Evolution (Apocalypse 1)
Chapter 1
Eve Holsen stood at her
breakfast bar munching a Nutri-Snack and drinking CoffeeSim. Her
robotic owl Egbert sat on the counter bedside her.
It was going to be one of
those days: She was running late for her shift on patrol in the
badlands, and Egbert was nagging again, "Miss Holsen you
really should take more care. You're too reckless, especially when
you are out on patrol."
"I'm fine Eggers"
she said.
"No Miss Holsen,"
he replied, "you take too many risks. If you want to advance in
the military corps you must gain maturity." Eve frowned,
distorting the elite warrior tattoo on her forehead, but said
nothing. She didn't know why she'd chosen such a naggy
companion.
Her communicator beeped.
She grabbed it off the counter and pressed receive. It was her squad
mate Hollinger. He never calls me at home she thought.
"I've got some very
bad news gal,” he said, “The shit's really hit the fan. The
Dome's been breached, radiation levels are already off the scale,
and people are dying by the shed-load.” He paused for a second.
“And I'm sorry to tell you gal, but it's just you and me now. The
rest of the squad bought it a few minutes ago - they're all dead."
"What?” said Eve,
“that's not possible. I saw everyone in the mess bar last night.
They can't be dead! She gripped the counter trying to hold
herself steady. They can’t be dead. “Governor Janos was on
the news just yesterday. He said the Dome was in good shape".
She let the communicator drop to the floor and crossed the room to
the window. "Open" she said.
Egbert flew over "No!
Miss Holsen, it’s not safe." But he was too late. The window
was already sliding open.
She stuck her head out
and looked 34 floors down to the ground. It was chaos. People were
running around screaming, bodies were scattered on the ground, and
even this high, the stench of burning flesh was easy to pick up. She
lifted her head and looked out over the city. Most of the buildings
were high rise, built within a twenty feet of each other. Now half of
them were on fire. Jesus she thought.
But she hadn't looked up
yet.
Ever since she could
remember the Dome had always been there. There were just three cities
left now since the Apocalypse, each one protected from the radiation
by an electromagnetic dome. They could not survive without them.
The Dome was the only
reliable thing in Eve's life. It protected her from the outside
world. Unconsciously she'd assumed it was still there. Hollinger
must be wrong. But then, as she watched Las Vegas burn, something
caught her eye and she did look up. Oh my God no! It's true.
There was a gaping hole. She could see the sky through the hole. It
was blood red.
Abruptly she started to
cough and retch from the toxic air, and yanked the window closed,
overriding the audio control. "Shit" she said "this is
really happening".
The EM dome was gone,
thousands of people were dying, and there was nothing to protect them
from the radiation.
Hollinger's voice came
from the comm lying on the floor. "Eve girl listen, It’s not
just the Las Vegas Dome. They've all failed. The Domes in all three
cities have failed."
This didn't register with
Eve at first. She was in a daze staring in to the distance. Then it
hit home. This was the final Apocalypse they knew had been coming.
She was afraid this was the end for them all. She could feel it in
the pit of her stomach. There was no way they would ever survive
this. We're all going to die she thought.
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