Anne Winchell - The Last War

He nodded mutely and tried to stand, but he couldn’t. Two doctors carried him into a nearby tent and took care of his injuries. They used low-tech devices to stitch him up and he idly wondered why they weren’t using their usual assortment of instruments that healed almost instantly and left few scars, but he didn’t ask. He didn’t care. Nalia was still unconscious. He shut his eyes and fell asleep.

He didn’t know how long he had been sleeping when he felt lips pressing against his. It must be a dream, he thought. A dream he didn’t want to wake from. But there was something urgent being said to him, something he wanted to hear. His name, said in Nalia’s voice, calling him back from the brink of some dangerous precipice.

“Raven,” she whispered. “Don’t go. I need you.”

His words repeated back to him. He felt his eyes grow warm with tears and he opened them slowly. Nalia’s face was before him and at the sight of her, he shut his eyes again. It was a dream, it had to be, and he couldn’t wake up or he would lose her. He opened his eyes again and she was still there. She was smiling, and she kissed him again.

“Nalia,” he said.

Then he became aware of other sounds, and other sights. Scott stood nearby, as did several doctors, all looking relieved. They were talking amongst themselves about his chances of survival and he realized with shock that he couldn’t move. He must have been closer to death than he knew. He tried to look down at himself and see the damage, but his head was firmly wedged in place. He was no longer in a tent, he noticed, but a real room with concrete walls and ceiling. High-tech equipment stood attached to the walls, but it was turned off.

Nalia kissed him again while Scott gestured to the restraints holding him in place.

“He’s awake, can you let him go now? We have so much to do.”

“We can’t rush the healing process—”

“I’m fine,” Raven said between kisses.

His heart was leaping in his chest and he felt amazingly good. Medane’s sacrifice had not been in vain. Because of Medane, Nalia was alive. But there was considerable fallout from his death that Raven knew he needed to deal with, and he wanted to get started as soon as possible. He knew that Scott and Medane had proposed him as the new president, and now was the time to take power, with Nalia at his side. He suddenly remembered what Scott had said about the electricity being out worldwide, and he was already thinking of ways to turn it to his advantage as he brought power back to the struggling planet. He would make Medane proud, and take good care of the world Medane had entrusted him with.

The doctors unbound him and he stood up slowly, not wanting to strain his body. For once, he actually cared about pushing himself too far. He was valuable, he realized. He had always thought of himself as disposable before, not worth taking care of, but now he knew that he needed to take care of himself for the planet’s sake, for Medane’s sake. He slowly walked out of the medical facility and saw the ruin of NeoLondon in the distance. No other city would ever look like that, he vowed.

His fingers tangled around Nalia’s and she smiled up at him. The wind picked up and howled around them, spiraling outward towards the deserted city as he leaned in for a kiss. The old world was gone, but their world was just beginning.

The third world war in recorded history, known as the Last War, began without warning at 7:28 am EST (UTC + 11) on October 27 th, 2085 CE when an atomic bomb detonated approximately 600 feet above Sydney, Australia. Initial casualty estimates reached 500,000 on the first day, primarily caused by flash or flame burns and falling debris. Within one week the casualties rose past 1 million due to nuclear fallout and radiation sickness exacerbated by lack of medical attention.

A secret research faction of the United States of America (codename “Project Genome”) revealed their successful attempt to create nonhuman superbeings and admitted that one of their three subjects had escaped, and that the escaped díamont, known as SOREN, was capable of cracking the codes protecting worldwide nuclear arsenals.

The Sydney atomic bomb was reported to have been fired by the United States of America. Subsequent research has found that the weapon was removed from United States control two days before the attack and given to a terrorist group under the direction of SOREN, díamont.

2085 CE

• October 27 th: an atomic bomb detonates over Sydney, Australia. Worldwide emergency is declared.

• October 28 th: details of Project Genome are made public in an effort to prevent retaliatory attacks on the United States of America. The two díamonts still in United States custody, ATHEUS and MEDANE, are placed under emergency quarantine.

• October 29 th: the United Nations meets to discuss the possibility of tracking down the rogue díamont.

• November 1 st: a Russian nuclear weapon destroys Vancouver, Canada. Subsequent earthquakes lead to destabilization of Mount Rainier and vast lahars destroy much of the populous area surrounding Seattle, Washington, United States. Russia claims no knowledge of the attack. Emergency disarmament begins in all nations worldwide.

• November 2 nd: a United States nuclear weapon is detonated over Brasilia, Brazil.

• November 3 rd: the South American Freedom Army (SAFA) is formed and unites many of the nations in South and Central America against the United States. Sympathizers worldwide view the United States as the cause of the conflict although the United States maintains that it had no part in the nuclear attacks.

• November 4 th: Texas secedes from the United States and joins SAFA.

• November 5 th: Mexico joins SAFA. SAFA declares war on the United States.

• November 7 th: the Catholic Pope addresses millions of viewers on television for the first time since the conflict started. Rogue díamont SOREN murders the Pope during the speech and declares that the Apocalypse has come. SOREN calls for widespread rebellion against governments supporting the United Nations, which he claims to be led by the Antichrist. Extremist Christian groups around the world take up arms and mass hysteria increases.

• November 13 th: a second meeting of the United Nations is held. All governments worldwide are under siege. The United States begins work on a method of destroying díamonts, known as the LETHE PROJECT.

• November 25 th: the last major government across the globe has been shut down. Power, heat, and clean water are limited in most areas and nonexistent in some due to worker strikes and sabotage.

• November 30 th: the third meeting of the United Nations debates whether or not to give díamonts ATHEUS and MEDANE permission to leave quarantine in order to find and stop SOREN.

• December 1 st: the United Nations formally releases ATHEUS and MEDANE from custody. The decision is hotly debated but the surviving government officials see no other option.

• December 13 th: ATHEUS and MEDANE track down SOREN in London. MEDANE sets off one of the remaining nuclear devices and disables all díamonts.

2086 CE

• January 1 st: SAFA spokespeople approach the United Nations and request an end to hostilities to prevent further nuclear war. Within hours, all remaining nations pledge their support in the Laos Treaty.

• January 28 th: nations already united by SAFA as well as the United States and Canada form a United Western government, served by SAFA’s army.

• January 30 th: remaining nations in South and Central America join the United Western government in exchange for peacekeeping troops provided by SAFA.