The year is 2005. The world has just gone through a massive World War involving nuclear weapons. No one knows who launched the first warhead. But no one really cares anymore. The nations, or lack there of, of this world are still recovering from the radioactive fallout caused by the nuclear warheads. Due to the world being blanketed with explosions the population has been cut drastically. What was once a thriving world of 6 Billion or more has been cut down to a barren world of barely 10 Million. The people that have survived live in the mountains and must fend for themselves. This Post Apocalyptic world is horror to even the most battle hardened soldier. This story starts in the mountainess region of the Rocky Mountains in what is left of the United States.

June 22, 2005
"Get out of bed you lazy bum," shouted Joe's mom. He slowly climbed out of his bed and sat there thinking for a while. “Everyday is the same damn thing. Get up...wash...get dressed...help pop gather food....help ma with dinner....then gather round the fire outside with the rest of the families. I hate it all." He got up and went to the water bowl to wash up. He looked at himself in the partial mirror that they had and was disgusted. They were washing their faces with dirty water, that’s all they could find. Joe went outside to meet up with his father to help get some food for dinner. Joe's father, Mike, was a colonel in the former 5th Mountain Division. But ranks and assignments don’t really matter anymore. The father and son pair set off into the forest for a little hunting.

They came back home with a pretty good catch; some fox, and a nice big deer. That should last them a week or two. Joe went to wash up for dinner, even though it doesn’t help much at all.

"How come we cant get any clean water?" asked Joe.
"Well for one we cant afford to buy clean water from the people that have some, and we just cant go out and fetch clean water anymore. Its all been
contaminated," replied his mother.

They got to work skinning and fox to get to the meat

[delay of 3 hours]

Joe and his family went outside to the fire pit and waited for the rest of the families to come for the daily pow wow. They all sit around and tell stories and just talk about what they're going to be doing the next couple days. Joe went to bed disappointed at the stories that was told that night. As Joe was falling asleep he mumbled, "Its damn thing everyday...Get up...wash...get dressed...help pop gather food....help ma with dinner....then gather round the fire outside with the rest of the families........" and he drowsed off.

Little did he know what awaited him tomorrow.



[Edited on 22-6-2004 by dreamlandmafia]

June 23, 2005:
Joe woke up suddenly by a big explosion in the clearing by his house. He jumped out of bed and threw on his clothes and rushed out the front door. He was met by his mother and father and they stood together and stared at the sight that was unfolding in the middle of the field. 5 Infantry Carriers loomed in the distance as they approached. The lead carrier bore the United States of America flag. Joes father ran to grab his rifle just in case they needed to protect themselves.

"Joe, get inside the house incase this turns ugly," said Joes Father.
"But I wanna see what they want," replied Joe
"Get yer ass inside NOW"
"Yes Sir," Joe said as he ran inside.

The carriers were about 100 feet away when they stopped. They just sat there for a few minutes, not making a sound or moving at all. Joes father and the areas men went up armed to see what they wanted. Suddenly the door of the lead carrier slammed down and a tall man walked out dressed in all Camo. He stepped out infront of all the men of the area, and didnt say a thing. He took a walkie talkie off his belt and said a few code words. Then the doors of the other 4 carriers slammed down. About 32 soldiers all in Camo stormed out and lined up behind, what seemed to be, the leader.

"What do you all want?" asked Joe's next door neighbor Mr.Adkins.
"We are here searching for potential soldiers of the right age to help us in teh rebuilding of teh United States of America and its return to power in the
world," stated the Leader.

They stood there talking for a while and the discovered that the leader's name was General David, no last name, just David. Joe's father invited David into their house for some dinner. Joe's mother brought them all dinner at the table, while David and Joe's father exchanged war stories. At a break in the stories David turned to Joe and asked him how old he was.

"16, sir", answered Joe.
"Hmm...just the right age to join up with us."
"Oh NO!!!",butted in Joes father, "Joe is not going to join no military. Hes going to stay here and help the family."
"But Pa...i really want to go with them."

Joe and his father argued about this up until dinner came, when Joes father jsut got fed up with it all and just said theyd think about it. And to Joe that means yes. David left to go back to the carriers for the night. Joes father made him go to bed an hour earlier than usual. But Joe was glad. That would give his father more time to think about it without Joe bothering him. He had something to look forward too now.

---------------------------------------
Cmon people...post.

[Edited on 23-6-2004 by dreamlandmafia]

June 24, 2005

Joe awoke as he did every morning. He slowly climbed out of his bed and sat there thinking for a while. “Everyday is the same damn thing. Get up...wash...get dres...OH WAIT! I dont have to stay in this h***-hole
anymore!

Throwing on a clean(ish) shirt and a splash of dirty water on his face to wake him up, he stumbled outside, blinking from the fast transition from the dark to outside.

David was already up, and he walked over to Joe as soon as he spotted him. "Pack your bag, it should consist of 3 outfits, a blanket, some well-perserving food, shoes, utensils, and any ONE item that you would like to take as a personal belonging."

As Joe walked back into his house and to his bed, his father saw him.
"wait one minute mister, where do you think you are going?"
"I'm going with David, Dad"
"And who said you needed to go?"
"But I want to go. I want to get out of here!"
The look in his father's determined eye slowly softened. "Alright son. If it means that much to you, then I won't try and stop you", his dad glanced over at Joe's sleeping mother. "But if you tell Mom a single word about me letting you go, i'll deny it to my grave!"

Joe finished packing, as was about to walk out the door of their little home, when he turned and grabbed a picture that had survived the Thrid World War. It was in Sacramento (California), and it had him, his mom, his dad, and his older brother Alex standing in front of the house they lived in before the nuclear blasts. His brother didn't survive. shoving the picture into his pack, he walked out the front door ready to face the world.

Not many ppl were recuited from Joe's little village. Only Stephen, Mr. Adkins son, and Johnny, the son of one of the oldest members of the village, showed up to the carriers with packs in hand.

Not to say the rest of the village wasnt there; they were. All the women had tears in their eyes, even the mothers of children who got to stay behind, and the men looked on with a bit of pride in this younger generation, who hopefully would do good for the world, unlike thiers, which almost destroyed it.

They waved their final good-byes, and climbing into the carrier designated them. the door closed shut with a slam, and they were off.

June 25, 2005

It was hot, dark, and musty inside the carrier. With every bump, the piles of supplies inside shifted, slamming from side to side. Joe and David were hard pressed to find anything to hold on to as the wretched pressure-cooker on wheels lurched down the ravine toward the highway.

"What the..." David screamed as can of ham and limas slammed against his temple after it came loose from the overhead storage bin.

"Hey!" the driver ejaculated. "Don't even think about using profanity in my carrier. I'm a BORN-AGAIN Christian and I don't want no cursin' in this man's carrier."

"Alright, man! I wasn't gonna use no profanity. I don't never cuss, anyway. It's just this can of beans hit me in the head," David wailed over the din.

"Neither one of us cuss, mister," Joe shouted in defense of his brother.

"That's excellent! I can see we're gonna get along real good. My names Jake. Jake the Snake!"

The driver was a round bald fellow with a red face and arms that looked like hairy sides of beef.

"Hey! Bring them beans up here!" Jake yelled over the roar of the engine and the shifting load.

David grabbed the can and stumbled through the boxes of gear between him and the driver's compartment.

"Tie that hatch to the bulkhead, will ya, so the thing don't hit ya in the head," Jake yelled. "And hand me that can of beans."

David handed him the can and tied the hatch to the bulkhead with the greasy length of cotton rope attached to the handle.

Jake began laughing so hard he was choking.

"What's so funny, Jake?" David yelled over the noise.

"This ain't a can of beans, kid."

"It says ham and limas right there on the can, can't you read?"

"Of course, I can read. Don't you know that a can of ham and limas ain't no can of beans! Where are you from?"

"Sacramento," David said, deepening his voice as he screamed to be heard.

"Well, let me tell you something, SA-CRA-MEN-TO! A can of ham and limas ain't no can of beans. It's an institution. You got that?", Jake screamed as the belts in the engine compartment squealed like a corral full of stuck pigs.

"Sir, an institution, Sir! Sir, yes, Sir," David bellowed.

"You've got a good set of lungs, Sacramento, but don't get smart with me. I'm Jake the Snake and I'm your ticket back to the World. So be nice, ya got that."

"Yes, sir," David said respectfully, knowing that Jake really was his only chance to live a normal life again.

"Good! Now look at this C-rat can. Millions of cans like this have fed millions of Marines who fought for freedom all over the world, from dubya-dubya-two to Korea and all the way to Vietnam and beyond. You can bet yore behind that Ira Hayes ate a can of these on Mount Suribachi right after he helped raise that flag on Iwo Jima."

"And not only that, but I've got two cases of these babies, that I bought offa e-bay, when it was still up and runnin'! You can't get these babies anymore. I got the last of 'em. And let me tell you somethin' else. When these were in a case of C-rats, Marines would trade a carton of cigarettes just to get a chance to eat those boogers COLD!. HA HA! COLD!

"I tell ya what, Sacramento! When we get to the base camp, I'll let YOU eat this can of ham and limas cold, just the way Chesty Puller ate 'em up at the Frozen Chosin. Are you hungry?"

"No, sir," David lied.

"What happened to yore brother! I hope he didn't give up the ghost back there. What's his name?"

"Joe. My name's David."

"No it ain't! Yore name is SACRAMENTO! So, ya better come runnin' every time ya hear it or you'll find yore little BE-hind walkin' to the next base camp. We've got a lotta miles to cover in the next week, so ya better get used this old buggy."

"There's the highway! Get yer brother up here quick. I've gotta lot to catch you two up on before we make camp tonight. GET UP HERE, JOE! MOVE IT, MOVE IT, MOVE IT! BUT-TOCKS AND EL-BOWS! YEE-HAW!




[edit on 2005/7/10 by GradyPhilpott]