Post Apocalyptics...

He walked ahead, trying to put one foot in front of the other. It was hard. He had been wandering through the desert for the last four days, and knew that he was running on close to empty. It was horribly hot, with a dry atmosphere. There was no sign of life anywhere in the last two days, and he was beginning to think that he had made the last mistake in his life. He had his backpack and the rifle strapped across his back, and in his pocket was the very small - but nonetheless lethal - six shooter. He would be able to take out anyone - or anything - that tried their luck. His mind flashed with the twenty or so that had tried, over the last five years. He was the sole survivor, but it didn't make him happy. Humanity was into a spiral downwards, and he knew it, and many millions around the globe also knew it. The atomic wars had been the least of the problems. That had been very short, and very decisive. Israel had made it's situation clear for the ten years prior, but the United Nations was already hijacked, and ignored everything that Israel could come up with. The UN, in contrast, was actively going after Israel, and they would not take 'No' for an answer. They wanted it gone. Into the Mediterranean, and with no survivors. Israel accommodated only so much, went so far, and then they had had enough. Late on a Tuesday evening, Cairo, Baghdad, Damascus, Ankara, Tehran, and Mecca all vanished into dust. Owing to their close work between Israel and Jordan, over many years, Amman remained, but Jordan instantly cut all ties with Israel, and expelled all diplomatic staff within twelve hours after the first mushroom clouds were seen. No, it was what came afterwards...The societies that all but collapsed. What were sophisticated, modern countries descended into anarchy, almost overnight, with civil war being the 'norm'. Towns fell out with their neighbours, in the USA states declared Martial Law and took themselves out of the collective known as the United States. California was the first but within three days eighteen further states had taken themselves out. The Middle East went into melt-down, and every single country went through another 'Arab Spring', but this time the existing leaders were all ousted, in most cases by leftist socialist organisations. The world reeled, and those that could fought hard to stay alive - most failed, and went into total chaos, with anarchy and revolution being the average. Country refused to talk to country, and gradually continent refused to talk to continent. That was around thirty years ago...and now, here he was. That was all a long time ago, and it had - sort of - stabilised during the last three years. At least it hadn't got any worse...apart from the stories, and there were hundreds of them...all about the nuclear fallout, and how a new generation was being created, but showing signs of the radiation. There were supposed to be real-life mutants out there...but it was all rumour. Nobody had any facts to go with. He was walking through a flat area, where he could just about make out a few hills, probably five miles away, and then he saw them, the people. He stopped - well, what else was he supposed to do? He recalled a tale that he had read - so many years ago, now - called Shalako. The moment touched a nerve, and he recalled that Shalako stayed still for ages, watching and waiting for the others to move. He chuckled, but it came out as a dark laugh. He waited, and over the next fifteen minutes he saw that these people were coming towards him. He stayed motionless, knowing that any wrong move now would jeopardise his future. They came up to him, and stopped at least two hundred feet away from his position, and they all looked at him, and he looked at them. He could see six, and assumed that another two or three were out of sight, somewhere, with their instructions plain. Any wrong move, take him out. And so he waited. For a few minutes nobody moved, and then one of the crowd slowly advanced towards him. He saw that all of the others had their guns raised, if not directly at him then pointing very closely to his position. Now is when you are to be very careful. As the other person approached, he saw that it was a woman. She came up about twenty feet away and stopped. "My name is Jessica. Would you like to explain who you are, and what you are doing here?" He tried to smile, but his lips were very cracked and dry. "My name is Phillip Kingston. I am a traveller who is passing through. I mean no threat to anyone." He stopped and dry coughed. "Do you have a little water? Mine ran out ten miles back." She lifted one eyebrow, wondering just who this person was. "Ten miles back? And you are still alive? Impressive." She smiled and wasted no time in advancing to him and dropping her water bottle and offered it to him. He took it from her and took a small sip. He was well aware of the politics in the desert. Because you are offered a water bottle does not mean that you should abuse it and drain the thing! "Phillip Kingston. Take more - it looks as if you need it more than I do. Are you from England?" He started to drink more, and then choked. Slowly...don't throw it away. "Yes, I am. My accent must give me away, I suppose." "Sort of. Can you walk? We are a few miles away, and I think we are too exposed here. We need to be in our main camp." "Yes, I can walk." He made to return the water bottle with a "Thank you. I much appreciate it." but she said "Keep it. I have another." His brain took this in, but couldn't understand it. This was unheard of. What hell is going on here? "Thank you. Thank you very much." "I need you to walk between our two leads, Frank and Greg." She duly pointed them out and he fell in between them, the whole party then starting to walk, at a fast pace. "Can you handle this pace?" she asked. "Yes, it's OK, so far. If I need to change then I'll tell you." "Good." The entire journey was done in silence. When you are in the desert, and with the temperature reaching these ridiculous numbers, it didn't do to waste your breath - literally. All conversation expelled warm air, moist air, and you only took in the very dry air, so most people just walked, often for hours, with no chitchat or 'polite' conversation - it could kill you! An hour later he could see that they were headed for...something, but he couldn't make it out, not at this distance. The party stopped and Jessica came up to him. "Are you armed?" Feeling more than a little peeved, he managed a "Yes, of course I'm armed." "When we get there, I will instruct the security to take possession of what you have. If you have any doubts then you need to keep them to yourself. We do not cheat or threaten our guests, and we demand the same in response. Is that acceptable?" Too tired to entertain a long conversation, all he could manage was "It is." She smiled at him, and he relaxed a little. "Good. Let's go, then." After another half an hour they got up to the buildings, and he was shocked to see that the access routes lead underground. Most of this is not on the surface, but underneath the ground? Fantastic! They continued to walk down a system of what he came to understand as tunnels - he had no idea of how long they were, or where they lead. It's just that he had to put one foot in front of the other, and continue onwards...downwards. How long this journey took, he never knew. All he recalled was stopping at a huge gate - a massive steel door - and being interrogated. It was pleasant, of a sort. They weren't interested in torturing you, as such. They asked you questions and he instantly understood that he had better be honest with his answer. He felt the hairs go up on the back of his neck, anticipating that 'this is real, this is now, this something that you simply don't mess around with'. "Ask of me what you will. I have no secrets to hide." became his staple answer, even though he knew that it was not quite correct. Let's see where this leads... He remembered that, after what seemed like a long interview/interrogation, he was lead into a room. He had not seen this before, so all of this was knew. "And what happens now?" he asked. "We will wait outside, and you will be shortly interviewed by our leader." was the response. Really? The leader - The Leader? Hold on, get a grip. Try to understand this. This statement was something that most people would not even understand. If someone says that they are putting you into a room, and that you will be interviewed BY THEIR LEADER, then you should really pay attention. It is not given away lightly. You need to understand this. And yet...so few actually do. They all left, and he then noticed a small child at the far end of the room - perhaps 4 or 5 years old? He took the last of the water from the bottle, remembering that he should have thanked Jessica and returned the bottle. He went to a chair and sat down, exhaustion hitting him, finally. I could sleep for a week! He spotted that the child was standing up, and she then walked carefully over towards him. "Hello. My name is Dawn. What's yours?" He forced himself to be nice, while he waited for the Leader to join them. Why was he admitted to the room, and left with a young child...? That made no sense... "Hello Dawn. My name is Phillip. I am visiting here." "Yes, I knew that. I hadn't seen you around before." She is remarkable for one so young... "I am what we would call a traveller. I walk from camp to camp, helping out with what I can when I get to the new locations. I have a few specialities - that means I can usually help somewhere." "What sort of specialities? We have quite a lot of people here, and they do lots of things every day." Just how much can I explain to this little girl...and then a thought flashed though his mind. There were lots of tales, stories of the damages done to the gene pool, the strange mutations that had developed... "Well, since we have all had so much trouble, it means that we have lost a lot. We lost a lot of people, over the last few years, and along with that we lost a lot of skills. Part of what I am trying to do is re-introduce some of those skills back to people, so that we can start to grow again, to build." "Oh, while I think of it, would you do me a favour, and when I have finished here, I need to find the lady that gave me the water bottle." "Why?" "I need to return it to her. She was very kind and let me have some water when we met. I would like to thank her, and make sure the bottle get back to her." "That's nice. Do you like her?" Taken aback, all he could say was "Like her? I don't know, I've just met her. She was very good to me, so I certainly would like to see her again. And thank her for the water. Now, Dawn, I wonder if you can help me out here -" "What specialities?" "What - ? Um, Astronomy, physics and chemistry. Along the way I have a very good understanding of computers but also I am quite competent in medicine. I am not a professional doctor, or surgeon but I have had a lot of medical training. Dawn, I am quite old, by your standards, and I learn things very quickly. I am supposed to be meeting the Leader here, so I am surprised to see you. I am confused as to why I am left in a room with a little girl, even though you are a little sweetie." He smiled - she really was sweet. Her questions put her as very intelligent, which, for all that Phillip knew was the norm for this location. The little girl put her head back and laughed, which Phillip found unnerving. "Phillip, you said you were here to meet the Leader. Well, you just have." She came to him, and extended her hand. "Phillip Kingston, you have been talking to the Leader for the last few minutes. Welcome to Camp Arizona." In a daze he extended his hand to the girl and they shook, gently. He didn't want to hurt her. "You...? You are the Leader?" He sat back in the chair, looking at this small child. "OK - I am confused. Would you care to tell me what's going on here?" "Relax. We don't know you, and we are very wary of visitors. We have had many, over the years, and all but a few have caused us major problems. We are very good at surviving, but these people came here, telling us that we were doing this wrong or that wrong. They were very busy telling us that we should be doing things their way. We got fed up with that, and now we vet anyone who comes by." Stunned, but finding his voice, he managed to say "Whoa! Hold it - hold on. You are the leader? But...you are a little girl...!" "Phillip, calm down. Calm down, and watch." He couldn't take his eyes off her, and yet he still couldn't believe what he saw. This little girl grew, she changed shape, right before his eyes. She grew taller, and filled out. She stopped after a few seconds, and Phillip could see someone who looked about thirty years of age, and was very attractive. "Is your name even Dawn...?" "Oh yes. That's all true. Everything that we spoke about is true. The lady you met - she is true, and I am sure that you will get on well. Phillip, welcome. Truly, welcome to Camp Arizona."