Jacqueline Druga - Fallout

The number four was large on the front of his folder and he opened it to look. He was surprised to see that his area was in the state of Texas, and included portions of a few of the surrounding states. The one area of the United States where only a single nuclear weapon had fallen. The population in that area was dense. After thinking about it, it made sense. General Liu was more a man of the people and related well to the population.

The door opened, and all six men around the conference table stood when Fen walked in the room. She wasn’t alone like on the deck; she was accompanied by two armed guards dressed in suits. Probably an intimidation tactic. General Liu noticed that she’d taken his advice and dressed differently. She wore a fitted skirt and white blouse, with her hair pulled tightly back into a bun as she presented a stern expression.

“Please be seated,” she said. “Ten nuclear weapons were successfully detonated over American soil. There were more but they had been intercepted. The weapons were detonated over military and densely populated areas and strategically placed to cause chaos. We, gentlemen, will be there to pick up the scattered and the lost. The first two phases of the plan have finished. At least one city in each of your areas was affected by the bombs. Part of the mission now is to go in, aid the sick and injured, bury the dead, and help those who are displaced. Gain trust with community leaders and be a presence. A strong presence. We take prisoners of those who are resistant and violent. All US soldiers in uniform are to be imprisoned within the affected areas. Once the radiation in those areas has reached a safe level, the process of cleaning will commence.”

Another general raised his hand. “So, I am to assume we have received a surrender?”

“No.” She shook her head. “We are currently still looking for the individual serving as president.”

“Do we know who they are and if there is one?”

“We are following intel regarding access to classified communications systems. We have not blocked that for this reason. So we can track the acting president.”

“You haven’t found him. Then why are we moving this deeply into planning?” he asked. “Without a surrender there’s a possibility that this war will continue. That it is not over.”

“It’s just a matter of time. A very short period of time,” she said. “The surrender is coming. Confidence is high. How can it not?” She then paused to look around the table before continuing. “I have spoken of the areas of destruction. There are three hundred million people in the United States of America. We estimate current casualties are in excess of eight million. Estimated injuries are in the tens of millions. The majority of the country and their countrymen are still standing and physically unaffected. And we now enter into what I like to call the complacent phase.”

And that is? General Liu thought.

Fen continued, “Right now, in various areas of the country, the infrastructure is healing. Phone and cell service has been restored, limited, restricted, and monitored internet, comparable to our own, access to banks and credit and of course, the television. Although we control what they see, they have been given a sense of normalcy. When Americans do not hear the news twenty-four-seven, they forget. They are easily satisfied when they are complacent. It may seem silly, but keep them occupied, distracted, and at some level of normalcy and they will fall in line.”

“So, what you are saying…” General Liu said. “If an uprising or rebellion begins, we are hoping that those who are complacent will say, it’s better having this than none.”

“In a sense.” Fen nodded. “But there is more to this. We need to make them want us there through need. Welcome us. Be grateful for our presence.”

It wasn’t supposed to happen, but General Liu stifled a laugh. It came out more like a cough.

“Problem?” Fen asked.

Liu took a deep breath, tapping his hand on the folder. “We invaded their country…”

“They don’t know that.”

“What?”

“Not all. Most are under the impression that domestic terrorists did this. That was the last news most people heard. Our presence could be taken as our attempt to control.”

“Don’t be too sure of that,” General Liu said.

“I’m not, but I am sure of the next part of my plan. The part that will make them need us and be grateful we are here.”

“And that is?” General Liu asked.

Presenting a smug expression, Fen then pressed her lips together in a brief closed-mouth smile. “You’ll find out very shortly.”

The scent of the river carried up to Cal’s nose and hit him hard, the odor was all consuming. It reeked of garbage and fish, and it took everything Cal had not to vomit into the water. He didn’t know, though, if the river was really that bad or if his current heightened sense of smell was making it seem that way.

Out of the four of them, Cal was doing the best, but none of them were really well. He supposed had they not run out of water, they’d be better.

Dehydration had set in.

Louise had taken the last of her insulin and was so weak and lethargic, Cal doubted she’d make it through the day.

When the realization hit them that they were experiencing radiation sickness, they were angry.

What were they thinking?

That thought was verbalized amongst them all.

“We should have known,” Jake said. “I’m pissed because we should have known. It was a nuclear bomb, of course there’d be radiation. We should have known to find shelter, at least the first day or two.”

“We did have shelter,” Ricky added. “My store. But we were so concerned with leaving, going away from the bombs, we didn’t think.” He looked at Cal. “Your poor girlfriend, man.”

Cal reached over and gently ran his hand down Louise’s back. It wasn’t that they were a couple, they had potential to be, they started to be, then everything went to hell.

Louise was a bright spot during a really dark time for Cal. She brought a spark of life back to him when he felt dead inside. He wanted badly to give her that feeling, life, spark, hope… but he couldn’t, nothing could.

She was really sick. She not only clung to the side of the boat, she clung to her life.

They were all at a loss as they floated in what would be an open coffin down the wide Ohio River.

A cruise of death.

Stalled in the middle and none of them had the strength to swim ashore.

It was ironic. When Cal and his almost-wife planned the honeymoon, a cruise was an option. If they had gone with that, Cal would have been on the non-refundable cruise instead of in America when the bombs fell.

He would have been alive, fine, afloat on the ocean, sipping margaritas while listening to the news about world. Shaking his head, proclaiming his sorrow over the events, all while having all of his hair.

He had lost a few patches, although he probably wasn’t as bald as he felt. The scars and cuts on his hands from the accident had turned into blistering sores.

Everyone on the boat experienced that. If they had an open cut, it became an unsightly seeping wound.

He was able to sleep a little the night before, but knew things were bad when he woke up. His mouth was so dry his tongue felt like sandpaper to the roof of his mouth. To top it all off, he’d started to hallucinate.

Across the river, on the shore, he thought he saw the Morton Salt girl. Dressed in all yellow, she stood on a pier staring out. Then she multiplied, there were three more of her, giving new meaning to double vision.

Cal watched as the Morton Salt Girl and her trail of clones climbed in a boat.