Epidemic (closed)

[JadeKnight]

Closed for SortofBeautiful

It was only five days after Joesph's twentieth birthday when Mother Nature decided to wage war on the Humanity. He was lucky to have been assigned to Fort Bragg at the time. The devastation was bad, but not as bad as it could have been.
It started with a series of six hurricanes within a three month period striking the entire eastern coast of the United States all the way down into South America. No part of Florida was left untouched by the hurricanes. During the same time period, tsunamis followed in the wake of each hurricane flooding the east coast states as well. Earthquakes rumbled through the earth's crust, breaking up the continents. California became an island, Hawaii and it's islands sunk beneath the waves, and the borders between US, Canada, and Mexico became ten mile wide rivers.
This was just a small taste of the worldwide destruction caused in the six months after March 16, 2014. Nearly half of the human population was wiped out, major ecosystems disrupted, and the remaining populations were mostly displaced.
Six month after it all began, the destruction stopped. Scientists had been unable to determine the exact causes for the wrath of Mother Nature. Volcanic active did occur, but it wasn't enough to really impact the environment. In the United States, every major utility system was impacted, trillions in damage. In order to get everything back under control, marital law was declared until the chaos could be controlled.

May 2017

Joesph sighed as he started out the rear passenger window of the M1151, watching the green, flooded plains of Kansas go past. The worst of Mother Nature's wrath should have been over, but the weather patterns had recently became harsher in the past few months. Even though farmers had tamed the growing fields back from the wilds, the intense rains had became problems from the Midwest. Lightning storms had been causing communication problems by destroying most steel based electronics.
Joesph was part of an engineering unit that had been experimenting with some new equipment to try and thwart the lightning attacks. As far as he knew, all the satellites were still orbiting the earth with no damage from the wrath of nature. Communication was only one of the major problems humanity was still facing.
He closed his green eyes for a moment as he listened to Lt. Gibson talk on the radio to the rest of the convoy.
"We are still about three hours from the research base Capt. Carlson. Communication was lost three days ago, but all reports indict that is the only problem at this point."
Joesph opened his eyes once and picked up his M2, checking it over for any problems. He already knew all his equipment was in proper working order, but he was getting bored. Hopefully this would just be another routine mission and things would go smoothly.

 

[SortOfBeautiful]

Insanity. That's all Brynna felt around her the past few days. It was funny, how people reacted when one thing around here went wrong. It was a wonder how they'd even survived the devastation at all.

Spoiled. Too comfortable. They'd all been pretty lucky, having all the resources at their fingertips to get their jobs done and live comfortable. If they wanted something, they got it. So long as it helped with their research and work was getting done. It had been determined long ago, after many years of studies, that the case of war by mother nature would be inconclusive. They'd never know what caused those hurricanes to come at them with such force, and they yet had to find out why it took so long to stop.

But rather than focusing on the past, Brynna Mandrake's knowledge was used on studying the future. How the world was recovering from that aftermath, even years later, and what might cause such a thing to happen again. Resources were brought to her from the outside. It was rare that Brynna was sent outside to do her research; she did everything from her lab in a heavily guarded building that had been one of the few that still stood after the devastation.

But it was damn hard to do your work after their communication to that outside world went out. That had only been the beginning, though. After their communication began to fail, they had no orders. No one to give their findings and results to. And scariest of all, for all they knew, something terribly wrong could have been going on outside those city borders, and they'd never know. So, the few days without communication was stressful for everyone. Because after that went out, so did the rest of their equipment. And when scientists couldn't do their work...well, work was all they knew. Without it, no one knew what to do with themselves. Which was the reason for the insanity, currently, in the cafeteria.

"Mandrake, to the lobby. Mandrake, to the lobby."

Brynna heard her name being called over the loudspeaker, one of the few things in the building that still worked. She looked up from her notes that she'd been studying instead of eating, and saw a few heads turn her way. The only time she was ever called to the lobby was for a meeting, to be given orders, or...if they had visitors. Finally! How long had it taken for them to send someone out to help them? Too long.

Closing her books, Bryanna rushed and gathered them in her small arms and hurried out of the loud cafeteria so she could quickly change and cover up in her white lab coat, before tying her long hair up into a ponytail to look presentable. It bounced behind her head as she hurried to the lobby, slightly out of breath before she came to stop there at the front desk, awaiting her next order.

"There's a unit arriving that will be here any minute. They're to be split up, and get to work immediately. You are all to show them where to start, and where to go. Any questions?"

"Yes," Brynna spoke up first, never one to keep quiet or to hold back a question. Her superior didn't look surprised. "Why me?" She asked, simply.

"You know this building better than anyone here, am I wrong, doctor?"

"Yes, sir." Brynna finally nodded, seemingly in agreement with that answer. Even though she hated being called 'doctor'. She was one of the youngest scientists in the building, having started her education right before the war happened. Many people were lost, and it was easy to advance. Especially with her skill, knowledge, and determination.

 

[JadeKnight]

Very few things bothered Joesph, but the only thing that did was the weather. Even more was the weather in the Midwest. It was always unpredictable, but nothing like the type they had five years before. He had joined to be an MP, mostly to travel to other countries and enjoy time away from the states. Mother Nature changed that. All military personnel that had been stateside had essentially because the peace keepers to try and maintain order amid the chaos. He was traveling, but not to places he wanted to go.

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud thunck against the top of the vehicles. At first he thought it was just a rock dropped by a passing bird, but the sound was repeated again and again. He looked out the window to see large chunks of ice all around them for as far as the eye could see. A hailstorm in the middle of summer. He heard the Lt. talk on the radio.

"Everyone button up and hold on. We've got less than half an hour to go."

All the trucks reported in that everyone was safe. The hail stopped within sight of the research station. Cpt. Carlson's voice came over the radio, breaking the silence.

"Welcome to Dodge City, Kansas, or at least what's left of it. Everybody out and get to your tasks."

Lt. Gibson looked over his shoulder for a moment at Joesph.

"Go check and make sure that none of the equipment was damaged."
"Yes, sir."

Twenty men and women piled out of the eight vehicle convoy, consisting of three M1151s, three flatbeds, one wrecker, and one utility truck. Joesph put his sunglasses to shield his eyes from the now clear, sunny day. He chuckled softly for a moment and shook his head. Just another day in paradise. Joesph made his way back to the flatbeds while Capt. Carlson, Lt. Gibson, and two privates went to check with the research station.