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A month or so passed quickly. A basic training course in the battle we were about to engage in. I got up one morning and leaned on the rail in front of the room where me and Blake slept. That dreadful day came back to me.
The Colony being dropped. Jene being killed. This base and how come we never found the tunnel.
The noise we had heard had been a few troops from the second base. No one I knew, but Dad and Suzie knew them. The tunnel entrance had been in the center of the floor, under inches of dust, making it invisible to an untrained eye, as mine had been at that point. I was better now, able to pick out things, but still I�ll never be as good as Dad.
Blake stumbled out next to me with a yawn. �So what now?�
I shrugged. Who knew? No one really wanted to make a move, and it was clear as hell me, John and Blake, or that kid Joby weren�t going to have a say in the matter. Joby went to our school with us as well. The same year as John, the four of us boys made quite a little team. Almost a perfect team. We still had a few things to work out.
All of us knew how to handle and fire weapons; we had all been raised to it. We all knew some, and since training more, self-defense moves and close hand-to-hand com-bat, to which, I�m afraid was how this war was going to be fought. And then there were the things that made us the perfect team. Joby was a top-notch computer expert, complete with all the little gadgets. Blake took after his Mom and knew just about all there was to know about electricity. John was a wiz kid at math and science, which did come in handy with the maps as well. And as for me, I knew a lot about few things, but my strong point, in which I give myself credit, is camouflage and sneaking around unnoticed.
Like I said, I knew a lot about a few things. I can disengage all types of video cameras, I know all about trip traps, how to set, take apart and tell if one�s around. And being able to sneak around is not as easy as you think if you�re walking in clunky combat boots. Don�t get me wrong, I love them, but they can get annoying some times. I mas-tered walking in them long ago though. And as I said, we still had a few kinks to work out between us four.
John and Joby came from their room across the open area. Joby waved. He was a lot like me. Carefree and except once in a while, not much of a complainer. Pretty laid back. If I could pick a brother, he would be it. I waved back to amuse him and laughed. John rolled his eyes
And we all knew the truth. Someday it would be up to us. I just hoped that that day was further then I knew it really was.
�Petri! Lovely morning wouldn�t you say?�
�Yeah, Joby whatever.� I shook my head. �When was the last time you were out-side?�
�Actually I snuck out the other day. It�s still pretty cloudy.� He nodded and looked at John with a smile, punching his shoulder. Lighten up man.�
�Hey!� John grabbed his shoulder and Joby jumped back as if in fright and dropped to his knees, bowing to John.
�Oh I�m so sorry! Please forgive me.�
Blake cracked up laughing and I shook my head with a roll of my eyes. �Oh man, Jobe. You are insane.�
�I try to be. It makes a boring life, such as this,� he stood up. �Fun. What can I say? Not much I suppose.� He shrugged with a laugh. �Hey Blake, what�s on the agenda for today?�
�Ask my Mom.� He turned back to our room. �I�m gonna get dressed.�
I shook my head and turned, walking towards the room that my Dad had contrib-uted to call the Map Room. He always had weird names for things, but this really meant what was contained with in the room. He had been acquiring maps since that first day, including a Space map of the colonies and a Ground Layout map of each. Ah, hell, my Dad had every single map he could get his hands on.
I looked at the map of our area. It�s still hard to believe that that map is no longer a true map. Almost all the landmark buildings would be gone or reduced to piles of ruble. And as Joby had said, he had been out there and it was still clouded. I bet those clouds take years to settle. That would be one of the few non-surprises of late.
I heard my Dad talking to Joby�s uncle in the next room. Weird how the base had set up the kitchen and dinning room apart from each other. The reason was, my Dad said, was that the commanding officers are there while the enlisted men ate in the kitchen area. Anyway Captain Richard �Radar� Burns, my Dad, and Major Dennis Fisher, Joby�s un-cle, sat conversing at one of the tables. Den looked up. �Morning Petri, How�d you sleep?�
�Like any other night.� I said in monotone. �Why?�
�I sent Joby out the other day��
Oh man, snuck out, what an idiot.
��and he said it�s still rather cloudy. I say we take a buzz around the area, just to see what�s there.�
�Well, if it�s still�� I stopped. �What did Jobe mean by cloudy?�
�Well,� Dennis sat back. �He told me that it looked like it was a cloudy day at about dusk. He said it looks as if there are a few inches of snow on the ground. He said a mid Jan morning.�
�January?� my Dad questioned. �It doesn�t snow here.�
�You have to remember Captain, I haven�t always lived here. Me and Jobe moved here from up North a couple years ago. He remembers feet upon feet of snow all around the area.�
Jobe leaned on the door. �Area? It was taller then me Uncle Den.�
�Morning Jobe.� He nodded and tapped the table. �Sit down and tell Rich about your outside experience.�
�Snuck out?� I questioned as he sat down across from me.
He smiled. �Hey I did later on, but first I was assigned to go outside.�
�Oh,� I nodded. Always a kidder Jobe was. I�m really glad he moved to the area.
�And so,� he started. �I reached the surface. At first I couldn�t believe it. The last time I had seen the place there was such a thing as color. Now it�s all a light gray. Every-thing is. The ground, plants, trees, even the small stream nearby has been clogged by so much ash it�s stopped running.� He shook his head. �It has to be inches thick. Three or four and with every step I took, it exploded up towards my face like the dust did when we first got in these places. Then there are the skies. The ash has settled true, but the smoke from buildings is still so thick it�s incredible. At noon, when I looked at my watch, it looked like it was closer to seventeen hundred hours on a mid January evening. It�s that bad. The smells are awful as well�� he stopped as he noticed Blake and family walk in. �Metal, wood, wiring; all the smells of a burning house linger in the air. And flesh. I hate to say it, but the smell of burnt flesh is incredible. It made me sick then, it makes me sick just thinking about it now. It�s not the same place. The eerie silence is enough to drive a person insane. I would not recommend going up there alone unless you want the quiet. I tell ya!� he shook his head once again. �It�s not our home anymore guys. It�s a ghost land, filled with a deathly silence that only the dead would enjoy.�
All my Dad did was shake his head once and get up. �Well, that settles that. Be ready to go out at nine hundred hours.�
I looked down at my watch. The green patch, with black numbers, signing my death warrant.
8:31
He looked at me. He knew I had glanced at my watch. I had always done it and now I just do it out of habit. It annoyed him. �Well, Petri, a problem with that?�
I lied. �No Dad, I just wanted to know how much time I had to wait around till I could go outside.�
He nodded. Did he believe me? I hoped so�