At Worlds End

My intent is to make this into a series. The first part was titled After The Asteroid Struck Earth if you want to read in order. They'll all be part of the Lucas Storm Diaries.

We followed Sasha and her backup, the cute little California-blonde with the beaming smile, into the city. The blonde, Caroline, drove faster than Sasha so she naturally took the lead. Falling in behind their vehicles, Johnny and I almost fit in with the motorcade. New Chicago's, however, appeared to have seen some wear and tear, judging by the scorching on the back ends. As I followed, questions filling my head, I nearly missed the sites and sounds of the city as we drove through. Once we were past the gateway to the dome things changed drastically. Everything was normal beneath the dome as if the end of the world hadn't come for us all just two years ago.

Street signs were gone so I was a little disoriented to the city. For the most part, not that much had changed. The outer lying areas of the city were still residential homes, businesses, and schools. Jesus, they had children with them. I couldn't imagine going to school in this environment but there were children playing on the playground. I noticed they all had on uniforms, similar to the private schools that once were a big thing in the suburban and even inner-city areas of the booming metropolis that was the windy city. They all seemed happy and unscathed by the world around them.

Businesses were open and operating. Past the residential area, the business district looked normal. There was an increase in traffic and people were walking along the sidewalks in front of different stores. Somehow, New Chicago was alive and well, including a strip mall and a series of small restaurants. I was simultaneously excited and scared at the prospect of it all. My stomach, after two years of surviving on emergency stores and rations, could use a hamburger but honestly, how could they have cows after what happened? Had they prepared that early for D-Day?

After a thirty-minute drive, we were getting closer to a large complex that I did recognize.

I told Johnny, “Look at that, the United Center.”

The building had seen better days. There was graffiti, nearly everywhere, and what looked like scoring from flames. I imagined a battle here, or the panic of the end of the world coming upon them so quickly. There were once almost eight billion people on earth, not many could have survived.

Sasha and her backup, Caroline, pulled up in front of the old United Center building and dismounted their vehicles. The building was surrounded by soldiers, all dressed in khaki-colored uniforms, separating themselves from the NCPD. I pulled alongside where they waited for me and Sasha told me to park anywhere alongside the security detail. I was a bit leery of just leaving the Conquest alongside a detachment of troopers or soldiers. Johnny and my safety outside of the shelter was inside the Conquest, along with a cache of weapons that the new world order beneath the dome might not understand. As Johnny climbed down with me, I activated the alarm system.

Sasha heard the horn go off when the alarm activated. It must have surprised her because she asked what I was doing.

“That's a nine-hundred-thousand-dollar vehicle and I'd be a fool not to lock it and have an alarm.”

“We have no need of such things here in the city. There are no thefts, no crime, and no need for locking everything up here the way we did in the old world,” she explained.

We walked past the checkpoint as I listened to her admonishment of the use of security systems and door locks. The irony of her speech as we walked past armed security and into what appeared to be a more protected building than the White House, was no lost on me even though I tried to bite my tongue. Finally, after hearing all about their grand society and how perfect everything was, I asked...

“Why do they have you?”

Sasha and Caroline both stopped instantly, Sasha turning to face me first. They both looked puzzled by my question and I'd dare say that Caroline was more than upset that I dared to ask or invalidate their existence. Sash hesitated before answering my question.

“We're here to serve the people of New Chicago and to assure that the vision for the new world stays intact,” Sasha explained.

We walked on the second-floor deck around to the old business offices. They were all redone to be the new city administration offices. Two men in khaki uniforms stood at the entrance and two stood right inside the office. All four of them looked menacing with their military stance, Marine scowl, and MP5 at the ready. I watched Caroline go to the right and into the main office, presumably where the president of operations was once housed. When she came back out of the double door office she motioned for us to follow her.

“It's time to meet the prefect,” said Sasha.

Johnny and I followed the two women into the prefects' office. The office was as grand as any sports arena president could want. There was a large oak desk with a glass top. A series of computers wrapped from the side of the desk all the way around the back of the desk across two tables. Monitors filled the back of the prefects' desk and the wall to his right, keeping him up to date on all of the cities activities, the status of the dome, and any incident that might occur. The prefect was on a telephone. I was surprised to see that even basic, rudimentary communications were restored here. The satellite systems were all fried when the asteroid struck, or so I thought.

As we stood there waiting for the man behind the desk to finish his call I gauged him to me educated, but not ivy league. He wore a button-down shirt with cargo pants and boots. It wasn't a uniform as much as it was dress casual. His hair was curly and to the long side and he wore a beard with a slight amount of scruff. He appeared of middle eastern descent, but his accent was prominently American or even Canadian. Sasha told me that she was introducing us to Prefect Johan Strauss. This guy certainly didn't look like a Strauss.

“That's because I'm not one by birth,” I heard him say.

Prefect Strauss had hung up his phone and was coming around the desk with his hand outstretched. Shaking my hand vigorously he smiled from ear to ear. He was a loud character, jubilant even.

“Jo Strauss,” he told me. “Prefect of New Chicago.”

Shaking his hand back, I introduced myself and thanked him for the escort into the city.

“And who is this little fellow?” he asked, kneeling down to Johnny.

Hesitantly, I introduced them. “Prefect Strauss, this is Johnny.”

The leader of New Chicago told me a tale about how he hoped that the city would be able to incorporate pets into the dome but they had run desperately out of time. There were no dogs in New Chicago, at least not until Johnny. Much like the girls, Strauss told me how popular Johnny would be with the “kiddos” if I took him about town. I imagined that was probably true, and wondered if it would be safe to even take Johnny out much in a city with no other dogs.

“So, there are no animals in New Chicago,” I pondered aloud.

“Only the ones that people had before, and most of them died off in the first few months. Their systems weren't capable of dealing with the changes. Our vet believes they died of shock, but that's just the pets. We do have livestock, two lakes filled with fish, a small number of cats, and occasionally I hear of ground squirrels being seen foraging in the parks,” explained Strauss. “Sit, sit,” he said.

Strauss wanted to know about me, and what my plans were when I approached the city unannounced. He was an inquisitive fellow, not too sure about strangers, but still attempting to be a welcoming sort. As he leaned in on his side of the desk, completely attentive to what he hoped I would share, I crossed my leg and told Johnny to sit.

“We didn't know you were here,” I explained.

I told Strauss how we survived the impact and the resulting cataclysm that followed. Explaining the shelter was a different story so I embellished about where it was located, pointing us more toward an old town I had cousins in before D-Day. He seemed to be very interested in how I came to realize the event was going to occur, despite the governments' repeated assurances that there was no danger in store for the population of the planet. Strauss was very focused on where I got the intelligence to know preparations needed to be made in order to survive. Before striking it rich, I did six years with Army Intelligence. If he had records access to any of the old AFIS systems it was something he could prove with a cursory search. I knew my file looked like I was still an asset to anyone that gave it an in-depth read.

“Army intelligence,” I sighed. “Retired, well, sort of.”

Strauss sat back with a chuckle and a gleam in his eye. He nodded his head as he sat back, working hard to look cool, collected, and like he was the boss. As he sized me up, I felt Johnny tense up next to my leg. His canine sense in people perhaps better than mine, Johnny knew Strauss was no good. I tapped my foot to tell Johnny to relax. The last thing I needed was to get into a shoot-out inside the city without getting acclimated enough to find my way back out and through the gate. The energy barrier we drove through was even more menacing than the perimeter security troops and even in the Conquest, those troops would be a chore to get past.

“So,” Strauss asked. “What were you doing before the event?”

“Preparing a way for my family and me to survive, like most other people,” I told him.

Strauss shook his head. It wasn't what he wanted to hear. He wanted to know what I was doing with Army Intelligence. Not that I was doing anything for them but all of those files would be classified and locked away in a bunker in Langley or the one at Cheyenne. Either way, this guy wasn't getting the truth from the official records.

“Let's just say...from time to time...I helped with problems that required progressive solutions,” I told him.

“Well alright,” Strauss answered, “Asked and answered my friend. Well, I certainly hope that you consider staying a while. Your bunker sounds nice, but we've got plenty of room here, and should you decide to register as a citizen I'm sure I could find a use for a man with your talents.”

I knew, right then and there, that Prefect Strauss was not the kind of leader that the people of New Chicago were going to do well following. Telling the man that my work made me a problem solver for special level problems shouldn't have gotten me an invite to the city. It should have caused him to be concerned over my mere presence. Whatever their new vision was for the country was not one that should come to fruition. I could tell that already. If Johnny and I wanted to, we could have just walked away right then and there. This wasn't our problem. I looked down at Johnny, seeing him wag his tail while he gave me those approving “puppy dog” eyes.

“Well, Prefect Strauss,” I told him. “Considering that our bunker in a distance away and we were stuck inside for two years, a change of scenery sounds inviting.”

“Great, really great. I'll have Sasha show you to an open quarter within a short distance of the center,” he promised.

“It'd be my pleasure,” Sasha told him, smiling at me.

“Thank you, Mr. Storm. I look forward to you perhaps joining our new society.”

“I have a feeling,” I told him as Sasha guided me toward the door, “That I'm going to find my time here quite educational.”

Once we were outside the office Sasha made a quick call to the Dell Building. It was exactly what it sounded. The old Chicago offices of Dell Computers had been transformed into a high-rise living environment for “Friends of The New Order” and I was going to get one of the penthouse suites as a guest of prefect Strauss. Immediately after she hung up the phone Sasha lead me the stairs and around the United Center to our vehicles. She told Caroline to go back out on patrol and she'd meet her later. After Caroline left, Sasha instructed me to follow her. I knew I'd overplayed my hand by the tone in her voice.

After following Sasha to the Dell Building we went up to the thirtieth floor and she leads me to a penthouse that had been redone in the style of a Vegas high roller suite. The living space was stretched with a sunken floor plan for the sofa and two chairs. There was a big screen monitor hanging near the one-way windows that circled the building. My new home came furnished and completely stocked with food and bottled water. The bottled water was immediately my favorite as most the water I had tasted since the event had an unnatural mineral flavor to it, even after dumping it out of the slightly degraded plastics.

In the bedroom, there was a king-sized bed with sheets, comforters, pillows, and some french accessory I knew I wasn't going to take the time to learn how to pronounce. Sasha showed me the shower and I about swooned. For the first time since the world ended, I was looking at a full-sized, stand-up shower, complete with soaps, shampoo, and other various toiletries. I was beginning to feel like I hit the jackpot.

“So,” I asked, “What is it I have to do to keep all this, kill someone?”

Sasha looked at me with a stern glance. I told her that I was just speaking in jest and she couldn't fathom that I would be so calloused with the idea of killing someone. Even the idea of being locked in the shelter didn't calm her irritation. I apologized for seeming so careless and excused myself by claiming I was just exhausted and overwhelmed by the generosity shown to me. She was slow to accept that I might not have meant what I said, even though, for that king-sized bed it would be worth considering. It would give Johnny somewhere to sleep that was comfortable without him being right on top of me.

“Look,” I told her. “It's been two years since I have spoken to other people. Give me a while to humanize myself again and I'm sure I can show you I'm not some animal.”

Sasha softened, eventually nodding with a little grin. She acknowledged my “horrible ordeal” in the world before being rescued by the two officers. I let it go, however, as it seemed to set the mood back to normal with the city officer. I was, after all, going to need some allies if I was going to get a shot at using the main computer systems here to help find my family.

“Alright, Lucas Storm,” she smiled. “This is your place until your visit is over or until you decide to join us officially. In the meantime, why don't you get some rest and feed little Johnny? I'll come by to check on you in the morning.”

“Sounds great,” I told her as she walked out the door to the apartment suite.

Johnny barked and jumped up on the couch. I plopped down next to him and rubbed the fur on his neck and head as he rested his face on my leg. He was every bit as exhausted as I, and we both fell asleep in that position, waiting to see what the morning would bring.