ACCUPATION 3 The Descent of Man

Chapter 4: "Prison Life"

While Toby and Daniela were imprisoned in one of the dead towers, the leader of the settlement whose name was Adam, noticed that most residents from the Rust bucket had books with them, copies of the Black book which held a treasure trove of information on the secrets of genetic manipulation. Because their two cities had the same interests in such things, they embraced each other. Adam deeply carved to form a governmental union with Anthony, the leader of the rust bucket, or Accupation. But he had been told that Anthony was on the surface world and wasn't coming back. He could see it clearly as day, the rust bucket and Adam towers, working together as the superpower of the wasteland. One problem, he needed someone to guide him through the surface. A journey from the oceans of west Deadlight all the way over to San Antonio Texas.

He knew of only two people who had been there, Daniela and Toby. Toby had heard the door opening, it had been a long time...

The leading man, Adam spoke to us saying: "You may not like this, but we've actually been experimenting on you two while you were in this place,"

laughing it off I replied: "with what?!"

He then replied: "we put some lovely cocktails into your food. You see the tower you have been living in was full of black mold. Strange you haven't suffocated yet? I guess the medicine works."

Ever since I had arrived here I had been dragged around on a hospital bed, given shots, and imprisoned. This was a violation of my freedom and the freedom of everyone here, so I told him:

"You can't just experiment on whoever you want!"

But he ignored my words and replied: "As you live here you will start to notice that your being tested is the same as paying your taxes. If you don't want to live here then leave."

"But as for the truth of why I'm here I need to ask you some questions. What does the surface world look like? How survivable is it?"

I began to laugh at him. When he asked what was funny I told him: " do you know how to start a fire? How to cook food? You've lived off of canned food and pills for how long now? The surface (and I'm saying this for your protection) will eat you up."

Adam sighed and replied: "That doesn't scare me, if what I've heard is true, we are about to enter a new age. You saw what Anthony did up there... tell me, is it true?"

This man had no clue how dangerous Anthony is, but I can't tell what's worse. If Anthony forms an alliance with Adam towers then the future of man looks depressingly uncertain. On the other hand, Anthony is tyrannical and hates biotech, the very thing Adam towers is obsessed with. We might have our first war in 300 years. I'm definitely not fighting in it.

Finally I told him: "Anthony won't work for you, he's a madman who wants all biotech destroyed."

Adam slapped me upon hearing those words, but feeling sorry made me and Dan a cup of tea made from kelp, their only real source of food. He then responded:

"I've lived in this underwater jail for hundreds of years, I won't let me or anyone else live in this abyss any longer. Now tell me, what has Anthony accomplished?"

So I told him the story, how Anthony had taken control of an army of robots, sending them to take control of the settlements scattered across the waste. He was delighted with excitement as I told him how he had also built a giant metal/cement wall around San Antonio. When I got to the part about him building entire worlds he stopped believing me pushing it aside as a delusion.

The door was closed, me and Dan were left in suspense as we wondered what his conclusion would be. We had heard talking on the other side of the door, but there was nothing loud enough to hear. I couldn't help but wonder how all of this was going to end. Maybe if everything calms down one day I'll finally get that apple orchard I had been thinking of. For now I just had to focus on surviving. When I had just begun to calm Daniela down, (she was having a panic attack) gards came into our place of confinement to question us. They eventually stopped questioning Daniela, because she wouldn't stop flirting with them. So they began to question me instead.

What is the weather like on the surface? "They asked me." Also they asked if the air was breathable. To their question I told them: "the air is breathable depending on where you are, some buildings are so contaminated that burning them is the only option. We have had a plentiful amount of flamethrowers ever since the red lump virus happened, so this wasn't a problem for us."

What about the weather?? They asked us again. I finally told them: "it's unbearable, the locals gave us instructions on what to do during different weather conditions, but it's still brutal. I've seen tornadoes, floods, and evidence of recurrent fire storms. Also we came to the surface during high tide, more water available, everything is swampy even in San Antonio. food is grown during that time of year. Still, food is hard to find, plant viruses prevent most vegetation from producing fruits."

What about low tide? How long does it last?

...

"We don't know much, we haven't experienced it yet. But from what the locals say, it's a time when the ocean becomes a sandy wasteland. It's also a time of the fire storms as well as famines."

What about diseases? Any we should take notice of?

"Some animals and mutants have parasites. There seems to be many of them. One was dubbed by the tribes as "the Ant disease" while I was a minuteman for Anthony I saw an insectoid suffering from it, his stomach was bloated, eyes swollen, his pupils rapidly shifting around. He died from it within a week as the parasites bursted out from his anal cavity. He died on the toilet. There is also 2.0 rabies. We haven't seen someone infected with it yet, but the remains of past attempts to colonize the wasteland seem to have fallen from this virus. They brutally killed one another in their own insanity, it was a very disturbing sight."

They continued to question me for quite some time, until the sun no longer penetrated the deep waters. These scientists were indeed desperate,getting whatever information they could get there hands on. It was agreed afterwards to free Daniela. I was happy for her. Finally she was free but I was still stuck in the dark tower. She was far away from me. Safe, but out of my reach.

I often spent my free time making weapons for the border patrol. There was a need for this job ever since wildlife from the surface world started wandering deeper underground. That used to not be a problem. A long time ago you could travel the surface for days without seeing a blade of grass. Now life was again sprouting. Other times I sat quietly waiting, staring out of an old algae covered window. Often whales and hydrorions swam past, curiously observing me. The blacksmiths I worked for paid well, and I was able to slowly fill my prison room with things to occupy my time with. Often it was nice to finally have some quiet where I could pray and study. It feels like it's the only thing that helped when feelings for Daniela would come up again. She wasn't mine anymore, and she never was. During my time blacksmithing I became well built and healthy. It had been a long time since I had been as healthy as I was then.

Eventually Daniela became a leading officer for the atom towers police force. Visiting me in prison, she would tell me about her new friend. They were obviously married. He would kiss her on the forehead and hug her. She would then go on about her attempts to get help for me. Sadly all these attempts were futile. And I still stayed in prison for another 2 years. During these two years I mourned over my love for Daniela. She had found someone else. I began to regret keeping silent about my love for her.

But things change...