American Wasteland

(I know I've read this one already, but I still wanted to post it. I'll be uploading the one I wrote for Melissa's session ASAP :D)

American Wasteland

It’s been six years since the bombs went off. We were caught off guard and that really hurt us bad. The east coast was hit first and they were hit the most. Nukes, smallpox, H-bombs, everything and anything anyone can think of, they were hit with. It was a surprise anyone made it out of there alive, or what you can call alive. To me, they were mindless zombies, though not the eat-your-brains kind of zombie. They were people with a hard case of PTSD.

Middle America was just as unlucky. They were bombed with nukes and missiles and had to deal with crop eating insects too. Here in the west coast, we weren’t severely bombed, but still…. Washington State is as wasteland. Nevada, Arizona, and Utah are all radioactive and uninhabitable. California was split into two. Whoever organized the bombings were smart and they knew what to hit and how to hit it. Within months after the attack, and with the government failing to deliver support, the United States of America was now in crumbles.

It’s a surprise as to how I survived. Thinking back to where I was when the first bomb dropped, it’s amazing how your instincts can keep you alive. I remember being in a classroom and then out of nowhere the wall exploded. I got out as soon as I could, passing by the corpses of my friends. It was saddening, but I didn’t have time to mourn. I was the few lucky folks who got out right before the school crumbled. From what I had seen before the school fell, there were many holes punched through the building.

Fire trucks, ambulances, and even police arrived within minutes. Firefighters went straight for the fire that was emitting from the rubble. The police maintained safety and the paramedics patched up those who were lucky to survive. Unfortunately, another bomb dropped about two miles away from where I was and the wave of debris reached where we were.

It was total panic. After receiving medical attention, I went straight home. My parents, siblings, and dog were getting ready to enter the bomb shelter my father made under the basement. It took three years to make, and no one in the family thought we’d need to use it. Were we thankful that my father didn’t listen to us. The shelter was one mile below the surface and it had been stocked with the essentials that would last for two years. And so, we went below.

After the two years were up, I was voted to surface and see how things were. To be honest it wasn’t like how I’d imagine it….

“James. It’s time for dinner! I won’t call you again!” yelled a woman through the closed door of her son. She sounded a little irritated, but calm nonetheless.

“I’ll be there as soon as I finish reading this chapter!” The son responded, yelling through the closed door as well.

“Now!” His mom replied. With an annoyed sigh, he placed his bookmark between the pages he stopped at and put the book down. “Fine, fine…” he said in defeat as he opened the door and went downstairs.