The Bluest of Horizons (WIP)

Man survived the darkest of times. The cold war, the Holocaust, many wars. The Winter of Eternity in 2012, Klerauns first awakening in 2014, Kleraun's second awakeing in 2018, The reawakening of the Black Plague. Semi war, 2020 - 2024. The nuclear scare of 2026. The year is 2030. All the little scientists that studied global warming must've had heart attacks, when Kleraun's Third Awakening, bring the Klerauns floods, and the dreaded Kleraun disease that occured in only 15% of humans. When the month-long Windwalker calamity occured, the mass killings of people like me, the provinces scrambled their forces, and liberated the killers. People like me, we had to run.

Kleraun is a funny substance. Scientists just can't figure it out. It's a universal chemical, and has been classified as KL. It comes and goes, and hides in the ground. Crystallized when untouched, but quickly melts into a liquid, which when ingested, can heal people. It can be refined using certain technologys released to only a handful of people, and can be used to make anything. Metals, gasses, and is immune to the effects of rust, doesn't freeze, doesn't boil, and is immune to radiation.

I remember the day, the day it came again. I was still in my suit. Still staring at the ground below me, from the top floor of the building. For years I had climbed the corporate ladder. I was close to the top rung. Soon, there wouldn't be any sort of ladder for anyone to climb. My co-workers stared out the window with me, mouths agape. And yet, it was beautiful. We knew we had to get out of here soon enough, because, in a few hours, when another apocalypse comes, a corporate building used specifically for the creation of weapons is the last place to be. I remember the chaotic mess of people running about. I had stolen a Humvee out of the garage below the building.

People. Lots of people, all running amok. It was a scary thing, the booms in the distance, the horizon, was just completely blue. The fourth, and maybe final awakening of Kleraun, had come. And with it, Kleraun brought winter.

My Humvee bounced along the potholes in the road, and needed gas, it was dangerously low. An old gas station, hopefully working. I looked at the gas prices. They'd only changed several times after the 4th awakening of Kleraun. Fifty-nine cents a gallon. It was great. If there was still anyone in the convenience store, I might pay. If there isn't... I might just leave some money on the counter.

I filled my humvee, and the 8 empty tubs of spare gas I always kept in my Humvee. My LR-300 was slung across my back, and I really hoped noone was in the convenience store. The sky was cold and blue. And silent. The silence had become god.

The automatic doors don't work. That's a quick sign. The aisles were stocked plentiful. These Kleraun awakenings only startled few, Kleraun could be used for great things. This was only an apocalypse for about 3% of planet Earth. The real killer was the harsh winter. People usually run from the epicenter of Kleraun awakenings. But I am a windwalker, I drift, just as the cold air does. My goal was to get to Manhattan, I'm hoping for lots of people to still be there. Hopefully. Unfortunately, the Mentality Police are dispatched to major cities a lot. The Mentality Police are deadly, they steal you away, whenever they can, and clear your mind. They give you a new identity, and everything you once knew will be gone. This force was created when the new government settled in, and the countries only kept to themselves. Nobody an ally. Nobody an enemy. Just a country. Domestic affairs are domestic affairs. The need for Mentality Police was stated, by the officals, in response to protesting, and constant overthrowings of the old force we had, the military. They wanted us to get involved with the other world. Embargos created war. War created the end of the world. America had things other countries depended on, and we depended on other countries

I took lots of food, I left the alcohol. Who needs it? It only slows you down. I took all the cans of energy drinks, and luckily nobody was there to charge me the ridiculous amounts of money these things costed. I loaded up all the cans of food, frozen pizza, and things like noodles in a cup, and took off down the road.

I looked at my wallet. All my cards were kept neat, my money, and my ID. Reed Williams. I looked at my ID once in a while to remind myself I am still alive, and I still know who I am. I had cash in lots of currency, Rubles, Pounds, Euros. I kept on driving.

I looted an out of the way army surplus store along the way, luckily, people had jsut been too stupid to get all this stuff. Or they hadn't ahd enough time, when the government evacuated the people of america to places like Europe, and south america. East asia, too. Canada, however, it just too cold. Plus, thats the Kleraun "Core." You can't go there, you'll vaporize into dust, and nobody even remembers you. Anything you'd worked for would be fired, and you wouldn't be too much besides a pile of incinerated skin and organs. I took all the stuff I could possibly fit in my Humvee. Kevlar helmets, boots, uniforms, goggles, kniives, and vests.

My parka kept me warm in this weather. It was made for the special forces. It was my new favorite coat.

I slept in my Humvee. I parked it on the side of the road.

I forget the days. I'm not sure how old I am anymore, it's been a few years, I'd guess. I came to an intersection. I looked around. A person with a pistol aiming it at another person laying on the ground, arms spread, pleading not to be shot. Survivors, and my heart skipped a beat.

The person with the gun was a woman. She was wearing a winter hat, and a heavy coat. I turned off the engine, and stepped out. She pointed her gun at me.

"Hey, watch it, I'm not gonna shoot you. Don't shoot me." I told the person, I hoped they would comply.

"Who are you?" They asked.

"I'm Reed Williams, of... I forget." I hoped that they would believe me..

"Me too." The voice said.

"Who's that?" I gestured at the other person shivering in the road.

"MCop officer." The person said quickly. I realized the person was a woman.

She shot the person in the head. His blood spattered on the pavement, and his muffled groan could be heard.

"Where you headed?" She asked inquisitively.

"Manhattan..." I told her suspiciously.

"Why? Why Manhattan?" Like she had some sort of vendetta against the place.

"I'm hoping for a new civilization there. People have to be there, survivors, people who couldn't leave, and maybe, we can restart the United States from there. Y'know, set up a civilization, a brand new country." I told her.

"That sounds like a big goal... Do you mind if I help?" She asked. She sounded eager.

"Not at all." I told her.

She hopped in the passenger side. We started down the road, once more.

"Whats your name?" I asked.

"Voletta." She said sharply, no emotion in her voice.

"Where are you from?" I asked her.

"I came from south of Quebec, when the Awakening hit. I've been hanging around here, I couldn't find anyplace to go."

"You'll be safe with me. I've got clothing, food, weaponry, and, well, I'm not sure about shelter."

She stared out the windshield.

"Does that turret work?" She asked.

I looked at her.

"The one on the top?" I asked.

"There's more than one?" She asked me.

"Yeah, one unfolds from the side of your seat, and you can aim it out the window. Yes, they both work. Yes, every seat has one of those, and yes, they all have lots of ammo." I said, proudly.

"Cool. Where are we going now?"

"We have to find the freeway, to get us to Manhattan. But first we have to make a stop. We are on route 70, and Fort Dix should be up here. And where there's a fort, there's probably useful stuff that we really need. As in, MRE's weaponry, ammo, and hopefully a better humvee than this."

"That sounds good. Thanks for stopping, I literally have nothing." She said with a half grin.

"It's no problem, really." I said.

"Where did you come from?" She asked me.

"I remember coming into the airport, I had to be transferred after be made a CFO of a large comapny in manufacturing weaponry, and had to move to Absecon. I fled after the awakening, and stole a bunch of crap from the building, and took off. Hopefully we'll find more people. I know some weapon technology and some medic stuff, so we should be set if the only bad thing that happens is a cut and our weapons break." I told.

I grinned, and she chuckled to herself. It was so damned cold.

We drove for hours, and talked, about life, and things like that. Eventually we came upon Fort Dix. It was the next morning, and we were so tired. We needed a place to sleep. We dragged ourselves to some barracks, and settled in there.

I was out like a light.

The next morning, was still cold. We ate breakfast, and searched around. We ransacked every building. we tuggedd out lots of ammo, and lots of pistol, and rifles, and tools.

"Voletta. Come take a look at this."

"What is it?"

"It's a silence car. Finally."

"What's a silence car?" She asked me, like she thought it was some sort of alien car.

"It's a silent Humvee, and it makes no noise... It's all black, used for moving at night, and I highly armored, and faster. Bigger than ours, too."

We transferred all of our things into the Humvee's. There were two. We grabbed radios, more than enough, incase we got more people. At the exit to the base, we found 2 men. Both were dressed in uniforms. They were looking at the ground, silently, sullenly, like they'd just lost a great battle. In theory we had. These people were no longer needed, and probably scarred by the wars they'd fought. They didn't even look at us, either. I thought about leaving them, they might not want us stealing from the base they were from.

"Hello?" I said. One looked at me.

"What?" One asked.

"It's too cold out here, you two. You can come with us if you want. I've got food, weapons, clothing. We're headed to Manhattan, where maybe we can find more people."

"Alright. We'll come. Come on Davis, looks like we're going to Manhattan." The other soldier looked up. He said nothing, and followed the first man.

"My name is James. He's Davis." The man said. He was a Captain. He rode passenger with me, and Davis drove while Voletta was the passenger in the other car. This was my team, and soon, we would move on to victory.

Eventually, we came to a bridge. The wind was blowing, and it was snowy, and cold. We each had on masks and goggles. A barricade was set up, and a team of people were guarding it. I started to get nervous.

I whispered over the radio.

"Ready your weapons."

I got out of the car, Captain James followed. Voletta and Davis got out, too. I walked up to the man, I figured was the leader. He was wearing a brown parka, and a russian hat. His friends were wearing the same. I asked him quietly, and quickly.

"Mind if we cross?" I asked, politely.

He looked at me, a certain smugness about him told me he thought I was some sort of pushover.

"Depends. You give me something. I'll let you cross..."

Voletta and Davis came up and stood by us. I opened my mouth to talk.

"What is it that you want?" I asked, a million outcomes bounced around my mind.

James looked at me cautiously. Voletta did too. So did Davis. The man looked at us. From person to person. he stared at Voletta for some time. I could feel the tension rising in her skin.

"The girl. I want the girl, if you're that desperate to get across, you'll give up this little who-" I cut him off, my eyes tore into his face.

As if instinct, my hand flew out, and grabbed his neck, while Davis and James helped, their Instincts from their training proved handy. We knocked the man down. Two of his freinds took out guns, and Voletta quickly sprayed the two men with bullets, their bodies drowning in their own blood.

"Say it again, man, say it again, and you know what's gonna happen." James said.

"Don't be stupid. Just let us cross, we don't want anymore trouble than what we've caused..." Davis said.

He looked into my eyes, Davis and James looked back, ready to make a move.

I.. Want... Your... W...

He was going too far. I was angry, and had trouble repressing my anger. My skin turned red, and I got hotter. In a split second, I stood up, and unslung my LR-300.

"Leave him be, let's see if he's smart."

"You wouldn't dare kill an innocent." He said quickly.

"Say it again. SAY IT AGAIN!" I yelled at him.

He grinned, taking me for granted. He spat it out.

..Whore!!

I pulled the trigger, and emptied the rest of the magazine into his face.

We pushed the barricade pout of the way. We drove on through.

Luckily, no barricades blocked the end of the bridge. We drove onto Route 9, I studied the road map carefully. We stopped, and slept for the night. It was a cold night, and the next day was colder. When the fires don't light, we don't live.

We came to another bridge. It was old, and rickety, and creaked, as if screaming in pain.

It's getting colder. Finding Mentality Police's frozen bodies lying about is quite common now. Dead frozen bodies, Frozen bodies of raped women, frozen bodies of dead children, dead men.

Those will never be one of us.

Those will never be one of us.

We came to a great big river. It was really, really, big. The bridge was even bigger. The way across it our way was clear, besides a few cars. The toher lane was full of stopped, frozen cars. Certain parts of the bridge was falling down. parts fell off of it, and smashed at the river below, on the ice. Yes, it was so cold, even the rivers had frozen solid. I wondered about Voletta. She had to be kept safe. The people here, were raping women, their dead bodies lying about on the parkways. We would not let her become that. Never.

Halfway across the bridge, the distinct sight of Mentality Cops. Their silhouettes were easily seen. They looked at us, preparing to see members of the Armed Forces. They had rifles, too.

All four of us got out, and walked up. They readied their guns.

"Here to give yourselves up?" One asked.

I looked at James, giving him an odd stare.

"Okay, give yourselves up. We want that girl first." Another one said.

"Why?"

I looked at Davis. He asked the question. The officer raised his hands, and dropped them.

"Why do you think? Are you some sort of retard?"

We could barely understand him through the masks they wore.

"Listen buddy, we don't sell out our friends like that. I don't know what you think of her, but she's no prostitute or slave to us." I said. The officer turned his head to me.

"Then what, is the point of keeping her with you?" He asked.

"You sick bastards. You're all sick bastards! ALL OF YOU!" James screamed. His voice echoed off of the snowy landscape. The Horizon, was still blue, as I could see behind the bridge. Suddenly, James pulled a pistol from his pocket, and shot both officers in the head, dropping them instantly, while everyone else jumped a foot into the air.

"Jesus." Davis said.

"Don't call me Jesus. Call me James." James said. We crossed the bridge. We took a break on the other side. We were all sick of driving.

"Sometimes... I think, we're all gonna die out here..." I said. "But, those thoughts are quickly replaced with feelings of victory, every inch we move is a victory, over this burnt turf that we've been traversing." Voletta looked me in the eyes.

"All you've done is kill, and kill. We've won no victories. None." Her words shocked me.

"I watched you kill a man." I told her.

"It was self defence! I didn't want to, and the two other guys I killed, they'll haunt me forever. Forver!" She began to yell. James looked at her. His cold, dark face pierced the tension in the current situation.

"You wanted to follow me!" I yelled back at her. "You killed those men are your own free will, I kept you safe from harm, when those men wanted you, so don't play this bull with me!" I yelled. Her angry face stared at me. She pounded her fist on one of the humvees.

"YOU'LL KILL US ALL!" She shouted. It echoed in the distance. She opened up a door, and searched around for something, in the pile of military junk we had sitting in the trucks. She grabbed a pistol, and a grenade. She pulled the pin, and cocked the pistol.

"Not unless you do first!" James yelled, as she placed the grenade on the humvee, and shot herself in the head. Her blood and brain splattered the car. We ran back as far as we could, and the grenade went off.

We fell to the ground, and felt the ground shake, as the humvee exploded in falmes, and rolled over. Charred parts of the car, charred parts of the girl who had chosen to kill herself, scattered the area.

"Holy hell...." Davis whispered. I had no feeling. I told myself in my mind, that we couldn't change whats happened.

"Lets.. Lets go." I told them. The other car was unscathed, and we continued across the road. We saw old silos, and what looked like a yard full opf shipping containers. I thought about searching them, but then, I looked all around the car. Dead bodies. I decided not to search the yard. I looked at the trees. Most were knocked over, burnt, or chopped down, or lying across the road. Some were riddled with bullets holes, others with icicles. The road was slippery, and we slept little while we drove. I let James take the wheel, eventually. I had to sleep. I had to process, what I had just witnessed.

I woke up, after the truck hit a pothole. I was groggy, and my hair was messy. We were crossing another bridge. I had grown to hate these things, but without them, we'd have been screwed long before. It was tipping to one side, and I closed my eyes as we drove across. Dead bodies hung from nooses, and I thought to myself "That's the easy way out." Davis was driving now, and James was looking at the map. We were driving down the Garden Sate Parkway.

"I kinda miss Fort Dix." James said.

"Too late for regrets, now. you wanted to stay there, your weird attachment to the place." Davis said.

"Well, I've been there all my life... Thank god Reed came to find us, we had nothing." James said. I smirked to myself. He turned on the radio. It was the old voice that always played on the radio, all FM frequencies.

"If any of you are still in the USA, you've not been forgotten, and we will try to evacuate you as soon as possible. I know the Kleraun has killed many, but we can get through these, we must survive the winter, God be with us, each and every one. We have a constant flow of mentality Police there to help you, and only, you, citizens of the earth."

"Turn that crap off, Davis said." The voice was so eerie, and it always played, 24/7. We were driving past a baseball field. Cloaked and hooded figures were gathered around the pitcher mound, smoke coming from the middle. They were reciting some sort of ritual, as one of the figures held a person by the head, while he hacked away at the neck of the person.

"Faster. Go faster, just floor it, now." James said. "Dammit, those are made for baseball games..."

It was the scariest thing I had seen in all eternity. It was still snowing. We were passing a power grid. It was sparking, and it was quite obvious it didn't work. Bodies were strewn about the bottom, while some were tied to the metal poles, and some were charred, twitching with each burst of electricity that travelled through the posts. We were dodging cars at random, smashed up old ones, nice new ones flipped, strewn about, crushed by bigger cars, some people still trapped insie, but granted, they were long dead.

"Ah, christ..." Davis said. Up ahead, a trainwreck could be seen, and the road aboce the railway was nearly all gone. We drove carefully over the other side, and to my dismay, it was a civilian train, full of civilians, full of dead civilians. Fucll of dead civilians that didn't deserve this fate.

The mood is so morose in places like this, not a hint of happiness, or any sort of life bursting anywhere. Life doesn't burst here, but reachs for a ledge, and fails to grasp it, as it falls to it's death. We passed a golf course, a fancy one, and nothing but old golf carts and lots of golf equipment strewn about. Yes the horizon was blue. I just stared out the window, wondering how far away we were from Manhattan. We were so eager to get there. I silently wept for Voletta. For the short time I knew her, she never once mistrusted me. I wish she were still alive. Why did it have to end this way? Why? I fell back asleep.

When I awoke, James was driving. I could see the blue horizon, it was getting Bluer. Soon, we actually started passing Kleraun fields, the crystal substance glowed beautifully. Kleraun. What have you done to us? I saw a bridge behind us, it still looked new. I looked at the ocean. I could see Liberty Island. The statue of Liberty, was lying upside down in the ocean. The rusted old body of a Passenger jet and charred grass marked where the statue had once been. Davis looked away. James was humming the National Anthem. It was a dramatic sight, I couldn't help but succumb to the incredible tiredness I had felt from waht I'd been through.

When I awoke we were stopped.

"Reed? You awake?" James asked.

"Barely, I replied."

"We've got a problem... Look ahead." I looked ahead, my heart rose. We made it to Holland Tunnel! My heart sank. It was a tunnel. God knows what could be in tunnels, and tunnels, had become known to survivors as a no-go zone. Tunnels held evil, and I dare not say what things could lie in tunnels. Survivng the Kleraun Awakening meant that you would never go in a tunnel.

"Oh well, this is too big to not keep on going." I said. I had made the decision, and James and Davis obeyed. I got in the drivers seat. I started up the car, and drove on through. Hopefully, my decision will prove to be the correct one.

The tunnel was dark, and eerie. Body's hung from the pipes, and water was rushing in from different leaks. Luckily, we could get through. Blood dripped from the walls, and the fans were marked with big dents, and body parts mangled in them. Luckily, we made it through.

We smiled, and laughed, as we drove into New York. People walked the streets, and talked. They looked at us and smiled. We drove, and drove, we wandered around, and eventually, came to the entrance of Manhattan.

THE entrance of Manhattan.

We stared at the giant doors. We got out of our cars, and walked up to the man using it. He was dressed in uniform. A badge that said SL marked who he was.

"May we enter?" I asked.

"You registered as a citizen?" He asked.

"Uhh.. No..." I said, sadly.

"Move through that tunnel, we'll take care of your things."

His voice echoed in my head, as James, Davis, and I, we trudged through the tunnel, unaware of where we were going or what to do. Every step we took, seemed to mark a new beginning. Every footstep echoed in my head, every word spoken was a psalm, a prayer, of a better life, or a new one, altogether. We came to a screen on a wall.

"Please state name." It said, a british voice came form it.

"Reed Williams." I said. I placed my finger on a scanner, and an ID card jutted from a slot. It had my fingerprint, name, and brand new credentials on it. I was amazed, we were finally going to live without fear of dying. I smiled. James and Davis did the same. We walked outside, and Manhattan was like it had always been... Spry, full of life. I loved it. We came to our car, it was on the other side of the gate. All the military junk was missing from it, besides the uniforms. I really didn't care. We still had pistols in our pockets.

"Figures." Davis said.

"Oh well. Lets keep going." James said. We got in the car, and drove off. Eventually, we came to a checkpoint. It had a dispenser of some sort. We each swiped our ID's through it, and out popped three medium sized containers that were rather heavy. We drove off, wondering what was inside the boxes. We stoppe dat a parking lot, in front of a resteraunt. We opened them. Within each one, was one thousand dollars in some new currency, a pamphlet about "New Manhattan", Folded posters advertising the "Survivor's League", and a pair of boots. Oddly enough, they fit perfectly...

"Damn." James said. He was obviously impressed with the amount of money we had been issued.
"We need to find a place to stay." Davis said. We drove about, wondering if there were any apartments for rent. Eventually, we found a tall, brownish building, and found three different apartments to suit ourselves. They weren't particularly nice, but they'd do. The rent was 600 per month. I settled in, and looked outside. In the distance, the blue horizon was marked with a large building, aller than all the others, with large banners over it, that read things about the Survivor's League. Everyone wore the same shoes, I had noticed. The cars were junky looking, and the people looked emotionless. After wandering around for a while, I had realized how warm it was in Manhattan. I looked around the sidewalk. At constant lengths, there were grates, in which you could see the heat blowing from them, and there were lots of them. They kept the city warm, and it was amazing how many there were.

Books were plentiful, but they were all on the subject of survival, which was okay, but it was also the mindless propaganda about joining the SL Army, that really got to you. I purchased a new set of clothes, normal ones. a black zip-up hoodie, and a pair of loose fitting blue jeans. The shoe stores were more or less boot stores, they sold nothing different.

I found a pub, named Rodger's, and drank a few beers there, and watched the TV. It was sports, with new made up baseball teams. I ate some food, too. Real food. With a taste. I left after that, and looked up into the sky. It was getting dark. I should be getting home. This city, was so plain. Not in the boring way, but everyone was alike, and the authorities were in bunches. They were polite, but scary looking.

Walking around for a bit, I heard people talking about Kleraun. They discussed it's value, and how well it sells. 150 per pound. It seemd like a good idea, but I wasn't sure if I could find Kleraun anywhere anymore. I pondered the idea. Eventually, I clamored into bed in my apartment. And by bed I mean the old, ancient couch.