40
Barett watched as the remaining Quail Hill soldiers ran down the road, the Easterners were still firing. Barett checked himself to make sure he wasn’t shot and luckily, he wasn’t. He walked over to the nearest Eastern soldier and asked what he could do to help.
“Here take these,” the soldier handed him a pile of bandages, “give these to anyone who needs them.”
“Okay,” replied Barett simply.
He went around the front of the hospital, giving bandages to wounded soldiers. He didn’t realise how many people had died until then. There were bodies everywhere and bullet impacts and blood stains on the street and nearby cars. After an hour or two, the dead and wounded had been brought inside the hospital. Barett helped where he could and after a while, the soldier that he had talked to earlier came up to him.
“Sorry for the slight interruption,” the soldier said, “my name is Elijah, by the way,”
“Will there be any way to help my mom?”
“Actually, I think we can help her,”
“How?”
“We Easterners don’t just specialise in combat,”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I’ll show you,”
Elijah led Barett into the hospital. He led him up many flights of stairs and onto the damaged roof. On the roof was a helipad, on the helipad was what Barett thought was a helicopter.
“You know what this is?” asked Elijah.
“A helicopter?” replied Barett uncertainty.
“This is a Vertibird. The finest piece of American air superiority,” Elijah answered.
It was not very tall, maybe eight or nine feet. It looked very buglike with six skinny landing legs, three on each side, with the furthest back being slightly larger than the others. It had two rotors that were held up on each side by thick, rusty metal wings. The cockpit was covered in a layer of glass, with four spherical bulges coming out, two on each side. The tail section was similar to a plane, with one tail fin going up and two elevators going out on each side.
“It looks weird,” said Barett.
“Yeah, I could see why someone would think that,” Elijah replied.
They entered via a door on the side. There were already two pilots in the cockpit and a couple people Barett assumed were medical personnel. He watched out the front window as the vertical propellers began to spin faster and faster until they were no longer on the ground. Once they were an appropriate height off the ground, the rotors tilted forwards and they began flying like a plane. The flight to Barett’s house wasn’t long, but Barett learned some things about the Easterners on the way there.
The Great Easterners were more than the tan soldiers at the hospital, they were, in fact, multiple groups that shared territory across a large portion of eastern Colorado and some of western Utah. The group that Barett was with now was from Fort Carson, which, despite being a military target, was spared from nuclear annihilation. After the attack, the survivors at Fort Carson had raided the armoury and headed into southern Colorado Springs, knowing there would be less of a chance for them to be found there. They set up base in the UCHealth hospital, and eventually were integrated into the Great Easterners. Some of the other groups, like the Enclave, had their own agendas, and were only part of the Easterners to have more land and allies. Others, like the Elbert Clan, needed the protection of the other Easterners due to their small size. Barett asked why they wore tan, when it stood out so much. He learned that they wore it to stand out and show that they were not afraid of other factions that might try to attack them. The tan armour was also just easy to find after the Fourth Gulf War.
The Eastern soldiers that were telling Barett these things weren't able to finish before they landed near Barett’s house. They got out, and walked a block or so to Barett’s home. Seeing a neighbourhood in such great condition felt a little foreign, but refreshing to Barett after the destruction he had witnessed in Colorado Springs. His house was a small, white, two-story building that was almost completely undamaged, aside from the fallout that covered everything. They walked to the back of the house and opened the door in the ground.
The bunker was very small, only six feet tall and maybe nine feet wide. There were two sleeping bags, one was occupied by his mom. There were several shelves of food and water, though there was not much left.
“Mom, I got some help,” Barett said.
“You’ll need to leave the shelter if we are going to be able to help your mom,” said Elijah.
“Okay,” Barett left the small metal-covered hole in the ground. He looked around at all the destruction and realised what he had actually done in the past couple of days. He had walked over sixteen miles in the Colorado wastes, was kidnapped and then freed, fought in a big battle against rival factions, and flew in a helicopter-plane thing. He had killed people, but he had also saved people from dying. He had almost died himself.
It was only a few minutes before Elijah came out of the bunker.
“I’m sorry. So, so sorry,” he said. “We couldn’t save her.”
Barett crouched into the bunker and cried. Everything that had happened in the past two days was for nothing, and now, Barett was alone.
“Here take these,” the soldier handed him a pile of bandages, “give these to anyone who needs them.”
“Okay,” replied Barett simply.
He went around the front of the hospital, giving bandages to wounded soldiers. He didn’t realise how many people had died until then. There were bodies everywhere and bullet impacts and blood stains on the street and nearby cars. After an hour or two, the dead and wounded had been brought inside the hospital. Barett helped where he could and after a while, the soldier that he had talked to earlier came up to him.
“Sorry for the slight interruption,” the soldier said, “my name is Elijah, by the way,”
“Will there be any way to help my mom?”
“Actually, I think we can help her,”
“How?”
“We Easterners don’t just specialise in combat,”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I’ll show you,”
Elijah led Barett into the hospital. He led him up many flights of stairs and onto the damaged roof. On the roof was a helipad, on the helipad was what Barett thought was a helicopter.
“You know what this is?” asked Elijah.
“A helicopter?” replied Barett uncertainty.
“This is a Vertibird. The finest piece of American air superiority,” Elijah answered.
It was not very tall, maybe eight or nine feet. It looked very buglike with six skinny landing legs, three on each side, with the furthest back being slightly larger than the others. It had two rotors that were held up on each side by thick, rusty metal wings. The cockpit was covered in a layer of glass, with four spherical bulges coming out, two on each side. The tail section was similar to a plane, with one tail fin going up and two elevators going out on each side.
“It looks weird,” said Barett.
“Yeah, I could see why someone would think that,” Elijah replied.
They entered via a door on the side. There were already two pilots in the cockpit and a couple people Barett assumed were medical personnel. He watched out the front window as the vertical propellers began to spin faster and faster until they were no longer on the ground. Once they were an appropriate height off the ground, the rotors tilted forwards and they began flying like a plane. The flight to Barett’s house wasn’t long, but Barett learned some things about the Easterners on the way there.
The Great Easterners were more than the tan soldiers at the hospital, they were, in fact, multiple groups that shared territory across a large portion of eastern Colorado and some of western Utah. The group that Barett was with now was from Fort Carson, which, despite being a military target, was spared from nuclear annihilation. After the attack, the survivors at Fort Carson had raided the armoury and headed into southern Colorado Springs, knowing there would be less of a chance for them to be found there. They set up base in the UCHealth hospital, and eventually were integrated into the Great Easterners. Some of the other groups, like the Enclave, had their own agendas, and were only part of the Easterners to have more land and allies. Others, like the Elbert Clan, needed the protection of the other Easterners due to their small size. Barett asked why they wore tan, when it stood out so much. He learned that they wore it to stand out and show that they were not afraid of other factions that might try to attack them. The tan armour was also just easy to find after the Fourth Gulf War.
The Eastern soldiers that were telling Barett these things weren't able to finish before they landed near Barett’s house. They got out, and walked a block or so to Barett’s home. Seeing a neighbourhood in such great condition felt a little foreign, but refreshing to Barett after the destruction he had witnessed in Colorado Springs. His house was a small, white, two-story building that was almost completely undamaged, aside from the fallout that covered everything. They walked to the back of the house and opened the door in the ground.
The bunker was very small, only six feet tall and maybe nine feet wide. There were two sleeping bags, one was occupied by his mom. There were several shelves of food and water, though there was not much left.
“Mom, I got some help,” Barett said.
“You’ll need to leave the shelter if we are going to be able to help your mom,” said Elijah.
“Okay,” Barett left the small metal-covered hole in the ground. He looked around at all the destruction and realised what he had actually done in the past couple of days. He had walked over sixteen miles in the Colorado wastes, was kidnapped and then freed, fought in a big battle against rival factions, and flew in a helicopter-plane thing. He had killed people, but he had also saved people from dying. He had almost died himself.
It was only a few minutes before Elijah came out of the bunker.
“I’m sorry. So, so sorry,” he said. “We couldn’t save her.”
Barett crouched into the bunker and cried. Everything that had happened in the past two days was for nothing, and now, Barett was alone.
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