Living Radioactive

[kindaemissary]

PREMISE


After a nuclear war devastates what used to be North America, there are only a few survivors. With most of the earth and air being toxic, they must wear gas masks to make it day to day. Our characters would stumble upon each other by accident and, once they become acquainted enough with each other, journey together in the search for safe zones.


SETTING


Starting in the middle of winter. All locations in continental US and Canada.

 

[kindaemissary]

Bundled up against the fierce force of snow, Brennan faced the winter with stride. It was devastatingly cold, and the sting hissed against his face with every step he took forward. Eighteen inches of snow lay on the ground, caked with ice, and the trek got harder to bare as he got closer to an end. Then again, so far Brennan had no plan. He had been backpacking across the country for the past couple of weeks; ever since the first explosions. Prior to this, Brennan had never hiked before. Mountains and valleys were something he never had to deal with, and now, since the entire world was sick, he had been traveling like this.


He wore two pairs of pants under his snow pants. Three pairs of socks. His boots were warm enough, and they didn't let in any water. They were the ideal winter boot, but Brennan knew that after a while they would ware down and he'd have to find another pair. Under his coat, he wore a long sleeve t-shirt, a sweater, and another coat. His main jacket reached down to his knees - he had a feeling that it was a women's coat - but under even the thickest of layers his chest still froze. There were two pairs of gloves on his hand. One for warmth and one to protect from water. He probably looked like an eskimo from far away, but since he was almost warm, he didn't complain.


On his head were two hats, and over them was the beginnings of Brennan's gas mask. The explosions had destroyed the ability to breathe normally without the use of one. It had been a while since Brennan had felt fresh air swoop down his lungs, but it was fine. At least he was still alive.


The cold was bearable even as it seeped in through each crevice of his clothes that it could find. He had experienced colder winters. The only difference with this one was that he had been outside for most of it. No hot chocolate to come into after a long snowball fight. No fireplace to curl up to after a long time of shoveling snow. No warm shower to soak in before the frostbite settled. Each time he stopped, he camped out in abandoned houses in the little towns he came across. He could only take the gas mask off for a small amount of time before he needed it again to breathe, but in those little breaks he was able to eat, drink, and shower. Then he'd sleep with it on and, when he woke in the morning, do the same routine again before he left.


It got lonely. Brennan didn't think that he'd talked to anyone in the past few weeks. At least for more than a five minute conversation. Walking by yourself for long periods of time wasn't the problem. There was no companionship. Brennan was often locked in his head, and even if he had small talk with someone about where were good places to go, there wasn't much to talk about. He spent far too much time in his head.


For the past couple of hours he had been traveling south. He had a map in his backpack that he checked once in a while because the radiation had wiped out the possibility of using a cell phone. Otherwise he'd be using a GPS. From what he could tell, it was a little after three. He had started walking a little after noon when his midday break ended and hadn't checked his watch for the last couple of hours. It would burn too much if he looked at the time while walking considering the impending cold. He really missed weather reports and meteorologists. Even though they were often wrong, he missed the comfort of seeing them on TV. Now all he had was hope, and that wasn't enough to keep him warm.


After a few more minutes of walking, he stopped and pulled his backpack off. He set it to the ground and pulled out a water bottle. It was hard to navigate around the gas mask, but he managed to get something to drink before it became too difficult. He double checked his food supply - canned fruits and spam - before zipping the bag back up and continuing on. He wore his backpack, and in front of his backpack was a strapped on medical kit. He had taken the bag from a sports store shortly after everything went crazy and it had an attached case for something else, and with his little knowledge about the world at this point, Brennan made the case a med kit. Better safe than sorry.


Brennan started walking again and tightened the straps on his backpack before they started to slip. He would walk for another half hour, maybe an hour, before he'd find somewhere to stay for the night. If he remembered correctly, the next town was a few miles away. He'd make camp there for the night and then continue south in the morning. It would get dark around five and he wanted to be inside by then.