Dust in the Wind

Prologue- The War

People ran haphazardly through the streets, terror in their eyes as the soldiers started to set up little pockets of force amongst the fleeing citizens. Tanks rolled through the streets, crushing cars and people alike as their mechanical sound rumbled through the air, adding to the hysteria. A small group of scientists, clad in bright yellow radiation suits stood huddled, shaking in the midst of the merciless soldiers. They meant next to nothing to the men with the weaponry, their only job was to get these jittery men with the Geiger counters and their books and laptops to the nearest Fallout shelter as quickly as possible.

      One of the soldiers snorted, cocking his gun as they started to move, raising it to his shoulder and firing. Some poor, wretched soul before him dropped to the ground, blood pooling onto the black asphalt, reflecting the harsh light given off by the flood lights that had been set up through the entire city, illuminating every crevice where an enemy soldier or an infected human could hide. At the thought of the disease-riddled creatures that haunted the once prosperous cities one of the scientists shuddered. It had been foolish to ever have come up with the notion of biological warfare... all it had done was backfire. Once the disease had penetrated enemy territory and infected their troops, they had brought it straight back over the border.

      A cold, calculating voice suddenly sliced through the air, blaring through the numerous speakers that adorned the metal poles that were placed at every street corner, 'Citizens of Phoenix, please return to your homes. Everything is under control.'

      Phoenix was one of the last places left in what had been the once-proud nation of The United States. Cities lay in crumbled ruin, their populations scattered on the streets like shattered, abandoned playthings, left to rot on the asphalt on which they had met their untimely end. People had flocked to the remaining cities, the streets filled with people left without homes, without families.

      Without hope.

Screams of terror permeated the air as a series of civilians collapsed, scarlet streams running down their foreheads. The soldiers didn't lower their weapons after the volley of bullets, not even a flicker of remorse or guilt showed on their faces as they started their march towards the Fallout shelter. The stone-cold look on their faces had the milling mass of terrified people running out of their way, pushing each other over and stepping on and over each other, not seeming to notice those that were crying out in pain as they were crushed underfoot.

The scientist's jaw clenched. What had happened to the once civilized species? How was it possible that all this could have started with such a simple commodity, something they had always taken so lightly: oil. And everything had started going downhill once the reserves started to run out. Antarctica was the place that everyone went to, trying to claim the area as theirs. The small skirmish that ensued between the nations escalated and before the general public could even wrap their heads around the sudden depletion of oil the nuclear threats were being made. No one really remembered, or cared at this point, who dropped the first bomb, or what city it wiped off the map, leaving rotten corpses and flattened buildings in its wake. But once the first bomb struck no one stopped to ask questions as bomb after bomb whirred through the skies, the planes that once housed them flanking, disembodied voices floating through the radio waves to confirm that the metal husks which served as Death's man-made chariot were Earth bound. Crevices were seen near the centre of many cities around the globe, especially the world's capitals.

      France. Tokyo. Washington D.C. Nairobi. London. Berlin. Rio de Janeiro. Beijing. Cairo. Madrid. Moscow.

All were wiped off the face of the Earth. Several world leaders were caught in the blasts as they came without warning, leaving their countries in states of panic and disarray, allowing for any power-hungry fool with a velvet tongue to take control.