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 stay silent

Maybe you're a leaner meaner fighting machine now, but that's still no reason to be foolish and volunteer for things. Eventually The Colonel picks someone at random and tells Harry to start assigning recon detachments.

"Alright you fuckin' bottom feeders, its time to put all that fuckin' training to good use! We're gonna go scout out the nearest towns we know of. Now I'm sure you know there were a lot of little towns dotted all over the place in these parts, are job is to make contact and see what the situation is. Don't be surprised if they open fire on you immediately. Catastrophes tend to make people behave like animals…and that's where we're coming in. We're here to be the tamers, just like the Colonel said, now then, Dixon, Bradson, Wilson, Copperheim! You're Alpha Team. Sams, Barns…"

Harry goes down a list assigning people. Time passes and you're one of the last people left. You can't help but notice that the ones left aren't exactly the most competent. You start wonder if you'll just be assigned to Compound duty, which you wouldn't really mind since it offers less opportunity to get shot at.

Your wonder is soon dispelled, when Harry puts down his list and addresses the rest of you directly.


"Alright now the rest of you fucking shit eating pansies get a different assignment, because you're so goddamn special like a fucking epileptic retard. You folks get to go to the CITY!"

Nobody looks too enthusiastic about that idea, except you're the only one with any balls to protest since you know Harry hates you anyway.

"The fucking city, are you kidding? It's probably been nuked into slag! There can't be anything useful there!"
"Y'know, I expected that kind of cowardly shit from you, so that's why you're going to be point man for the entire mission! Anyway, we don't know if the city has been completely destroyed, chances are that it not being a major city and its low importance, it may not have been hit with anything larger than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima back in old World War 2."
"OH well then, I'm SURE it'll be safe to enter then!" you reply.
"Shut your fucking mouth and stop being a bitch! You're all going to be wearing radiation suits anyway, which will keep your yellow ass safe. That alleviate your worries cupcake? Fuckin' pussy ass faggot. You oughta be glad you're even here in the first place. You don't like the fuckin' rules, you can fuckin' leave and see how well you fare on your own. Now what's it gonna be Nancy Boy?"
"Fuck it, fine, whatever." You retort giving in, but still weighing the option of possibly leaving later.

"Yeah, that's what I thought cupcake. Alright, go pick up your equipment and get ready to set off, you'll be using one of the vehicles since the City is pretty far away. If in the event that cupcake IS right and the place is a glowing hole, then return immediately. Another thing the Colonel wants this mission secret, so don't fucking mention it to anyone else in the Compound! I find out you have and you're fucking history! This means you don't tell your little girlfriend, cupcake!"

You all leave, with Harry still giving you a dirty look for your insubordination. You wonder if you shouldn't just leave when you exit the Compound. Take the equipment and then just disappear, who's going to come after you? It's not like there's going to be MPs searching for you all over the wasteland.

The night before you leave, Marina comes to see you.
"I hear you're leaving tomorrow, and 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 apparently not familiar with the fact that you didn't really have a choice in the matter, but since she's on top of you right now, you're not going to bring up the issue…

The next day you load up with what you think you might need, water, food, rifle, pistol, knife, Geiger counter, radiation suit, all the basic essentials, before you zoom off in the beat up car that's passing for your transportation to the city.

You sit in the back seat, while your other three teammates Steve, Albert and Roger are talking with each other. Mostly about things that don't matter, none of them seem to even be thinking about the fact that you're possibly driving into a glowing hole in the ground. And you don't give a shit what you're wearing. All the lead panties in the world aren't going to completely protect you, if you're standing at ground zero! You end up going back to sleep for the first day of the trip, only being periodically awakened by the laughter your team mates.

On the second day you stare out the window and see that the landscape has gotten worse looking as you get closer to your destination. The surrounding countryside around the Compound looks relatively untouched compared to what you're starting to see now. For shits and giggles, you roll the window open and shove part of the Geiger counter outside to get a reading, it starts clicking like a cricket and crack.

"Hey! Roll up that window; you're letting all the radiation in! Ha ha!" Albert exclaims, who's sitting next to you. Idiot.
"Check it out, looks like the city survived after all…well more or less." Steve says who's doing the driving.

You turn your attention forward and see the shattered "skeletal" remains of skyscrapers looming in the distance. The city got hit, but apparently by something "small" and probably exploded high in the air. Of course that doesn't make you feel any better.

Steve stops the car just outside the city limits mainly because the road is being blocked by burned out shells of other vehicles. You all pile out of the car.

"Alright I think we can take it from foot on here, we probably shouldn't try to drive the car in the city anyway, we need to conserve gas. Alright you're in the lead." Steve says to you.
"What? Why am I in the fucking lead?" you ask.
"Because Harry said you fuckin' were, CUPCAKE! Ha ha!" Albert laughs.
"Yeah, besides, you worked in the city, none of us did, so you probably know the place than we do."
"What, so none of you assholes ever visited the place?"
"Maybe a few times, not really enough to get deeply acquainted with it, look you're outnumbered, and you're taking lead, and that's that. Don't worry we'll be right behind you." Roger replies.
"After seeing how you fuckers shoot, I don't know if that's stupider than going into a radioactive city to begin with."

You take lead and begin walking; meanwhile your team members go back to talking about shit that doesn't matter again. Given their attention span, you wonder if you wouldn't just be better off exploring by yourself.

You explore by yourself

You start briskly walking ahead, Roger suddenly notices.

"Hey what's your fucking hurry?"
"I'm not waiting around for your slow asses, you're taking too fucking long with all the goddamn talking. I'm gonna scout out ahead, I'm supposed to be on point right? I'm taking the risk, so what the hell do you care?"
"But…oh fuck it, go on ahead and get yourself killed then, we'll be right here. Better be back by nightfall though, because we'll assume you're dead and leave without you."
"Yeah, yeah."

You leave the three stooges to their idiotic conversation, and proceed to go about your way, amongst the ruined buildings. It's weird to walk through the city and it being so quiet with no other people around. Ah, by yourself again, it's been awhile since you've had any private time to yourself. The Compound doesn't really allow for it. In fact with all this time to finally have to yourself gives you the opportunity to seriously consider leaving the Compound like you were thinking about earlier. It would be easy, all you have to do is wander off, and Roger did say they would assume you were dead by nightfall. You think about Marina though, you do like her…but you also like not having to have an asshole who hates you barking orders at you all the time too.

While you're struggling with the delimma of your current living situation, you suddenly hear a gravelly voice nearby and some slow shuffling.


"Meeeeeeeeat...(Wheez)"

You turn your head to see a walking horror. A man with badly distorted features and limbs hobbles in your direction. One of the bomb victims no doubt. You knew you had to run into them eventually. The problem is now more of them are starting to appear, and they look like they can do more damage. Many of them have a half-crazed appearance and severe radiation burns. Apparently their minds have damaged along with their bodies.

These ones aren't even making an attempt to speak; they're just looking at you menacingly and growling. They're beginning to encircle you.

You run back to your team

You hastily make a break for it back to where your team is situated; unfortunately, "the survivors" are in your way and attempt to stop you. You shoot a couple of them, but not before a few of them manage to wound you. A couple of them manage to tear through your suit with their ragged and jagged, dirty nails (Which are almost like claws at this point) You suffer some scratches to the back and shoulders, but the worst is when one of them actually bites through your suit drawing blood.

"Motherfucker!" you shout shooting your assailant in the face and breaking away from the cannibal mob.

You run like mad with the horde chasing not far behind. When you finally reach your team, they all finally pay attention for the first time and start running back to the car!

"HEY WAIT FOR ME YOU BASTARDS!" you yell, stepping up your pace.

Eventually you just barely manage to get inside the car before Steve drives off. A couple of the city dwellers jump on the back of the car, but a shotgun blast through the back window gets them off.

"Holy shit Albert! What the fuck?! Was it necessary to destroy our back window?" Roger shouts.
"Oh I'm sorry I didn't know we were taking back survivors to the Compound, oh shit you're wounded man!" Albert says looking at you.
"Ah I'm alright, there's medical supplies back at the Compound."
"No man! I mean you're bit and shit! You're gonna turn into one of those things!"
"For fuck's sake Albert, this ain't a low budget zombie film. It doesn't work like that!"
"I dunno, I mean how do you know? I mean you saw them, sure they were still alive, but radiation might do all kinds of weird shit!"
"Yeah, Albert's got a point. We don't know what the hell was in the air either and your suit was ripped. For all we know there was some sort of biological agent in the air too. Who knows what was dumped on the place. You could bring back some virus and infect everyone." Roger says.
"If you think these suits protected us from everything, you're a goddamn idiot in the first place…"

Suddenly you feel the butt from Albert's shotgun smack against the side of your skull, while Roger tells Steve to stop the car. You're too dizzy to fight back properly so you just pull the trigger on your rifle which results in you shooting Steve through the back several times before you get another smack in the head and getting your rifle taken from by Albert.

Roger then gets out of the car and opens up the door on your side to drag you out. Giving you a few kicks before pointing his gun at your face.

"Now I'm not killing you because you might be infected, I'm killing you because you just murdered my friend you sonofabitch!"

Roger then shoots you in your half-conscious state.