison?"

He asks. A brief moment of panic comes over you where you think you may have imagined her entirely. Then the teacher begins to speak again.

"Ah, the new girl that joined us yesterday..."

He says. Internally you breathe a sigh of relief, happy to know you haven't gone insane.

"Yes, it appears she is absent today. Strange, she only just started yesterday..."

He continues. You thank him and quickly exit the room. In the hall, you can see Olivia making her way towards the cafeteria.
> You catch up to Olivia
You briskly walk down the hall and catch up with Olivia. As you do, you recall that the last time the two of you talked, she was rather hostile with you.

"Hey Olivia, listen, I'm sorry if I offended you or something."

You say, attempting to mend whatever you broke earlier.

"Can't we just start fresh? Forget whatever I did to make you angry?

You ask hopeful, extending your hand to her. She glances at it, then at you, and sighs.

"Sure, why not. Forgetting things seems to be a pattern for us anyway."

Olivia replies, shaking your hand gently. You smile in response, though her off-hand sarcastic remark confuses you slightly.

"So, where are you headed off to?"

You ask.

"To the lunchroom, it's lunch time after all."

Olivia responds, rather impassively.

"Fair enough, so, mind if I sit with you?"

You ask, hoping you can maybe find out more about her. You're starting to think that your feeling that you knew her was off, but you still want to make sure. She glares at you as the two of you enter the lunchroom.

"You remember I said I had a boyfriend, right?"

She asks.

"Of course."

You say, not dissuaded in the slightest.

"Then fine, we can sit together."

You smile, relieved that she agrees to sitting together. As you approach your seats, you think over what you should talk to her about.
> You ask about her past
At this point you decide you shouldn't pry into her love life, so you ask her about her past. You pose the question, and she looks at you with a hostile expression that leads you to believe you may be entering a risky topic.

"My past? Why do you care?"

She asks.

"Just curious is all. I can tell you about my past first if that helps..."

You reply defensively. Olivia stares at you angrily, which you take to mean you better start talking.

"A-alright then. Well, I grew up in this city until I was about...let's see now, twelve I think. Then my sister got accepted into some fancy private school, and we had to move about an hour away. I still remember that we had to pick up and pack in like a day with no real notice. While in this other city my father...passed away."

You say, remembering him. Your father was by no stretch the greatest father ever, but he was able to pay you attention from time to time and had no large faults, so you have fond memories of him. Olivia's expression gets a bit softer, probably because she feels bad that she had you bring up a sad topic. You continue on as normal.

"Then my sister got accepted into another private school, that private high school in this town. So, we moved back here after being gone for six years. Once I came back I met Ian, though I haven't seen any of my old friends..."

You finish, remembering that you did have some friends that you left behind originally, but you never did find them. Come to think of it, with how fast you left you're not even sure if you had to say goodbye to them to begin with. Olivia looks at you, seeming like she wants to say something.

"I see..."

Is all she manages to say thought. You're not sure why, but it seems like the topic has gotten her a tad depressed. She packs up her lunch and stands.

"I have to go now...talk to you later."

She says. You give her a wave goodbye, but feel a bit disappointed she didn't talk about herself at all. You sigh and exit the cafeteria, deciding to try asking her about her past some other time. The rest of the day goes by without much happening, and when you arrive home nothing exciting happens either. The night passes and you lay in your bed, staring at your alarm clock, quite pleased that tomorrow is a Saturday.


You briskly walk down the hall and catch up with Olivia. As you do, you recall that the last time the two of you talked, she was rather hostile with you.

"Hey Olivia, listen, I'm sorry if I offended you or something."

You say, attempting to mend whatever you broke earlier.

"Can't we just start fresh? Forget whatever I did to make you angry?

You ask hopeful, extending your hand to her. She glances at it, then at you, and sighs.

"Sure, why not. Forgetting things seems to be a pattern for us anyway."

Olivia replies, shaking your hand gently. You smile in response, though her off-hand sarcastic remark confuses you slightly.

"So, where are you headed off to?"

You ask.

"To the lunchroom, it's lunch time after all."

Olivia responds, rather impassively.

"Fair enough, so, mind if I sit with you?"

You ask, hoping you can maybe find out more about her. You're starting to think that your feeling that you knew her was off, but you still want to make sure. She glares at you as the two of you enter the lunchroom.

"You remember I said I had a boyfriend, right?"

She asks.

"Of course."

You say, not dissuaded in the slightest.

"Then fine, we can sit together."

You smile, relieved that she agrees to sitting together. As you approach your seats, you think over what you should talk to her about.
> You ask about her boyfriend
Olivia seems pretty intent on letting everyone know that she has a boyfriend, so maybe that'd be a good place to start. The two of you sit down and take your lunches out.

"So, tell me about this boyfriend of yours. You must really like him if you keep mentioning him."

You say as you pull out some food. Olivia seems rather surprised that you would ask her such a question, but doesn't seem reluctant to answer.

"Why are you interested in Brent?"

She asks. You shrug in response. It's not that you're interested in him, you just need some sort of starting ground with her.

"So, I take it Brent is his name then?"

You ask, sidestepping her question.

"Well, it is, but you didn't answer me."

She replies. It seems she's pretty aware of these kinds of things, in contrast with her aloof manner.

"I was just wondering what kind of guy you liked is all."

You reply. Though, you instantly realize that could be taken in a different way than you had intended. Olivia looks at you with the same passive face she usually makes, before eating some more of her food. If she noticed that what you said could be interpreted as you liking her, she isn't showing it.

"I'll give you the typical girl response. He's handsome, tall, strong, and he actually asked me out."

She says. You question if him asking her out is a quality a girl would typically give, but roll with it.

"So he's not smart then?"

You ask with a laugh.

"No, though that seems to be a common issue with guys."

She responds with a glare. If you didn't know better, you'd think she's implying you're an idiot. Thinking you need to divert attention away from yourself, you decide to change the topic.

"Yeah haha, Ian's a pretty smart guy though isn't he?"

You say. Olivia looks away from you.

"He is, unlike some guys I know."

She responds, standing up.

"I need to go now."

She continues, hurriedly picking up her things and walking away.

"Alright, seeya later Olivia."

You say as she walks away. She briefly pauses her walk to give you a small wave, before leaving the cafeteria. You don't really know if you can really consider this a success in learning more about her, but at least she's a bit more familiar with you now....you think.

The rest of the day goes by without much happening, and when you arrive home nothing exciting happens either. The night passes and you lay in your bed, staring at your alarm clock, quite pleased that tomorrow is a Saturday.


You chase Allison into the lunch room and grab her hand as you catch up, stopping her from running. She turns to you and gives an exaggerated sad expression.

"Well, ya caught me, now what?"

She asks. You look into her eyes for a minute, and decide to try something.

"You're lying."

You replying accusingly.

"I'm what now?"

"Lying. You know who I am. No one acts that friendly to someone they just met, and what you just said before sounds like it has some deeper meaning to it."

You say. Allison looks down to her hand, which you immediately let go of, then she glances around the room. Finally she sighs.

"You caught me. I know you. But the more important thing here, isn't what I know, but what you know. So, what do you know of me, Jacob?"

Allison replies, revealing that your guess was right. Unfortunately, you don't actually know anything about her. The closest you have to a memory of her is your dream, and even if she does actually know you, that'd be a rather odd thing to bring up. Then again, she seems like a rather odd person anyway.

"How do you know me?"

You ask, trying to ignore her question. She pouts and takes a step back.

"Beep beep, wrong answer. Should I take this to mean you don't know anything about me?"

She asks.
> You admit you know nothing about her
You sigh and nod.

"Yeah, sorry. I don't really know you."

You reply. Unexpectedly, she smiles and nods in response.

"Well, that's to be expected. We only just met after all. Maybe we'll get to know each other better in the future."

Allison says, waving and walking away. You give her a short wave back and then decide to have something for lunch, and to maybe find Ian. After a short search through the cafeteria, you find Ian sitting with a girl, with long black hair, brown eyes, and dressed in a goth outfit. Oddly enough, you recognize her as Olivia, the girl you were talking with in detention yesterday. Noticing you, Ian waves you over to their table.

"Hey man, this here is Olivia."

He says, motioning to Olivia.

"We're both in the chess club together it seems, so I figured I should hang out with her a bit to get to know her better."

Olivia looks at you with a mild expression of surprise while Ian speaks, before scoffing at his remark.

"I have a boyfriend you know."

She states, apparently thinking Ian has an ulterior motive.

"Ah, well of course you do. A cute girl like you is quite the catch."

Ian replies, although you can sense he didn't really expect her to have one. Olivia blushes slightly, but it's unnoticed by Ian.

"That's right, I had forgotten you were in the chess club Ian."

You say, finally sitting down.

"Yep, I'm the best damn chess-inator there is!"

He replies while puffing out his chest with an odd sense of pride. However you don't really doubt he's the best there, as he's always been incredibly smart. You gaze wanders to Olivia, who notices and speaks.

"Just cause I look this way doesn't mean I'm stupid. Girls can be smart too you know."

She says harshly to you, apparently thinking you were judging her ability to play chess based on her goth outfit. You quickly shake your head in response.

"I, wait, I never said you couldn't."

You reply defensively. She turns her head away from you, almost in disgust. Ian looks at the two of you confused.

"Am I missing something here? Do you two got some history or something?"

"No, of course not. We just met yesterday after all. Didn't we Jacob?"

Olivia replies angrily, even more upset now. You go to answer but she quickly speaks again.

"I need to go."

She announces, quickly standing from the table and walking away. The two of you watch as she leaves.Ian shrugs as you turn to him.

"Girls man. Confusing as hell, right?"

He says before taking a drink of his milk in front of him. You nod, but can't help but think there was something more to what Olivia said.


Suddenly, as you reach the front entrance of the school, you remember you have detention. You sigh, not thrilled at the prospect of having to spend the next hour sitting in a class to make up for something you didn't even do intentionally. Ian approaches you from behind and then reaches your side, looking at your face as he does.

"We going?"

"Sorry, I was late for my first class. I got detention..."

He frowns, though he doesn't seem that shocked.

"Alright man, I told you to hurry there though."

"Yeah I know...Where is detention by the way?"

"Er, Room 225..."

Ian replies, confused that you don't seem to know something that obvious. He looks like he's about to address the issue, but you quickly thank him and head towards room 225, leaving him behind.

Sure enough, it's the correct room for detention. An older woman you don't recognize at all sits at the front of the room. She looks up from her book in time to give you a quick glance, then returns to reading. You put your bag at the side of the room and take a seat away from most of the other delinquents already in the room, not wanting to associate yourself with them. You're only here because you've gone back in time after all, you're not like them.

As the minutes pass, you find yourself looking around the room for anything of interest, and quickly spot something, or rather someone. The gothic girl from your first class is also in the room, staring out the window and paying no attention at all to the others in the class. She's only two chairs over from you, and with no one between you and everyone else in the class already occupied, you figure you can use this time to talk to her. If you actually want to that is. It is detention after all, so if you're caught you'd likely be punished.
> You do nothing
You decide against trying to talk to the gothic girl. You could get in even more trouble after all, and you probably don't even know her. Detention passes by slowly, but eventually you're dismissed. Ian is already long gone by the time you return to the front lobby, so you go back home alone.

Along the way you try to retrace your steps from this morning, and although you go down a wrong alley or two, you eventually make it home. Of course, your mother is noticeably upset you are hours late from school.

"So Jacob. Mind explaining why you have come home at such at late hour?"

Your mother asks impatiently as you enter the house, two hours after you should have been home.

"I...err...sort of had detention."

You reply.

"What for?"

"I was late for my first class...."

Your mother seems annoyed, but doesn't push the matter too much further.

"Honestly Jacob, you won't ever succeed in life if you don't take things seriously. Even if you dislike school, being tardy is no excuse."

She says in a rather condescending manner. You nod your head in agreement and rush up the stairs seeing as she is finished scolding you. The rest of the day passes by with nothing of interest really happening. At the end of the day, you go to sleep and wonder if you'll wake up back in the future.


Although you roughly knew how to get to the school on your own, you have no idea what class you have. You follow Ian in hopes that you have the same first class together. Once at the classroom door Ian turns to you with a puzzled look.

“Aren’t you going to class?”

“Uh, yea...right...”

“You’re acting pretty weird today man.”

“Yea well...today’s a pretty weird day for me.”

Ian seems even more confused now, but decides to drop it and heads to his seat once he hears the warning bell. You walk down the hallway a little further before opening up your bag in hopes of finding some sort of clue telling you where you’re supposed to be. Inside you find various notebooks and textbooks, but nothing concerning your schedule. You sigh and notice the hallway is now completely empty.

The final bell which marks the start of class should be ringing any minute and you have no idea where you’re supposed to be. Unsure of what to do, you decide to sprint down the hallway and look for whatever seems familiar. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) you find two room numbers across from each other which seem somewhat familiar: Room 134 and Room 135. You’ll have to guess which is the right room.
> You room 135
You enter room 135 and quickly survey its contents. The room is filled with other students which you would assume are in the same grade as you. Some of those in the class give you a quick glance, before returning their attention to the teacher. The teacher himself, a middle-aged man with a short beard, whom seems fairly familiar, looks up from his desk as you slowly enter through the doorway. He says nothing, but his reaction to you gives you the impression he knows you and that it's normal for you to be here.

Taking that as your cue, you look for any sort of empty seat, and sit in one right as the bell rings. The teacher then stands up and approaches the chalk board behind him.

"Alright class, it's time to review what we learned yesterday...."

He begins, but you quickly lose interest in what he's teaching and look around the room in search for some familiarity. Not that you can really be blamed for not paying attention, as you've listened to all this before anyway. That is, assuming you really have gone back in time, and this isn't all some weird dream.

You sigh softly, thoroughly confused at your current situation. Eventually, you spot a girl in the corner of the room that you seem to recognize. Or, rather than recognize, you should say you feel like you know her, for some reason or another. No name comes to mind, nor any memories involving her, but for some reason you still think she's someone you know.

Long, black hair, with brown eyes, and a slim figure. What's most noticeable about her though, is her gothic outfit of all black, complete with a spiked dog collar, and black painted finger nails. Looking at her closer, you determine that her black hair is probably dyed, your guess being her originally hair colour is a light brown. You brood over how you may know her, and your predicament as a whole, until the class finally ends. As the goth girl leaves she seems to ignore you completely. Maybe you don't know her?


“Jacob, wake up it’s time for school!”

You hear a familiar voice yell to you, and you groggily wake up in response.

What a strange dream...

You try and remember the girl from your dream, but can’t figure out who she was. The classroom was probably from your high school, but as far as you can remember that girl was never in any of your classes. You shrug and proceed to get up. After all, high school was years ago, it wouldn’t be unusual for you to forget a few people in that time.

Once fully awake, the reality that you live alone dawns on you; there should be no one yelling for you to wake up. Then another thought occurs, you don’t go to school anymore either. Confused, you stand up and walk over to your dresser, which seems different from usual. Opening your drawers you notice your clothes seem different as well. Now even more confused, you get dressed and exit your room to find some answers. Outside your door you find your younger sister standing in front of you, in the uniform that she wore during high school. That is to say, while she has the same face, green eyes, and short brown hair as your sister, she looks considerably younger than she should.

“Mom says wake up.” She states quietly, then turns to walk away.

“Um, Tina?” you say, trying to confirm it’s her.

“Hm?”, she replies softly, turning towards you.

“Ah, um, never mind. I’m up.”

She nods and walks away. You return to your room and look for your backpack, the one you remember using in high school. Sure enough you find it, right beside your dresser. You open it and grab one of your notebooks, hoping to confirm what you think has happened. You turn to the last note in the book and look at the date:

April 24th, 2008

You walk to your bed and sit down, trying accept what has happened. Yesterday was April 23th, but the year was 2018. Ten years ago you were 18 and in your last year of high school. The fact that your sister was in her private high school uniform confirms this, since she was in her first year of high school when you were in your last. Your thought process is interrupted by the familiar yell of your mother.

“Jacob, hurry up! You’re going to be late!”

There’s no point in thinking over this any longer. You quickly grab your bag and head down the stairs to the front door.

"Remember, you need wake up early on Saturday to bring your sister to school, since I'll be working."

Your mother tells you, as she stands beside you watching you put on your shoes. You nod quickly in response, and although you’re tempted to hug her or say you’ve missed her, you put it off. The you in the past wouldn’t have done it, so you’re not going to do it either. After all, if this really is the past then doing something different could screw up the future in a major way.

You open the door and find Ian standing in front of you. Well, a younger version of him.

“It’s about time Jake, you goin' to school today or what?”
> No
“Uh no, I think I’m gonna stay home today.”

Immediately you realize your mistake.

“Stay home? Now Jacob, I wonder what you could mean by that.” Your mother, still standing behind you, remarks with a soft yet threatening tone while folding her arms in front of her.

“I uh...it was joke. Yea...bye mom....”

You quickly rush out the door and meet Ian, who innocently shrugs in response to what happened.

“What? It’s not like I knew she was there.”

The walk to school is uneventful. Ian tells you some story involving his older brother but you don’t really pay attention. The thought that you’re ten years in the past is all you can think about.

“Hey.”

Ian pushes your shoulder gently once you reach the entrance of the school and the two of you stop. He has a concerned look on his face.

“You alright? You sick or something?”

He asks.

“Huh? No, I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.”

You walk ahead into the entrance of the school and Ian follows close behind.


Click.

“…well I still say a compromise can be achieved if we all just sat down and talked things out. I mean at the core, we aren’t really so different. I mean we’re human beings, for God’s sake; we shouldn’t be killing each other like animals! I mean...”

Click.

“…are you worried about these uncertain times? Do you stay up at night thinking about the current fucked up situation the world is in? Wondering if some mad man is going to finally press the button, putting an end to it all? Do you think how you’ll spend your final moment with your loved ones huddled around you and crying before you’re all reduced to mere shadows? Scared that you can’t do anything about it? You are? Well never fear! Ground Zero Survival is here! You’ll find that the…”

Click.

“…situation has worsened; more troops were deployed today, but…”

Click.

“...how about our President huh? If he was anymore reactionary, I’d think we were living in the country we’re currently at war with! Am I right? What country are we at war with anyway? Anyone remember? Did we just spin the wheel again or what? You guys are a great audience! Hey did you hear…”

Click.

“…about peace? Oh gimme a fuckin’ break! You think that pussy ass we are the world shit’s gonna fly? You can’t teach those fuckin’ people nothing! You want my solution to the goddamn problem? BLOW IT ALL THE FUCK UP! We can clean up later and…”

Click.

“…pray in these dark times! We must place our faith in Jesus! For when Judgment Day comes he will save all of us that are the faithful, and God will punish the wicked! Oh it will be such a glorious time when…”

Click.

“…you act now you’ll get ten percent off! We here at GZS also believe in quality and you’ll find our shelters are designed with your family’s safety in mind! We have worked hard to make sure our shelters will sustain you and your family years after the entire surface has been turned to ashes! After all don’t…”

Click.

“…you think genocide is the answer? I can’t believe you just advocated that on national TV! I suppose you think Hitler was right too huh? Its people like you that…”

Click.

“…are the best audience in the world! I tell ya, it’s been great. You can catch my next show at…”

Click.

“…the radioactive fuckin’ wasteland that the whole goddamn Earth is going to become! You think any of this shit matters? All the fuckin’ talk in the world ain’t changing shit now! We’re on the fast train to nukesville and I for one ain’t gonna worry about it! Y’know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna quit this stupid ass job, and spend the rest of my savings on fuckin’ hookers! Yeah that’s right, I fuckin’ said it and I don’t care because when you think about it…”

Click.

“...isn’t your family’s survival worth it?”

This advertisement has been paid for by Ground Zero Survival Inc.
> You zzzzzzzzzzzzz
Monday 8:00 AM

You groggily wake up from the sofa like you always do, dreading to have to go to work at your pointless job. You haven’t been sleeping well lately, you don’t know what the hell the problem is, and all you know is you’re going to be tired for work again. As you go through your routine of getting ready, the TV can be heard; as usual you left it on from the night before.

“…And peace talks broke down today, as several ambassadors engaged in a physical fight at the UN…Neo-Communist party gaining favor in Russia… more terrorist bombings in European Union cities…US troops won another victory in the Middle East…mysterious epidemic in China, several million dead…skirmishes on the Indian-Pakistan border…world wide tensions at an all time high…”

Same old doom and gloom on TV; you wonder why you even bother watching the news anymore. Still it does seem like things are getting worse, late at night when you’re suffering from your usual insomnia, you’ve been catching infomercials attempting to sell bomb shelters, like something out of a 1950s propaganda film. It seems silly, but you do wonder if it’s only a matter of time before someone presses the button.

Then again you live out in the boonies, you’ve always thought that if the world ever did blow up; you’d doubt you’d even notice until you drove to work the next day and saw the ruins of the city. Speaking of which you better get going or you’ll be late.
> You head to work
You turn off the TV and head to work, no point in worrying about things you can’t do shit about. You have other real everyday problems to deal with.

You go about your mundane life, doing mundane tasks at your mundane job, talking to your mundane co-workers about mundane things. Not much changes.

One month later...

Monday 8:00 AM

You groggily wake up from the sofa like you always do, dreading to have to go to work at your pointless job. You haven’t been sleeping well lately, you don’t know what the hell the problem is, and all you know is you’re going to be tired for work again. As you go through your routine of getting ready, the TV can be heard; as usual you left it on from the night before.

“…Russian hardliners seized control of the government…Chinese epidemic has worsened; entire country is under quarantine…UK has withdrawn all association from the EU…Senate dissolved in US, martial law enacted…India declared open war on Pakistan…mass starvation in Africa… world wide depression…

Same old doom and gloom on TV, a lot more serious now though. Those “silly” bomb shelter infomercials have increased; you’ve also been noticing an increase in survival type book titles whenever you browse the book stores now and the Emergency broadcasting system has been doing A LOT of tests lately. Something bad is going to happen and it’s going to happen soon.

You go about your life which isn’t quite so mundane, world politics is a constant topic at work, and many of your co-workers aren’t even coming in to do their job. All the married ones are no doubt spending time with their families, in fact the work place really isn’t a work place anymore so much as it is a “socializing site”. A lot of them believe the world is coming to an end anyway, so they might as well have a good time. Attempting to go about your normal life isn’t an option anymore; neither is buying a bomb shelter at this late stage.
> You indulge in the festivities
You’ve never really been a party person, but if this is it, maybe you can have some fun before the end comes. There’s plenty of food and liquids of all kinds at your place of work. The entire office is turned into party central. Nobody bothers going home; it’s actually safer to stay inside the office building anyway since the National Guard is attempting to restore what little order there is in the city. Everyone makes sure to stay away from windows.

Even though you attempt to enjoy yourself, you still have a nagging bit of “concern” for what lies ahead in the future and just can’t quite loosen up completely; you’re about the only one who still bothers to keep up on current events by watching TV and looking at the internet in between non-stop merrymaking. Eventually one of your co-workers Greg walks in on you watching the news by yourself. He’s not exactly what you’d consider a friend, but he’s an acquaintance you normally talked to when you actually did work.

“Jesus Christ man! There’s a non-stop party going on and you’re in here wasting time watching TV?” Greg says holding a bottle of beer.
“I just want to see if the situation has improved…”
“Are you kidding me? It ain’t improving man! The world’s going to hell in a hand basket, and the sooner you accept that fact the better! Why don’t you go talk to Marina in accounting, didn’t you always have a crush on her or something?”
“Well yeah, but…”
“But? But nothing man! There ain’t no time left anymore! Hell I haven’t seen you participate in ONE orgy since you’ve been here!”
“I dunno, seems unsanitary, I don’t want to catch something, and I don’t want everyone to see me naked.”

Greg puts one of his hands on his face and shakes his head in disbelief of your answer. He then throws his beer bottle into the TV screen breaking them both.

“WAKE THE FUCK UP! This is fuckin’ it man! There ain’t nothing coming after this! We’re all gonna die in a fiery nuclear explosion! You think it’s really gonna matter if in the off chance that you do catch AIDS or some shit, you’ll be alive long enough to die from it? And nobody gives a shit about how small your dick is…”
“HEY! My dick isn’t small! Its average length for someone of my height!” you protest.
“Whatever man! Look what I’m trying to say is, everyone is just here to have a good time and grab some pleasure before the nukes start flying, and nobody’s even caring about looks right now. Shit, that fat troll Phil must be getting more action now than he ever has in his entire life! You thought Phil was disgusting looking with his clothes on, he ain’t any prettier with his clothes off, and yet he has banged Kate no less than ten times since we started this Armageddon party and you know how fucking fine she is!”
“Really? Phil?”
“I’m telling you man, you NEED to go talk to Marina and get you some of that before the bombs start dropping!”

Greg sees that you’re still a little apprehensive about the idea.

“Fine then, or don’t. It doesn’t matter to me man. I’m going back to the party, I’m not gonna stand here wasting my time talking to you when I could be fucking Kate. I just hope I can get to her before Phil this time.”

Greg leaves you to ponder the situation.
> You party like its 1999 (Even though it really is not 1999)
Greg’s right. This IS it! This is no time to be playing it safe! The world is going to end any day and damn it you’re going to fucking LIVE life for the first time! You immediately get up and make your way to the main office area; it looks like you’re just in time for another orgy. Greg is getting ready to stick it to Kate just like he said…that is until you smash the back of his head in with a stapler until he’s bloody and unconscious…or dead. You’re not sure and you don’t really care anymore.

“You were right…man.” You say breathing hard.

Your actions cause people to stop in shock, then you grab Kate who’s completely naked and worried about what you’re going to do next.

“Come here you little fucking whore, you like being a fucking fuck slut? I’ll treat you like one then!” you utter viciously.

You proceed to bend Kate over the copy machine, pull her hair and fuck the hell out of her calling her every derogatory name in the book. The weird thing is she starts to like it. She even starts taunting you back saying you can’t fuck worth a shit. This of course only makes you slap her around a bit more. You both are really getting into it.

After watching this spontaneous act of S&M/Rape everyone goes back to doing what they were doing. From then on in, Kate hangs around you a lot more (Much to Phil’s dismay) and you forget all about Marina, in fact you don’t even see her in the whole time during this Armageddon party. You indulge in carnal delights like you never had before.

Until one day…

Monday 8:00 AM

You groggily wake up from the floor; Kate’s lying beside you asleep. There are sleeping naked bodies everywhere. Yesterday’s orgy was a dozy, someone broke open a couple bags of coke they’d been saving and everyone had a snort. Can’t say you liked it though, your head fucking hurts, you keep hearing a fucking ring…

“…BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE….”

Then you realize it’s not in your head, it’s an actual ring from another TV that was left on. There’s a test pattern on it.

This is it.

You put your clothes back on and give Kate a quick kiss, which causes her to smile a little in her sleep. You wonder if you would’ve actually had a shot with her if things had been normal, oh well you guess you’ll never know.

You quietly make your way through the room and head up to the top floor and onto the roof of the building. The city is deadly quiet. You don’t hear a sound except the wind gently blowing. In all the revelry you’ve been indulging in, you forgot how much you liked the solitude and silence.

The loneliness is peaceful.

You look up in the sky, shielding your eyes from the sun shining down.

You see a bright light and then nothing at all.


You’ve never really been a party person, but if this is it, maybe you can have some fun before the end comes. There’s plenty of food and liquids of all kinds at your place of work. The entire office is turned into party central. Nobody bothers going home; it’s actually safer to stay inside the office building anyway since the National Guard is attempting to restore what little order there is in the city. Everyone makes sure to stay away from windows.

Even though you attempt to enjoy yourself, you still have a nagging bit of “concern” for what lies ahead in the future and just can’t quite loosen up completely; you’re about the only one who still bothers to keep up on current events by watching TV and looking at the internet in between non-stop merrymaking. Eventually one of your co-workers Greg walks in on you watching the news by yourself. He’s not exactly what you’d consider a friend, but he’s an acquaintance you normally talked to when you actually did work.

“Jesus Christ man! There’s a non-stop party going on and you’re in here wasting time watching TV?” Greg says holding a bottle of beer.
“I just want to see if the situation has improved…”
“Are you kidding me? It ain’t improving man! The world’s going to hell in a hand basket, and the sooner you accept that fact the better! Why don’t you go talk to Marina in accounting, didn’t you always have a crush on her or something?”
“Well yeah, but…”
“But? But nothing man! There ain’t no time left anymore! Hell I haven’t seen you participate in ONE orgy since you’ve been here!”
“I dunno, seems unsanitary, I don’t want to catch something, and I don’t want everyone to see me naked.”

Greg puts one of his hands on his face and shakes his head in disbelief of your answer. He then throws his beer bottle into the TV screen breaking them both.

“WAKE THE FUCK UP! This is fuckin’ it man! There ain’t nothing coming after this! We’re all gonna die in a fiery nuclear explosion! You think it’s really gonna matter if in the off chance that you do catch AIDS or some shit, you’ll be alive long enough to die from it? And nobody gives a shit about how small your dick is…”
“HEY! My dick isn’t small! Its average length for someone of my height!” you protest.
“Whatever man! Look what I’m trying to say is, everyone is just here to have a good time and grab some pleasure before the nukes start flying, and nobody’s even caring about looks right now. Shit, that fat troll Phil must be getting more action now than he ever has in his entire life! You thought Phil was disgusting looking with his clothes on, he ain’t any prettier with his clothes off, and yet he has banged Kate no less than ten times since we started this Armageddon party and you know how fucking fine she is!”
“Really? Phil?”
“I’m telling you man, you NEED to go talk to Marina and get you some of that before the bombs start dropping!”

Greg sees that you’re still a little apprehensive about the idea.

“Fine then, or don’t. It doesn’t matter to me man. I’m going back to the party, I’m not gonna stand here wasting my time talking to you when I could be fucking Kate. I just hope I can get to her before Phil this time.”

Greg leaves you to ponder the situation.
> You get another TV and watch the world die
You grab another TV and sit quietly by yourself in a separate office, watching world events unfold and get worse before your eyes as your co-workers reenact something out of a porno movie. You block out the sounds of ecstasy and turn up the TV. You’re starting to wonder if you shouldn’t have just stayed home, or better yet bought that damn bomb shelter…

Just then someone else comes in to disturb your solitude. It’s Marina.

“Oh. I didn’t know anyone was in here. I thought everyone was at the orgy.” She says.
“So did I…um how come you aren’t?” you ask nervously.
“Eh not really my thing, how come you aren’t?”
“Same here.”
“I see…so what are you doing to pass the time?”
“Keeping up on events to see if things will change for the better.”
“Ah an optimist eh?”
“Not really, I think I just get a kick out of living in a fantasy world and delusions to make myself feel better…that and I have a morbid fascination of the utter chaos that’s occurring throughout the world right now.”
“Hmm, interesting approach to life…I’ve always noticed you seem to keep to yourself. You like solitude don’t you?”
“It’s easier.”
“Yet, you stayed here for the end.”
“Yeah, and I’m really wishing I hadn’t now, I can’t mix with anyone here. Never could. Not even on the primal level that everyone seems to be favoring right now. I don’t know why I thought things would change in the end…ah fuck it the world’s gonna end and it’s probably a good thing if our co-workers are an example of humanity. Still…I kind of wish I bought that bomb shelter…”
“So you don’t want to die?”
”Of course not! I just don’t really see how to avoid it at this point.”
“Well, for starters you could come with me; I’m getting ready to leave the city. It seems like things have died down for the most part out there, hopefully nobody’s vandalized or stolen either of our vehicles.” Marina suggests.
“What? Leave? And go where? It’s not like there’s any place really safe to go at this late stage.”
“Sure there is. Look, I’ll level with you, since you seem to be the only one here that’s different. I stayed around here to see if there was anyone who was worthy enough to be saved, and apart from you, it pretty much looks like I wasted my time.”
“Save? What do you mean?”
“Well despite the fact that you kept to yourself and never took any interest in any of the private lives of your co-workers doesn’t we don’t have them.” Marina laughs. “But like you I never really mixed with any of our co-workers either, however unlike you I do have a very active social life filled with people who are close like a family, people who live clean and have a strong sense of freedom…and who have been preparing for this day ever since the Commies started the first Cold War. You don’t have to die and you don’t have to be alone anymore. Come with me, you’ll be accepted as long as you’re willing to work hard and from what I know, you aren’t averse to doing that.”

You’re not entirely sure of what Marina has in store for you, but it sounds better than staying here waiting to die. You agree to leave with her. You both make your way past the mass of naked bodies and head immediately to the parking structure. Unfortunately Marina’s car is gone, it’s been predictably stolen in the looting frenzy during the city exodus; however your old van is perfectly fine. It hasn’t even been vandalized, of course the thing looks like it’s already been vandalized which is probably why nobody bothered to steal it. You both get in the van and you drive while Marina tells you where you’re going.

While you’re driving through the city, you keep expecting to be attacked by lawless hold outs still lingering in the city or open fired on by Nation Guardsman, but you suspect either they were ordered to pull out to reinforce a more important city or most of them abandoned their “job” long ago when they realized the futility of it. You make your way out of the city with no problems. Of course now you’re just wondering if you’re just going to get nuked at any second. You listen to the radio to keep up on events, which is more of the same that you were watching on TV. Eventually Marina turns it off and tells you not to worry about the old world anymore, a new one is going to be built.

Your drive takes you far from the city, where ever Marina’s leading you it’s even further than where you live and you lived pretty way out. You drive through the night and into next morning; while Marina’s asleep you turn the radio back on and keep it on low…

Monday 8:00 AM

“…BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE…”

The radio suddenly stops broadcasting anything except a loud warning sound; it wakes up Marina before you can turn it off. Seeing her current surroundings, Marina hastily tells you to turn at a dirty road that’s coming up, which then leads into a wooden gate. Looks like a compound of some sort, where a man is standing guard with an assault rifle. Marina gets out and talks to him a moment, to which he nods his head and opens the gate.

As soon as you drive in another woman comes running out of one of the many log cabin like structures in the compound. She immediately starts talking to Marina through the passenger window.

“Marina! Thank God you’re here! We thought you were dead! Come on we gotta get down into the underground, its beginning!”

Wasting no time Marina and you follow the woman into the cabin and down into a trap door in the floor. You find yourself in a wide tunnel with dim electrical lighting to what looks like a pretty elaborate underground complex. Marina and the woman are running ahead of you, but you can’t help but stare in wonder of all this.

“Holy shit, they really were working on this since the Cold War…” you say to yourself as you slow down to examine everything.

Then it happens. You hear a loud noise above and you fall to the ground due to the tremors. Then all the lighting goes out. You attempt to get back up and try to feel the walls to get your bearings. You don’t know where the hell you’re going, but you can hear voices and shouting; some of it close and some of it far away. You have no idea where the hell you’re at, let alone the layout of this place. Instead of getting yourself lost, you decide to just stay put until the lighting comes back on; surely they probably have an emergency generator that will kick in soon.

The lighting suddenly comes on and you’re just in time to see Marina and a man dressed fatigues arrive on your position.

“Are you alright?” Marina asks you.
“Yeah, I’m okay.”

No sooner do you get out those words when the man in military fatigues begins giving you the hard stare.

“I’ve heard about you before from Marina, but don’t think that hiding behind her skirt is gonna give you a fuckin’ free pass in this place! You better prepared to pull your goddamn weight everyday! I catch you slipping and you’re outta here!”
“What the hell? I didn’t say anything!”
“And you better not say any fuckin’ thing either if you don’t wanna get on my bad side! The Colonel doesn’t like slack offs in his compound and neither do I! So if you intend on staying here, you better get REAL used to the idea of getting your head outta your fuckin’ ass and living like a real fuckin’ person instead of the goddamn disgusting parasitic shit maggot you are!”

You’re about to reply to GI Jerk, but Marina stops you and insists on taking you to your room, leaving Harry to his own devices.

“Alright Marina, what the hell was all that about, and who’s full metal asshole back there?”
“That was Harry, and don’t pay any attention to him, he’s just really gung ho and is second in command around here. The Colonel is the one who runs this place. He’s actually a more even tempered man than Harry is.”

Marina and you arrive at a small room by itself at the end of one of the corridors.

“Well here’s the room you’ll be staying for now. Things might change mind you, but rest assured this is the safest place you could be right now. We’ve prepared for this day and will definitely survive the aftermath of what’s to come, and now you will too.”

Marina leaves with a smile, but you don’t really share her optimism, given the fact that Armageddon has just happened. That reality has only just now sunk in that the world is probably one big radioactive desert at this point.

Then again, Marina might be right, this place is probably safer than most and its better than being dead. At least you hope it is. You lie down on the bed provided and fall asleep; surprisingly it’s the best rest you’ve experienced before the bombs dropped.

A few weeks pass and you get acquainted with the compound. You and most of the others are to remain underground while until some scouts in radiation suits determine if the radiation level is low enough. In the mean time you’re forced to do extensive combat training like everyone else. Most of the people are okay with you, even though you’re an outsider. Harry gives you a hard time though. Still, you’re probably in the best shape of your life and you got to brush up on your aim. Sometimes you get to spend time with Marina, funny how you find it easier to talk to her now. One day you finally see the Colonel you’ve been hearing about, he gives a speech to all of you in the cafeteria.

“Well, I’ve been informed that the surface part of our compound only suffered minor damage and that the radiation level is fairly low all things considering…anyway we all knew this day would come, and we would be prepared for it, but we can’t just sit on our asses hoping things will be alright! NO! We must take a proactive approach if we have to survive! As we speak, there are probably low lives scavenging the shell of the old world, we must secure as many abandoned resources as we can to ensure our future and some of you will be sent out into the world to do just that for the good of the compound. We’re going to tame this new world and rebuild a new society! You have undergone rigorous training before hand, to ensure you will be able to survive the dangers. Now I’ll be accepting volunteers first.”
> You volunteer
Maybe you’re high on your new found physique and adrenaline, but for whatever reason, something comes over you to volunteer. Indeed you’ve made everyone a little surprised by your actions especially since you’re an outsider. The Colonel looks at you with interest.

“Hmm, you’re the one I’ve heard about from Marina, didn’t expect you to volunteer, she’s always mentioned you’re quiet loner type. Then again, you might be just what I need…alright you’re coming with me. Harry, you start picking some of the others and form recon detachments. Everyone goes on assignment tomorrow.”

The Colonel then takes you to his office, where he sits down and gets a bunch of papers from his desk.

“Okay, I’m sure during your short stay here, you probably think we’re all a bunch of survivalist militia loonies, and to a certain extent, we probably are, however we aren’t without a plan.”

The Colonel shows you some blueprints to what looks to be a small military base.

“My friend Alex was stationed at this base. It’s not exactly close by, but its closest military base around here.”
“Didn’t realize there were any military bases in the area.”
“Most people don’t, it was a top secret, and kept off the records so it wouldn’t be targeted. There aren’t even any roads leading to the place, you have travel by foot. Though I guess you could say it wasn’t so much of a military base as it was a research facility. Obviously I know about it, because I had a friend stationed there who was feeding me information. He didn’t exactly run the place, but he was attempting to work his way up to get special level clearance. Apparently GZS was working with the government on some high tech weaponry.”
”GZS?”
“The Ground Zero Survival Corporation. I’m sure you’ve heard of them, they were the ones hawking their Shelters like snake oil salesmen before doomsday.”
“Oh yeah, I used to see their commercials on late at night, I thought about buying one of those.”
“Well good thing you didn’t, only an idiot would’ve bought one of those things. Look at this.”

The Colonel now shows you a schematic of a GZS Shelter.

“Why? It certainly looks just as equipped as this compound and has a lot more conveniences.” You remark.
“It would appear that way, but the fucking thing is a death trap. They engineered them so once you entered; you most likely couldn’t get out of them. Supposedly the GZS computer is supposed to let you out when it deems that it’s safe to do so. In fact the whole thing is controlled by the computer. A computer that could glitch and break down at anytime. Let a machine be in charge of your survival…yeah great idea. I dunno about you, but I’ll take this compound any day. It might not look pretty, but I don’t have to worry about getting trapped with no access to food or water. Not to mention I heard from Alex that they suffered cutback during the creation of most of those things meaning they cut a lot of damn corners, so they probably aren’t as state of the art as they claimed. I’ll bet those dumb bastards who are living in those things are regretting it as we speak.”

You’re not sure where he’s going with all this so you interrupt.

“So, what does all this mean? Are we going to seek out these shelters and rescue the people inside?”
“What?! HA HA! That’s a good one!” The Colonel laughs. “Hell no son, as far as I’m concerned they’ve made their choice now they can live with it, we’re not here to play white knight. We have to look out for ourselves, and part of that is making sure we’re the best defended and from what I heard, whatever they were working on in that base, sounds like it would make things a lot easier in the defense department.”
“Whoa, hold on, if this is a military base won’t they just shoot me on sight if I go there I mean won’t it be heavily guarded? I mean I know I went through some training, but I doubt to the degree that I can take on an entire military base!”
“Alex was making friends with most of the lower personnel there, getting them to follow him as it were. Last I heard, he was pretty successful, so chances are, as long as I gave you some identifiers to take with you proving that you were following my orders, you wouldn’t have any problems when you arrived, but obviously there IS a problem or I wouldn’t be sending you at all.”
“Of course…” you say expecting this assignment to be even more complicated.
“I haven’t heard anything from Alex for a month before the bombs dropped. I dunno what’s happened to him.”
“Is it possible they discovered he was leaking information and killed him?”
“I suppose, but chances are that afterwards they would’ve found out about us and also sent the National Guard as well as GZS private security here to lay waste to this compound.”
“Well the National Guard were busy trying to maintain order to the major cities at the time. I should know I was there when they were stationed in the one I was working at.”
“True, but I still think they would’ve sent someone here, and GZS still would have. As I said they had enough money to pay for their own security force. Maybe not as well trained as military personnel, but fanatical enough to eliminate anyone that GZS thought was discovering secrets about them. That’s why Alex always focused on solely making friends with the grunts and government officials. The GZS employees always seemed a bit more dedicated to their corporation.”
“Okay, well is it possible that the base wasn’t so secret and it got hit after all?”
“Nope, mainly because I get the impression the background radiation level would be a hell of a lot higher, if that got nuked, so I’m pretty sure the place is intact, in fact I’m guessing its been abandoned. We recently figured out their frequency, we never used it before for obvious reasons, but now, why not? We’re getting a signal, but no verbal answers from anyone. To sum up, I want you to go there to scout and explore as much as you can. Find out what the hell happened to Alex if possible, and let me know if that high tech weaponry is worth anything or just more bad engineering by GZS. Here. You’ll probably need this security pass to enter, got it from Alex, last time he was here; I hope it’s still valid. And here’s my ring and a letter, if Alex IS still alive then those will prove that you’re working for me. That’s all I can do to help other than to give you a map to the place and what equipment you think you’ll need.”

Before you leave you have to ask.

“Okay why me?”
“Why you? You volunteered son!”
“I know, but for this particular job, surely you have others more qualified to tackle it.”
“Eh…you MIGHT think that, but to be quite honest, no. I mean don’t get me wrong I see all of these people here as family, but a lot of them are a bunch of weekend warriors who were playing survival. I’m sure in the years to come we’re going to see who’s a REAL soldier and who isn’t. Not that it matters, I mean I’ll find something for them to do, but you’re different. You certainly aren’t some commando, but there’s definitely something about you that makes you seem a bit more…detached from everything else. Like you’ll be willing to do what’s necessary to survive without hesitation. While you may never have been in a situation like this one, I got a feeling you’ll do just fine. Besides Marina’s previous beaming remarks about you are good enough for me. Now go get some rest, you’ll be leaving tomorrow.”

You head back to your room and think about what the Colonel said. He might be right in a lot of ways, but you still wonder if he’s sending you because as he said, “All these people here are like family, but you’re different.” Maybe if you get killed it won’t feel like such a loss. You don’t think anymore about it, mainly because Marina enters your room to interrupt your thoughts.

“I hear you’re leaving tomorrow, I just want to tell you how brave I think you are for doing this for all of us. I know we didn’t get a lot of quality time with each other, but I wanted us to spend at least what could be the last time I see you together.”

Marina’s ominous words that imply how much danger you’re possibly getting yourself into might worry you more if she wasn’t on top of you right now…

The next day you load up with what you think you might need, water, food, rifle, pistol, knife, Geiger counter, all the basic essentials. You get a bunch of goodbyes and good lucks. Harry merely sneers and mentions he expects you to get yourself killed twenty feet after you leave. The Colonel is a little more supportive and gives you a silent salute, but you like Marina’s goodbye kiss best of all.

And with that, you’re on your way. It’s actually amazing to see that the outside world doesn’t look drastically different, you can only assume the bombs didn’t hit near your area. When you’re out of sight of the compound, you go back to thinking about this mission you volunteered for and wondering if you should go through with it. You do have the suitable equipment and skills to survive off the land after all.

Perhaps it would be better to just go AWOL as it were…
> You continue with your mission
You volunteered and you’re going to see it through, might not be that dangerous as you think especially if the place is indeed abandoned.

You spend a few days crossing over hills and some plains. For awhile you think someone’s following you, but never see a soul, actually you’re wondering about the Geiger counter readings more than anything, but you’re guessing there wasn’t any nuclear blast the direction you’re going. You also guess that seeing trees up ahead is also a good sign. You would’ve dressed yourself in a radiation suit, but the Colonel kept insisting it wouldn’t be necessary and for the mission that Harry was sending some of the others on would need them more.

“Shit! I forgot to take a radio!” you say to yourself finally realizing that it would’ve been nice to radio in to the Compound if you had something important to report, like being unable to enter the base because snipers were shooting at you.

Happily that doesn’t seem to occur when you finally arrive. You almost aren’t even sure if you’re at the right place at first. The Compound is bigger, then again this place probably has an extensive underground, and as the Colonel said, it was more like a research facility than a proper military base.

Still there’s something a little weird about all this, it seems like security would be of major importance for a place like this, yet there’s nobody here guarding the outside and you just walked through open gates. Maybe the place is abandoned, but they could all be underground though, (That would certainly be more sensible than wandering around exposing themselves to radioactive wind…)

The surface offices and barracks don’t look like anyone left in a hurry; in fact a lot of the barracks still have their equipment. (You take some extra ammo for your assault rifle) You search through some of papers you find in the offices, but there’s nothing of any importance. Just mundane status reports of personnel guard duties. You find a few letters with GZS logos on them, but again nothing telling you much.

Nothing else for it, but to go underground. You approach the solid metal structure at the far end of the base. Looks like an elevator door with an ATM machine near it. There’s a slot and some button, so you’re guessing this is where you shove your security pass that the Colonel gave you. Hope it works or you came all this way for nothing. You slide the pass in the slot.

“Identification recognized. GZS wishes you a pleasant day in all your endeavors sir!” a chipper female voice sounds as the elevator door opens.

Not exactly what you were expecting, GZS must’ve had more input here than the Colonel thought. You’re a little nervous as you press the elevator button down, you expect the worst. The elevator eventually reaches its destination and opens up to a corridor. You cautiously exit. You don’t get far when a cybernetic being comes from around a corner and points its arm at you, which is doubling as a weapon of some sort, one that would blow a big hole in you.

“Lower your weapon and please come with me sir. Alex will want to see you. Any attempt to attack or escape will be met with extreme use of force.”
> You open fire and run
You unload a clip into the cyborg, not knowing if your bullets are going to hurt it or not. You manage to do something since you knock it to the ground and you see it spark, before you head for the elevator.

“Hostile detected! Enacting defense systems!” a robotic voice echoes. You begin to panic when the elevator refuses to open and more cybernetic beings come at you. You can’t stop them, and you expect a quick death by their weapons, but unfortunately that doesn’t occur.

Instead they knock you out and take you to Alex. When you come to you’re lying naked, tied to an operating table with a bunch of tubes in you. Alex is hovering over you with a scalpel. He’s obviously deranged.

“Well I see I didn’t use enough anesthesia, I’ll have to apply more…I also see by this letter and his ring the Colonel sent you. Probably all a ruse of friendship to kill me no doubt. I never did trust him. Well his loss will be my gain. I’m going to remake you. Better, stronger, faster. Just like the Million Dollar Man, except this won’t cost any money, just my time. I’ve been studying about some new cybernetic implants I want to test. I think I know enough about the procedure for it to be successful. You’ll thank me for this, trust me. L17 hand me the bone saw.”

You pass out again, which is just as well since Alex butchers your body trying to “remake” you. His crude skills fail in the attempt and you die on the surgical table, with Alex cursing about accidentally severing multiple arteries of yours.


You volunteered and you’re going to see it through, might not be that dangerous as you think especially if the place is indeed abandoned.

You spend a few days crossing over hills and some plains. For awhile you think someone’s following you, but never see a soul, actually you’re wondering about the Geiger counter readings more than anything, but you’re guessing there wasn’t any nuclear blast the direction you’re going. You also guess that seeing trees up ahead is also a good sign. You would’ve dressed yourself in a radiation suit, but the Colonel kept insisting it wouldn’t be necessary and for the mission that Harry was sending some of the others on would need them more.

“Shit! I forgot to take a radio!” you say to yourself finally realizing that it would’ve been nice to radio in to the Compound if you had something important to report, like being unable to enter the base because snipers were shooting at you.

Happily that doesn’t seem to occur when you finally arrive. You almost aren’t even sure if you’re at the right place at first. The Compound is bigger, then again this place probably has an extensive underground, and as the Colonel said, it was more like a research facility than a proper military base.

Still there’s something a little weird about all this, it seems like security would be of major importance for a place like this, yet there’s nobody here guarding the outside and you just walked through open gates. Maybe the place is abandoned, but they could all be underground though, (That would certainly be more sensible than wandering around exposing themselves to radioactive wind…)

The surface offices and barracks don’t look like anyone left in a hurry; in fact a lot of the barracks still have their equipment. (You take some extra ammo for your assault rifle) You search through some of papers you find in the offices, but there’s nothing of any importance. Just mundane status reports of personnel guard duties. You find a few letters with GZS logos on them, but again nothing telling you much.

Nothing else for it, but to go underground. You approach the solid metal structure at the far end of the base. Looks like an elevator door with an ATM machine near it. There’s a slot and some button, so you’re guessing this is where you shove your security pass that the Colonel gave you. Hope it works or you came all this way for nothing. You slide the pass in the slot.

“Identification recognized. GZS wishes you a pleasant day in all your endeavors sir!” a chipper female voice sounds as the elevator door opens.

Not exactly what you were expecting, GZS must’ve had more input here than the Colonel thought. You’re a little nervous as you press the elevator button down, you expect the worst. The elevator eventually reaches its destination and opens up to a corridor. You cautiously exit. You don’t get far when a cybernetic being comes from around a corner and points its arm at you, which is doubling as a weapon of some sort, one that would blow a big hole in you.

“Lower your weapon and please come with me sir. Alex will want to see you. Any attempt to attack or escape will be met with extreme use of force.”
> You go with the cyborg
You lower your rifle (But still hold on to it) and walk side by side with the cyborg who is surprisingly chatty, you also see it walks a bit irregularly, like it hasn’t been spliced together correctly.

“Alex will be most pleased to see you; you’ll be the first human here in months!”
“What happened to all the others?”
“Oh well most of them have been improved like m-m-m-m.” the cyborg hits itself in the head before he stops stuttering “Like me, sir.”
“Hmm, some improvement.”
“Oh well, its not so bad. Alex promises to give us a tune up when he gets the necessary time, he is only one man after all. Some assistants would certainly help.”
“So Alex is a surgeon?”
“Well he’s not really. I mean he didn’t start out that way at least, but he’s completely self taught and trying to learn more each day! Sure there have been some failures, but there’s also been success! Why look at m-m-m-m.” the cyborg hits itself in the head again while you just shake yours. You can see this is going to be an interesting meeting.

“So who were you before Alex…uh improved you.”
“Oh I was a regular military man who guarded this base with no real identity. Just a name and a number really.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m known as J-34 and I protect Alex!”
“That’s great… so everyone here is a cyborg like you?”
“Just about. Most military personnel were friends with Alex before being renewed, so they were happy to be improved. The GZS personnel weren’t so enthusiastic about the idea, in fact they were mad that Alex discovered their top secret project. They tried to stop him, but they were stopped instead. Alex saw that the project would be pointless in trying to perfect it to use in a war that was going to be over in six minutes. Better that it should be applied to those that would surely survive the aftermath of that same war. Here we are, I’m sure Alex will want to hear all about the outside world, hey maybe he’ll improve you too!”

You enter an office where a man sits at a desk pouring over technical manuals and medical books. Two more cyborgs armed with some sort science fictionish weapons stand by him. There’s no way you could hope to kill him without them killing you as well. He looks up.

“Ah a guest! Been a long time since we’ve seen anyone new…in fact I’m a little puzzled on how you even found this place, let alone entered it…you’re not GZS are you?” Alex says changing his pleasant demeanor in mid sentence.
“No! Not at all! I’m here because the Colonel sent me. He says you and he are friends. Here. Here’s his ring and a letter he wrote to prove it. He’d also given me a security pass so I could enter this place.”

Alex takes the ring and letter and inspects them both, before addressing you again.

“Well it looks like everything’s legitimate. I shall trust you. Though I’m not sure I trust the Colonel. I never did trust him. He only wanted to use me so I could get access to high tech weaponry, but instead I found much more here! Much more than I ever told him! Ha ha! I hear him trying to radio in, wondering if there’s anyone here, I’ve been ignoring him. He and his group of right wing loonies are unworthy of being re-made. If they think they’re true survivialists then they don’t need the gifts that this base provides. All of it is mine, I EARNED this place and it shall be I who ushers in a new era. Not GZS, not the government and not the fucking goddamn Colonel!”

Alex is obviously unhinged, you don’t know if he was always this way or got that way later, but it hardly matters, what’s of major importance is that you walk away from this meeting unscathed. You try to calm him down.

“Whoa hold on, I don’t think the Colonel or any of his right wing loonies would want to be re-made.”
“Nonsense, anyone with any sense of survival would want to be re-made if they new about what was being worked on here.”

You can’t help, but notice that Alex hasn’t done any improvements on himself…

“However, I can see you don’t share that same short sighted thinking that the rest of those Compound cronies do. You are worthy of being re-made! In fact I would like to start now, I’ve been studying up on some new techniques and I would love to test them out. I think I could do a really good job this time, there will definitely be less acc…er complications than in the past.”

This is just getting worse. Now this nutjob wants to work on you.

“Look, I don’t want to be re-made! I was just here to see if you were alive and scout this place out! Now that I’ve done that, I’m to return to the Compound!”
“Oh well now that’s going to be a problem…I can’t risk you telling him what’s here.”

You really didn’t want to hear that.

“Look, I’ll tell the Colonel that there wasn’t anything here, I can reason with him. You can even take my security pass to make sure I can’t get back in if you’re really worried. However, if he doesn’t hear from me, he’s only going to send more folks to this place.”
“And what of it? They wouldn’t be able to get in and even if they could, his weekend warriors would be no match for Cybernetic Evolution!”
“No, but they could just blow up the elevator trapping you down here forever, and you’ll never be able to leave to allow your genius to usher in the new era that you were talking about.”

That seems to relax Alex a bit, as always a little flattery goes a long way to ease an unbalanced mind.

“Hmm, perhaps you make some sense, and you seem like a trustworthy sort…very well. I shall arrange for you to leave. Give me your security pass.”
“Okay, and I’ll be needing the Colonel’s ring and letter back, so I can say I didn’t find anything here.”

You and Alex exchange items and he and his two cyborg guards escort you back to the elevator.

“Goodbye, perhaps if we meet again you will be more receptive to being re-made. It’s a harsh new world, and you’ll soon wish you had an edge to survive it.” Alex tells you before you leave.

“I’ll do alright.”

The elevator goes up and you’re back on the surface again where you make your trek back to the compound in just a few days. You notice there have been a few changes in the few days you’ve left. Namely there’s a still to make hooch. And you now have some working vehicles that been modified to run on hooch. The same still that people are making cheap booze from they’re also using it as fuel, which basically translates into the vehicles running on “garbage” given that’s what the booze is being made out of. Smells pretty bad, but whatever works. Though from what you heard some towns have been found to be running their vehicles on shit (animal AND human) so the smell could be worse. There’s been a couple deaths from some of the other recon missions, but for the most part everything else is normal.

Everyone’s almost surprised to see you come back, Marina’s happy, Harry obviously isn’t. The Colonel though wants to see you immediately.

Since you don’t owe any allegiance to some nutcase playing Frankenstein in an underground base, you tell the Colonel everything. You expect him to get mad at you, but he doesn’t.

“(Sigh) Alex always was a bit unstable; I always wondered why the army never gave him a section 8. Anyway, what you’re telling me doesn’t surprise me, though I wish you could’ve gotten away without giving up that security pass. It’s going to be harder to get down there now.”
“You still want to go down there?”
“Of course! What you think I’m going to let Alex slowly refine and build up his cyborg army? Who do you think he’s going to attack first? No, we need to get rid of him NOW. I suppose we could blow up the elevator doors to gain access. Not like we don’t have the means to do that.”
“Yeah, but don’t you run the risk of blowing up the entire elevator, and causing it fall and crash down the shaft? We wouldn’t be able to send anyone down there in an efficient manner. Let alone fighting off cyborgs who would cut us down with ease if we were trying to repel down the shaft or huddled together coming off the elevator, besides Alex might have left the elevator on his level given the recent visit of mine.”

The Colonel lets forth another sigh knowing that you make a good point, but frustrated as well.

“You’re right, so what do you suggest we do then? Sit and do nothing with our thumbs up our asses?”
> You suggest in hacking the security system, then invading the base.
“Well I suppose you’re right in that we need to stop Alex, but blowing up the elevator still isn’t going to help, I suggest we hack the security system to gain control of it properly and then send down the invasion force and hope we can deal with the robots and cyborgs down there.” You reply.
“Sounds like a better plan, I didn’t know you had so much computer experience though, let alone able to hack into a secret army base.”
“Huh? I don’t. I mean, don’t you have people like that here?”
“Excuse me, but you seem to be new here, hello welcome to the Compound…NO OF COURSE I DON’T I HAVE ANYONE LIKE THAT HERE! Sheesh! It’s not like we figured advanced computer hacking skills are going to be that useful when the world is blown back to the stone age! So you mean you don’t have the ability to pull off this amazing plan of yours?”
“Well, not really, not to that degree at least…I suppose there’s just taking the panel apart and re-wiring it so it opens up for us though, you got any electricians or someone of that nature?”
“Yeah a few, but I hope you do too, because you’re going to assist the team since you’re the idea man for all of this. After you clean out all the cyborgs and whatever the hell else Alex has built down there, remember to grab those weapons and come back. We’ll go back to occupy the base later. Now go select your team and whatever else you think you might need.”

After asking for the names of the electronically “gifted” around the place, you go about following the Colonel’s orders and saying goodbye to Marina again, she looks more confident that you’ll return this time, you wish you could feel the same.

When you and your team get to the base in a few days, you’re in for a little surprise. A medium sized robot is patrolling the courtyard. Looks like your friend Alex also dabbles in robotics as well as cybernetics. You and your team hide behind the outer wall when you all catch sight of it. Apparently Alex didn’t trust you any more than you trusted him, and looks like both of you were right.

“Uh, what’s that?” one of your team members asks.
“It’s a robot, what’s it look like?”
“Well what’re we gonna do?”
“Kill it! Everyone open fire!”

You have no idea if your bullets are going to penetrate its armor, but you you’re going to try anyway. Everyone fires upon the robotic being, which begins to shutter and spark, but returns fire and a bright burst of light strikes one of your team members and completely incinerates him.

“Holy shit, get cover and keep firing!” you shout.

The rest of the battle doesn’t last too much longer, while your team continue to fire bursts at the machine while they dodge plasma blasts, you get enough time to toss a grenade at it and blow it to smithereens. Shards of burnt twisted metal lie all over the place.

“Come on we need to open up that door, before something else comes out of the damn thing!”

You and a few others start working on the card reader, trying to get it open as fast as possible. You don’t even know how you’re going to rewire the damn thing; you’ll just keep doing something until something else happens! As it turns out you didn’t need to do anything, while you and few others are fumbling around, the elevator doors open. At first you think you it was you who opened them, but in fact it was Alex who was controlling the elevator from the bottom. Two heavily armed cyborgs exit and begin firing immediately turning most of your team into charred skeletons. You manage to just barely get away and duck behind one of the buildings. Fortunately they don’t seem to be very fast, so when they try to chase you, you toss a few grenades in their direction, blowing them up in the same manner you destroyed the robot, except a bit bloodier, given their human bits.

You come out of your hiding place and see nothing left of your team, they’ve all been killed. The elevator door is still open; you could enter and finish the job, or return to the Compound in failure.
> You enter
You take a deep breath and enter the elevator taking it down. As soon as it opens you step out and blaze away at the first metallic monster that pops from around the corner, hitting it critically in some vital component. In fact you’re doing okay all things considering, but as they say, it usually isn’t thing that you’re expecting that gets you.

Thinking you have a breather, you duck into one of the rooms to reload; unfortunately you feel a dart go into your back, before you enter it. You pull it out and see it’s a tranquilizer dart. Already you feel drowsy, and begin to collapse. You ban barely make him out in your current state, but Alex soon enters with a victorious look on his face, holding his tranquilizer gun.

“Well, it looks like I was right to not trust you, but you’ll be able to repay me back soon enough. Trust me, you’ll thank me for this remaking.”

Despite Alex’s claims you’re unable to do much talking at all after Alex remakes you, let alone thanking him. He basically designs you in such a way that only your basic brain functions remain. Just enough for you to obey simple commands such as “Attack the Compound”.

Obeying that command is the last thing you do, before you’re eventually blown to bits during Alex’s attack on the Compound.


“Well I suppose you’re right in that we need to stop Alex, but blowing up the elevator still isn’t going to help, I suggest we hack the security system to gain control of it properly and then send down the invasion force and hope we can deal with the robots and cyborgs down there.” You reply.
“Sounds like a better plan, I didn’t know you had so much computer experience though, let alone able to hack into a secret army base.”
“Huh? I don’t. I mean, don’t you have people like that here?”
“Excuse me, but you seem to be new here, hello welcome to the Compound…NO OF COURSE I DON’T I HAVE ANYONE LIKE THAT HERE! Sheesh! It’s not like we figured advanced computer hacking skills are going to be that useful when the world is blown back to the stone age! So you mean you don’t have the ability to pull off this amazing plan of yours?”
“Well, not really, not to that degree at least…I suppose there’s just taking the panel apart and re-wiring it so it opens up for us though, you got any electricians or someone of that nature?”
“Yeah a few, but I hope you do too, because you’re going to assist the team since you’re the idea man for all of this. After you clean out all the cyborgs and whatever the hell else Alex has built down there, remember to grab those weapons and come back. We’ll go back to occupy the base later. Now go select your team and whatever else you think you might need.”

After asking for the names of the electronically “gifted” around the place, you go about following the Colonel’s orders and saying goodbye to Marina again, she looks more confident that you’ll return this time, you wish you could feel the same.

When you and your team get to the base in a few days, you’re in for a little surprise. A medium sized robot is patrolling the courtyard. Looks like your friend Alex also dabbles in robotics as well as cybernetics. You and your team hide behind the outer wall when you all catch sight of it. Apparently Alex didn’t trust you any more than you trusted him, and looks like both of you were right.

“Uh, what’s that?” one of your team members asks.
“It’s a robot, what’s it look like?”
“Well what’re we gonna do?”
“Kill it! Everyone open fire!”

You have no idea if your bullets are going to penetrate its armor, but you you’re going to try anyway. Everyone fires upon the robotic being, which begins to shutter and spark, but returns fire and a bright burst of light strikes one of your team members and completely incinerates him.

“Holy shit, get cover and keep firing!” you shout.

The rest of the battle doesn’t last too much longer, while your team continue to fire bursts at the machine while they dodge plasma blasts, you get enough time to toss a grenade at it and blow it to smithereens. Shards of burnt twisted metal lie all over the place.

“Come on we need to open up that door, before something else comes out of the damn thing!”

You and a few others start working on the card reader, trying to get it open as fast as possible. You don’t even know how you’re going to rewire the damn thing; you’ll just keep doing something until something else happens! As it turns out you didn’t need to do anything, while you and few others are fumbling around, the elevator doors open. At first you think you it was you who opened them, but in fact it was Alex who was controlling the elevator from the bottom. Two heavily armed cyborgs exit and begin firing immediately turning most of your team into charred skeletons. You manage to just barely get away and duck behind one of the buildings. Fortunately they don’t seem to be very fast, so when they try to chase you, you toss a few grenades in their direction, blowing them up in the same manner you destroyed the robot, except a bit bloodier, given their human bits.

You come out of your hiding place and see nothing left of your team, they’ve all been killed. The elevator door is still open; you could enter and finish the job, or return to the Compound in failure.
> You leave
There’s no way you can take on the rest by yourself, at the very least you need to get reinforcements! You’d radio in, but one of the other team members was carrying it, and he was fricasseed. Plus you don’t want to be around if anymore of Alex’s creations come up. Time for a full scale invasion, looks like the Colonel was right.

And that’s just what the Colonel tells you, when he’s chewing your ass out for losing valuable people and equipment in an attempt to go through with your plan. His respect for you is severely lowered, in fact the entire Compound’s respect for you is lowered. Harry makes every effort to taunt you, and even Marina becomes distant. (Obviously you weren’t the “man” she thought you were.) Your status in the Compound is pretty much nil, when the Colonel finally organizes an invasion party; you of course aren’t included.

Now knowing another invasion attempt is probably coming, Alex really beefed up his defenses; the invasion force doesn’t even set foot into the base before getting blasted by superior cyborg weaponry. Reinforcements are called in, but they don’t help. The base is too well defended now. A retreat is called, and the Compound has to abandon its invasion indefinitely. In fact all exploration is called off; since the Colonel decides he can’t afford to lose anyone else. (One of the only reasons why you’re kept around) The Compound just becomes a “place” where everyone lives because it’s safer than living outside it. The ideas of “rebuilding” civilization are abandoned. Morale certainly isn’t what it used to be.

Of course none of that means shit to Alex, who only steps up his plans for conquest.

A year passes without another incident and then the day happens which you all hoped would never happen, but somehow expected it would. Alex’s army arrives, and what’s worse is they now outnumber you. Alex must’ve been capturing people in the wastelands or something. He’s also improved his abilities, they’re even tougher, and worse they’re faster.

You don’t have anywhere else to go, and this place is your home such as it is. You figure maybe you can regain some respect by defending the place.

You and the rest prepare to defend the Compound. Harry is predictably yelling orders at everyone, while the Colonel is attempting to boost morale with inspirational speeches. None of it really helps though when the first wave of cyborgs easily melt the gate into liquid metal and blast holes in the walls.

Then they proceed to melt the people into liquid pulp, and blast holes in their bodies, you are no exception.