Update!
Part V: Where Angels Dare to Tread
The Rabbit and the Coyote [3]:
CONFIDENTIAL
Transcript MARS Station 15, eastern Nevada.
In the initial days following the Nevadan government’s recognition of the Taos government, very little changed for your average Nevadan, power was still fading in and out, food was still scarce.
The few refugees that did survive the strikes were still sick with radiation poisoning in the few remaining hospitals, a side effect of urbanization. Combined with inhospitable conditions between the towns, few of the sick refugees survived the trek across the desert on foot.
The emigration from Mexico had dropped dramatically after OPERATION INTERCEPT. The Nevadans had speculated that the Mexicans realized that the US was in worse shape than Mexico. Perhaps, they hoped, the conditions in Northern Mexico were not as bad as the Nevadans were led to believe.
However their guesses were far from the truth. In actuality the large porous and unprotected border with Texas proved an easier target for fleeing refugees. Millions would cross the Rio Grande on bridges, travel across in makeshift flotillas, or simply wade across shallow areas in the coming summer months.
A light detachment of National Guard troops were left on the border to help the local “militias” should any disturbances on the border flare up. The rest of the National Guard troops are sent on various missions throughout the state.
A small detachment of National Guard soldiers is sent to the north to try and make contact with any survivors in Utah. After days by truck and by helicopter, they arrived on the Utah border. Hesitantly they crossed. Their jeeps rushed across the desert, past abandoned towns, and monotonous miles of desert.
*Stopping overnight, they stay in an empty supermarket in an empty town. After midnight the sentry woke the rest of the group up, there was a truck bouncing down the highway, and the driver and passengers were armed. The Nevadans hastily barricaded themselves behind shelves and cash registers. The Officer grabs his sidearm and walks into the center of the street.
MARS station 7 in North West Nevada picks up two unusual signals that night.
*This is the Voice of America, broadcasting to you tonight from beautiful Columbia, Washington. Tonight we will be having the President on air for his comments on the Corpse Crisis
AND LATER
*You want to do it?
Why not the border is practically undefended.
Yeah man, but it’s the actual government. Everyone says so.
No WE are all that is left.You don’t want to get in trouble with the General do you?
No, but come on man, you saw those jets.
And we did shoot one down didn’t we?
The message from the Voice of America is what causes the government to start an investigation into the Columbia rumors. After hours of every MARS station and HAM radio in range searching as many frequencies physically possible. Eventually a line between the two governments is connected. The Governor was up all night on the radio. The second message is ignored.
By the end of the week it is announced that a group representing the new government will be flying down from Columbia to visit Nevada. Included is the new President who will attempt to get the people to accept annexation into the Provisional government's control. Much of the government is ecstatic, the weeks of being alone have been lifted twice in two days. However much of the populous is skeptical. Is Ronald Regan alive? And is he doing in Washington? Where in the hell is Columbia, it's not on the map? These questions were hurled at the Governor at his next Town Hall meeting. While he tried to answer as best as he could (we don't know, we don't know, and we don't know respectively.)
*Knock! Knock!
Nothing.
Knock Knock.
“Hold on one minute” says the muffled voice behind the door. In a second it is thrown open.
”Oh my god! You’re alive!”
“Yeah sis I am. How’s the Kid?”
“Oh wait a second. Hey come to the door, your Aunt’s here! Oh my god you’re alive!”
The reunion between The Singer and her Sister drove pangs of sorrow through Rabbit. He hadn’t seen his family in years. The last he had heard, his sister had moved away from the city, his mother died of leukemia, and his dad. Well, he had never met his dad.
Observing the tearful family reunion he had never felt more alone. Though he had kept up a happy façade, the Rabbit had been smothered in depression for the last day or so. This was pushing him over the edge. He went back to the Ice-Cream truck and grabbed their bags out of the back.
After depositing the bags on the doorstep, the Rabbit clamored into the back of the truck. He slid the door open on the freezer and pulled out the last box of ice-cream sandwiches. It looked lonely in there. He carried it with him into the house.
The first person he ran into was the Kid. The Singer’s voice drifted from another room. “We can stay in the guest bedroom until we get our own place.” The Kid pointed to the box. “Is that really ice-cream?” he asked. “Sure kid it is real. Do you want some?” The Kid broke into a sad smile. “I would if I weren’t lactose intolerant.” he poorly pronounced the last two words. The Rabbit looked back, “Me too kid. Me too.”
Part V: Where Angels Dare to Tread
The Rabbit and the Coyote [3]:
CONFIDENTIAL
Transcript MARS Station 15, eastern Nevada.
Hello? Hello?
The days after OPERATION INTERCEPT brought many new challenges to the government of Nevada. The radio chatter during the mission alerted the surrounding state governments to their survival. Formal contact with the surviving government in New Mexico, based out of Taos, was quickly established. While the states could provide little assistance to each other, it was comforting to know that there were other survivors out there.Station 15 (S15): Hello! This is James MacDaniels representing the Nevada section of MARS, who are you?
Unidentified Station (US): Hello! Good god Nevada?
S15: Yeah, I’m from Nevada, where are you from?
US: STATIC
S15: Hello are you still out there?
US: Taos, it’s all that’s left.
In the initial days following the Nevadan government’s recognition of the Taos government, very little changed for your average Nevadan, power was still fading in and out, food was still scarce.
The few refugees that did survive the strikes were still sick with radiation poisoning in the few remaining hospitals, a side effect of urbanization. Combined with inhospitable conditions between the towns, few of the sick refugees survived the trek across the desert on foot.
The emigration from Mexico had dropped dramatically after OPERATION INTERCEPT. The Nevadans had speculated that the Mexicans realized that the US was in worse shape than Mexico. Perhaps, they hoped, the conditions in Northern Mexico were not as bad as the Nevadans were led to believe.
However their guesses were far from the truth. In actuality the large porous and unprotected border with Texas proved an easier target for fleeing refugees. Millions would cross the Rio Grande on bridges, travel across in makeshift flotillas, or simply wade across shallow areas in the coming summer months.
A light detachment of National Guard troops were left on the border to help the local “militias” should any disturbances on the border flare up. The rest of the National Guard troops are sent on various missions throughout the state.
A small detachment of National Guard soldiers is sent to the north to try and make contact with any survivors in Utah. After days by truck and by helicopter, they arrived on the Utah border. Hesitantly they crossed. Their jeeps rushed across the desert, past abandoned towns, and monotonous miles of desert.
*Stopping overnight, they stay in an empty supermarket in an empty town. After midnight the sentry woke the rest of the group up, there was a truck bouncing down the highway, and the driver and passengers were armed. The Nevadans hastily barricaded themselves behind shelves and cash registers. The Officer grabs his sidearm and walks into the center of the street.
MARS station 7 in North West Nevada picks up two unusual signals that night.
*This is the Voice of America, broadcasting to you tonight from beautiful Columbia, Washington. Tonight we will be having the President on air for his comments on the Corpse Crisis
AND LATER
*You want to do it?
Why not the border is practically undefended.
Yeah man, but it’s the actual government. Everyone says so.
No WE are all that is left.You don’t want to get in trouble with the General do you?
No, but come on man, you saw those jets.
And we did shoot one down didn’t we?
The message from the Voice of America is what causes the government to start an investigation into the Columbia rumors. After hours of every MARS station and HAM radio in range searching as many frequencies physically possible. Eventually a line between the two governments is connected. The Governor was up all night on the radio. The second message is ignored.
By the end of the week it is announced that a group representing the new government will be flying down from Columbia to visit Nevada. Included is the new President who will attempt to get the people to accept annexation into the Provisional government's control. Much of the government is ecstatic, the weeks of being alone have been lifted twice in two days. However much of the populous is skeptical. Is Ronald Regan alive? And is he doing in Washington? Where in the hell is Columbia, it's not on the map? These questions were hurled at the Governor at his next Town Hall meeting. While he tried to answer as best as he could (we don't know, we don't know, and we don't know respectively.)
*Knock! Knock!
Nothing.
Knock Knock.
“Hold on one minute” says the muffled voice behind the door. In a second it is thrown open.
”Oh my god! You’re alive!”
“Yeah sis I am. How’s the Kid?”
“Oh wait a second. Hey come to the door, your Aunt’s here! Oh my god you’re alive!”
The reunion between The Singer and her Sister drove pangs of sorrow through Rabbit. He hadn’t seen his family in years. The last he had heard, his sister had moved away from the city, his mother died of leukemia, and his dad. Well, he had never met his dad.
Observing the tearful family reunion he had never felt more alone. Though he had kept up a happy façade, the Rabbit had been smothered in depression for the last day or so. This was pushing him over the edge. He went back to the Ice-Cream truck and grabbed their bags out of the back.
After depositing the bags on the doorstep, the Rabbit clamored into the back of the truck. He slid the door open on the freezer and pulled out the last box of ice-cream sandwiches. It looked lonely in there. He carried it with him into the house.
The first person he ran into was the Kid. The Singer’s voice drifted from another room. “We can stay in the guest bedroom until we get our own place.” The Kid pointed to the box. “Is that really ice-cream?” he asked. “Sure kid it is real. Do you want some?” The Kid broke into a sad smile. “I would if I weren’t lactose intolerant.” he poorly pronounced the last two words. The Rabbit looked back, “Me too kid. Me too.”
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