NationStates Jolt Archive

***March 10, 2003***

Mother, you said that war is never the answer. You said nothing could ever be accomplished from war. You said that war is an aimless, childish, distribution of lives. Mother, I fear that you are wrong.

Mother, war is a neccessity. War is not a distribution of lives, but of power. Those that do not have the power must fight to defend themselves against those with the power. If they fail to stand up for themselves, they are beaten into the ground.

Mother, that is why I have joined The Dictatorship's Special Operations Authority Squad. I have been promoted to a Lieutenant for exceeding elite expectations on the acceptance test and review. I am adored here and I am excelling. The Squad said that I am to meet Der Fuhrer Dyszel soon; that if I continue on the path I am heading that I will meet and be trained under Der Fuhrer.

Mother, I am being offered a position that countless people have strained their whole lives to receive and have failed. Mother, I am may soon be on my way to joining The Dictatorship's Imperial Covert Specialists. I am so excited. Rarely, do people procure this chance.

But Mother, do not be upset. I know that you are against war. However, you do not see the matter as I do. War is inevitable, no matter where you go. One day you will be forced to fight. I feel that war is needed to obtain the peace of a nation and to keep order. Without war, we are nearly pawns for another nation to sacrifice in their wars.

I hope that you will forgive me. I know you will never understand, but I just ask that you forgive me. Farewell my dear mother.

Lieutenant Lazeria Nordour

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Trembeling with fervor the biochemist leaned against the outer, now blackened, gates of The Dictatorship. He slid down in removing some of the soot of the once silver gates. His white overcoat, already soiled, while a disconsolate and desolate feeling enveloped him. A warm salty tear trickled down his cheek and hindered itself upon the base of the mask pressed tightly to the chemist's face. The letter, slid from his hand and caught by a steady wind flittered away, arresting itself against the gates.

A muscular soldier grabbed the letter and read it, while pushing his mask closer to his face. He slipped it into his pocket and walked over the chemist placing his hand on his shoulder.

"Come on. Do not get pliant on us already. We have not even seen the worse of it and you are already faltering on us. We need you here. Come on, buck up," the soldier said helping the chemist to his feet.

The chemist nods and they continue you on, with a large group of soldiers, scientists, chemists, and search/rescue personel; the edge of a town in the distance. Before moving on though, they secured their masks, as a precaution and headed out into a mission of grief for the sake of reconstuction.

I'm interested in seeing where this thread goes, but I don't think that I can get my point across through the use of a character. I would have to be out of character in order to do it, and so I won't do it. But I wish the best for this forum.

King Joseph

The team enters the village. It is small and half of it lay in rubble. Buildings were caved in and roofs, none. A black soot covered the place. It looked as if nuclear storage laboratories were denotated all over the nation. The soldiers walked in silence, the only sound came from the eery steady wind.

The sun long departed before they entered the village. They now looked up into the sparkling skies above. It was so silent, pure, mysterious, and vast. Here it was a dead silence, corrupted, predictable, and confined. Two opposite places, one within the other.

The soldiers came across a stand telephone pole, the tallest structure remaining. I stood, tall, defiant, yet, undoubtfullly defeated. He leaned against the pole. The flimsy defiant pole crashed beneath the weight, falling into the only full remaining structure in the village; a dog house. The house splintered and cracked beneath the pole's weight, just as the pole had done when the soldier leaned upon it.

This sceen caused a group of them to investigate the area. A journalist recorded the sceens on paper, while a reporting crew did a live documentary.

Two soldiers entered a caved in house. The building was unstable prohibiting a full investigation. Lying on the floor, in a desperate and sad position, lie the decomposing body of a puppy with its green tongue twisted out of its mouth, resting on the floor. The eyes were sunken and the collar hung around a thin and wane neck. The one soldier stooped down, grasped the collar, and read aloud. "Fluffy," he turned it over and read the back, "To my Fluffy. I love you. Silvia." His gloved hand rubbed the tag and he removed the collar from the grotesque sight. He slid it into an empty hiking bag and the soldiers moved into another room.

The two soldiers walked through the hall, broken glass and plaster cracking beneath their boots. A support beam was strewn across the path causing the soldiers to navigate around it, entering a living room.

The first sight they saw was a couch upturned in the middle of the room, with another beam implanted in the middle of its light blue back. A fire place stood, bricks broken and cracked on the far wall. A still small picture frame stood defiant of the surroundings.

A soldier picked it up and looked at it. The glass was cracked down the middle and half of it lay in shards next to the frame. The picture was a family photograph. A proud father holding his daughter on his shoulder and while a happy mother smiled and wrapped her arm around her husband's waist. A picterseque moment. The little girl had long black curled locks of shiny raven's hair with mystic black eyes; the father brown hair with brown eyes; and the mother black hair with hazel eyes.

The soldier took the picture from its frame and slid it into his bag. A small piece of paper was taped to the back of the frame and he read it aloud. "Catherine, I will always love you," the soldier read confused. He slid the paper into his pocket and continued on.

They walked out of living room, once again navigating their way past beams and broken tables. They entered a kitchen where rotten vegetables sat. Oddly, no bugs were to be found. The families last dinner remained half prepared and rotten. The stench of rotting vegetables, fruits, meats, and bread filled the room. The room was covered in a black soot that ranged darker from the door and lighter toward the internals of the house.

The soldiers continued on a flight of stairs. Carefully they climbed them, each stair eery creaking beneath them. The sound of breaking glass and creaking stairs echoed throughout the remains of the structure. They came to a bed room, one of a childs. Clothes and frilly dresses strewn across the room. The bed; made and never slept in.

The soldeir made his first report, "This is Leiutenant Walker, private military inspector and analyist. I appears that this town did head the evactuation crews warnings. Multiple signs lead to believes. For one, clothes are thrown about in the sleeping quarters showing that they may have been packing clothes to move. Dinner was not eaten, but prepared and left alone. It was never brought to the dining room, signifying that they had no time to eat it. A puppy was found dead. It was missing its shot identification tag, which appears to have been ripped off of the collar, due to the fact that the tag holder had been slightly bent. Suspecions believe that the dog ran away at the time they left, hence the leaving of the dog behind. This sector appears to be clear, but the "clean up" crew is with us just incase. Investigation of other residents will continue...September 24, 2003."

The soldier ended the recording and slipped it into his pocket. He checked the other bedrooms, all the same. The bathrooms tub was filled to the top with stagnant water. Apparently, someone intended to take a bath when the crews came and did not even have enough to time turn off the water. That would explain the full bath tub. A cracked mirror gazed out on the side wall and the soldier stepped in to look at it.

A quaint sensation filled him, he felt like he was floating. A loud cracking sound filled the structure as his body seemed to disappear beneath the floor. The other soldier dove to catch his comrade, but to no avial. He fell right through landing on his back. A large piece of the plastered ceiling landed on his legs and he did not move.

"Medivac. Medivac," yelled his desperate comrade. He needed not, for the medical team heard the crash and heading in right away. They made their way to the fallen soldier. He did not move, but he was not dead, just unconscious. They brought in a stretcher and carefully slid it under him carrying him out of the unstable building. Moments after they all left, the internals collapsed leaving a hallow external, half caved in wall.

The investigator was out for a long time before he woke up. His back ached terribly and he his ribs felt as if they were broken, other than that he felt fine, give or take, that he could not feel his legs. He was still stapped to the stretcher, which he found to be moving.

He realized that he was out pretty long, for they finished the investigation in that town and were moving on. His comrade walked alongside of him, although he had not yet realized that Lieutenant Walker was awake. His neck was in a neck brace, for precaution, and he could not move it. He tired to speak, but his throat was too dry.

He just lie there feeling the easy motion of the others walking.

He fell asleep again, for they had him on heavy medications.

The team entered another village. As they worked their way toward The Capital, the damage was more severe and the area darker and more deathly.

They laid the stetcher down, the patient, still asleep. His friend sat next to him as the rest of the team began to investigate the area.

Another investigator, Colonel Harmen, lead the team now. He walked into a house, which was broken down, like all others. He led the team into a family room, where the stench of dead fish burned their nostrils. In front of them stood a rather large fish tank filled with stagnant water and dead fish, some still afloat, most sunken. Their bodies were slime covered from bacteria and their eyes, rotted holes.

The team left that room. They followed the same path in which Leiutenant Walker followed. The kitchen, as well as the previous houses, had the night's dinner prepared, but not yet eaten.

Up the creaky stairs they went. Each step a potential death trap. The team successfully made it up and observed the rooms. They were the same as the previous houses. The team let out a sigh of relief and headed back downstairs. So far, the "clean-up" crew did not have a major task.

you're a scary dude man

OOC: what happend, sounds like a nuclear blast, that would exsplain the dust, and the strutural damage, what the hell happend?

Note: A war plaqued our region for the longest time. Now, we finally had been able to send in a research and clean-up crew. The purpose of this mission is to determine whether the nation is safe enough for reconstruction and inhibitation, due to the numerous bombings and the release of a biochemical moons ago.

The goal, is the really show what war is like. Most people just think that the devastating effects of war is numbers. I am bringing a more personal and down to Earth view of it. It may not be what actually happens, but it's goal is to show that war's effects are not just numbers.

I hope that explains some. Moreover, this is the revealing of the history behind my nation, and perhaps region, and what really did happen to my nation during the war.

The team rested there for the night. They started a fire in the dark eery land and opened their rations. The fallen soldier still lie asleep on the stretcher and his friend beside him. His friend pulled out a little book that was found in one of the houses and began to read it to himself.


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Dear Diary,

It is late out again and my father has not come home from active duty yet. I am beginning to get scared. He was never kept longer than he was supposed to. I think there is something going on, but no one knows anything. The news reporters act as if nothing is happening and the people could be less concerned.

Tell me, is it just me or is there something really wrong.

Hannah
(March 11, 2003)


----------------------

The soldier stopped reading after there. He thought to himself, "I guess the people suspected this before it happened. If they did though, then why did no one do anything." The soldier thought about it for that long of a time that he fell asleep to the thought.

The morning sun was brillantly shining in the sky, sending its blinding rays over the desolate area. The investigator's friend woke up, rubbing his eyes and grumbling about the sun's light.

It was a brisk afternoon already. They all had slept in, save six of them that were busily buslting in and out of a tent. A chilly breeze blew steadily, creating swirls of twisting black dust which wrapped around the people. Leiutant Walker was awake, as well.

For the first time in two days his friend and him have been awake at the same time. They just looked at each other. Walker's friend patted him on the back and went to get something for them to drink.

The research team came out. All in white soot smothered over coats. They looked around rather fastly. All over them stared around, their gaze locking on their leader, who up to now stood there silently.

A stern harsh voice was heard, "I need to know if any of you are feeling sick in any way."

It was not until they heard those words did the rest of the crew release that they were panicked and nervous.

Everyone looked at one another, the creeping and sudden realization that something horrible had happened struck each one of them slowly.

"Why," asked one of the soldiers.

"The tests for XGN came out positive."

A cold chill ran through everyone, as some reflexivly pushed their masks closer to their faces.

A squad of INFERNO's men are sent out to help the clean up crew but are forced to hover over the area the crew is at they were told that there is some kind of radiation....

INFERNO's squad: Clean-up crew are you ok do you need assistance

over the radio they hear from central command that it is hopeless to even try and save the clean-up crew and not to even try...

>I am loving this, but you must update some more. Now!<

INFERNO'S men in the helicopter decide they need to break orders they cant let anyone just die if they can help them...

The helicopter lands in a safe area near the men all of INFERNOS men are dressed in hazmat suits and brought what supplies might be need to help the team that is searching the area....

:oops:

:oops:

:shock:

OOC:
Alright, just for you all.

IC:

"Positive?," one of the soldiers asked nervously, already knowing what that meant, but unwilling to accept it.

The teams looked at one another. They needed to complete their mission, but how far would they make it under this newfangled knowledge. They knew that if they were also positive to exposure, it would not be long before they, too, would become relics of The Reich. Old history and mysteries buried beneath the ruins and destruction that plagued The Dictatorship.

The soldier on the cot, Walker, fell asleep again. His back was in intense pain and he could not move. They lifted him again, resolving to make it toward to the next city, not town, before nightfall. They had a large distance to travel, but were unwilling to stop. They had a pride, a nobel pride, that ran through Reich soldiers. That pride would never allow them to give up, even if it meant death or selling their souls.

The cold wind blew by, brustling dead dried leaves around them. They walked on toward a city, many miles away, the cold surrounding them as a bright, but not reassuring sun sat above them, throwing its piercing rays upon them.

"Even the sun feels cold," spoke an unknown soldier from the group, thinking about his family...long since gone.

The teams entered the city by nightfall, just as they worked so hard to do. Instead of resting, like they predicted they would do, they were filled with an active impulse to explore.

Three groups were formed. The first stayed at camp, the others explored the houses, while the others explored the city itself.

The first group set camp. They pitched tents and started a fire. Walker was still asleep and they decided to take him into a tent first. That night predicted rain and perhaps a terrible storm. The first team, mostly the researchers gathered up broken boards, which were of an abudance and set them into neat piles, lighting them on fire.

The second group set out to search the buildings. However, most were unaccessable and crumbled to the ground.

The third group, encountered the most. Upon their search, they walked along roads, covered with rubble, caved down walls of buildings, telephone poles, and cars. They manuevered slowly for the roads were almost impassable. It was a terrible sight of destruction and death. The third group encountered dead pets and animals all over the place. Half rotted dogs and cats lay awkwardly on the road or under large beams or poles.

A soldier encountered a large dead body. He moved closer to it, the stench surrounded him, but he did not smell for the mask was effect in its purpose. He leaned over it, thinking the body was a human, his breath stopping momentarily as he examined it. It was not a human, but an ape. He let out a laugh. An ape in a city. It was not a common sight.

He breathed deeply and continued to climb over the piles of rubble and destruction.

OOC: Sad...but not in the bad sense. It reminds me of a short story once, describing a house after a nuclear war. The loss of innocence in the soldier is pure genius as well. My compliments (though, my opinion isnt exactly worth much)!!!

OOC:
Opinions are always worth something. I am pleased to hear that the tone I was trying to convey was heard. It is a slow moving thread for the fact that I simply do not have the time to post on this thread everyday. It will only get worse and much more detailed. Just in case you are interested.

Quite all right. I enjoy somber poems and short stories, they are more "real" than artifical happiness (such as having a fun day, etc). Happiness derives from knowing yourself, while "dark" stories seem to convey more human meanings, such as rage, fear, despair, etc. (No, Im not a goth..I hate those posers). I dont understand why people object to such stories, as long as they are written with feeling.


As for myself, I think you would have a good chance with short story writing if you wanted. Keep up the good work, i am reading each post with interest. If your interested or stuck on writers block (hate that thing), just send me a telegram and Ill try to help.

OOC:
I see, well thank you very much for the reassuring motivation to continue. I will keep the advice in mind, and thank you for the comments. Comments help people continue. I will probably post on here more often then, seeing that it has some interest.

I created all of this to show the deeper meaning of war, that it is not just numbers and losses; that there is something more that happens during war. I am basing this off of a series of events that plagued our region long ago that were brushed past. This is going into depth of what actually happened and those who were most effected.

Heh..I can relate to that....especially with some of my poetry...lousy friends.....


That goes to show you, never trust a friend's opinion on something your proud of.

If your happy with it, the story is all that matters. Stories are written first for the writer to reflect on his/her (insert philosophical topic here), then for the public to try to get in the mind of the writer.

OOC:
I have sent you a telegram. You could read it at your convience.

The second group found a small building at the end of the third block they traveled. The house stood, although a corner of the ceiling was caved in. The house, was also a store. Banners hung from the broken windows frames and a pole holding the store's name lay twisted on the ground beneath a heavy beam from the adjacent building.

Three men worked their way into the building. The door was jammed by a beam, so they had to climb in through the paneless window. Their feet crunched the broken glass panes and creaked the old wooden floor boards.

Nothing odd stood about except for broken remains of old art crafts. One of the soldiers picked up a painting of a lady. The lady had olive colored skin, a tight black dress cutting her figure, dark brown hair, and dark eyes that had a slightly malicious glint in them if you looked at them from a certain direction. The lady sat with perfect posture on a chair and smiled a smile that predicted something was hidden behind it.

He looked at the picture and smiled. There was no way he was not keeping this one. It was worth millions or more. He found that it had just barely fit into his backpack. He slid it in and continued on with the others.

They worked their way through the house. There was no preminitions of dead animals or people. They came to a staircase and took it up to an upper level. They found a small bedroom and slowly entered it, the house creaking beneath them. There were clothes scattered all over, but that was no longer out of the ordinary.

They left that house and headed back to camp for a rest. They had found nothing, besides a sole picture, to take back with them.

The team wearily worked their way through the eradicated city. Very few buildings stood. Not one was unscathed though.

The team left the city and worked their way toward the Capital. On their way toward the next city, night began to fall. The cold wind whipped around then, howling into the evening sky which was painted a plum color as the sun set.

They walked down a sunken in lane with an overgrowth of trees. A small path cut to the left and one of the soldiers went down it to investigate. The team moved on.

Moments later the soldier was running back toward them.

"A house. There is a house back there. A large country house. It is still intact. Come and hurry, we could spend the night there," yelled the soldier.

The others looked at him inquiringly. They followed him reluctantly, for they believed that the house was not large and that half of it was caved in.

However, when they stopped outside the soot covered picket fence, their eyes were open with amazement. The house was large and could accomidate a few families at once. It was intact completely. This sight astonished the team as they stared at it in disbelief. Something standing amid the destruction of a nation. It was amazing.

The walked into it. A large welcome mat laid before the soot covered double Victorian style doors. The brass handles were soot covered as well, but the team had grown quite used to the soot and dirt.

"Welcome...don't mind if I do," commented the one soldier as stared down on it. The team wiped their boots on the mat before entering. Walker, who was sleeping once again, was carried in first.

The team stayed the night, sleeping comfortably and telling jokes.

They set out bright and early the next morning. It was already 7 o'clock in the morning and the sun was brightly hanging in the sky. A breath taking cold wind blew past them.

"I think we should have stayed inside," spoke a soldier through his clenched jaw.

The other aside him just nodded.

They headed down the road, a major city loomed in the distance. One that the people feared to enter, one that struck horror in the team. They feared what they were going to find there. Such terrible things took place there.

The team worked there way down an interstate toward the city. Cars were strewn across the highway, truck lay on their sides, and trees blocked the paths of both. The team worked their around these trees, which took some time for the trees were quite large and long, with their dead arm reaching out for help, crying out for life.

Some of the team members began searching cars. A researcher looked through the broken window of an old green Eagle. There was nothing in it, aside from insurance papers and an owners manual lying on the floor. He went to a Mac truck and climbed into the open door. The only thing in it was a bird's nest, long uninhabited. He went car from car, truck from truck, finding nothing.

The team made it to the outskirts of the city within five hours of navigating around these obstacles. They looked around now, the cars were parted to the sides of the highway. The center was clear and void of obstacles. Trees, lay tossed to the side, cleared from the highway. One of the team members made note of this in a dairy he had kept of all the things they have seen since they began this journey.

The researcher, that was checking the cars, vomitted voilently as he backed away from a car and fell to the ground. The team walked up to him.

"Weak stomach there mate," laughed a soldier, while slapping him on the back. The soldier looked in to car a whistled. Staring up at him was a face of sunken eyes and rotted skin, devoid of fur. No collar hung round it's neck and its deterioating tongue was black which hung on teeth of yellow and green. "Phew, that does smell nasty. Hang tight though, it is just a dog."

The soldier lifted the researcher and they continued on to the city, the researcher checking the cars and trucks again.

"Do you smell that?," spoke the one soldier.

"Smell what?" responded another.

"It is vague, but it is there."

"Nope, don't know what you are talking about."

"Figures."

They continued on, only an hour from the city enterence.

Outside the city, the team looked. Buildings stood looming eerily over them; looking down upon them like insignificant bugs. The team gazes upon these structures in amazement. Such powerful structures they were, those that survived all of this. In the distance a large, unbroken and powerful structure stood, overlooking the city, proudly upholding its chest. The sight of this building made some men shutter, for they knew what happened there; for they knew that the building way before them was a hotel and aside of this hotel was a court, which in itself was a story of its own.

The men forced themselves to move on, already knowing that this city was not something they prided themselves in examining and recording, for them.....some things are best left unsaid.

Night was on the brink, and anything to give the team an exuse to hesitate, they took. Therefore, night was the excuse to not continue. A large building, one of the Surukai Corporation stood before them, powerful and welcoming. The team took refuge here, for it was one of the buildings that stood in this city. They had to force open the once beautiful sliding doors, but one open, they entered.

A desk in front of the stood with paper, bells, and fancy telephones scattered about and collecting dust. Comfortable chairs stood themselves behind the desk and pens lay all about, on the floors and chairs.

The elvators were not working, therefore the stairs were the only option. They worked their up two flights of stairs and entered a long corridor, dark from the lack of light. All the doors were open and marble tiling covered the floors. Their boots thudded off of the intrinsic designs as they scattered out and set up their quarters for night. Walker was placed down aside his friend. He was up now and rambling on about how he remembered this city.

"This city used to be so active and brillant. It was a priviledge to enter this building. Why.....it used to be so warm and welcoming. Every day new flowers and plants were brought in to cheer it up. The floor were always cleaned and shined, the desks always spotless. Everything was so organized and people were so happy to be here. The streets were cleaned every morning at 5:00 on the dot. Why....this place was like living in a large castle. This whole city was taken care of like it was that of Der Fuhrer's or something, not that it was not, but she preferred the Capital. This place was so beatiful and friendly. Everyone said hello to you and doors were held for you. People walked about because they did not want to pollute to much. Trollies were about the only thing, besides buses running through the city. And the hotel...."

He cut off there. Bad thoughts entered his head, and he could not suppress them. He was thrown back into the dark thoughts of the present. He remembered just what happened there and could not think of words to describe those awful events. He just closed his eye, a tear spilling out.

"I am going to bed," he mumbled.

The next morning was brutal on the team. Many refused to awake, for the prospect of the day's activities chilled their bones. They were in for a surprise and were not willing to take that surprise right away.

Lieutenant Walker could not move on. Two of the team decided to wait with him in the Corporate building. He still could not move, and the team feared paralysis. Therefore, they decided it was best to leave him here in the city instead of bringing about further injury by constantly moving him.

His friend knelt beside him. Lieutenant Walker told him to go inside his bag and take his journal with him, to keep notes for Walker. His friend consented to this task and bid his friend farewell, as he left with the remainder of the team to scout the city.

The stepped outside of the building back into the cold crisp morning, with its bright sun and chilling wind gusts. The team, dressed appropiately, walked through the streets, looking in building windows. It was clear that some people wanted this city to be preserved, or else, it would look like the rest of the nation that the team had covered.

Walker's friend, Lex, gripped his backpack as he trecked through the cleared streets. He entered a house, obviously previously occupied. He walked up the firm and study stairs, the floor boards refusing to creak under his weight. The house had been cleaned and well kept, no clothes were scattered along the floors and the drawers neatly packed.

He walked into a little boy's room. The room was neatly kept and organized. He looked under the bed, nothing; in the closet, nothing but a few items of clothes; and in dressers, neatly folded clothes. He searched through them, but found nothing. This was not what he was looking for, for he suspected that a diary had to have been kept by someone in this city, being that this was the center of the occupation.

He searched the master bed room, up and down. Nothing here either. His suspecions wore him down. He had hoped that someone kept a diary of the events here. Depressed he slumped out of the house and entered another one, the results the same.

Cursing his luck he passed house to house, tearing apart every last possible place, and yet, finding nothing.

Lex walked into a large house, nicely kept, obviously the home of a wealthy family, no longer living there. The house was well kept and cleaned. The floors still sparkled, as if they were cleaned that morning. Lex took note of that in Walker's journal and walked, alone, around the house.

Someone prominent in the occupation stayed here, for it was too nicely kept, and most likely out of fear. Lex rummaged through drawers, cabinets, and shelves. However, he still found nothing to aide him in understanding this situation.

He sat down on the sofa and stared at a fireplace in front of him. A picture lay on the top of it. His heart fell, as he thought, to the ground. He slowly and carefully stood up, as if the gound were going to cave in beneath him at any second, or as if a large predator stood before him, waiting to strike at his insignificant body. Lex stopped in front of the fireplace and slowly reached for the picture, his heart now racing.

"It can't be. No. Oh my God. It is," he spoke as if whispering it would make it more real, not that it was not.

The picture was the family they had seen a picture of back a far distance. A little girl stood smiling and waving to the person who had taken the picture. She was wearing a white dress with her dark shining eyes. Aside of her knelt her father, wearing a suit, while her mother also wearing a white dress, knelt on the opposite side. The parents smiled with their daughter. Nothing seemed to bother the family.

Lex held the picture and turned it over. On the back had another message. "We love you honey," was neatly scripted on the back. He slipped the picture into his backpack. This was leading somewhere, for the people in the picture were vaguely familiar.

He went to the bedrooms and searched. He searched the master bedroom first, and as he expected found nothing. He moved to the child's bedroom, again nothing. Irritated he progressed to the guest's bedroom. He rummaged through the contents with anticipation. He found nothing.

Walking out of the room, he was dejected, right to the moment, he took notice to a misplaced picture on the wall. He walked over to it and moved it aside. Behind it was nothing, but shoved in the frame was the evidence he most looked for, a small book, a child's diary.

Lex sat down in the house, and happily scrawled in Walker's journal. He held the diary like a priceless artifact, opening it slowly.

03/11

Today is March 11 and mommy is taking me to the fair. She said that there was going to be a petting zoo! I love petting zoos! Mommy says that I'm very educated for my age. I think that is good but I don't know what educated exactly means. I think it means that I'm good at my numbers and words and sentences.

At the petting zoo I petted my first llama. It licked my hand and I laughed. It was so fuzzy. The llama reminded me of mommies robe. Mommy has a nice fuzzy robe that she lets me wear sometimes.

Mommy kept askin' daddy all these questions 'bout when he's going. I don't want my daddy to leave. He said he has to go but mommy says that she is going to get called and I don't want mommy to get called. I love my mommy and daddy! Mommy bought me this little gold heart necklace and I won't take it off. It has our pictures in it! I love it!

Daddy is worried about something but he tries to hide it. I ask him Daddy what's wrong? and he says nothing baby and kisses me on the cheek. Why does daddy do that? Daddy knows I love him but why is so worried and why is avoiding my questions?

Mommy is coming to tuck me. Good night!


03/12

Last night I heard mommy crying in her bedroom. Daddy was saying something but I couldn't hear him. He was too quiet. What is going on? Is daddy going to leave me?


03/13

Mommy and daddy are really happy and nervous now. We're all going to The Capital in a few days! I was never there yet but mommy and daddy are really happy about going so I think it is going to be fun! I hope there is a pettin zoo there. I want to see another llama!


03/14

Today I played with Karen and Duane. We played hide and seek! I love that game! Karen hugged me and said goodbye and Duane kissed my cheek like daddy would. Why are they doing that? I'm going to be playing with them again.


03/15

We are in a black car to The Capital and I really happy. Mommy says shes got butterflies in her stomach. How did she get butterflies in her stomach? I told her she shouldn't be eating them because butterflies are good and she laughed. Why would someone eat butterflies? Daddy is really excited and keeps asking questions to my mommy about if he should do something. I don't know what's going on.

Mommy said we might go the petting zoo again!


*****

Lex put the diary down. His eyes were watering really bad. He layed went upstairs and laid on a bed, staring at the ceiling with mild interest. His thoughts were intense as they replayed these words over and over again.

"She must have been terrified," was all he said.

Lex opened the diary again and began to read.

3/25

I didn't get to write because we are really busy here. Mommy and Daddy took me to meet someone imporant that they called something like door fewer. This person is supposed to be the leader of our land. She is really nice. She gave me candy and presents and big hugs! She gave me a little locket like my the one Mommy gave me cept this one is silver and has message written in it.

My lovely littlest lady. One day you will rule just as I have. Your mother has given you a special gift. You shall be heir to The Reich.

Der Fuhrer Dyszel

That is what the locket said and it had a picture of us in it. Mommy says I look just like her. That is good because she is really nice and pretty! This lady is really important Daddy says. Mommy and Daddy know this lady really good like they were best friends. The lady treats me like my Mommy does.

I heard them talkin and they said something about it be really sad to have to leave.

Who is leaving? No one tells me whos leavin!


3/28

Daddy left me today! He left on a plane with this lady. Mommy is still here and crying. Daddy gave me a note before he left and gave my Mommy a big folder of stuff.

Daddy told me that he really loved me and that he would be back in awhile and that he was sorry he had to go and that its not the ladies fault. Daddy was crying. I never saw Daddy cry before. He hugged be for a long time and I wouldn't let him go! I miss Daddy! I didn't open the letter yet.

The lady was also really sad to be going. She told me that her and Daddy had to go because they had to save some people. They said that someone they really cared about was in trouble and they had to save them. She gave me a key and told me never to let anyone have this that it was really important. It was really pretty. Gold and silver and sparkly! The big part had gems in them that sparkled! Red one and white ones! It so pretty that I carry in on my necklace. The lady said I could keep it there if I wanted to and Mommy put it on for me.

Mommy is really sad. She is worried about the lady and Daddy. She hugged and kissed my Daddy so many times before he left. Daddy kept saying that hes coming home and that everything was alright. That all of this was just a small rebellion of Union workers and nothing to worry about. They'll be back in no time! I don't know what a Union is but if they fight people then they mustn't be good.

I miss Daddy and Mommy does too.

OH! I forgot about the other lady. There was another lady who went with Daddy and the first lady. They called her admirable. Admirable was really nice and sweet. She talked soft and it sounded like she was singing a lullaby. She hugged me and said good bye too. She gave me a box of presents too but I didn't open it yet.

I'm going to bed. I miss Daddy and am really confused.


*****

Lex stopped there and contemplated on the matter again. He turned the next pages and smeared ink. He could not read any farther, for he knew what was coming.

He got off the bed and left the building into the cold crisp air. None of his team was in sight, for they were looking in the houses as well. He walked into another house and did a very poor examination and left the house. He needed air, and plenty of it.

One of the researchers walked out of a house to find Lex standing in the middle of the street, looking alone and somber. He walked up to Lex, but Lex did not take notice to him.

"Yo, buddy. Check this. You alright there? Yo....Lex. Snap out of it and check this out."

Lex, feeling like he was just hit with a brick upside the head stared at this researcher in confusion.

"Sorry Lex, but you were out of it....really bad. Now come here and check this out."

The man grabbed Lex's arm and struggled the pull him, giving up almost instanteous. Lex watched the man, then resolved to follow him.

The man led Lex up the pathway to a medium sized house in the city. Lex followed as the man guided him up a flight of stairs and up yet another, into a dusty confining attic. There was no light, but the researcher previously lit a candle, which provided enough light to see around the place. The room was set up like a minehouse, carefully concealed. The attic was hard to find claimed the researcher as he showed Lex drawings of people and places, pages of written material, maps, letters, and songs. The bed was neatly made, that neat one could bounce a quarter off of it.

Lex looked around closely, while stuffing the material into his bag, to read later in proper light. It was too dark to read them up there. He found on the wall marking, long black markings made from chalk of some sort. He walked into the corner of the attic and snooped in furhter investigation. Deep scratched lay across the wall, lined with a dried brown substance. He followed the scratches, five in total to the staircase they entered from. There, he found a nail ripped off and jammed into the wall. He walked around the room, aside of the bed was a large dried brown substance.

"Something big happened here. Look there is blood here and along the wall nail markings."

The researcher examined them closely, obviously he had missed these findings. He was too excited about the drawings and paperwork he found hidden beneath a floor board.

"What happened?," the researcher asked.

"I do not know, but I have a feeling we are going to find out."

Lex searched the room one last time, as well as the rest of the house. After finding nothing more that was of any help, the researcher and he left, walking out into the bright sun and sitting down pulling out the papers they just had found, as the cold crisp breeze pierced them.

Lex unfolded the first paper. It was a picture of a man, in a neatly pressed military uniform standing in front of a large hotel. His face was not well defined, perhaps because it was drawn from a distance, as Lex imagined, and the man's face was undistinguishable.

The next of the papers was a map of that very city with buildings circled in a red pencil. There were two buildings on that map that had been circled more than once and had small stars placed aside of them. From Lex's assertations, he assumed they were very important buildings, but for what he could not yet establish.

He resolved to call together the team at the hotel, when they all arrived, and search thoroughly each of these red marked buildings.

Lex and the researcher continued on their search, and finding nothing interesting more, they came to a massive and well cared for hotel, which stood directly before them.

The researcher stepped forwards, and like an ominious warning, a piercing cold gust of wind whipped past them beckoning them not to come any further, almost telling them to leave, forget the truth, and burn the entire city and start anew.

Lex felt this premiscing warning. He stopped, as did the researcher. They both contemplated on whether or not they should continue or just abort the mission altogether.

Adrenaline took the best of them, at this moment. They pushed foreward, through the cold air beckeoning them to stay out. They reached the front doors of the hotel. The doors were not glass, like many others. Instead, they were solid oak doors, heavy and shut tightly.

They twisted the soot covered knob and pushed. However, the door did not open. They pushed harder, the door remained fast. Lex, grabbing the knob and twisting it, slammed into the door. The door opened with a sickening crunching sound followed by the heavy thud of Lex's body striking the ground.

Lex tried to get to his feet, however terror froze his body. He had landed on a decaying, broken body of a gaurd. The gaurd was wearing a gas mask, which now laid aside of him, and had on some sort of comfortable suit that prevented the biochemical from reaching them.

"So that is how they survived," he spoke quietly, before the stench infussed in his nostrils. The took one whiff of the dead body, and being so close to it, his head began to spin. He tried to hold his breath, but he could not. He drew in another large breath of air to compensate for holding his breath. The stench filled him. He gaze went dark and he passed out, but not before vommitting on the ground aside of him. He collapsed once again on the corpse, for he still could not move away from it for the terror which had sticken him.

The researched pulled him off the disgusting sight of the corpse. The eyes were sunken into dark brown and black eye sockets. The jaw was open revealing a green swollen tongue and yellow teeth. His hair was falling out in clumps and lay around his head, while some clumps were still barely attached to his head. The skin was flaking off and a large rotting hole stretched from his lower left jaw to his clavicle. The rest of the body was hidden beneath the suit, and he was glad. The stench was overwhelming. A dead human body was by far the worst smelling organism on this planet. He cringed as he carried Lex to a sofa.

He knelt beside Lex trying to wake him.

Lex awoke not too long after.

"What happened," he asked in a slow drawl.

"You passed out from...."

He cut off, for at that moment Lex leaned over the side of the sofa and coughed, as if to vomit. The smell was still strapped in his nostrils and he felt that it would remain there for the rest of his life.

Lex stood up on shaky knees, for he felt weak from the horrible stench. He looked around him.

"I think we are going to need a clean up crew..."

OOC:
Any regional comments so far? Did I miss any important events culiminating up to the war? I think I have included everything. What about the details currently, are they about accurate? Just need to know what you think before I continue.

Note:
The following scenes are going to become quite disturbing and descriptive. You have been warned.

OOC: I find that your description so far is fairly accurate if not better then what it should be!!!!

The team slowly began to regroup within the hotel. They all had very similar reactions to the scenes. Some of the team fainted like Lex did, while others vommitted, and still others were almost uncontrollably shaking.

The dead bodies were all over. Lex left the building and headed for the court yard. He entered it and looked about. Horror filled him.

The court yard was filled with dead sprawled out bodies, almost all of them in high military ranking Dictatorship uniforms. He looked at each of his fallen friends, some of them looking familiar. He was unable to tell if any of them were his true friends for their bodies were decayed beyond recognition, give the military insignia that marked them all.

He walked about the court yard in horror. Each body was a pain stab to him. His eyes payed respect to each of these officers, who bore a small hole in the center of their heads. One body, along the pathway caught his eye. A different colored garment lie amid the bodies. As he came closer, he saw that it was once a white dress. The body lay awkward amoung the officers. It was on a dead woman, who lay on the ground, looking up to the unmoving eerie sky. The woman wore a small diamond pendent in the shape of German Cross. He knelt beside her. A large brown color stained the chest of the dress. She was shot in the chest. The pendent, however, sparkled oddly amoung the disturbed dead and dreariness.

The pendent. He remembered it very well. He unclasped it and looked at it. He slowly clutched it to his heart as he began to cry.

"Lazeria," he spoke between the tears. "Why you? Why?"

He cried for a long time, as shouts of his name rang through the silent stagnant air.

He felt a hand rest itself upon his shoulder.

"Lex," a sympathic voice spoke. "Lex, come on. They found something you need to look at."

Lex could not stir himself from the body. He spoke again, "Lazeria."

OOC:
So, Inferno, you want me to continue? Well, if that is the case I will, but only if you want me to continue?

:wink:

OOC:
I will be merging this prehistoric thread with another one.