The Birth of the New World

-The New World’s Birth-

-Book II-

The Siege on Louisville

-Prelude-

-Anna-

It has been three weeks since we started living here on base. Lain’s mother, father and myself.

As I walk down the road, a small lunch box in hand, I can’t help but look up at the sky. The once constant cloud covered skies, are slowly shifting back into the clear blue skies that we used to know. Even now I can see hints of open sky behind a light cover of white clouds. Not the normal angry looking grey of clouds threatening a downpour of heavy rain, but regular white fluffy clouds. Maybe we’ll have a drizzle today? Maybe not? It’s one of the few high points that we have to look forward to nowadays, so I make a point of trying to enjoy the weather during my walks. Have to get my happiness wherever I can.

It doesn’t take much longer to get where I’m going, just a short ten-minute walk from home.

Up ahead I can see the base’s hospital, the surrounding areas around it have been converted into field hospitals, with large tents all around the area. Looking around, I can as doctors and nurses move from tent to tent, tending to patients and wounded soldiers alike.

Even now as I walk through the busy area, I can see an ambulance pull in and unload some wounded soldiers, one of them has some form of large spine sticking from his shoulder as if he got hit by a giant porcupine or something.

I try to ignore the sights and smells, the moaning of the wounded laying in uncomfortable cots, and the general chaos of people rushing about trying to save one more life. I’m not here for any of these tents, I’m heading towards the main building.

Before I can reach the entrance, my eyes fall on the open entrance of a nearby tent. The soldier, near the entrance and laying in his cot, is just staring at the ceiling with blank eyes. The entire left side of his body is covered in stitches or wrapped in red stained gauze. He is missing his left arm and leg and looks as if he has given up.

Realizing that I was staring, I quickly turn away and hurry to the entrance.

I don’t know how she ever got used to seeing stuff like this… I don’t think I could ever get used to it.

Making my way into the building, I force a smile on my face and walk up to the front desk. It looks like it’s the usual lady working here today. Off to the side, I can see a soldier standing guard with his rifle, looking bored but vigilant.

Walking up to the lady, Ms. Kaylen, I say hello and sign in the visitor registry.

“How are doing Anna?” She asks me, “You here to bring your mother her lunch?”

I respond, lifting up the lunch box, “Yup, bringing her some chicken, coleslaw, and cornbread. And I guess I’m doing fine, weather outside is looking pretty nice today, so we got that going for us.”

She gives me a knowing look, she knows that I’m not actually doing well, but honestly who isn’t nowadays? We’re all just playing along because it’s better that being a bunch of depressed wrecks.

“Well, I have to say that sounds like a nice lunch. Maybe I should have you deliver mine as well?” She jokes.

Giggling I tell her, “Unfortunately, my job doesn’t really offer delivery as an option. This is just something I do for family.”

“Oh, now you’re just making me jealous. Well, you can find your mom at the northern nurses’ station on the third floor today sweetheart. You make sure to hurry on up and give her that lunch. The last thing we need is her collapsing; we both know how hard she works.” She tells me with a smile.

Giving her a wave, I turn towards the stairs and give my thanks.

It still feels weird having people call Mr. and Mrs. Dixon my parents. When we first got here to be registered, they claimed me as their daughter so that we wouldn’t risk being separated. Even now on my new ID, it has my last name marked as Dixon.

It’s all a bit surreal for me, even a couple weeks later, but I guess that I am adopted now. Lain and her family always joked about adopting me, even before the end of world, because I was always over at their place and hanging out with Lain. Everything considered though, I honestly can’t say that I am unhappy with being part of their family now, it’s much better than being an orphan.

I just wish that Lain was here so we could all joke about us being sisters now.

But she’s not here…

It’s been a month since we last saw her and there hasn’t been any word on her arriving yet. Every day that passes we start to lose more hope that she will make it, and it has been hitting us hard. Especially so for her mother.

Arriving at the nurse’s station, I find her there. My new mom…

Ah, it still feels so weird to think of them like that…

She isn’t looking to great, her hair is put up in a tired bun, a few loose strands falling about. She has shadows under her eyes, and she looks downright exhausted, but I can see her perk up a bit as I approach, a small smile spreading across her face.

“How are doing sweety? What brings you here?” She asks.

I smile, because that’s what she needs right now, “I came to bring you lunch of course. Are you not keeping track of time?” I say, setting her lunch down in front of her.

For a moment she looks a bit confused, before turning to look at the clock on the wall.

“Oh, oh, I see. I’m sorry Anna, I lost track of time. Thank you for bringing this for me.”

She looks a bit flustered as she opens the box. Next to her, her coworker, Ms. Cooper I think, laughs a bit.

“You know, if you keep acting up like this, you’re going to stress out your daughter. You really need to focus on yourself a bit. You’re tearing yourself apart, working so much.” She tells her.

Mrs. Dixon, finally starting to dig into her food and looking a bit sheepish in her disheveled state, starts to respond but is shortly interrupted by the sound of one of the patents calling for aid. She goes to stand, but Ms. Cooper is quick to put a hand on her shoulder and makes her sit.

“No, no. You are on your lunch break right now.” Turning around she calls to a nearby nurse, “Lin! Can you get that please? Thank you!”

Turning back, “Now you are going to sit here and eat the food your daughter brought you; you hear me?”

Mrs. Dixon looks a bit down as she tries to apologies, before eventually relenting and eating her food. I turn to Ms. Cooper and give her my thanks.

“Don’t you worry yourself; I’ll make sure that she’s taken care of. I don’t need to have any of my nurses dropping on me. Once she is done eating, I’ll have her go lay down and rest for a bit.”

Mrs. Dixon seems surprised by this and tries to argue, but she isn’t having none of it.

“No! Bosses’ orders, you can either take a nap here and then get back to work, or your daughter here can take you home for the rest of the day. Your choice, but I am not having you work yourself to death.” She tells her.

She looks like she wants to argue back, but a stern look from the older woman makes her back down and focus on her chicken.

“Thank you, Ms. Cooper, will you keep an eye on her? I have to get going to work now.” I ask her.

She turns and give me a warm smile, “Of course darling, I’ll take good care of her. You hurry on off to work. We wouldn’t want you to be late.”

I’m going to leave but think twice and reconsider. Heading back over, I lean over the counter and put a hand on her shoulder.

“See ya later mom. Try not to work too hard, ok?” I tell her.

Her head jerks up a bit in surprise and a small smile grows on her face.

“Thank you sweety, I don’t know what I would without you. You take care at work, alright?”

“I will. Now eat your chicken, that doesn’t come cheap.” I say as I get back up.

Turning away and waving goodbye, I head back the way I came and leave the hospital.

On my way to work, I drop by home and check in on Mr. Dixon, his leg is still in the process of healing and is still stuck in a cast. Apparently, once he gets out of the cast, he is planning to work as one of the guards on the walls, they bring in a good pay and he was able to get a recommendation from one of the soldiers who brought us here.

It’s rather concerning that the army is having to turn to hiring civilians as guards, but the soldiers are already drawn too thin as it is. At the very least, guard duty is relatively safe, he will be mostly up in a tower, sniping anything that tries to come out of the woods towards the wall and hitting an alarm for anything that is too dangerous for the guards to handle.

After checking up on him, I quickly get changed into some work clothes and then head out.

He’s holding up much better that the rest of us. While he does miss Lain terribly, he is fully confident that she will make it.

I wish I could have his confidence, but it’s so hard to hold on to hope after I’ve already lost so much.

Ah, come on Anna! Can’t be getting depressed, have to get to work.

Heading out from our small house on the base I head towards the gates leading towards one of the many expansions and camps that have been added to the base’s periphery.

My family was lucky enough to be able to get a house due to Mrs. Dixon being a nurse. They wanted us to be living as close to the hospital as we could so she could be on call in case of emergencies. Not that she leaves the hospital very often.

Others haven’t gotten as lucky as us, having to live in large camps with other refugees in tents or converted shipping containers. If one of the expansions to the base ends up encompassing buildings or old residential areas, crews will be sent in to make the places usable again, but besides an abundance of wood, we don’t exactly have lots of materials or workers for fixing up houses. So, the waiting list for a proper house is apparently quite long and still growing as more refugees find their way here.

For now, the general plan seems to be, push back the monsters, clear the woods, build new walls.

Each time a new expansion is made, we get more land for growing crops, making places for people to live, or for harvesting trees for lumber. This, besides the call for more guards, is unsurprisingly where most of our job options are for new people.

Farming, chopping wood, and building stuff. Can you lift stuff and follow orders? Congrats, you just got yourself a job with hardly even an interview. Don’t even need a resume!

At the very least there is no shortage of food here. Meat is a hot commodity, but fruits and vegetables? They grow so fast that we don’t have to worry about people starving in the streets. Some of them, like berries, even grow back with a week or two of being picked apparently. The only hard part is keeping the crops properly fertilized and keeping the weeds and other plants from overtaking the fields.

It would have been nice if our little garden in the backyard could have been like this. But we were much more limited with what we could do. We had lots of tomatoes though. Almost started getting tired of eating them…

While there certainly isn’t any shortage on available work to be done, I didn’t want to spend my days chopping wood or fighting tooth and nail against the endless tides of weeds. So instead, I sought employment at a local tavern. The old place was already standing, just outside of the base before the world ended, and the old couple that owns the place simply remained there through it all. Eventually the base expanded its walls, and the tavern became part of the base. The place is rather popular with the soldiers as a good spot to get a drink and the owner brews his own stuff, which is apparently pretty popular.

Although, I wouldn’t know. I don’t have much of an interest in alcohol.

Thankfully the soldiers are really protective of the place and are always quick to throw out anyone that tries to disturb the peace or gets too rowdy, so I feel rather safe while working there and the owners are very nice.

Starting my shift for the day, I get into the flow of my work. Letting myself stop worrying about things that I can’t control and just lose myself too my work. Taking orders and carrying food and drinks to tables.

No worrying about my new family and Lain. No thinking about the injured soldiers I saw at the hospital. No concerns about tomorrow. Just setting my brain into work mode and taking care of customers. Taking orders with a smile, caring trays, and serving drinks.

Like that I pass the hours and lose myself to my work.

It’s a while after the dinner rush ends that I find myself taking the orders for a party of five soldiers. They are all loosely dressed in unform and looking rather excited as they talk with each other. Joking around and lightly teasing one of the women in their group. She shyly takes the teasing and laughs along with them.

Once they take an open table and get themselves settled, removing their hats and jackets as they make themselves comfortable in the warmth of the tavern. I head on over to take their order.

Another reason I like working here. The owners keep the burners well fed and keeps this place warm. Still find it hard to believe just how cold it can get outside, especially at night, when it is still summer. Hopefully with the weather improving, it will start getting warmer again.

“Hello, looks like you guys are in a good mood.” I greet them with a smile, “Is there anything I can get for you today?”

“We’re doing pretty well miss.” Responds the eldest of them, a sergeant I think from seeing his rank, but I could be wrong as I am still learning what the different patches mean.

He continues, “We’ll have some pints of the house’s draft, and if you could bring out some potato skins and fried mushrooms, that would be great.”

“You got it, is there anything else I can get for the table?”

One of the younger men in their group, a guy with short curly hair and some glasses shoots me a big grin, “Anything? Well, in that case could I maybe get a date?

Did he just ask me out? Is he serious or joking…? I think maybe half n’ half, probably just trying to be funny and seeing if he’ll get lucky...

I don’t let any discomfort show and keep on a polite smile, “Sorry sir, but we don’t serve dates here. We do some have some raisins I could get for you instead; I think those are a close substitute.”

“Ah, I don’t mean the fruit, I was asking if…”

His sergeant interrupts him, “You took your shot, and you got shot down private, take the L and leave it there.”

Everyone else at the table laughs as he starts to look a little embarrassed, one of the women at the table patting him on the shoulder.

“Was there anything else I can do for you, or will that be all?” I ask.

“No, that will be it, thank you miss.” Says the Sergent with a nod.

I head back to the bar and give their order. Soon I am coming back out and serving them their drinks and letting them know that the food will be out shortly.

A while later, I’m bring them their food. As a joke, I grabbed a small bowl and dumped a box of raisins into it. Setting the bowl in front of the guy without a word, I set down the rest of the plates for the table. The others at the table laugh a bit as he sheepishly accepts the raisins with a blush.

Honestly, he is pretty cute. Probably would have considered it at a better time...

The woman sitting next to him throws her arm over his shoulder, before going in and snatching a couple of raisins from the bowl and popping them in her mouth. “Hah, looks like I just stole your date, Sanders.” She says with a big smile.

I look around the table and then to the sergeant, he sends me a knowing look. Ya she’s into him and he’s too dense to realize it. I’m pretty sure that everyone at the table knows it but him. Poor guy…

Deciding to save the poor guy before he turns into an embarrassed tomato, I ask the group a question. “So, what has all of you in such a good mood today. Something good happen?”

The jovial woman, still with her arm on the guy’s shoulder, answers while lifting her drink, “We’ve got ourselves a big mission tomorrow. Going on a scouting run in the city.” She points to the other girl in their group with her pint, “It’s going to be the Rookies’ first big girl mission with us; no more guard duty for her now that she’s with us!”

The ‘Rookie,’ simply looks down and sips at her beer while trying not to be embarrassed by the sudden attention. She’s on the smaller side, maybe a couple of inches shorter than myself with tan skin from long hours working outside, short cut brunette hair, with hazel nut eyes. When she sees me looking at her, she shrinks down a bit and tries to focus on her beer as if it is suddenly very interesting in it.

The sergeant speaks up and grabs my attention, “Don’t mind her, she rather shy and quiet. We are taking her out for drinks to try and get her more used to us before we head out. She might look like a little mouse right now but put her behind a scope and she turns into a hunter. If this was two years ago, I would have been recommending her for the Sniper’s Course.”

He takes a drink from his pint, a distant look in his eyes as thinks of the past.

Across the table, the last guy in the group, a mountain of a man, slaps the table with a smile, “Yup, she’s our new DM, glad to have her watching our backs!”

DM? Dungeon Master? No, it probable has something to do with sniping, right?

Everyone at the table cheers and razes their pints to toast to the ‘Rookie.’ The girl in question is focusing on her beer so hard that it looks like she is trying to figure out how to crawl into the mug. But I can see a small smile on her face, so I can tell that she’s at least a bit happy about the attention.

“Well, I’ll leave you guys to have fun, I hope that your mission goes well; the cities are dangerous after all.”

Curly hair, having recovered with the attention shifted away from himself responds, “Don’t you worry miss. Besides the Rookie, this isn’t our first time going in. We’ll be in and out before you know it!”

“Oi, that’s a death flag you know! Don’t go saying shit like that.” The mountain man across from him jokes.

“Ah, you know I don’t believe in stuff like that! Just watch, when I get back, I am going to go on a date with a cute girl. Maybe we’ll even get married!”

“Ah! Sergeant, stop him. This dipshit is trying to get us all killed!”

I turn around and go to check on some other tables as they continue joking around behind me.

It’s good to have some laughter going in here. I just hope that they will be safe.

My mind ends up slipping back to the image of the wounded man I saw earlier today, but I fight to get it back to focusing on work.

Take orders.

Bring it to the table.

Bring back the dirty dishes.

Rinse and repeat.

...

And don’t forget to smile…