You might be absorbing more rads than usual now, but heading to the city would just be retarded. You'd probably die of cancer just going near the place; everything there would be contaminated anyway. You don't even want to see the survivors what the survivors might look like assuming there were any. You head for the general store, that's at least a safer bet.

You drive your Van to the general store not very far from your house. You remember the old guy who ran the place; Billy. He was always alright with you. Whenever you went in to buy food, he was always talking about how bad the state of world was getting and how he was going to be  prepared for when the nukes started flying. You're guessing he probably invested in one of those Ground Zero Survival Shelters you always saw for sale on TV and took himself and his wife to it. The last time you saw the place it was all boarded up and looked closed up for good, still it's a start.

You arrive at the store which is still all boarded up like the last time you've seen it. You always found it weird that Billy bothered to board the place up, if he was going to abandon it. Surely he couldn't have thought things would be restored so quickly after a nuclear exchange that he'd be able to return some day.

You get out of your van and study the store more closely which you never bothered to do before, the windows are boarded up from the outside, but upon closer inspection the door hasn't been boarded up at all. You try the door, but it's firmly locked. Nothing else for it, but to bash it down. You begin prying, slamming, kicking and everything else to the door, but its not budging and you only succeed in bruising your shoulder. In frustration you pull out your pistol and finally just shoot at the lock and then try to open it, which it does slightly, something else is barring the door from the inside though. You're going to have to start ramming the thing again to shove it open enough to get inside.

Suddenly you hear some noise from inside and the click of a shotgun, it's also only just then you realize that Billy's pick up truck is still parked by the side of his store. He's obviously still here and you were oblivious to the fact.

"Goddamn it Martha, hasn't been a month yet an' we already got scum tryin' ta loot the place!"

It's Billy. You thought he left, but apparently not. He just made it look like he did and barricaded himself inside.

"Alright you looting shit stain, you better just get the fuck outta here right now, 'fore you find yourself with a new hole in your chest!" Billy says from inside.
"Whoa Billy it's me! I used to shop here! Come on open up, I'm not a looter!" you reply.
"…(sigh) hold on, and back away from the goddamn door."

You back away as Billy presumably moves whatever was still blocking the door. When he finally opens it up, he stands in the doorway still pointing his shotgun at you.

"Damnation boy, I coulda blown your head off! You fuckin' destroyed my lock! What the hell are you wearin'?" Billy asks looking at your silly form of protection.
"I'm sorry; I thought you abandoned this place."
"Oh and that gave you the excuse to break in? What're you think yer doin' anyway? Why aren't you in your shelter or something?"
"Cause I don't have one that's why! I was going to see if this place had any supplies and maybe stay here, if it wasn't in bad condition."
"Oh. Well, sorry to crush yer dreams, but this place is still occupied and OWNED by me. You're gonna have to skedaddle. Just enough supplies for me and my wife."
"But…"
"No buts! Now you were a good customer an' all, but this is a new world and the rules have severely changed! It's all about survival now. And it's not my fault your ass didn't prepare for somethin' that was comin' for a long time! Now if you don't leave now I'm gonna be less understanding about this lack of judgment on your part. Bye and good luck."
"No wait!"

At this point Billy slams the door shut mumbling about the lock being destroyed and going to have to fix it. Billy must have some sort of private bomb shelter of his own, if he barricaded himself inside his own store. One that must be stocked pretty well to sustain him and his wife for a good amount of time.

An idea races through your head that you never thought you'd consider, well not before the nukes hit anyway, but Billy's statement of "This is about survival" rings true. It IS about survival, and not just his.

You don't really want to do this, but you feel like you have no other choice.

Billy is still trying to barricade the door, when you take another forceful charge into it.  
Your attempt is successful this time as it flies open causing Billy to fall and drop the heavy box he was going to place in front of it. The box half lands on Billy causing him crushing pain while he struggles to grab his shotgun from the floor. You're quicker though and point your own pistol at him.

"Don't grab that shotgun Billy…I don't want to kill you." you say
"Goddamn sonofabitch, you ain't taking this…"
"Billy what's… OH MY GOD!"

When you hear Martha's outburst, it startles you during this already tense moment, you end up turning around and firing. You hit Martha square in the chest; she looks down briefly in shock before falling over dead. You're a little in shock yourself.

"MARTHA!" Billy screams, causing you to face him once more, he's now actually grabbed the shotgun, and you begin babbling.

"Oh God! Oh man! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that! She came up and…Billy don't do that…I don't want to…please…"

You fire again, hitting Billy in the head, splattering his brains all over the floor and killing him instantly.

You feel sick and promptly run outside to vomit. You've never killed anyone before, though you don't think it was that, that made you sick. It was the fact you murdered two people who were really innocent. You were the trespasser and when you couldn't get what you wanted, you took it by force. You acted like a criminal even if there's no such thing as "law" anymore. You sit down in a daze for a few minute trying to take all this in, before realizing you have to take care of some clean up first.

You remove the bodies of Billy and Martha from the store. (You also remove your silly "protection wear", well except the dishwashing gloves for moving the bodies) You wonder where you're going put them, but eventually you decide to just dump them in the wilderness nearby, you figure nature will take its course.

You go back to the store and re-barricade it. The store itself is empty, but in a back room, you discover a trapdoor. You descend and discover a large shelter with a treasure of food and water supplies, along with other useful items like first aid kits. Looks like Billy was more prepared than you could've imagined. One necessity you're glad to find is a bathroom facility with a sink and toilet, there's a little bit of water seeping from the cracks of the walls. Billy must've hit the jackpot and found an underground water source and built a crude plumbing system. He's also installed a small hydro generator which would explain how come there's dim lighting down here.

Finally you see some survivalist books Billy had on a small bookshelf by a bed and a couple of hunting rifles along with ammunition for them and the shotgun you've recently acquired as well.

Well you're certainly set up, and all you had to do was kill an old couple. As you lie down on the bed you think about your actions in greater depth now. You're not sure how to feel. Part of you wants to feel bad, but somehow you can't make yourself feel as bad as you probably should. In fact you're already starting to rationalize your actions. The first murder was a mistake, and the second one was self-defense.

"And this is survival." You say and fall asleep.

The next day you wake up, you feel the most refreshed than you have in a long time.

Something has changed within you. You don't recognize immediately, but as a few months go by you begin to.

Granted you were never a big one for human contact, anti-social and reclusive even, but this "line" you've crossed recently, your continued isolation, and the absence of civilization have made you become a little unhinged.

You also start becoming paranoid, about other people stumbling across your new place and attempt to break in and take it like you did. Using the knowledge you've been getting from the survivalist books, you start setting up traps, inside and outside the store. One time, you spend just about a whole day doing that. When the darkness approaches you go back to your underground haven to descend further into quiet madness, before you fall asleep.

Suddenly in the middle of the night you hear a noise and a scream from above. Sounds like it's coming from outside and from more than one person. You immediately grab your shotgun and head upstairs.

After going through the typical routine of taking down the barricades, you open the door and see a family in panic. A man is lying on the ground yelling in pain from the snap trap that has obviously broken his leg. A woman and a little boy are screaming frantically and totally clueless of what to do in this situation.

Looks like your traps work.

The family hasn't seen you yet and don't know your intentions, come to think of it, you aren't even sure of your intentions…

You help them

You haven't completely given up on your conscience. These people didn't do anything to you; they were probably just trying to find some place to be.


"Hold on! I got a medical kit!" you shout and run to go fetch it along with small wooden plank and some rope. When you come back the entire family seems to have calmed down a bit, you remove the trap from his leg and look at it. You didn't use anything with blades, so its just broken, not punctured in any way.

"Damn, it's a good thing I didn't use that bear trap I found, your leg would've been completely severed! Now if I remember reading this right, I have to reset the leg…"
"Wait! You mean you've never done this before?" the man shouts.
"Well no, but I've been reading! Now brace yourself!"
"No Wait! AAAAAAAAGH! SHIT! That hurt!"
"There now I just have to tie this splint thing around your leg, and you'll be all set, well more or less. What the hell are you people doing out here anyway? Shouldn't you be in a shelter or something?"

The woman answers your question.

"We were supposed to, but when we got to the GZS shelter we bought it wouldn't let us in! It just ate our debit card and said error! We tried like hell to get in, but the elevator door just wouldn't budge. When the bombs hit, we were in the shelter entrance foyer, and stayed there for a few days, but we realized we couldn't stay there forever, so we left and tried to find a nearby town that we might try to continue life as usual, but the one we found was quite unfriendly, they wouldn't even let us stay! This catastrophic event has made people paranoid and hostile!"
"Huh. People were like that before the bombs; did you think they'd be different afterwards?" you say.

Now the man speaks again, as he attempts to sit up

"Well I'd at least expect some hospitality. When we got there, they looked at us like we were going to loot the entire town."
"Probably thought you were, you know its going to take a while before most folks become trusting again. People are going to barely trust people they know. Hell, I heard they were rioting in the city before the bombs dropped. So I'd imagine there are lots of bad types out there willing to kill people over supplies as simple as fresh water."
"But you helped us."
"Yeah, I guess I did…"
"Is this your store? Looks like you were better prepared than we were."
"Uh…yeah, okay well I guess you guys can stay out here for awhile until you're ready to move on. Good luck."

As you turn to leave the woman speaks again.

"Hey wait! You mean you're not going to let us in? You'd just leave us out here? We told you, we were low on gas! And now my husband Jonathan has a broken leg! How are we going to get by?"
"So, you can drive can't you? Look, this isn't my problem. I helped out, because I realized you guys weren't bandits or some shit, but I'm not here to take care of you. I have my own concerns."
"But…"
"Let it go Doris, I guess we should be grateful he fixed my leg and didn't kill us."
"Are we going to be okay Dad?" the boy asks, speaking up for the first time without yelling.
"We'll see Tyler, we'll see."

Ah fuck, you started to give shit and now it's coming back at you.

You turn around, and give in.

"Alright, you can come in, but you're staying in the topside of the store, you can even stay until your leg heals, but after that, you gotta go. I don't have supplies to sustain all of you indefinitely."

The family is very grateful, and moves in immediately.

Over the months you all get to know each other a little better though you still don't exactly tell them how you "acquired" this place. You just say your "Uncle Billy" gave it to you when he died.

Soon Jonathan's leg is much better, but you're wondering if you shouldn't let them stay on a more permanent basis; however as it turns out, that's exactly what Jonathan had in mind for his family except YOU weren't included.

This treachery for your good graces comes as a surprise one night, when Doris suddenly wakes you up by banging on the trap door, yelling about how she thinks there's someone out side and how Jonathan went to check, but she thinks he's in trouble. You immediately grab your shotgun and go see what's wrong.

You barely get out the front door, and you're suddenly hit in the head, knocking you to the ground. Jonathan grabs your shotgun and points it at you. Doris and Tyler come to the doorway.

"Doris, take Tyler down into the underground…this'll be over soon I hope." Jonathan replies grimly.

Doris nods and then looks at you, with a sad expression.

"We're sorry about this…we really are…" she says and then takes her son away leaving just you and Jonathan. You stand up and brush yourself off.

"So, were you planning this all along or what?"
"Well…I dunno…nowadays, you don't really plan anything, it just sort of happens y'know?"
"Oh yeah, I know."
"Well you can understand that this is a good place for me and my family, and I can't allow you to just kick us out."
"Stupid bastard, I was just thinking about letting you all stay on a more permanent basis." you laugh. This response surprises Jonathan, and it almost looks like he's going to change his mind, but he doesn't.

"…It's too late now. You'd never trust me now, and I'd always think you'd try to get revenge. You have to leave. Besides you said it yourself one time, there aren't an indefinite amount of supplies, to sustain all of us."
"Well you might as well pull that goddamn trigger John, because I'm not leaving."
"Come on, man I'm serious! I'll do it. I don't want to, but  I got a family to think about and there's nothing that's gonna make me change my mind…look I'll let you leave with some supplies. How about that? I mean you can take one of these vehicles or even mine! Just you gotta leave, we're taking this place now. I'm sorry."

Well it's not much of a choice, but it may be more preferable than death. Though you can't help but think of the irony that how you tried to do the right thing and got fucked in the ass big time, while when you murdered Billy and his wife, you hit the damn jackpot.

You insist on staying

"Fuck you John, I'm not making it that easy for ya. You think it's really that easy to kill someone? You go right ahead."

You're hoping that you're just calling his bluff and he really won't shoot you, whether he was or not, he hesitates long enough for you to take advantage of the situation.

You dive into Jonathan's legs as hard as you can, causing the both of you to fall to the ground, he attempts to get you off by smashing you in the head with the shotgun butt, however you knock it from his hands and re-break his leg, this time so the bone comes through. He bellows in pain, and then you kick him in the face.

You pick up the shotgun and point it at him.

"You stupid motherfucker! I woulda let you stay here! If you'd just…bah! You're right, it's too late now, and you fucked…ARGH!"

A shot rings out and a sharp pain shoots into your side, causing you to fall. You look over in the direction of the store and its Doris holding one of the hunting rifles, though it seems she's not entirely comfortable with it and her second shot misses, giving you time to retaliate.

"Bitch!" you say and swing the shotgun in her direction blowing a hole in her side as well, though hers is instantly fatal.

"DORIS!" Jonathan screams before he crawls in your direction in some vain attempt for revenge.

"Told ya, it's not that easy to kill someone, unless you've done it before…" you remark and finish off Jonathan.

You're bleeding profusely and in a lot of pain, and you briefly wonder if you're going to survive your wounds, but that wonder comes to an end, when another shot rings out, hitting your upper body dropping you. It's Tyler holding your pistol, silent, with tears in his eyes upon seeing his dead parents.

You give up, even if you had the strength to pick up your shotgun, you're not going to kill a kid. In fact you figure you probably deserve to die anyway given that you've killed two couples now who didn't really deserve it. You decide to give some last minute advice to this newly orphaned lad, who's going to surely have a hard time of it now, but still he might survive if he listens to your words…

"Don't trust anyone kid…nobody."