Snake Eaters
10-04-2006, 16:47
Dawn. The first rays of the morning sun shone over the horizon, illuminating the previously dark night sky. Even here, in this once mighty city, now ravaged by war, the dawn was oddly beautiful. For many, it heralded the end of yet another night they had managed to survive, whilst showing them the ruins of what they had once called their home, and calling them to continue the fight that would never end
A broken tower, gaping holes blasted in its skin, was now the largest remaining building of this once proud city. It stood, tall and defiant, next to the dried out bed of the river that had once flowed past it. It's shadow stretched across this barren, desolate plain, giving a temporary reprieve from the searing heat of the day that was to come for all those still alive. Out on that dried bed, nothing stirred. It was completely lifeless. All that existed there were the burnt out hulks of boats that had once bobbed atop the tidal waters. Their macabre image was burnt into the retinas of all that had stared across this place at some time during their life... it was a symbol, a symbol of the past.
The sun rose steadily in the cloudless sky, much bigger now than it had been when it first crept above the eastern horizon. The heat pounded down on the seemingly abandoned streets, the bleached skeletons still sitting in their burnt-out cars the only thing to show that these places had once been filled with people. Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, and grandparents... everyone had lost someone. The bombs had come without any warning... it was like something out of any person's worst nightmare. Nuclear war. Some had said it was inevitable, that the end of the Second World War had spelled out the doom of the human race, right there.
On August 6th, 1945, the Soviet Union had dropped the first atomic bomb on Berlin, the capital of Nazi Germany. A weapon of such overwhelming power tipped the balance strongly towards the Reds. The allies of Britain and the United States, horrified at the devastation wrought by their comrades-in-arms, were ordered to retreat from Europe… the reds had won the war. Throughout the rest of the twentieth century, the world had existed in a state of semi-cold war. The Soviet Union, once Germany was under their control, proceeded to march into France, Italy, Austria, and Greece… all the countries of Europe. Nowhere was truly safe from the steamroller. Soon enough, all that remained was Britain, and then the United States, on the far side of the Atlantic. China, also a Communist country, was allied with the Soviets… it looked as if there was no hope left for capitalism. 1964, the Cuban Missile Crisis. Not so much of a crisis as a military coup in Cuba. The world had come dangerously close to nuclear war, until JFK had backed down to Khrushchev’s demands. The USSR now had a base, less than five hundred miles from the US mainland. The détente lasted until 2002… then, everything had gone wrong at once.
January. In a move that had been fermenting in the background for almost a decade, the Soviet Union launched an invasion of Mexico from Cuba. The initial landing was highly successful, and soon enough all organised resistance had crumbled. The Reds now had a foothold on the United States southern borders.
March. A skirmish between Soviet and American troops results in three deaths. The media calls for open war. Bush declines to fight, and tries to work with Putin to resolve the situation before it could get any worse
April. The Soviets make their move. Three armoured regiments, equipped with T92 tanks, cross the Texan border, heading straight for Dallas. The United States responds by launching nuclear ICBM’s from submarines in the Baltic Sea, directly into the middle of Russia. Moscow is obliterated in the first wave of attacks. The inevitable counter-attack was swift, and bold. Missiles are launched from Cuba, able to circumnavigate the Eastern seaboard defence system, striking at New York, Boston, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles.
It was all over so quickly. Every country in the world received its fair share of the bombs. Britain wasn’t spared, but it was bombarded by air strikes from Tu-160 ‘Blackjacks’. London was the first target, subjected to more bombs in a single afternoon than it had suffered through the entire Blitz. Su-47’s decimated the RAF and RN with brutal efficiency, despite the fact that their bases were being bombed in return by those who had survived. By the end of the first week, death tolls had reached five billion the world over. Less than a billion people remained.
By 2010, this number was much smaller. The world had descended into anarchy. All governments had fallen apart, people going their separate ways. Many had been subjected to lethal doses of radiation in the initial waves, whilst many more had been dosed just enough to let them live for now, but slowly, it ate them alive. The birth rate plummeted, population growth ground to a halt, far outstripped by the numbers perishing every day. By this time, less than quarter of a billion people were left in the world…
In the ruined city, the sun was still scorching the earth. To touch the concrete would leave burns for many days. Yet, people were moving. In this, one of the oldest cities in the world, people were surviving. At what had once been a major train station, a young girl walked along the tracks, looking for things to eat. She darted into a hole underneath one of the platforms, her nimble little fingers picking through the dirt and rubble until she found what she was looking for. She was dressed in what could best be described as rags, with dead eyes in hollow sockets. Her hair, which had once been dark and sensuous, was now limp, tangled and close to her skull. Her hands closed around the rat, which had been dead for sometime, and pulled sharply. The rodent was deformed, but it was food. She glanced around her, and stuffed the animal into the back slung around her shoulders. It would make a good meal, or could be used to barter for something better. Such was her existence….
In a crumbling stone building, two children were playing in a yard. They were so young, so innocent. They were lucky. They hadn’t been born deformed by the radiation. From the shadows, their mother looked out at them, and clutched at her knees, “Is this what my children have to look forward to? A life like this?”
OOC: THis is more a story than anything. Take a character from anywhere, give them a story.
A broken tower, gaping holes blasted in its skin, was now the largest remaining building of this once proud city. It stood, tall and defiant, next to the dried out bed of the river that had once flowed past it. It's shadow stretched across this barren, desolate plain, giving a temporary reprieve from the searing heat of the day that was to come for all those still alive. Out on that dried bed, nothing stirred. It was completely lifeless. All that existed there were the burnt out hulks of boats that had once bobbed atop the tidal waters. Their macabre image was burnt into the retinas of all that had stared across this place at some time during their life... it was a symbol, a symbol of the past.
The sun rose steadily in the cloudless sky, much bigger now than it had been when it first crept above the eastern horizon. The heat pounded down on the seemingly abandoned streets, the bleached skeletons still sitting in their burnt-out cars the only thing to show that these places had once been filled with people. Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, and grandparents... everyone had lost someone. The bombs had come without any warning... it was like something out of any person's worst nightmare. Nuclear war. Some had said it was inevitable, that the end of the Second World War had spelled out the doom of the human race, right there.
On August 6th, 1945, the Soviet Union had dropped the first atomic bomb on Berlin, the capital of Nazi Germany. A weapon of such overwhelming power tipped the balance strongly towards the Reds. The allies of Britain and the United States, horrified at the devastation wrought by their comrades-in-arms, were ordered to retreat from Europe… the reds had won the war. Throughout the rest of the twentieth century, the world had existed in a state of semi-cold war. The Soviet Union, once Germany was under their control, proceeded to march into France, Italy, Austria, and Greece… all the countries of Europe. Nowhere was truly safe from the steamroller. Soon enough, all that remained was Britain, and then the United States, on the far side of the Atlantic. China, also a Communist country, was allied with the Soviets… it looked as if there was no hope left for capitalism. 1964, the Cuban Missile Crisis. Not so much of a crisis as a military coup in Cuba. The world had come dangerously close to nuclear war, until JFK had backed down to Khrushchev’s demands. The USSR now had a base, less than five hundred miles from the US mainland. The détente lasted until 2002… then, everything had gone wrong at once.
January. In a move that had been fermenting in the background for almost a decade, the Soviet Union launched an invasion of Mexico from Cuba. The initial landing was highly successful, and soon enough all organised resistance had crumbled. The Reds now had a foothold on the United States southern borders.
March. A skirmish between Soviet and American troops results in three deaths. The media calls for open war. Bush declines to fight, and tries to work with Putin to resolve the situation before it could get any worse
April. The Soviets make their move. Three armoured regiments, equipped with T92 tanks, cross the Texan border, heading straight for Dallas. The United States responds by launching nuclear ICBM’s from submarines in the Baltic Sea, directly into the middle of Russia. Moscow is obliterated in the first wave of attacks. The inevitable counter-attack was swift, and bold. Missiles are launched from Cuba, able to circumnavigate the Eastern seaboard defence system, striking at New York, Boston, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles.
It was all over so quickly. Every country in the world received its fair share of the bombs. Britain wasn’t spared, but it was bombarded by air strikes from Tu-160 ‘Blackjacks’. London was the first target, subjected to more bombs in a single afternoon than it had suffered through the entire Blitz. Su-47’s decimated the RAF and RN with brutal efficiency, despite the fact that their bases were being bombed in return by those who had survived. By the end of the first week, death tolls had reached five billion the world over. Less than a billion people remained.
By 2010, this number was much smaller. The world had descended into anarchy. All governments had fallen apart, people going their separate ways. Many had been subjected to lethal doses of radiation in the initial waves, whilst many more had been dosed just enough to let them live for now, but slowly, it ate them alive. The birth rate plummeted, population growth ground to a halt, far outstripped by the numbers perishing every day. By this time, less than quarter of a billion people were left in the world…
In the ruined city, the sun was still scorching the earth. To touch the concrete would leave burns for many days. Yet, people were moving. In this, one of the oldest cities in the world, people were surviving. At what had once been a major train station, a young girl walked along the tracks, looking for things to eat. She darted into a hole underneath one of the platforms, her nimble little fingers picking through the dirt and rubble until she found what she was looking for. She was dressed in what could best be described as rags, with dead eyes in hollow sockets. Her hair, which had once been dark and sensuous, was now limp, tangled and close to her skull. Her hands closed around the rat, which had been dead for sometime, and pulled sharply. The rodent was deformed, but it was food. She glanced around her, and stuffed the animal into the back slung around her shoulders. It would make a good meal, or could be used to barter for something better. Such was her existence….
In a crumbling stone building, two children were playing in a yard. They were so young, so innocent. They were lucky. They hadn’t been born deformed by the radiation. From the shadows, their mother looked out at them, and clutched at her knees, “Is this what my children have to look forward to? A life like this?”
OOC: THis is more a story than anything. Take a character from anywhere, give them a story.