Holmesburg

"Hey, You dropped this!" Mick yelled out, running toward Persephone with a tiny heart-shaped locket dangling from his hand. "Oh my God!!! I would have never made it back through these walls without my Pop with me.", Persephone said with the biggest smile beaming from her face. Since the day she had broken into the old prison, once she realized what was happening, she swore that the only reason they were all still alive was because of that little locket. Her two boys had given it to her on the first Christmas after she had lost her father. It meant the world to her and she felt it gave her some sort of protection since the day the world seemed to flip upside down. After all, at a time like this, you have to believe in something or you'll never make it.

Since the day Mick had met Persephone she had always joked about a post-apocalyptic plan to meet at Holmesburg Prison, an old prison that was no longer being used to house prisoners. Her oldest son, Jude, thought up this plan with her one night outback of their Northeast Philadelphia home during a time when race riots were becoming a big thing. They would tell all of their loved ones that if anything like a doomsday type of event actually were to occur that they should all immediately meet within the walls of Holmesburg prison. You see, Persephone's cousin, Dwayne, and his immediate family were to arm up and head to the Delaware River to man imports and exports, take what we could all use, and transport it to Holmesburg Prison. That is where their new "world" would be.

It wouldn't be easy to get to the prison, but once you make it and take out anyone who isn't part of the plan that's occupying your prison, it is the perfect set up to keep people and/or zombies out of your new society. You have to imagine that a place designed to keep people in would work just the same to keep them out. The prison is in the shape of a pentagon with guard towers at every point. There is also a tower dead center in the middle. Each point connects to the mid-tower by huge stone walls that the guards can walk across while watching prisoners in the yard. They can also see all the way to the Delaware River from there, which was going to prove extremely useful in aiding Dwayne, his son, Gibby, and his crew from the water in carrying goods to and from the prison. There was a major interstate highway smack dab in the center of the prison and the water and a regional rail line a stone throw between Interstate 95 and the prison. Persephone and Jude had really thought this whole thing through in preparation for all the what-ifs and the unknowns of their future. Luckily, Mack had met Persephone about 2 years prior to everything happening, so he was in on the plan and had gotten to survive this far.

Not only was Holmesburg Prison the ideal location for a post-apocalyptic world, but it had everything a human would need all right there for a new society. The prison obviously had numerous rooms to sleep in with personal toilets located in each one. It also has a huge kitchen facility, bathrooms with showers, medical rooms, offices, and even yards within the walls so the people can go outside safely. It truly was the perfect place to create a new society. They just never really imagined that hypothetical plan would become their reality.

Now this was their life. They lived to survive. One day when Mick and Persephone woke up it was eerily quiet. They tried to think nothing of it, but while they were watching the morning news they started to hear a strange sound; almost like a bunch of metal being clunked around inside an old, economy-sized dryer. The noise began to get louder and louder as it grew closer. When Mack peeked through the blinds, he could not believe what he was seeing. A whole street full of these, once thought of as brilliant, androids creeping steadily from the far south of their street. They were destroying everything in their path. He told Persephone, who honestly swore he was joking until she saw the look in his eyes when he said grab the kids, call Dwayne, it's time. Mick, Persephone, and her two boys, Jude and William, ran as fast as they could to their truck and took off, in what seemed like an instant, heading straight towards Holmesburg Prison. This was it. This was the takeover of all artificial intelligence.

Jude couldn't hold back his excitement. Not of the actual events unfolding, but by the fact that he and his mother had already planned this moment for years and now everyone will see how they shouldn't have laughed at them for their hypothetical preparations. They should have been thanking them, considering all of the people who showed up there once it had actually happened. Most of them being the ones who had once laughed at them. With exceedingly high IQ levels, they had always thought more intricately into things that most people didn't put as much stock into. The people of this new society were undoubtedly thankful that these two had enough sense to map out a plan. An amazingly genius one that would prove to be ideal in the next coming weeks.

Jude became a little too cocky with his new-found fame. That ended rather quickly, however, when he had a run in when a droid somehow slipped through the gates and came up behind him while he was practicing his music. Luckily, William, his little brother, had been walking by and saw the beat up, humanlike cyborg heading towards Jude and sprung into action. He grabbed a big axe that was sitting by the door, from when he and Mick were splitting logs earlier that day, and let that robot have it! From the top of it's head, straight down the middle, as far as it could. The axe split right through the main circuit and disabled the evil machine. That took care of Jude's ego a bit and he remained humble since the occurrence.

Life inside what they refer to as merely "Holmesburg" was definitely going to be a lot of work, but with a plan like theirs, they weren't worried about a thing. The next few weeks were the hardest since everyone had to adjust to this new life. Adjustments are never quite that easy of a feat; no matter how prepared you are. It's funny how life works out though. What was once looked at as a place that would ultimately end any chance at your life if sent there, is now offering people a whole new chance at life after this unimaginable occurrence. If you're lucky enough to know about it, you've already won.