text: [Themes: sci-fi, serious]
  
  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."
  
  "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...
  
  > Go AWOL
  You like Marina and all, but that's about all you like about living at the compound. Being by yourself in the wilderness reminds you of how much you missed it. You have no idea what that secret base holds for you, why should you risk your life for a bunch of practical strangers?
  
  "What the hell was I thinking volunteering?" you say out loud.
  
  You decide to say fuck it, take to the road, and see where it leads you.
  
  A couple days pass and you haven't encountered anyone, then again you are still pretty far from any kind of civilization, of course you don't really mind. Suddenly you find out you aren't alone, when a crack of a rifle shot comes from a nearby hill.
  
  "You fuckin' idiot, you missed!" a voice shouts.
  "Yeah and you just gave away our fucking position asshole!" another retorts.
  
  You quickly take cover behind a rock. You recognize those voices though; they're a couple of the idiots from the compound! The Colonel must've had you followed to make sure you stayed on the mission! So much for his so called "faith" in you! (Then again, perhaps he did have a good reason considering you DID go AWOL!)
  
  Looks like you'll have to take care of them before you can truly put the compound behind you.
  
  While you're taking cover, you notice an abandoned gas station nearby; you could make a run for it and take better shelter in there, or return fire.
  
  > run for it
  You make a mad dash for the gas station, as bullets just miss your feet and head. The Colonel was thankfully right, they are weekend warriors. The problem you notice now, is there's a crossfire, yet another spy is shooting at you from the other side as well, which means it's a good thing you moved from your position when you did.
  
  You manage to get to the gas station; the shelves have practically been stripped of anything that might be edible or useful. That doesn't matter right now as bullets begin penetrating the already broken glass windows. You hide behind the counter as you hear them advance on your position.
  
  "Yeah, he's hiding inside, we better be careful. Go around and see if there's a backdoor." You hear one shout.
  
  One thing working in your favor is they obviously aren't too bright, now you know one's going to come around the back. You also know one of them is coming through the front door since the tell tale signal bells that jingle when customers used to enter make a noise. You immediately stand up and unleash a burst of hot lead into one of your ambusher. He falls in a bloody heap, then you run towards the backdoor and when you see it just barely creek open, you let fly another burst. The slumping of a lifeless body is heard and you confirm the kill when the wind blows the door open again to reveal a body lying on the ground outside.
  
  You duck down again and scramble around the corner when your last assailant suddenly pops out from that same back door and nearly tears your head off with a shotgun. Victory is yours though when you point your assault rifle around the corner and just fire it, hoping you hit him, you do you hear that always satisfying drop of another body.
  
  After killing all of your enemies you begin to search their bodies, taking what you'll surely need. On one you find a radio, for a moment you wonder how the hell you forgot to take one of these with you, then you remember it doesn't really matter since you never went to the base. You hear a familiar voice coming in right now.
  
  "Leonard! Come in you dickhead! You better gimme some good news!" Harry shouts.
  
  You pick up the radio to answer Harry.
  
  "Sorry, but Leonard can't come to the phone right now, he currently has his face blown off and his tongue on the floor."
  "YOU! You fucking cowardly AWOL shit stain! I knew we shouldn't trust you! Don't think you're gonna get away with this! We WILL track you down! And when we do, I will personally blast a hole in your head and skull fuck you! Traitor!"
  "Yeah, yeah, we'll see."
  
  You drop the radio and let Harry continue his meaningless rant. Time for you to move on.
  
  A few days pass and nobody else comes looking for you, just like you expected, no doubt they have better things to worry about than punishing one lone outsider. Your brief stay at the compound served its purpose as far as you're concerned. It gave you a place to hide when the bombs hit as well as the necessary supplies with which to sustain you. Getting to have sex with Marina was a bonus.
  
  A somewhat self-serving approach, but that attitude will probably serve you well in this new harsh world and it does... for awhile.
  
  The day of reckoning eventually comes while you were attempting to waylay a traveler who actually wasn't as alone as she seemed. Your attempt at highway robbery is suddenly cut short in the same brutal way most folks die out in the wasteland; a bunch of bullets to the body.