Hey guys, this is a story I have been working on the last few days. It takes place in Canada (not much mention of Canada in the fallout series, or any country infact). I so far have the first five or so chapters done. Constructive criticism is appreciated. The prolouge

Prologue

My name, is Greg Tala . I am 16, old enough to be conscripted into the New Canadian army. Now, I guess I should explain what New Canada is. I shall explain where it all began. My birthplace, the city of Tawa.

Chapter One: History lesson

Tawa is the remains of Ottawa, Canada. While not a major target, it was under U.S. control, and was still hit with only two warheads, one hitting the C.S.I.S. building, and Parliament Hill. Most of the city was destroyed, except its outskirts. Fallout was a different problems. Most of the area outside of the city is, well, *was* farmland. After the bombs dropped, the crops were destroyed. The water around Ottawa was also radiated, making water somewhat difficult to obtain.
Well, anyway, a bit before the bombs dropped, members of our old government, and the American military leaders occupying the city, tried to quickly retreat to the Diefenbunker for safety, leaving the general public unsuspecting, until the bombs dropped. The two bombs decimated the city. Out of the survivors, I believe only a few 100,000 people lived through the bombs. Many people in the country side only felt an earthquake, and received the fallout from the bombs.
The leaders that had fled to the bunker, did not make it in time. They were almost out of the city, when the bomb hit, leaving any form of leadership out of the question. Remnants of the U.S. military that had survived, and where still in the city, did their best to bring to bring the city under control. A colonel, by the name of Alexander Johnson, quickly set up a small base on the west side of the city. Him and his soldiers operated out of this base, and started to set up a perimeter. Eventually, they started letting the survivors in their base, and set up a small medical center.
Then, the winter came. The first winter after the nuclear war. This winter turned to be Canada’s worst winter, at least until 2130’s great winter. Out of the 100,000 or so survivors in the city, a bit more than 32,000 had succumbed to the harsh winter.

For around the next 20 years, the colonel did his best to keep the west side of Ottawa under his control, and use the local population to try and help rebuild and scavenge. The east side however was a different story. Since the Colonel had set up his base on the west side, and was not able to establish law and order on the east. Warlords, tribes, and groups of raiders sprung up and constant fighting and killing happened of the east side. This would continue for the next five years, when the Colonels forces finally conquered the east side, and established peace.
Now, I know you may be getting bored of history, but this is relatively important for my time period. The year is 2142. Tawa (as the locals started to call it), is under control of Caleb Johnson, son of the Colonel. Caleb was the son of the colonel and a local warlord’s daughter, brought together as sign of peace. Unfortunately, Caleb himself was not of peace. By this time, Tawa included the city, and the surviving towns and villages around Tawa.
One day during the summer, one of towns had a survivor from down south. Caleb himself met personally with the survivor, asked him from where he came from. The man replied Ronto.
Ronto was the ruins of pre-war Toronto, Ontario. Caleb had heard that the city had suffered greatly, since more missles hit Ronto, than Tawa. Caleb questioned the man for days, and kept him in luxury. He learned of a powerful tribe ruling over Ronto, and rebuilding the city. He was especially interested in the rebuilding of their factories. Caleb had read that the government had a giant weapons facility that worked with the manufacturing of different weapons, and his favourite, tanks. He had read about them in his father military books, but had never seen one. Caleb was very excited because of this man’s tale. Caleb knew he would need more soldiers to take this city. Caleb added in a new law, mandatory service of any male older than 16, but younger than 50, for at least five years, so he could gather soldiers for this conquest.
In the following months, it was now fall. Caleb had gathered an army. The army was 10,000 strong. Caleb however, had a tough time arming them. While his army leaders had access to military weaponry, most of the local population did not have firearms. A few civilians had hunting rifles and shotguns, but not enough to win a war. Caleb had to improvise. Caleb has groups of people create bows and arrows, and others make swords out of old lawnmower blades. When his army was prepared, Caleb and his leaders started making plans on how to get there, and what to do on their journey. They decided to conquer the towns they came across, leave a garrison of troops, and continue on. This let them have more supply roads protected, and more troops to join them.
Along the way they conquered different towns, villages, and places of importance. After a month of conquering and traveling, they reached the outskirts of Ronto. Caleb’s force was now 15,000 strong. Caleb expected little resistance, since Ronto was hit harder, and only assumed a small tribe to be located there. Caleb was proved wrong. The entire city was crawling with raiders, and smaller tribes, and of course, the main tribe, Blackhawks, who the survivor had mentioned before. It took Caleb year before he took half of the city. The Blackhawks, after Caleb started to attack the city, recruited most of the tribes and raiders to their aid.
By the summer of 2144, Caleb had conquered Ronto, and his goal. When Caleb arrived at the weapons facility, he found little more than rubble and dust. One of the raider tribes had apparently set off one of the bombs located in the facility, and destroyed it. Caleb found some military weapons, set up a garrison of troops, and returned home disappointed. Caleb’s forces causalities were in the 5,000’s.

Caleb died in the year 2177. He suffered a heart attack, and had no children. At the time his top military leaders, most of which of Canadian decent, decided it was time to change up the government. One of the majors made it so civilians Canadian descent where the only ones able to be leader. They started having elections. Different communities sent forth their candidates. The first president of Canada was a man by the name of William Fredrickson. He decided to rename there “country” New Canada. For the next eight years, he would focus on agriculture, and rebuilding. Things where peaceful for New Canada, which eventually gained control of the rest of Ontario, and southern Québec. New Canada would prosper for years to come.

The year is now 2276. New Canada has grown. They now have all of Québec, Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba, Great Plains of Mitkan’s empire (Saskatchewan and Alberta. It took New Canada five years to achieve this land). It now has trade routes that runs to the Michigan, Maine, Republic of York, and the United New England Commonwealth. The current president is a man by the name of Mitchell Dezba. At the current time, Dezba is working on controlling the rest of Canada. Soldiers are being sent to B.C. to conquer the local tribes, though many will join willingly because of New Canada’s promises of commerce, food, safety, and production.

Well, now that I have given you the history lesson of my country, I will give you a short history on my life.

I always like storied of places outside the Fallout Canon realm. The one I always wonder is what happened with the other countries, and I like seeing the different perspectives people put into such stories.

That's the end of the first chapter. I wanted to add in a bit of history of Post-nuclear Canada, so I decided I would. The next four chapters are not as long of a read, and get more into the story, and Greg's life.

Chapter Two: Recruitment



I was born in western Tawa, in the ruins of Kanat (a subdivision of pre-war Ottawa). I was an only child. My mother raised me, while my father was doing his voluntary service. I went to school, and I worked on a farm for most of my life. I got along with most of the people around my neighborhood. I would constantly do community service when possible. Building, farming, hunting, scavenging. Well, I did until I turned 16.

It is now October 22, two days after my birthday. At the moment I am sitting in the recruitment office. My mother is with me, writing out the recruitment papers. Basic information. What’s my name, where do I live, family members, ect. It is pretty boring. The recruitment office isn’t that busy. The lady behind the counter is writing out forms and filing then away. A recruiter is talking to another boy of my age and his parents in the other room. A big painting of president Dezba hangs on the wall behind me, him standing in front of the rebuilding of Parliament Hill. A clock sits on the wall the opposite of me.

“All right Greg, let’s go talk to the receptionist, and give her the forms” my mother said, while standing up and brushing her long hair out of the way of her eyes.

“All right” I replied standing up. We walked to the counter and gave her the forms. She glanced at them for a bit, then pointed us to the recruiter, and handed us the papers back. We walked to the room with the recruiter. The other boy was in the medical examination room, down the hall.

“Hello, my name is Mary Tala, and this is my son Greg Tala. We are here for the mandatory service sign up” my mother said to the man as we sat down in front of his desk.



“Nice to meet you Mrs. Tala and Greg” he said “I am lieutenant Winters”. He checked over the papers, and handed us another form to fill out. This time it was to be hand written proof of my age, and joining of the military, and that I am sworn in under oath to do as my superiors tell me to do.

“Well, that makes up the paperwork, follow the hall, last door on your right. It’s the medical examination. You need to be examined first before we start training you.” The Lt. said.

My mother and I went down the hall and entered the room. The other boy must of left all ready. The room was very bright. Oversized light bulbs put into small lamps.

“Let’s get this done” the doctor said. He made me stand on a scale to see my weight, made me stand beside a wall with a measuring scale on it for my height, and finally took a needle and drew blood. He left the room and headed behind a curtain for about two minutes before reappearing.

“Blood test shows you are in good health. Little tiny amount of radiation, but no diseases” the doctor fills out a slip “Take this to the receptionist, and she will hand you what you need.”

My mom and me went to the receptionist, handed her the slip. The lady read the slip, then grabbed a folder from a pile next to her. She put the slip and the rest of my information in the folder, then handed us small book.

“The location of the training center, and the date you need to be there, is inside. Good luck” the lady said.

I went home, and slept that night, thinking about how life in the military will be for me. It was a rather peaceful night. The cool air felt good, and comforting. In a few days, I would start my training, and fight like my father does.

Good story so far. I really enjoyed the history lesson at the beginning, since we don't know much about the none-canon locations. You really did your research there and it shows. Although, the large block of texts could use a space here and there, to make for an easier read.

Now, we know your protagonist is going to join the Army, but what's the plot, what's the story about? Is it all about just conquering other tribes? Is it a war/military story? What is Greg's motivation? Why does he want to join the army? etc.

Can't wait to see where you'll go with this.

Thank you.

I suppose I forgot to mention where he will be fighting. He will eventually be in British Columbia fighting and taking over tribes, and trying to keep the peace.
As for his motivation, the other chapters hint at it, because of his father being the the military, and he wants to make him proud.
Now, the story is also about his travel there. He meets people, gets into fights, learn lessons, ect.
I don't want to ruin some of the story, so I will post another three or four chapters today. Starting now.

Chapter Three: Training
I arrived at Fort Prio’ra, a fort northwest of Tawa, along the Tawa river. It is mostly farms around the fort, and a few places to live. A market is beside the fort, along the river.

Me and about five other boys my age shared a Brahmin cart. The driver sat in the front, shotgun beside him in case of any conflicts on the way to the fort. It took us about two hours before we arrived.

The fort was an old airfield, with a hanger. The shooting range as to the north of the hanger, the road connecting it to the town was to the west of it, and the south had an obstacle course and weight sets and east had a longhouse and medical center.

The town from what I saw, looked almost untouched. A few buildings were destroyed, most likely from panic, or looting.

“Seems like a nice place” one of the boys said to me. He was as tall as me, brown hair, green eyes, and a scar across his left check.

“Yeah, it is I guess” I replied.

We got off of the cart and headed to the front of the hanger. A single soldier stood there.

“New recruits eh? Take you things, go inside. Look for area B-3. Your rooms will be there. When you are settled in, the sergeant will come and get you” the soldier said before he walked off.

The “rooms” where nothing more than large tents, set up for a group of at least eight people. There was eight mattresses and eight footlockers. All the boys put their belongings in their assigned footlockers. They sat around, introducing themselves to each other. All of the boys were from Tawa, so they decided to not bother saying where they were from. One of the shorter boys name was Max. He lived in the same neighborhood as Greg. Greg had seen him before, but they never spoke. The boy with the scar on his face’s name was Troy. He mentioned that he had been farming almost all of his life. Before the rest of the boys could finished the sergeant came in.

“All right you guys, ‘nough talking. Report to the armoury for you uniforms, then report to the southern field. Your training starts today” barked the seargent.

The boys walked to the armoury and stood in line. A soldier was behind the counter handing out their uniforms. The uniforms appeared to be brown leather jackets, with football padding attached to them. The leggings had knee guards. The suits were very stuff, and didn’t have much room in them.

After suiting up we headed to the south of the hanger. A few soldiers where there, doing the obstacle course, or using the weights.

“First of, get in a line you brats, and stand up straight” said the sergeant. We lined up and stood as straight as we could.

“Now, you will refer to me as sergeant. Not sir, not sarge, not by my name, but sergeant. Understand?”

We all replied “Yes sergeant”.

“Good. Good.” He paused a moment, and studied us over.

“Welcome to fort Prio’ra. As your sergeant you will do as I say, when I say, and without question, unless I permit questions. Now, I want you all to do ten laps around the hanger, then report back here. I assume you can all count to ten?” asked the sergeant.

We all nodded. Then started running.

The running was tiring, but I didn’t give up. After we were done, we were to go to the longhouse, and eat, then rest. That night I had a dream of home. Of my mother, and my father. When I awoke, I thought if I would ever see home in a long time. I guess time would tell.

Chapter Four: Small Rivalries



We all met at the southern field the next morning. There about eighteen of us in total. We were split into three squads. The other five boys I was with, was in my squad.

“All right maggots, first off, you will all pick yourselves a squad leader. You groups may do this in any method you all decide on. Just don’t kill each other. You boys have the day to decide who’s your leader. Tomorrow, you will all meet here again. Now, I’m going to fill out paperwork for the next five hours. Bother me for something non important, and I will make you run one hundred laps around the hanger, with no breaks.” With that, the sergeant left.

“All right ladies, it’s time for our leadership pick. Now, first off, put up your hand if you want to be squad leader.” Said Trevor, the tallest of the group.

Troy, Max, Trevor and Me put our hands up. Sam, a slightly chubby kid with blonde hair, and James, a rather strong, but not too bright kid, did not raise their hands.

“All right then ladies” said Trevor “ We shall does this, like the tribes of Mitkan’s rule. Last man standing. If you don’t know what that is, we all have a rumble, and the last one that didn’t back out, will be squad leader.”

We all agreed. Sam said ready, set, go, and we all started to fight. Punches were thrown, and kicks were made. Max was the first one out. He got punched in the face by Trevor, and Max backed off. I managed to get a few punches on Troy. We kept staring at each other, eye to eye. Then Trevor came in, and punched me in the gut. Now, I am bent over, clutching my stomach. I started to get up, and saw my impending doom. Troy stood there before me. He picked me up, above his head, and threw me. I must of went six or seven feet, before I hit the ground.

“I’m out” I said while sitting up, coughing.

Now it was just down to Troy, and Trevor. Giant versus snake. Well, it seemed like it would be a good fight, but Troy punched him in the face. While he though Trevor was going to surrender, Trevor quickly punched Troy in the gut. Troy bent down, and Trevor kick him over on the ground. Trevor won.

“Well, looks like we have a winner” stated Sam.

“Boo yaa, ladies. Refer to me as squad leader from now on” Trevor said with a grin.

We went to the medical bay to get checked out, make sure nothing was broken. Thankfully, no one had any broken bones. We went to the longhouse, ate our food, which consist of steak, bread, and corn. We returned to out tent, and slept.

In the morning, everyone woke up pretty early, probably do to the fighting we did, we were still sore I guess. We got our uniforms on, and went to the south field. We were early. None of the other squads was there yet. Even the sergeant was not at the field yet.

“Well ladies, lift some weight, run around, do whatever. We train until the rest of the guys gets here.” ordered Trevor.

I decided to lift weight, Sam, and Max did the same. Troy and James started to have a push-up contest. Trevor started doing chin ups on one of the machines. We exercised for about half an hour before the sergeant got to the field.

“Well, well, well, looky here. Squads out early I see. The other will be here in a few minutes.” Said the sergeant.

Sure enough, the rest of the squads came along.

“All right you maggots. Each of your squads is going to send your squad leader to me, the rest of you, stay in line where you are”.

Trevor, and the two other squad leaders stepped up to the sergeant.

Me and the guys stood in line, talking amongst ourselves. Wondering what the sergeant was talking to them about. Trevor and the rest of them then returned to us.

“So, what did the sergeant talk to you guys about?” asked Max.

“He gave our squads names. Says squad names like alpha, or beta, isn’t that great. He gave use named of old tribes. We have the name “Algonquin Warriors”. The other squads names are the “Iroquois Wolves”, lead by Slater, and the “Ojibwe eagles, lead by Ryan. Now, he also mentioned that we have a training plan. Today we will be doing weights. Tomorrow, we will be doing the obstacle course, the day after we run laps around the hanger, and then we repeat. We will do this for the next two weeks. Then we start weapons training. While we do our training, the other squads will do theirs, so basically we are taking turns each day for the different training spots. So, as with that, let’s get down to business”.

Chapter Five: Weapons and Words



Weapons training day. Everyone stood in a line at the north side of the hanger. The field consisted of a brick wall with mannequins standing in front of them, and other mannequins with red paint on certain areas, like the neck and stomach.
“All right maggots, weapon training. What you were all looking forward too. First, I’m going to tell you what our standard weapons are” the sergeant said “our standard rifle is a “gift” from our allies, the United New England Commonwealth.” He pulls out an assault rifle from a bag at his feet “This maggots, is the R91 Assault Rifle. It fires a 5.56mm round. It was a gift from U.N.E.C. after we sent them some transport vehicles to help them with their conquest. At the time, they were just Vermont, now look at them. They control New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. That’s your history lesson for the day”. He put the assault rifle back in the bag, and pulled out a blade.
“This is our standard melee weapon. We call it the “Viking”. Originally our blades were regular lawnmower blades, but with access to more materials we created stronger, sharper blades. These are those blades. These were more commonly used until we got the gift from U.N.E.C. Our country didn’t have many guns compared to the Americans. Most of our battles and fights where with these blades. You will learn how to use both of these weapons. Just be glad you are not using bows and arrows, and the old lawnmower blades. Now report to the armory for your rifles, and get back here A.S.A.P.”
“Yes sergeant” we all replied.

We went to the armory and got our assigned rifles. They were in decent shape. They weren’t in perfect condition, but they looked like they worked. We reported back to the field and got in out lines.
“Now, squad leaders, the only way you can win a battle with your squad is teamwork. Call out targets, tell you team mates to pick their targets. Remember to turn the safety off before you fire.” The sergeant said. He picked up one of the rifles and got in his position “First, the stock should rest against your shoulder. You had should hold the grip firmly. Before you fire, exhale, and pull the trigger”. He fired off a few shots. Most of the guys jumped at the first shot. The sergeant saw this, and tried not to grin.
“All right maggots, your turns” sad the sergeant.
“Okay guys.” Trevor said “Max you got far left, I got top left, Gary you have middle bottom, and Sam, Troy, and James, the guys on the right.”
Our team fired, and we hit our targets, and we only missed a little. Everyone was happy. We fired and kept firing for a while. We started to gradually improve.
“All right, enough ammo wasting.” The sergeant said “Blade training time. There is a proper stance you need. First, keep relaxed, don’t tense up. Secondly, keep your elbows bent and close to your body. Be prepared for close range fighting, so learn to parry, thrust, dodge, ect. Now most sword battles will end in about 30 seconds to a minute. It just depends on who hits first. Get a weak spot, fights over. These wooden mannequins had red paint on these weak spots. Exploit them. Now, everyone grab a sword from the bag, and start fighting. You can keep the swords, but the guns will go back to the armory.”
The rest of the day was use “killing” our enemy mannequins. It was pretty fun, and we started to get the hang of it.
We would continue throughout the week with weapons training. Half an hour of gun training, and three hours of melee. When we were done, we could go to the south and train there, continue melee fighting, or do theory, which was reading books on small team tactics, weapon care, past New Canada battles. My favorite was the battle for Ronto, hence why I mentioned it.

I awoke one night, the clock on the wall said it was around 3:20am. For some reason I woke up. I didn’t know why, until I looked at the entrance of our tent. Trevor was leaving. I got up and followed him out.
“Trevor, where are you going?” I asked.
“Well, I, and Slater decided we would go to the local pub for a bit, and celebrate our weapons training.” He replied “You wanna come with?”
I hesitated for a moment, then, I accepted his offer. We met with Slater and walked into town. The town was pretty quite. Streetlamps were on, some lights in houses were on. We made our way to the pub. Was an Irish themed pub, what an Irish is. I think they were some tribe that was conquered out west, but I could be wrong. Inside the place there stood two barkeeps behind the counter serving drinks and food. A few people sat at tables, playing cards, or just talking and drinking. We walked up, and took our seats at the counter.
“Hey barkeep, how ‘bout some brews for use recruits” said Slater.
“Well, I guess I don’t have to ask you if your 16. What type of brew ye want? Low grade, or top grade?” replied the bartender.
“We will take low grade, also can we get some turkey wings, dipped in barbeque sauce?” replied Slater.
“Aye, give us five minutes”.
The boys sat down, and enjoyed their beers, and wings, talking about there future service.
“Yeah, I can’t wait to get into the field” Trevor said “Liberate some tribals, gain respect, heck, maybe even become a high ranking general”.
“Yeah right, you becoming a general” Slater replied “I wanna be a part of the of the Luis Raiders. Guys are kick-[censored]. Once, the squad was outnumbered 10-1, and had nothing but their blades. Eight guys, killing eighty or so angry tribals? The guys are awesome.”
“What about you Greg. Anything you want out of this?” asked Trevor.

“I just want to serve my mandatory service like my father, maybe do voluntary afterwards, but I mostly will just want to go home when I’m done. It will be a fun experience.” I replied.
“Ha, at least someone has realistic dreams” said Trevor. “Yeah, I would love to return home after our tour. See my family, maybe start one of my own. Might try and going into mechanics. Hopefully the school is still standing by then.”
We sat around and drank another couple of beers. After an hour, and thirteen beers later, we pooled in some cash, and paid off what we owed them. We stumbled down the street, supporting each other as we walked back. The cool night air felt great on my skin. We were almost back when we saw a figure waiting at the front. It was the sergeant.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” said the sergeant.
We all stopped cold dead in our tracks. We all tried to come up with an excuse on where we were. None of us were good liars it seemed.
“Enough of the Brahmin crap.” The sergeant said. He tried not to grin. “You boys are lucky. So lucky, in fact, that you guys can run one hundred laps around the hangers, then run the obstacle course fifty times.”
We started right away.

I will probably post more tomorrow, but I will post one later today.

All right guys, next chapter. Been working on the other chapters.

Chapter Six: The Journey Begins

It was the 26^th of March, 2277. We had a relatively warm winter this year. The sergeant said that on the 31^st we would be leaving to hook up with the main convoy heading out west, to join the front lines. Until then, he told us we could write to our families at home. I was excited when I heard this. The sergeant handed everyone pencils and paper. Me and my squad sat in our tents writing away. I wrote:

“Dear mother; In four days we set off to join the main convoy and head west. The sergeant said we could write letters home before we go, so, here it is. Training was great, I am in better shape than ever. I have also made friends with my squad mates. They are a bunch of great guys. All of us can’t wait to get to the frontline and partake in the action. Just like dad, mom. When we are done service, I hope to return home a hero, and spend time with the family. I will return to work on the farm again. I hope dad is proud of me.
Signed, Gregory.
I brought my letter to the courier, along with the others.
“Don’t worry, I will make sure these messages get back home. Good luck guys.” said the Courier, before he started off towards the highway.
Four days of extra training passed, and then the day came. Two large army transport vehicles came to the hanger. We gathered our gear, said our goodbyes to the sergeant, and boarded the transports. We were finally heading to the front line.
“All right fellows, this is how our trip is gonna go. We will be following the highways and stopping in North Bay, then Thunder bay, then Winnipeg, then Regina, Medicine Cap, and finally Kalagary. At each of these stops, we will stop at the bases, rest, and gather food and water supplies to last use the trip. Once we reach Kalagary, we drop you off, and you probably won’t see us again.” Said the cab driver. “All right, roll out.”
The vehicles started of slow, but eventually picked up speed. In a few minutes, we were on the highway.
“I’ve never ridden in a vehicle before” said Max excitedly.
“Nothing special” said Trevor.
“That’s your opinion” replied Max.
For most of the ride we watched the scenery. The vehicles had roofs, but no sides, besides the rails, so we could see around us. We saw forest, farms, villages, heck, we even saw a Yao Gui. Apparently they were our local bears that got irradiated and grew larger and stronger. We passed through the Frew, and Brooke, which had an old military base, but it was destroyed shortly after the American annexed Canada.
After five hours of driving, we finally reached North Bay. Most of North Bay was deserted. During the first winter, and the winter of 2130, most of the inhabitants had died, or moved south for warmer weather. North Bay was now a huge gated community of around part of the city. The front entrance was an old sign that was moved. It read “Gateway to the North”. We stopped in front of the old gate. Soldiers came to the cabins of the vehicles and stated talking to the driver. The drivers gave the soldiers papers, and after about five minutes of talking, the gates opened and we were let in.
The southern areas were mostly housing and stores, but the north was the government sector of sorts. The military base, and mayor’s hall was located in the North. We were dropped off at the base, and went to the visitors tents. Each squad got a tent, and proceeded to relax.
“Place seems all right” said Sam. “I could get used to living here. Seems quiet enough”.
“Don’t get too comfortable now. We leave tomorrow morning.” Said Trevor, laying down on his mattress, eyes closed.
“True” replied Sam.
I looked outside. It was a little cooler than home, or Prio’ra, but it did seem quiet.
“I’m gonna walk around town” I said “I have my watch, I should be back in around an hour or so.”
“All right, see ya” said Troy.
I walked off of the base. A few guards were posted around the main buildings, and certain spots in town. There was two general stores, a bar, a weapons supply shop, a school, and a hospital. I proceeded to walk around the area of the market area. People were selling food, alcohol, clothing, pieces of scrap metal and electronics. I had never seen such a big market. Tawa had many different small markets, not one big market. I continued to walk down the road, and I came to the weapons store. I entered the small building. On the inside a man stood behind the counter. The man had long brown hair, a beard, and an eye patch. He was rather large also. Many different blades, and guns, and other weapons where around him.
“Can I help you soldier?” asked the man, staring at him with his one eye.
I had never been referred to as soldier before, so I felt kinda funny.
“No. At least not yet anyway” I replied.
I looked along one of the walls. It had Viking blades, newer and older version, maces, baseball bats, machetes, hatchets, axes, and pre-war military combat knifes. The other wall had firearms on them. Hunting rifles, shotguns, 9mm pistols, and a sniper rifle. Boxes of ammo were on a table in front of the wall. Behind the counter was explosives. A box of some frag grenades, but mostly molotovs. Nothing caught my attention, so I said thank you for letting me look around and left.
As I left, I noticed something in an alley between two buildings. A person being dragged down the alley, and around the back. My curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to go down this alley. I stopped at the corner, and took a peek around it. A group of men, dressed in gray rags, with red stripes, and a horribly disfigured man. The man looked like a zombie I had read in some comic books I found. I then realized it was a ghoul, not a zombie. I had never seen a ghoul before. Most had left Tawa a few years after the war.
I then realized that these men had weapons, knifes to be exact, and they didn’t seem to be too friendly to the ghoul.
“You mutant trash, we gonna get rid of yer kid, one mutant at a time” said one of the men.
“Ahh, please, don’t hurt me. I have done nothing wrong to you” the ghoul replied.
“Ha, just bein’ what’chu bein’ is doing wrong to us. We gonna cut the nice neck of yours up” replied another of the men.
I stepped out from around the corner. I was mostly covered in shadows, but somewhat visible.

“Hey, you guys leave that poor man alone” I said in a stern voice.
The three men jumped, and turned around. They couldn’t see me very well, but they could make out my uniform.
“Damnit, the army, scatter!” screamed one of them. They all took off running.
The ghoul got up, and brushed his clothes of dirt off.
“Oh wow, thanks soldier. You saved my life.” Said the ghoul.
I walked into light.
“No problem” I said.
“Ohh, you are one of the recruits” the ghoul said “luckily those thugs didn’t know that, otherwise we both would be in a shallow grave. My name is Mort, and I owe you one.”
“I’m Greg, and that’s all right Mort. Just glad I could help out.” I said.
“Well, I guess it is true” Mort said.
“Huh? What is true?” I asked him.
“It’s true that only out-of-town soldiers will help out ghouls” he replied.
“The soldiers in town don’t help out ghouls?” I asked.
“Well, not most of the time. Most of us Ghouls live on the southern side of North Bay. Not by choice mind you. The mayor is not very tolerant of ghouls. Most of the time they are told to ignore our problems and focus on normals.”
“That’s horrible.” I said.
“Yeah, but, what can you do?” Mort said. “Housing is more expensive out east, and out west gets more dangerous. The north is too cold, and to the south, well, the Americans aren’t too fond of ghouls either. So, I’m good where I am.”
“Well then.” I said. “I guess I better head back to my base. Pleasure meeting you” I said.

“You too” he replied.
I arrived at the base around 9pm.
“Hey Greg” James said as I entered the tent. He was the only one in there.
“Hey James. Where is everyone?” I replied.
“Mess hall. I already ate. Good food. Taste good.” He replied.
I lied down and fell asleep quickly. I had another dream of home. Again of my family, and friends. The buildings started to shake, and crumble. It buried my family under the ruble, as I listened to their screams of pain. I woke up sweating. It was early in the morning, the sun was starting to rise. I couldn’t fall back to sleep, so I geared up, and got ready to go. The rest of my squad woke up a few hours later. We all got our belongings, and boarded the transports. Today, we were leaving one bay, to go to the next bay, and, be closer to the west.

Sorry if it's a bit too scrunched up guys.

Hey, haven't posted in a while, but, I figured at should probably put the rest of the chapters (that I have done) up, so, enjoy!

Chapter Seven: The Bay of Sickness

It’s a few hours after we left North Bay. The wind is a bit chillier now, since the highway goes north before turning west. The cabbie said that the drive would be a long one. Longer than the one to North Bay. This didn’t matter to us. Most of us were just enjoying the scenery. Huge forest of green, giant trees. Local wild life, of Stags, as the locals apparently called them, irradiated deer basically. They are apparently very tasty, and fun to hunt, but anyway. James and Troy are having an arm wrestling match, Sam is reading theory, Max is asleep, and Trevor is etching his name into his blade’s hilt, with a knife.

It’s relatively quiet. No one has talked much besides Troy and James, who still continue arm wrestling. Trevor, and Sam have started to watch them, and Max still sleeps. By know it is apparently only 7:21pm, and we left at 8:30am. We still have another five hours of driving. Thankfully the highways are all still in decent shape. If we had to use other roads, it would take longer.

Hours past, and it was dark now. The night was cold. We used our blankets to help keep warm. The only source of light, was on the back of the cabin of the truck. Forest and fields, were around us. We were told not much longer. I had almost fell asleep when I heard a knock at the back cabin window.

“Something’s going on up ahead. You boys get ready, just in case.” The cabbie said.

We leaned off of the rails and looked what was in front of us. A tent, and a few soldiers beside the road. Flood lights and a generator. We pulled up beside the main tent. Two soldiers walked up to the driver.

“Is there a problem up ahead?” asked the cabbie.

“Yeah, there is. Everyone is deathly sick with some sort of virus, so we have quarantined the area. Turns out the U.S. had barrels of some weird liquid stashed in an old factory, and someone spilled it. Turned people very, very sick. Doesn’t look like radiation sickness, but we can’t be too careful.” Replied the soldier.

“Damnit. We where planning on getting some water and food, then driving to Winnipeg. Got us a new load of recruits.” Said the cabbie.

The soldier looked towards us and smirked. He turned his attention back to the driver.

“Well, if you pull over to the side here, and follow this path, our new main H.Q. is there. Your boys can get some rest, and you should be able to get some water.” said the soldier, pointing the path.

The cabbie thanked in, and told the other cabbie. They pulled of f to the side of the road, and followed the path. The H.Q. was a group of smaller tens surrounding one big one. A soldier came up, and said where to park the transports, and where we would sleep.

“Well, this svcks” said Trevor “I was hoping to hit one of the bars and relax.”

“Is that all you do is drink Trevor?” asked Max.

“Only on Tuesdays” Trevor sarcastically replied.

We went to our tents, put our stuff away, and went to sleep. It was a chilly night. The camp was surrounded by barrel fires, for heat and light. I had started to doze off when I heard it. A loud gunshot. This gunshot was followed by more gunshots. Now men were screaming. We got all woke up. We grabbed out Vikings, and went outside of the tent. We saw a soldier being carried by two soldiers to the medical tent. Is arm missing. We looked to the crowd of soldiers. We walked up and saw something horrible. Something we had never seen before. A monster.

It was huge, and human like, but had this weird green colour, and huge muscles. It couldn’t have been human, I thought. The thing must have stood around seven feet tall, maybe more. Some of the guards were poking at it with their rifles.

“Is it dead?” said one soldier.

“What the hell is it?” said another.

“What in the world is going on.” said another soldier.

I looked at this monster, then I looked at my blade. I doubt this blade would be effective against this beast. The lieutenant of the H.Q. came out to see this beast.

“Anyone who is not on guard duty, return to your tents. All guards, be on high alert. Someone take this…this…thing, and bring it to the medical tent for examination.” He said.

We returned to our tents on got into our beds.

“What was that thing?” asked Sam.

No one could come up with a definite answer. Some sad a monster, some said a mutant, some said the devil himself. Whatever it was, it was dead, and I hoped there wasn’t more of them. We all eventually fell asleep that night. Tomorrow we go to Winnipeg.

Chapter Eight: City of Sin

We left early in the morning, around 7:30am. We had a shorter trip than the last one thankfully. It took us around ten hours to reach our destination. During the way, Sam decided to give us a little history lesson on it.

“According to my book, in 2214 Winnipeg was conquered by President Maximus. At the time the local inhabitants were slaves to a warlord by the name of Nicholas the Great. He would enslave all that and he could, and give his soldiers the spoils of war. He enslaved many tribes around the area. When the New Canadian Army came however, most of the slaves looked up towards this new threat to Nicholas, and, when the N.C.A. attacked, they rebelled and joined with the forces. Nicholas, and his trusted men, tried to escape, but where caught by their old slaves. The slaves brought Nicholas to the center of James Armstrong Richardson International Airport, or as it is now known as, Fort Freedom, and hung him from gallows that Nicholas had made to kill disobeying slaves. After that, the N.C.A. took over, and started running the city. The only bad thing is, many of Nicholas’s followers, remain. Some few people worshipped him as if he was a god, or just liked his ways of ruling better.” Sam was almost out of breath.

“Wow, sounds like a real jerk” pitched in Troy.

We entered the city. We drove through most of it. Houses, stores, and buildings of all types around. Many people also were walking around. I had never seen so many people, since I left home. I wondered if this city was bigger. We finally got to the Fort around 6:30pm, and quickly found our resting area. This time, we got to sleep inside a giant building, with actual rooms, instead of tents. Along the gated walls of the Fort surrounding the perimeter, was tons of armed guards. The roof had snipers on it. I remember seeing a lot of vehicles, and caravans. I guess this is one of the major forts on the way to the west.

“Hey Greg. Me and Slater were gonna head out to one of the local bars. You wanna tag along like last time?” Trevor said to me.

“Sure, sarge can’t complain to us now, can he?” I replied.

We met up with Slater, and started to go to the entrance of the camp. We had to talk to the gate guard before he would open the gate.
He was a short, chubby, and balding. He looked up to us as we got close enough.

“You kids leaving?” he asked.

“Yes.” Replied Slater.

“Well, I’m going to give ya’ll a warnin’. First off, don’t cause trouble in town. Lot of folks that don’t take too kindly to us soldiers. If you get in trouble, don’t expect help either. Soldiers may not be around some areas when you need them. Two, stay away from the Screaming Eagle bar. Bad, bad people run it. Their business, is not your business. Finally, be back before 11pm. Otherwise you will be locked out, and you will have to spend the night at the police station. Got it?”

We all shook our heads yes, and he opened the gate, and we left off.
We started walking when Slater started to talk.

“I know the guard said we shouldn’t but, we should go visit that bar. Sounds interesting.”

“Are you nuts?” I said

“Greg’s right, place sounds bad.” said Trevor.

“Ahh, off with you guys then, I’m going.” He replied.

We didn’t try to stop him, we should have though. Me and Trevor continued to the bar we were looking for, The Gentleman’s Tap. Despite the name, it was less than fancy. It was an old, wooden building, with a sign that had the name of the place above the door. It was pretty empty. A few people and a barkeep. We took our seats at the counter.

“What will it be boy?” asked the barkeep.

“What have you got?” ask Trevor.

“Well, we got beer, wine, champagne, and whisky.”

“The whiskey sounds nice. How much a shot?” Trevor asked.

“Five caps.” Said the barkeep.

We took out our money and counted what we had. Between us we had thirty-two caps. So we ordered six shots, and each had three. We listened to the pre-war music, and observed the local population. Most had scars, or bruises, some few not a scratch on them. When we finished, we gave the last two caps as a tip, and left.

It was around 8: 30 when we returned. We went to the mess hall, ate, then, went to out sleeping area. Everyone was there, but they seemed very different.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” asked Trevor.

Max stood up and walked to Trevor.

“Trevor. Slater’s dead.”

Trevor and I went wide eyed.

“What do you mean he is dead? How did he die? Was he murdered, was it an accident?” Trevor said frantically.

“He was at a bar, gambling, poker or something, and he was caught cheating. Some of the people there didn’t take to kindly to that, so they…” he paused “They shot him in the back”.

Trevor sat down on his bad. He looked like he was about to cry.

“We could have stopped him from going, but we didn’t. It’s our fault he died.” he said.

“Trevor, there was nothing we could do. He wouldn’t listen to us, or the gate guard. It’s not our fault.” I said to him.

“Maybe you’re right Greg.” he took off his gear. “All right boys. Get to bed. We have a busy day tomorrow.”

With that, we went to bed. No one said a word until the next morning.