The Earth that Once Was

In the beginning, we believed we could build a world of peace, harmony, and equality. The goal was to eradicate human evil and establish equal power for everyone. No more hating people because of their skin color. No more police brutality. And no more death. However, the New Sun Body made achieving this utopian vision nearly impossible.

Prologue

A few years after the fallout of Mensfield, survivors gathered and moved into an underground city that was originally built as a tourist attraction, naming it Defacity. The settlement quickly became a military faction, and an organization was formed for the soldiers, called the New Sun Body, or NSB. Despite the initial goal to ensure equality in rule, everything NSB ordered was obeyed. Was it because of their guns? Or because they promised protection? Regardless of the reason, what NSB says goes. No one ever questioned it. Soon after NSB was established, scavengers emerged—people risking their lives daily to gather supplies in the wastelands—and they were called Bloodhounds.

The soldiers would line up thousands of people daily to assess their eligibility to work by checking their physical condition. Are they young? In decent shape? Sick? Those were the questions they needed answered. If deemed ineligible, citizens stayed in Defacity under NSB and Bloodhound care. I was chosen to be a Bloodhound. They handed out gas masks, and told us to wear clothes covering all of our skin to avoid radiation exposure. It was easy at first—we left Defacity, wandered the wastelands, explored abandoned houses for a set period, and brought back anything useful. I befriended my co-workers—Andrea Schafer and Marvin Abril—a friendly pair. They made scavenging enjoyable, always cracking jokes and keeping the mood light. I thought that was the best way to work. But we weren't happy for long.

Chapter 1

Glenn packed canned goods into his knapsack, reaching into the pantry repeatedly for more cans until it was full. He fastened the straps and hoisted the bag onto his back, walking over to his waiting friends.

“Ready to go back?” Marvin asked, his voice muffled through his gas mask. He glanced at Glenn and Andrea’s overflowing bags. Glenn nodded, and the team started heading back to Defacity. Glenn’s eyes occasionally scanned the surroundings—trash and rubble strewn across the streets, shadows forever cast on the buildings, and another team of Bloodhounds in the far distance. He then looked ahead, failing to notice the large colony of desperate survivors stalking nearby.

“Did anybody find anything other than food and metal scraps?” Glenn asked suddenly, looking over at his co-workers. Marvin shook his head, but Andrea nodded.

“I did,” Andrea perked up, “I found pills. A bottle of ibuprofen, some antacids, and a few bottles of water.” Marvin smiled in admiration, though it wasn’t entirely visible.

“Nice job, Andy!” he exclaimed, patting her on the back. She smiled in response, and the trio continued to head towards Defacity.

Finally, the team of Bloodhounds reached the trapdoor. Three NSB guards stood there with guns. One standing at the left, another standing on the right, and the third in the front. The third and biggest guard stood forward.

"Provide the code word and salute to enter." He commanded, his voice gruff and muffled.

"Dein," Andy said, before forming a circle over her chest with her index finger and thumb, representing the body of the sun. She curled her remaining fingers subtly to represent the sun's rays. Glenn and Marvin did the Dein salute as well. Finally, one of the guards grabbed the latch and pulled it open, watching as Andy, Marvin, and Glenn climbed in, shutting the door behind them. The group walked down the one-hundred meter stairs for a quick three minutes, the underground city coming into view.

Various apartment complexes, vandalized stores with distinct red X's crossed over the mascots' faces, Greenthumbs tending to greenhouses, and citizens lounging around in cafeterias, eating their daily fish, vegetables, and oat bread. The group walked over to one of the defaced stores. The original name underneath was illegible, but the current name was spray painted in red and read 'Bloodhound Drop-Off.' There was a large chute in the ground that led to the Inspection Room. Items brought back from expeditions would be examined before use. They each slipped off their bags and emptied the contents into the chute, hearing the workers start to chatter from below.

They were done for the day. Another trio of Bloodhounds walked past, their own eight hour expedition starting. They were formulating a plan to strictly find scraps for the engineers to build AWGs (atmospheric water generators), for the Greenthumb's greenhouses.

Glenn, Andrea, and Marvin watched the other team of Bloodhounds, pulling off their gas masks and removing the used filters before tossing them into the trash right outside BDO. Glenn was a brunet, Andy was a blonde, and Marvin had a head of ginger hair paired with a slight subtle

"Gr eat job today, guys! Let's go eat soup." He said, draping his arms over the shoulders of Glenn and Andrea, not waiting for their responses and leading them over to a food shack nearby. Just as the trio was about to place an order at 'Slurp it Up,' they heard loud rumbling overhead. They looked at one another skeptically. Marvin opened his mouth to speak, but a group of thirteen NSB soldiers ran past in a hurry. A few of them moved with such haste that they were still reloading. Something wasn't right.

Marvin suddenly withdrew his arms from his co-workers shoulders, following after the soldiers. Glenn didn't spare a second thought, hurrying after Marvin. Andy groaned with distaste before rushing behind. What are these idiots doing?

Andy and Glenn reached the start of the stairs, pausing to try and catch their breaths. They saw Marvin try to push past the soldiers, but get shoved back. The trap door opened, and hundreds of people were suddenly gathered around the entrance, begging for water and a place to stay. Their desperation had overridden their fear, and they didn't care at all about the guns pointed in their direction.

"We will share our water, but not our place." One of the soldier's said, lowering their gun. "There are too many of you who have been exposed to radiation, and we don't have the proper care, nor do understand its effects. We're not going to put our citizens at risk." The NSB officer then turned to the others, waving a hand in some sort of gesture. The twelve other soldiers understood, turning around and hurrying back down the stairs, each of them shoving Marvin out of the way. Marvin muttered curses under his breath, slowly climbing down the stairs and walking back over to Andy and Glenn. Andy crossed her arms over her chest and raised a brow skeptically.

"What the hell was that about, Marvin?" She asked with a small scoff, "you took off running like a kid in a candy store." Glenn glanced at Andy as she spoke, now looking back at Marvin and also curious. Marvin shrugged, a goofy grin spreading across his face.

"I dunno." He said cooly, walking off to a nearby food shack named 'Hungry Dogs,' pointing at some fish jerky on a rack. The vendor handed him a decently sized piece of jerky and he took it, walking back over to the du0. He took a bite. "I thought it was a group of mutants." Andy raised a brow at that, turning to look at Glenn for clarification. Glenn just shrugged.

"...Mutants?" She repeated, now intrigued, "what do you mean?" Marvin suddenly pounded a fist on his chest, commenting about how the fish was a hard swallow. Finally, he resumed.

"Well, this morning I overheard a few citizens talking about what they heard on the radio," He said, finishing the rest of his fish jerky before stroking the stubble on his chin, "I don't know what they said for sure, but they mentioned Bloodhounds in the area going missing. Witnesses claimed to have seen Bloodhound members, but they were... different."

Glenn's brows raised in shock. He looked over at Andy for a quick second, her expression mirroring his, before looking back at Marvin. "What do you mean by 'different?'" Glenn asked, his gaze briefly drifting over to the horde of survivors outside.

Marvin's hand dropped from his chin and landed on his hip. "I'm not entirely sure. Apparently they were acting unusual. Aggressive, ravenous, and animalistic. Others claimed they were deformed. Such as growing another eyeball." Andy's expression deadpanned and she let out a small chuckle.

"You lost me." She said, nudging Glenn. Glenn smirked slightly. Marvin huffed out a small laugh before shrugging.

"Yeah, it sounds crazy, huh? I don't believe any of it. It's definitely just fear mongering." Just as Marvin was about to change the subject, the twelve NSB soldiers returned with six ten-gallon jugs, two soldiers carrying one for easier transportation. They walked over to the stairs, passing them up and out of the trapdoor. The survivors quickly pried off the lids, scooping water into their hands and drinking their fill like rabid beasts. They sounded like they were... snarling? Within minutes, the water was completely gone. The group thanked the soldiers before walking further into the wastelands without proper protection. The three guards remained outside, returning the six jugs before shutting the trapdoor. The thirteen NSB soldiers carried the empty jugs, muttering cruel things about the survivors. "Those weren't humans," "That was fucking weird," "Did you see their faces?" and "We should've shot them dead."

In that moment, the trio believed the rumors and the myths. Just for a second.