Happy 41st Birthday Grandpa (Shortened Version)

August 6th 2054, (Seattle Washington)

In a well lit room in the suburban city of the upper zone, family and friends of the man Gabriel Nustbaum gather to celebrate his 41st birthday. The room is filled with love and laughter aplenty as well as sweets and alcoholic beverages. What fills the room even more so is the hidden sadness of loss and mourning that is held back better by some than others. As is customary; any birthday of the age of 40 years or older is considered to be a going away party. For the last 18 years of human history it has been accepted by the whole world that 99% of the human population’s lifespan is only to age 40.Due to this certain customs have adjusted such as Instead of hosting private funerals a custom in the Western District of the United States is to have the funeral in person on the 39th or 40th birthday. As the event comes to a close Gabriel notices his granddaughter has not taken off the heart shaped locket that has been passed down to her since she was given it.

.

Gabriel began to think back to the first time he had gotten to truly know the person who originally owned the locket. It was 2039 and her name was Claire Reyes. It was 8 months after the mystery plague had hit the world causing over 47% of the world’s population to die within the course of a month. Which had caused Gabriel to begin living and working at Fort Bragg. Claire was his lab partner in the cure research facility on base. As partners they had always gotten along very well, so well Gabriel had fallen in love with her. His affection was not unfounded either, the affectionate and playful way they acted towards each other gave pretty obvious signs the feeling was mutual. However, any free time Claire had she was reclusive with. Claire was rarely seen outside of the lab. She never attended any social events and kept her personal affairs to herself. One day Gabriel finally stocked up the confidence to invite Claire to the Friday night get together that the researchers would throw.

Later that night the two met up at the party spending the whole time drinking and laughing as if they were the only two people there. Later that night they left together and Gabriel walked Claire to her quarters to spend what fleeting minutes he had left with her before the night was over.

“I had such a good time tonight, I wish I could have more with you but..” as Claire finished her statement she opened her door and in her room was a little girl sleeping in a bed adjacent to her own. “That’s Charlotte, my daughter. Her father and his family are dead and so are mine. So we're all we got left, after all I’m 32. We have to make the most of our time together, mine might be running out.” Claire explained to Gabriel in a gentle voice.

After Claire’s confession the two spent the whole night talking and eventually confessing their feelings for eachother. Shortly after that night the two began seeing each other romantically and all 3 of them became a family. For the next 16 months despite the world falling more steadily into chaos, the 3 of them found the closest thing they could to happiness.

It would be short lived. Every flu season, the plague would come back and with the whole world waiting on a vaccine that was not making progress. Shortly after the third flu season civil unrest had reached its peak on a global scale (this time is referred to as the “Dark Year”). The 3 of them were in one of the safest possible places they could be, but resources were beginning to run scarce. 3 months after this phenomenon Coulee Dam, the biggest electricity supplying dam in the whole United States, had gone dark. The outfit living at Fort Bragg was tasked with turning it back on and rerouting the grid to only essential facilities. Gabriel and Claire were put on this task force of 60 people, since they were some of the few capable of fixing and running the machines.

Gabriel will never forget that dreadful day they took the dam, suiting up armed with an automatic rifle, pistol on the hip and a grenade used only for suicide purposes. He had much training with firearms on base in the past 3 months, but he had never shot anything living. His whole reason for being on the base was in and of itself for preserving human life.

Almost an hour went by in the helicopter as their company traversed through what used to be the state of Washington, seeing nothing but fires, and images so grotesque trained soldiers who have been deployed to war looked away. Gabriel; who had spent the whole time holding Claire’s hand and shielding her eyes, vomited up his breakfast ration right in the helicopter. It was at that moment everyone laughed unanimously in the helicopter, it would be the last time they laughed that whole day. As they approached their target, a loudspeaker was heard coming from one of the helicopters in the middle of the water.

“Dear civilians, This is the United States National Guard, you are all required to evacuate at once or you will be seen as hostile.”

Although the words being said on the ground could not be heard, the sound of gunfire aiming upwards at the helicopter’s could. Without hesitation all the soldiers began getting ready to return fire, the gunman in the helicopter with Claire and Gabriel asked them to shield their eyes.

“Why Bryan?” Gabriel asked nervously.

“Because if there was a god, I’d ask him to never have me relive what I am about to have to do.” Sergeant Cortez responded. Without question the two kept quiet and shielded, as the helicopter's miniguns rained down bullets. After 25 minutes the two were told they could look as the helicopter was landing on the dam. As they descended all that could be seen were the banks of the dam, riddled with corpses. Of the bodies the one that is permanently burned into Gabriel’s memory is the body of a young girl no older than Charlotte, holding a pointed stick in one hand and a jug filled with water in the other. “This is the hell we are saving her from” Gabriel thought to himself. “We must get this electricity.”

As the choppers all landed there was little to no talk of what just occurred, just the orders to move and secure the dam. The inside had been fortified by a heavily armed group intelligent enough to know the dam’s quintessential usefulness. After clearing half the dam 12 men had already fallen due to ambushes and rigged explosives. Every corner was a new obstacle, and the team's morale was worsening by the second, they were on someone else’s home turf, and that someone else was ex-military or worse. Gabriel and Claire had both used their rifles more than they had liked. They had killed for their first time, in a scenario where there was no morals involved, it was kill or be killed. Over an hour had gone by before the dam had been 75% cleared. The company from Camp Murray had been reduced to half their numbers, as they would progress from cover to cover and from firefight to firefight, they began to worry about ammunition. The company realized they didn’t prepare for organized well armed well trained enemies. They had come unprepared.

After another grueling hour that seemed like a whole lifetime, they had successfully taken the dam and despite the fact both Gabriel and Claire fought with their comrades, now was their time to shine. “Okay you two fix this place and we will secure the perimeter” Sergeant Cortez told the two.

The two nodded and began assessing the situation. Like they had suspected the controls had been tampered with by someone who didn't know what they were doing. Meaning with a few correct buttons being pressed they could get it running. As the two were working gunshots rang in the background and a voice was heard. “Our birdies are in the sky and on the roof, that swarm we wiped out wasn't all of 'em. We got scavvers that wanna make this place their home now that we blew open the doors” Sergeant Cortez shouted.

Running short on options Gabriel and Claire proposed that the rest of the team weld all the entrances but the escape route and where they needed to work shut. Everyone grabbed the materials and got to work. After all the time spent fighting for their lives in those hallways they had learned the layout of the dam all too well. Even as they were sealing doors, they were still having to shoot hostiles who were newly trying to come into the recently breached building. With everything done perfectly the team was now safe and the dam was mostly secure.

Meanwhile after getting the dam back online Claire and Gabriel had realized the harshest truth discovered of the whole day; the dam had not just been operated incorrectly, It also needed to be mechanically fixed. A moment later the two heard the voice of the sergeant.

“We have 30 more minutes, we're low on fuel. The Helicopters were supposed to be able to have a safe space to land for this mission.”

“We can’t do this in 30 minutes Gabe, every time we fix one pipe the pressure makes another rupture.” Claire exclaimed.

“Claire we can do this, we have to do this; for our friends… for Charlotte.” Gabriel exclaimed comfortingly. Claire grabbed her heart shaped necklace off of her neck and put it in Gabriel's pocket. “What are you doing, you never take that off? That’s the only thing you have left from your parents ” Gabriel asked

“Take this, it's a reminder that my heart always belongs to you.” Claire proclaimed. Just as Gabriel was about to ask her about what she meant she grabbed him with tears in her eyes and kissed him. “I love you and I love Charlotte.” Claire said. Before Gabriel could respond Claire shouted for Segregent Cortez. Cortez came down quickly as Gabriel was still dumbfounded.

“Cortez, evac with Gabe I’m sealing myself in here and I want you to then blow the hatch on the way out. The repairs will take roughly 2-3 days.” Claire said to Cortez.

“You're doing what? I won’t let you!” Gabriel screamed.“You and Charlotte are the only family I have. I am not losing you, we can come back.”

“We lost more than 30 men and this place will keep getting swarmed, the dam is running NOW. if we leave the pipes will all burst!” Claire shouted.

“Then I’ll stay and you go, I’ve lost my whole family once, I won’t live through it again!” Gabriel said to Claire.

“I'm doing this so you can promise me you will live! I’m 33 and you're 27. I want Charlotte to have parents as long as she can, I will always love the two of you, that’s why it needs to be me.” Claire explained.

“I won’t let you do this,” Gabriel protested.

“I Know,” Claire said. Suddenly a loud popping sound echoes throughout the room and Gabriel lies on the floor unconscious. Claire had hit him in the head with her rifle to knock him out. As Gabriel Comes back to reality from his recollection of Claire, a tear runs down his cheek and he smiles. He takes another long look at his adopted daughter Charlotte, her husband, and his granddaughter Claire. He feels at peace knowing it may be the last time he ever sees them, but that the woman who died so they could all live got her wish.