The Road Home

The year is 2041, My name is Ronyn. The bombs fell late May of 2022. Almost nothing survived, what had the strength and will to survive slowly either started to go insane from the biochemical weapons that consumed the world, or perished in the raging storms that followed afterward.

How have I managed to survive this wasteland one might ask. Well, it has been one the hardest roads that I have ever taken. My wife was affected by the initial wave of what came to be known as 'The Beast.' This is the name us survivors came to call the biochemical agent that was released onto the world. I had no choice when she suddenly attacked me. Animal instinct had taken over and the rage had set in. After breaking my left arm in 3 places and nearly ripping my throat out with her bare hands, I felt a screw driver that must have been knocked to the floor in the struggle. I plunged it into her chest. The only person in the world that I knew that I could have walked through this new found hell with, and I had to kill her to defend myself. In the fleeting moments of her life she regained her own personality. Somehow she understood what had happened,  almost as if she had had memory of the incident. She yanks this small, silver, heart-shaped locket from her neck and places it in one good hand. "I love you," she said as her soul left her body. Since then I have never been able to open it, but carry it with me always. After splinting my arm and placing my late wife to rest  I packed what I could and went in search of some other survivors. I journeyed for days, weeks maybe,  before I encountered the first non infected survivors.  They allowed me to stay with them until my arm was healed.

My arm had just become useful again when our small settlement was attacked by a paramilitant group dubbed , The Red Sun. We were overrun within minutes. I took a rifle butt to the back of the head and was out cold. I suppose they thought I was dead, for I was unconscious for so long. When I came to, the few that had fled picked me up to throw my assumed corpse into the grave they had dug. After a short conversation with them I knew I had to try and protect these people. I checked my pockets and noticed The Red Sun had robbed me of my only treasure left in the world, the locket.

Years went by building a fortified survivor refuge. The camp kept growing as more and more people came. We broadcasted a message nine times a day over an old CB radio we had found in an abandoned eighteen wheeler. Constructed walls, gates, houses, tools, and almost anything we could think of.  All the while repelling the ever growing Red Sun forces.

In interrogating one of the wounded members of this up jump militant government, I learned of the camp that was constantly sending raiding parties to our location. I knew my locket was there, and I had to get it back. I assembled a small force of ten or fifteen volunteers. It was time to raid the raiders.

When we finally found the encampment it was surprisingly lax on fortification and security.  We infiltrated the camp through a downed wall, silently moving toward the leaders shack.  We all agreed that maybe if we cut the head off the snake the others would flee or join up with us. Then, the alarm was raised. I sprinted for the shack, as the rest of my volunteers retreated, and burst through the door. I stood face to face with the man that had rendered me unconscious so many years before. Before I could bring my pistol to bare he was on me. We clambered to the dirt floor and the struggle ensued. And then I noticed a familiar, small silver chain around his neck. I gained the upper hand in the wrestling match and was able to land a solid blow along the side of his head. As he lay unconscious I grab the chain, pull it from under his shirt, and retrieve my stolen treasure.

I made it out of the Red Sun encampment during the confusion of the rest of the insurgents trying to retaliate against the now, gone raiding party. However I did not return to the safe haven that I had helped construct. I made my way up the Missouri River and found the place of my wedding. I sit now writing this on the bank of the mighty river. So melancholy to return to the area of the happiest day of my life without her. This is where my story ends. I intend to finally open the locket. I am coming home. I love you Launa, I'll see you soon.