by Kyle West
I was really surprised. What could my father and Cornelius Ashton have in common?
“You knew my father?”
Ashton smiled. “I met him, long ago. He was still a boy. Eight, nine years old perhaps.”
I did that math in my head. My dad had been thirty-eight when he died.
“You met him before Ragnarok?”
Ashton nodded. “I did. There was a summit for all the highest-ranking officials of Bunker One, about two weeks before we were put underground. That was where I met your grandfather, Lorin.”
“Bunker One?” I frowned. “He entered Bunker 108, though.”
“Yes, that is so,” Ashton said. “But he almost didn’t enter any Bunker at all. His wife, your grandmother, was stuck in Europe at the time, with your father. At the summit, he refused his berth until both your grandmother and father, then a child, could be brought safely home. President Garland refused that request. He and your grandfather were old rivals. Regardless, that was how your grandfather lost his spot in Bunker One. He did, by the way, find a way to get to Europe and rescue your grandmother and father in all that madness. He was able to bring them both back home. Only by that time, the doors of Bunker One had closed. The spots for Lorin and his family had been filled. He was refused entry.”
I was shocked at this story. Never, in all my life, had my father told it to me. It made me feel a little betrayed, in a way. Why had he wanted to keep it from me?
“It was likely a very traumatic time in your father’s life,” Ashton said. “He probably witnessed horrors in those last days of the Old World that he never wanted to speak of again. You shouldn’t hold that against him.”
Of course, that had to be the reason why. Part of me wondered, though…had my dad even planned on telling me?
“What happened after my grandfather got back to America?” I asked.
“With Ragnarok’s impact just days away, Lorin was directed to Bunker 108, in the San Bernardino Mountains. It was the only one that had enough room for three people. He survived a harrowing journey cross-country that was likely as dangerous as yours. Those days were awful, and some might say the world ended long before Ragnarok fell. He did end up making it to Bunker 108, somehow, because we received a transmission from him a week following Ragnarok’s impact.”
“Do you know anything else?”
“After that, I’m afraid not much. I buried myself in my work. I had my own wife, and two children. All three perished in 2048 with the fall of Bunker One.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“It was long ago,” Ashton said.
The room was quiet for a bit. It occurred to me that Anna, Makara, Samuel, and I all had one thing in common: we had all lost our parents. Such was the case for many people — perhaps most people — in the world. It was all because of Ragnarok, and what it carried.
“I tried everything I could to rescue my wife and kids, but the dorms were the first hit by the crawlers. I couldn’t have made it even if I had tried.” Ashton paused, as if it pained him to speak. “They swarmed everything. Everyone was rushing to the runway, to get out however they could. I headed to the motor bay instead. I could only hope my wife and children made it. To this day, I don’t know if they ever got out. They would have touched down in L.A. with the others.”
“I don’t know, either,” Makara said. “Samuel and I were in two separate whirlybirds that took off. If they were among the refugees, they didn’t say. It was so long ago.”
“I don’t remember anything, either,” Samuel said. “I think three copters got out. One crashed — the one Makara was on. She was the only survivor. The other two formed a community on the east side. If they were among them, I’m afraid the news isn’t good. They were acquired by the Black Reapers years ago.”
Ashton nodded. “I have lived as if they were gone for the past twelve years. I wasn’t expecting any miracles. No scientist should.”
Something chilled me about those words. Cornelius Ashton was a cold and distant man, but it seemed as if he hadn’t always been so. After losing everything, all that remained was his life’s work of studying the virus that had destroyed his family.
I gave Anna a sidelong glance. Her hazel eyes met mine. I looked back at Ashton.
“I found myself escaping with two others. One was a mechanic named Dustin Cornell, and the other a pilot named Preston Yates. Cornell has since passed, but we all made it to Bunker Six, not too far north of Bunker One. The Bunker had been evacuated in the face of the coming storm, and was still largely untouched — the crawlers had completely ignored it. We acquired Gilgamesh, not really sure where we were going. But, Yates noticed a destination already programmed into the ship, called Skyhome. I knew the U.S. had created a large space station in the 2020s as yet another failsafe –a place the President could retreat to if conditions on Earth became absolutely intolerable. But, until I finally saw it when we left the atmosphere, I did not know Skyhome’s true scope. It was massive — so much so that it is a wonder the U.S. could ever hide it. Nothing about it was published during the Dark Decade as far as I know, but during the time of the Dictatorship, the press could only report what the government allowed it to. We all assumed that anything sent to space had something to do with stopping Ragnarok, and that was all we were ever let known. The majority of those missions had to have been for building Skyhome.”
Ashton frowned, then gave an embarrassed smile, as if cognizant of the fact that he was rambling.
“Forgive me. I came to Skyhome in 2048, and have lived here ever since. When we first came, there was already a community of survivors from Bunker Six, who had used Odin to get here — which surprised me, because Skyhome’s existence was supposedly only known to the highest-ranking officials in the U.S. government — namely, the President and top military people. Apparently, though, a few residents from Bunker Six found out about Skyhome and came here rather than going to Bunker One. Bunker Six, you see, was attacked first.”
“What about our mission?” Anna pressed. “It’s helpful to know our history, and where we came from. But if we leave tomorrow, we have to know what to do.”
“Of course,” Ashton said. “But I think it is important to remind ourselves why we fight. If you do not know why you fight, you cannot go on. I want you all to ask yourselves what you are fighting for. Let the question haunt you, press you onward toward your goal.”
Ashton paused a moment. He lifted a glass of water, and took a drink. After clearing his throat, he continued.
“Forgive me, Anna, but it is time for another history lesson. Not one that relates to me, or my past, but to Emperor Augustus himself. You will want to listen closely, because this information is key if you are ever to get an audience with him.”
“What is this information?” I asked.
“It was not only Alex’s father and grandfather I met at the summit in 2030.”
* * *
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Glossary
10,000, The: This refers to the 10,000 citizens who were selected in 2029 to enter Bunker One. This group included the best America had to offer, people who were masters in the fields of science, engineering, medicine, and security. President Garland and all the U.S. Congress, as well as essential staff and their families, were also chosen.
Alpha: “Alpha” is the title given to the recognized head of the Raiders. In the beginning, it was merely a titular role that had only as much power as the Alpha was able to enforce. But as Raider Bluff grew in size and complexity, the Alpha began to take on a more meaningful role. Typically, Alphas do not remain so for long — they are assassinated by rivals, who rise to take their place. In some years, there can be as many as four Alphas — though powerful Alphas, like Char, can reign for many years.
Batts: Batts, or batteries, are the currency of the Wasteland. It is unknown how batteries were first seen as currency, but it is likely because they are small, portable, and durable. Rechargeable batteries (called “chargers�
�) are even more prized, and solar batteries (called “solars,” or “sols,”) are the most useful and prized of all.
Behemoth: The Behemoth is a great monstrosity in the Wasteland — a giant creature, either humanoid or reptilian, or sometimes a mixture of the two, that can reach heights of ten feet or greater. They are bipedal, powerful, and can keep pace with a moving vehicle. All but the most powerful of guns are useless against the Behemoth’s armored hide.
Black Files, The: The Black Files are the mysterious collected research on the xenovirus, said to be located in Bunker One. They were authored principally by Dr. Cornelius Ashton, Chief Scientist of Bunker One.
Black Reapers, The: The Black Reapers are a powerful, violent gang, based in Los Angeles. They are led by Warlord Carin Black. They keep thousands of slaves, using them to serve their post-apocalyptic empire. They usurped the Lost Angels in 2055, and have been ruling Los Angeles ever since.
Blights: Blights are infestations of xenofungus and the xenolife they support. They are typically small, but the bigger ones can cover large tracts of land. As a general rule of thumb, the larger the Blight, the more complicated and dangerous the ecosystem it maintains. The largest Blight is the Great Blight — which covers a huge portion of the central United States.
Boundless, The: The Boundless is an incredibly dry part of the Wasteland, ravaged by canyons and dust storms, situated in what used to be Arizona and New Mexico. Very little can survive in the Boundless, and no one is known to have ever crossed it.
Bunker 108: Bunker 108 is located in the San Bernardino Mountains about one hundred miles east of Los Angeles. It is the birthplace of Alex Keener.
Bunker 114: A medical research installation built about fifty miles northwest of Bunker 108. Built beneath Cold Mountain, Bunker 114 is small. After the fall of Bunker One, Bunker 114, like Bunker 108 to the southeast, became a main center of xenoviral research. An outbreak of the human strain of the xenovirus caused the Bunker to fall in 2060.
Bunker One: The main headquarters of the Post-Ragnarok United States government. It fell in 2048 to a swarm of crawlers that overran its defenses. Bunker One had berths for ten thousand people, making it many times over the most populous Bunker. Its inhabitants included President Garland, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, essential government staff, and security forces, along with the skilled people needed to maintain it. There also were dozens of brilliant scientists and specialists, including engineers, doctors, and technicians. The very wealthy were also allowed berths for helping to finance the Bunker Program. Bunker One is reportedly the location of the Black Files, authored by Dr. Cornelius Ashton.
Bunker Program, The: The United States and Canadian governments pooled resources to establish 144 Bunkers in Twelve Sectors throughout their territory. The Bunkers were the back-up in case the Guardian Missions failed. When the Guardian Missions did fail, the Bunker Program kicked into full gear. The Bunkers were designed to save all critical government personnel and citizenry, along with anyone who could provide the finances to construct them. The Bunkers were designed to last indefinitely, using hydroponics to grow food. The Bunkers ran on fusion power, which had been made efficient by the early 2020s. The plan was that when the dust settled, Bunker residents could reemerge and rebuild. Most Bunkers fell, however, for various reasons — including critical systems failures, mutinies, and attacks by outsiders (see Wastelanders). By the year 2060, only four Bunkers were left.
Chaos Years, The: The Chaos Years are the ten years following the impact of Ragnarok. These dark years signified the great die-off of most forms of life, including humans. Most deaths occurred due to starvation. With mass global cooling, crops could not grow in climates too far from the tropics. What crops would grow produced a yield far too paltry to feed the population that existed. This led to a period of violence unknown in all of human history. The Chaos Years signify the complete breakdown of the Old World’s remaining infrastructures — including food production, the economy, power grids, and industry, all of which led to the deaths of billions of people.
Crawlers: Crawlers are dangerous, highly mobile monsters spawned by Ragnarok. Their origin is unclear, but they share many characteristics of Earth animals — mostly those reptilian in nature. Crawlers are sleek and fast, and can leap through the air at very high speeds. Typically, crawlers attack in groups, and behave as if of one mind. One crawler will, without hesitation, sacrifice itself in order to reach its prey. Crawlers are especially dangerous when gathered in high numbers — at which point there is not much one can do but run. Crawlers can be killed, their weak points being their belly and their three eyes.
Dark Decade, The: The Dark Decade lasted from 2020-2030, from the time of the first discovery of Ragnarok, to the time of its impact. It is not called the Dark Decade because the world descended into madness immediately upon the discovery of Ragnarok by astronomer Neil Weinstein — that only happened in 2028, with the failure of Messiah, the third and last of the Guardian Missions. In the United States and other industrialized nations, life proceeded in an almost normal fashion. There was plenty of hope, and good reason to believe that Ragnarok could be stopped, especially given ten years. But as the Guardian Missions failed, one by one, the order of the world quickly disintegrated.
With the failure of the Guardian Mission Archangel in 2024, a series of wars engulfed the world. As what some were calling World War III embroiled the planet, the U.S., Canada, and various European nations worked to stop Ragnarok. When the second Guardian Mission, Reckoning, failed, an economic depression swept the world. But none of this compared to the madness that followed upon the failure of the third and final Guardian, Messiah, in 2028. As societies broke down, martial law was enforced. President Garland was appointed dictator of the United States with absolute authority. By 2029, several states had broken off from the Union.
In the last quarter of 2030, an odd silence hung over the world, as if it had grown weary of living. The President, all essential governmental staff and military, the Senate and House of Representatives, along with scientists, engineers, and the talented and the wealthy, entered the 144 Bunkers established by the Bunker Program. Outraged, the tens of millions of people who did not get an invitation found the Bunker locations, demanding to be let in. The military took action when necessary.
Then on December 3, 2030, Ragnarok fell, crashing into the border of Wyoming and Nebraska, forming a crater one hundred miles wide. The world left the Dark Decade, and entered the Chaos Years.
Great Blight, The: The Great Blight is the largest xenofungal infestation in the world, its point of origin being Ragnarok Crater on the Great Plains in eastern Wyoming and western Nebraska. Unlike other Blights, the Great Blight is massive. From 2040-2060, it began to rapidly expand outside Ragnarok Crater at an alarming rate, moving as much as a quarter mile each day (meaning the stretching of the xenofungus could actually be discerned with the naked eye). Any and all life was conquered, killed, or acquired into the Great Blight’s xenoparasitic network.
Guardian Missions: The Guardian Missions were humanity’s attempts to intercept and alter the course of Ragnarok during the Dark Decade. There were three, and in the order they were launched, they were called Archangel, Reckoning, and Messiah (all three of which were also the names of the ships launched). Each mission had a reason for failing. Archangel is reported to have crashed into Ragnarok, in 2024. In 2026, Reckoning somehow got off-course, losing contact with Earth in the process. In 2028 Messiah successfully landed and attached its payload of rockets to the surface of Ragnarok in order to alter its course from Earth. However, the rockets failed before they had time to do their work. The failure of the Guardian Missions kicked the Bunker Program into overdrive.
Howlers: Howlers are the newest known threat posed by the xenovirus. They are human xenolife, and they behave very much like zombies. They attack with sheer numbers, using their bodies as weapons. A bite from a Howler is enough to infect the victim with the human strain of the xenoviru
s. Post-infection, it takes anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours for a corpse to reanimate into the dreaded Howler. Worse, upon death, Howlers somehow explode, raining purple goo on anyone within range. Even if a little bit of goo enters the victim’s bloodstream, he or she is as good as dead, cursed to become a Howler within a matter of minutes or hours. How the explosion occurs, no one knows — it is surmised that the xenovirus itself creates some sort of agent that reacts violently with water or some other fluid present within the Howlers. There is also reason to believe that certain Howlers become Behemoths, as was the case with Kari in Bunker 114.
Ice Lands, The: Frozen in a perpetual blanket of ice and snow, the northern and southern latitudes of the planet are completely unlivable. In the Wasteland, at least, they are referred to as the Ice Lands. Under a blanket of meteor fallout, extreme global cooling was instigated in 2030. While the glaciers are only now experiencing rapid regrowth, they will advance for centuries to come until the fallout has dissipated enough to produce a warmer climate. In the Wasteland, 45 degrees north marks the beginning of what is considered the Ice Lands.
L.A. Gangland: L.A. Gangland means a much different thing than it did Pre-Ragnarok. In the ruins of Los Angeles, there are dozens of gangs vying for control, but by 2060, the most powerful is the Black Reapers, who usurped that title from the Lost Angels.
Lost Angels, The: The Lost Angels were post-apocalyptic L.A.’s first super gang. From the year 2050 until 2055, they reigned supreme in the city, led by a charismatic figure named Dark Raine. The Angels were different from other gangs — they valued individual freedom and abhorred slavery. Under the Angels’ rule, Los Angeles prospered. The Angels were eventually usurped in 2056 by a gang called the Black Reapers, led by a man named Carin Black.
Nova Roman Empire, The: The Nova Roman Empire (also known as the “Empire”) is a collection of allied city-states that are ruled from its capital, Nova Roma, located somewhere in southern Mexico. The Empire is large and powerful, and they are well-known in the Wasteland for their many trade caravans arrive during summer months. The Empire is ruled by a man named Augustus.