Capital Wasteland

Lieutenant Jason Matthews stared at the bleeping screen of a radar. He was in a unmarked bunker near the city of Bethesda where his platoon was assigned. Their job was to monitor the radars, and it was fairly good day up until this point. One of the men had called his Lieutenant over to look at the screen. Poor guy had thought he had done something wrong and had no idea that the dot on the screen was a bomb carrier. Jason Immediately informed his superiors who later reported they had sent out aircrafts and tried to make contact with the craft, but none of the men returned and their attempts were met with silence. Jason gave the command to start the siren and gathered his men in the bomb shelter portion of the bunker. Once his men were safe, he headed out to try and save as many people as he could.

He first went to his own house. Jason searched his home for anything that was non-perishable and could be of use. While he was rushing around his home, ideas for shelters were running through his mind. His own home didn’t have a basement, so it was out. People would be heading to Vault 100 for safety, but it’s unlikely they’ll get in. He considered the metro near his home saw it as a decent place to take cover. At that moment, he was digging through some junk drawers in search of matches and came across four unused holotapes. And idea floated about his head to make a tape stating where he was. Jason went to his closet and pulled out his holodisk recorder. The message he recorded was rushed, horribly worried sounding, and had sirens blaring through the background. He thought that the tapes would be able to help someone at some point in time, and would be a good way of preserving what happened that day.

"Ticktzzz pleazz" said the unnatural monotone voice of the Robco machine, Charles eyed the metallic contraption menacingly uselessly trying to put it off.

"Pleazzz show your valid Metro tickettt" said the machine once again much to the annoyance of Charles.

Charles shut his book abruptly and wrote "99" on the back of his cigar case; his current progress with the novel.
Charles stood up from the bench and slowly put out his cigar taking his time leisurely as if to purposely aggravate the tin can standing before him.

Charles presented the small blue card as the machine scanned it seemingly returning Charles the favor and taking as many as nine seconds above the usual scanning time to clear him for entrance.

"Valid Metro ticket detected, thank you for traveling with Metroo" said the Robco machine still fizzing the words because of the mechanical fault called Mr. House's sense of humor.

Charles hoped that by the time of his next transit the damned machines would be a little bit more compliant with the passengers. The last time someone accidently confused a blue ticket for a red one the robots had almost lopped of his arm as they dragged him out of the station.

Charles lit another cigar, for all he knew those machines would start shooting people; at least then he would be getting a more efficient service!

Charles boarded the train walking past the cabins until he found his pre-arranged seating arrangements. They were first class of course as always and since Charles was by now a long standing and loyal costumer of DC Metro a bottle of wine was surely enough present and waiting for him on the table.

"Ahh there you are Mr. Hastings I have been waiting for you, please sit and make yourself comfortable" said the familiar German accented voice on time as usual.

Charles put down the case and took his seat putting out the cigar knowing the man in front of him was a prominent anti smoker.
"What amazes me Mr. Kessler is the way by which you seem to find yourself in this cart before it has even departed its first station for the day" said Charles making conversation despite him knowing the answer to his question very well indeed.

"Come, come now Mr. Hastings, you should know by now that gaining entry to a closed train is little effort for the organizations I represent" said Kessler pouring the content of the bottle into the two glasses… it did not seem like wine as Charles had expected. Kessler appeared to have noticed and brought the bottle to view for Charles to see its identity.

"I thought for today's meeting we would taste something more potent, Schnaps to be precise. Do please taste it, this bottle has come a long way… from my birthplace Austria in fact"

Charles glared at the small glass before him and sipped from it gaining a taste of the liquid, he had to admit this drink was far more enjoyable then their normal wines.

"Most excellent indeed Mr. Kessler" said Charles draining his cup and waiting for Kessler to explain this hastily planned meeting.
Kessler took slightly more time to finish his drink measuring the quality as savoring the taste once he found it satisfying. By the time Kessler had drained his cup Charles had finished another cursing himself for his lack of control.

"My colleagues have requested me to inquire after your progress concerning operation Eagle"

Charles denied his bodies impulse for another glass of the beverage and focused on his compatriot's strange request. Why would they be looking into the development? Hadn't he made it clear that years would be required before he could even hope to test his theories?
"I must say Mr. Kessler that I am surprised at this request, there is nothing to be said of Eagle at this time"

"We are not asking for the technical details we have all those from our sources. What we want is your words on the program" interrupted Kessler with a somewhat more earnest approach to this meeting than usual.

Charles pondered this for a moment and wondered how on Earth was going through with another meeting just for him to repeat himself worth such a waste of time?

"I have little more to say on the matter at this time, the fuselage itself could be constructed easily enough using existing technology but the power generation system for this machine would have to be extraordinary… many hundreds of times humanities current energy output in total.
My team and I have seen remarkable progress I would have not dared hope possible after our original meeting but we are still years away from any experimental system let alone a fully operational one"

Kessler listened intently showing no signs of his thoughts until he opened his brief case taking out a black file.
"There are some alterations to the plan; I would like you to read this file and make your assessment of it"

Charles took hold of the folder and opened the file finding no clues as to its origin nor it author as he examined its opening page. Resigning himself to reading it Charles proceeded intently and was soon bemused as to what he saw.

"Kessler, what is this about? These figures can't be right"

"Our organization expects a resource short fall in the near future"

Charles tossed the file back to the desk, was this some joke?
"A resource shortfall? How could 97% of currently available resources become inaccessible and 99% if your reported industrial capacities become unavailable? What is this all about Kessler?"

"Like I said our organization expects a resource shortfall in the near future, think of it as expected budget cuts. My colleges would like to know if production of Eagle could proceed despite these shortcomings"

"Not smoothly that is certain" said Charles as he examined the more detailed information in the file." Well, if you compensated for your lack of resources with existing construction you would not need to produce any heavy equipment for Eagle. You could in theory rebuild a Repcon Rocket ship to suite your purpose but it would be a cheap alternative at best. But it would not matter if you could not create a working propulsion system"

Kessler nodded as he took a second black folder out of his case and placed it at the table. "Read it" he said filling his glass again.
Charles read the file; this was nothing like the previous one and contained years' worth of propulsion system development among its pages.

"You are not the only scientist we contacted for this task; many hundreds more have made their contribution to our case"

"Why then did you need me? You have what you need in this file" Said Charles quite angry about being played around with like this.

"We need alternative perspectives for our work. Do you think we can build this system using the resources available in the previous file?"
Charles pondered this question; he could not deny that this discussion as a hypothetical one was fascinating but he knew that his work with these people was far from hypothetical… they were bloody serious about it.

"No, I can't see it being accomplished with such drastic cuts; it would be like cutting the funding of the US army to the level of a boy scouts platoon"

Kessler nodded and stood up packing his suitcase and putting on his hat.

"The Enclave thanks you for your time Mr. Hastings" said Kessler as he turned to leave the cart.

"Are you leaving?" Said Charles surprised by Kessler's breaking of habit.

"It's quite early relatively to our normal; I have never seen you break with schedule like this Mr. Kessler"
Kessler smiled, Charles had never seen him do so and this alien face gave him chills down his spine.

"Today I have to make an exception, it is actually quite late. You may keep that bottle… I expect before this day is over you will find yourself in need of it. Goodbye Mr. Hastings"


With that Kessler departed the cart; the train stopped which was strange considering this station was not a part of its route but Charles had learned to expect that sort of thing from these people.

"Goodbye Mr. Hastings", in all their Meetings Kessler always said "Until we meet again". Something was up… A sudden meeting out of the blue which demanded no delay, a hypothetical 99.9% cut in production capability, serious details about the accommodation of many hundreds of people into space and sudden breaks of habit due to haste?

Charles grew grim, there was no such thing as hypothetical with these people.
Sirens started to shriek their message of doom answering a question to which Charles already had the answer.

Kessler was right; he would indeed need that bottle.

Jason left his house at about 11:45 after setting the holotape on the front step of his house and leaving a note in his home stating where he was and for whomever enters to take what they like, he wouldn't be needing it anymore. The door was left unlocked for easier access and he moved quickly to the metro station. On his way, he noticed a scary amount of people going about their own business and discussing how they thought the sirens were false alarms. He tried his best to warn people to take cover. Most were reluctant to do so but, seeing a armor covered man rushing to safety seemed to get most of them moving. None of them followed him though, they all wanted to be with their families or die in their own homes.

The metro was buzzing with people trying to get on trains, trying to get cover. Many of them families with large bags with them full of who knows what. Jason pulled his Armed Forces identification card out and began to carefully push his way to the gates. The whole area was a mess and he feared a riot might break out judging by all the pushing and pulling going on. There were police attempting to keep everything under control and working side by side with Securitrons to push back people. Jason worked his way to the one of the guards while holding out his ID to those who complained about being “ditched”.

The officer he approached was busy with trying to keep riots from forming and attempting to have some sort of order. Needless to say, his attempts were in vain. The man noticed Jason approaching him and greeted Jason with a nod of recognition.

Jason held out his ID card for the man to see, “Lieutenant Jason Matthews, I’m here in hopes of aiding in the removal of civilians,” The guard barely glanced at the ID and let out a bitter laugh,

“No offence, Sir, but there’s really nothing to do here,” He leaned towards Jason and motioned for him to get closer, Jason complied.

“You see that there?” He pointed to the Teller Booth, Jason followed his finger, “That’s where the tickets are sold, and there's a limited number of ‘em. My guess is that there isn't enough of them for everyone here, and when people find out about that, they’ll riot and it’s only a matter of time.”

Jason decided that if there was nothing he could do, he would stay and help those who would be left behind.

Charles remained seated as the siren sent the metro into a frenzy of activity. His concerns were not for finding shelter or of the great disaster he knew was heading his way but of the half full alcoholic beverage his "dear friend" Kessler left behind.
Should he drink it now and face his demise literally in high spirits or would it be best to save it? Charles laughed, as if he would be around to drink it after the bombs fell… although maybe he would be?

Charles's mind filled with wonder; he was not a total stranger to the thought of nuclear war and knew fairly well what he ought to do in such an emergency. The Metro station presented him with a natural shelter once the bombs began to drop however staying for long in its confines would leave him quite dead of worse… parts of him might end up in someone's stomach!

Charles stood up and packed his items, heading towards the vault was probably his best shot but he doubted he could make it in time now. A better option would be to remain in the metro and then after the bombs fell slip away with as many supplies as he could grab.

Charles packed the bottle inside his suitcase and noticed Kessler had also left him another magazine of ammunition. That chap was indeed quite well meaning and considerate which was surprising if one was aware of his line of work. Picking up the magazine Charles noticed it was the same type as his own pistol; coincidence? Not with these people… they knew everything.

Charles loaded his pistol and carefully hid it inside the inward pocket inside his jacket to provide at least some camouflage for it. Taking a quick look around the train cart Charles began to pinch any item he thought might help him in his survival; a light bulb, batteries, Nuka cola bottles from the cooler and other such odds and ends which might be worth a trade.

Carefully making sure he had not forgotten anything Charles lifted his hat and with a bow at the cart's exit placed it back on his head. "Good bye civilization" he said in a moment of dark humor, the world was coming to an end and all he could do was make as much of a laugh out of it as he could.

The metro station was exited but the frenzy Charles expected had not yet truly began; there had been dozens of false alarms so not everybody was concerned however the security staff where naturally carrying out the normal procedure and had by now locked down the station.

A passing guard challanged him probably wondering why Charles was disembarking a cart which had not even filled with passengers yet however a short show of a security pass seemed to satisfy his curiosity. The tension grew and people began to gather around the ticket stand, a few trains where still operating but they would never get anywhere in time before the bombs fell.

Charles took out his metro map and began to examine its contents; there appeared to be a number of service tunnels which could probably act as a safe haven away from the mass crowds of the metro station however… if Charles could open a map and find them, so could others probably after exactly the same thing; to survive.

Charles opened his cigar case and considered having a smoke, noting a curious uniformed figure among the many people Charles examined the man's face and immediately knew that he knew the bombs where coming.
Charles approached the man and offered him the cigar, it was better to make friends while he had the time.
He still had a considerable stock of cigars at hand so it was no real loss.

The crowd around The lieutenant was a mass of slightly panicked, slightly pushing people that was slowly dropping the ‘slightly’ and just becoming panicked and pushing. Thoughts came to mind of forcing his way to the front and taking complete control, but his experience told him he would just create more panic. In absence of a plan he took to helping those around him the best he could.

“Sir?” A meek voice of scared woman reached him. She was short, barely reaching his chest. “I seem to have gotten myself all turned around and I can’t find the teller.” Jason listened intently as she spoke, as she was very soft spoken. He smiled at her then directed her to the front with his best wishes.

He turned to face the crowd and noticed a man about his height approaching him. he was offering Jason a cigar, which he accepted with mild hesitance as he observed the man. He thanked the man and asked for a lighter. He himself wasn't much of smoker himself, and so never carried a lighter.

Charles was momentarily taken aback by the soldier's lack of both a lighter and a habit of smoking. Merely by observing the man's handling of the cigar Charles could guess that he was dealing with the rare breed of none smoking soldier.

Memories of his own military career filled his mind. Charles smiled weakly for a moment recalling that all the "boys" on his base smoked… the higher the rank, the heavier the smoker.
Charles elegantly opened his upper left pocket and presented the soldier with an obviously antiquated lighter. A flicker of a finger produced small concentrated flames which quickly lit the cigar.

Charles removed a second cigar from his pack and lit it for himself. As he took a few soothing puffs of the familiar Tabaco Charles wondered what on Earth he would do once his supply ran out.
As Charles turned to talk to the soldier he felt a sudden disturbance in the Earth as if a minute Earth quake was taking place. A dozen or so other such quakes followed each progressively getting stronger and more intense.

By the fifth of these occurrences small pockets of debris began to descend from the tunnel sealing to the platform below. A short silence followed returning a measure of confidence to the concerned passengers and staff; maybe there was nothing to it?

As soon as these thoughts crossed their minds the entire tunnels where shaken violently as if a giant was hammering the station between a hammer and anvil. The ferocity of the chaos grew and a terrible blast of power, heat and sound blasted into even this deep crypt of the Earth.

Charles ducked downwards and covered himself, for the first time today he could no longer find anything funny about his situation.

As the first tremor shook the Earth, Jason's heart sunk. This was it. This was the end of his, of everyone's, current way of life and the start of something unknown. He found himself frozen. His fear didn't come from the fear of death, but the fear of starting over. Having to build up from nothing, but not just nothing; destroyed nothing. He knew very well that if he ever got the chance to see the world again, it would transcend the definition of a 'wasteland'.

Jason hadn't registered the silence or the debris falling despite being coated in dust. He had kept a stone face during the time, and was violently shaken out of his thoughts and forced to focus on keeping his balance. It took merely a second for Jason to swallow down his fear. He couldn't allow himself to give in to panic; it would put others at risk. He scanned the tunnel quickly, the guards were closing the entry gates. They were pushing people back, men, women, children all trying to squeeze in through the closing gate. Some were falling over themselves and others as the quakes shocked them. The guards managed to close and lock the gates, but the people outside continued to screamed and cried out. Jason’s heart ached. There was nothing he could do for those people and it made him physically sick.

A relatively strong tremor that caused pieces of concrete ceiling to fall thrashed through the tunnel and was followed by a silence. It took him a moment to realize why there was a pause, but once he did, he reached out and pushed the two people in front of him down before screaming,

‘DUCK AND COVER!’ His voice boomed through the silenced tunnel and just as he spoke a piercing blast of sound effectively cut him off. The heat was terrible, and the surge left no one standing. The sound from the blast lowered in volume and was overpowered by screaming, but the heat and rocking remained. The heat felt like it was getting hotter and the radiation from the fallout was seeping into the metro. Jason began to force people past the ticket gates while yelling instructions as loud as he could. His voice was suppressed by distressed screaming, but once he got those around him to move others followed.

The tremors grew worse by the second sending led and earth crumbling towards the rails below. The once grand staircases of the Metro station broke and fell taking many dozens of human beings with them into to the obscurity history.
Pipe lines burst; electrical cables short circuited and darkened the Metro tunnels adding to the confusion of the many occupants of this rapidly developing catacomb. The crowds reacted in different ways:

Some rushed into the last train on the platform hoping to escape this melody of death but where destined to be crushed to death when a section of the roof collapsed and flattened the train below. Others attempted to rush the station guards and escape the station; some guards let them pass into the dark abyss of the Metro tunnels while others fired in panic slaying many as the concentrated automatic fire found its targets easily in the tight confines of the station.

Many others did what Uncle Sam had told them they should do for more than a century; "Duck and Cover" While some remained in place too shocked to think of their safety.
Many died as the debris fell, some even managed to be drowned as the huge now defunct water system of the tunnels filled them entirely and in some areas even reaching four feet of height.

Charles saw the coming body of water and climbed to safety using one of the service tunnels. As the chaos below began to subside Charles knew that to stay in the station for too long would mean certain death however in what manner should he take his leave?
Now was the time to make friends and in times like these there were no better friends then the armed ones. Charles looked for his opportunity and found it when he saw an overpowered guard trapped under some rubble.

There were many others in a similar situation and Charles would have saved any person in such a situation in peace time however now Charles was forced to become selective.
Charles made his way to the trapped guard and saw that his legs where covered by a mixture of concrete and other materials mashed together into an unrecognizable mass. Charles tried to shift the materials but could not do so alone.

Charles turned and looked for anybody who could aid him. He saw that since those vile seconds of the attack things had miraculously managed to calm down thanks in large to one soldier who kept his head. Those few guards who had turned to weapons fire ceased their madness and order began to form in the chaos.

Charles soon got the help of another guard and the two began to shift the rubble together. Charles gazed at the guard's eyes and saw that just like him this guard beyond the will to do good wanted mostly to be useful.
Charles understood this very well; anything was better than to think of these events.

The United States of America was under attack, three hundred years of history had been blasted into ruin. Charles did not fail to see the irony as he and the guard managed to dislodge a steel bar among the rubble; As a patriotic Canadian he had never ceased to consider himself a Canadian and despite the annexation Charles never considered himself an American citizen.

Now for the first time in his life Charles could not deny it; he was an American. And despite the sins of the nation towards the land of his birth Charles was sad to see the death of the land of dreams and opportunity.