• Prologue

    It started as an argument. President Reginald Stephen Laster was at a meeting with Russian ambassador Dominik Vouri, discussing how we could join forces and rebel against Italian president Crescenzo Moretti, who was in control of all of the world’s nuclear weapons. President Laster insisted that we must have these necessary weapons of mass destruction in case China decided to strike with their most recent invention; the dome-bomb. All it would take is for one disguised suicide bomber to plant one in Oklahoma, and the western half of America would be destroyed. It encloses one area of land in a huge gaseous dome that no one can escape, then BOOM! It kills everyone inside. If we’d only had a few nukes left from the time we destroyed France in the French-American war of 2093, I’m sure we’d be okay, but instead, we were in a huge mess. Anyway, I digress. They were at the meeting, and Ambassador Vouri agreed to become our ally. Laster gave him all of this confidential information about where Moretti had the nukes, and that they would declare war in three months. Then, Laster said the one thing that no leader likes to hear- he told Vouri that his army was way too small and weak, and that he should train his army for him. He said they’d be better off that way. Vouri became furious, and so began the “argument that caused the apocalypse.” Let’s just say, Vouri found the nukes, 548 nukes if you want to be exact, and used them to destroy the whole world as revenge. The few people that lived are now wondering around, scavenging for food. Rumor has it (from the very few people I’ve talked to) that Vouri’s still alive and planning to kill everyone left, but I personally doubt it.

    I survived because, at the time, I was in an ocean tunnel 300 feet under the ocean floor traveling back to America from Europe when I went to see my cousin, when the tunnel began to shake. I thought it was just a huge wave overhead, but when I came out of the tunnel seven hours later, though, I saw it was much more than that. The entire world stank of nauseous gas and everything was dried out and barren. Only a few buildings were left standing. I knew exactly who did it as soon as I saw it. Vouri had caused the apocalypse.










    The Vouri Project











    I look into my backpack and make sure I have everything I need. I take out my checklist:
    Food…check
    Water…check
    Matches…check
    Clothes…check

    I keep checking off things until I get to the bottom of the list of essentials I’ll need in the barren wasteland. I sling the makeshift orange cloth backpack over my right shoulder and proceed to walk out the broken automatic door that used to be full of customers going in and out of the Dollar Mart. As I look at what’s left of my hometown, I remember that I’m actually alone. Not alone as in when you take a nice walk through a forest. Alone as in there is nobody in the neighborhood, nobody in Bliss, Idaho, and for all I know, nobody besides me in the entire world. I know it’d seem like I’d be used to that by now, but it never gets old walking out into a busy street and not having to look both ways. Though it is extremely discouraging knowing that I have no one to help me or to depend on now, it’s not as big of a problem for me as it would be for some others. I was always a practical girl- not one of those who are obsessed with their looks and check their handheld mirrors every five minutes to make sure their hair hasn’t gone all frizzy. I always had what I needed and nothing more.

    I look around and take in the atmosphere. Well, not physically take in, since I’m afraid to breathe in too deeply out here, but mentally take in. The soil is completely useless. It’s dry and might as well be sand. No plant life could possibly live out here. The sky is an odd shade of gray, probably from all of the pollution that the explosion created. There is no sign of animal life so far, which definitely isn’t a good sign, considering animals usually have amazing survival instincts. If they can’t survive out here, who knows what will happen to me?

    I’ve basically run this town dry, so I might as well move on. I used my car to get from southwestern California where the ocean tunnel ended to here in Bliss, but when it ran out of gas, I couldn’t find another one that worked. So I’m determined to discover everywhere I can on foot before I die or… well… you know… get killed. I don’t have a map so I’m just wandering around, eating and sleeping where I can. I begin to walk down a small, winding dirt road that leads out of this horrible excuse for a town. Then, I look up at the sky: the sun is right above me. That’s good. That means that I have at least six hours before dark.

    It’s not like I’m in a hurry or anything, so I allow myself to wander off for a little bit into a small orchard on the edge of town. I sit down on a patch of grass underneath an apple tree and close my eyes, thinking of my old house. We had an orchard there. My dad and I would always get on ladders, pick the fruit off of the trees and drop them down onto blankets and my mom and little brother would always scrub them down making sure they didn’t have any dirt on them. Later that night, Mom would have a delicious apple pie ready for desert. I mentally shake myself out of the daydream. Thinking about home definitely won’t help me out here, so I get up and run out of the orchard quickly.

    I look back up at the sky and see that the sun is about ready to set in the west- it’s time to find some shelter. I look all around me. To my west: an old house…eh…possibly a good shelter. Houses aren’t the sturdiest things around. To the east: More land. To the south…an old cheese cracker factory! Perfect! I quickly run to the broken down factory, extremely famished and tired. I arrive at the door, which looks like it still has its locks, so that’s good. I walk in and-

    ARF!

    I jerk back and nervously feel around on the cold wall for a light switch. I find what feels like one, flip it on and look around.

    “Hello?” I ask. I’m not used to the sound of my own voice and for some reason I cover up my mouth, apparently surprised. I take my hand away. “Hellooooo?” I call again, but I receive no reply.
    ARF!

    “Who is that? What is that? Please come out! I promise I won’t hurt you!” I keep looking around, desperate for a glimpse of someone… something! I begin to hesitantly walk forward when a medium-sized brown Jack Russell Terrier steps out from behind a box. I have to admit- I can use a friend at this point. I get down on my knees and begin to call it to me, “Here, puppy! Here, boy! Come o-”

    But before I can finish, the puppy runs up to me and, obviously delighted to see me, starts licking my face. I laugh and push the puppy down for a minute, then reach into my backpack for one of my emergency granola bars. I unwrap it and feed it to the pitiful, mangy looking canine.

    “I’ll name you… Hermes,” I decide out loud, “Because you’re sure to be doing a lot of traveling.”

    Hermes woofs softly while he eats in agreement. I ruffle his ears.
    “I’m going to go to sleep, now. You make sure not to go anywhere, okay?” I wait for any reply at all, but am only returned with smacking and crunching. Then I proceed to take my blankets, pillow, and one of my flashlights out of my backpack. I walk over to the factory door, shut and bolt it tight, turn my flashlight on, and turn the factory lights (which I’m surprised still work) off. There’s no way I’d want anyone finding out where I was. Who knows if they could be hostile or not? I guide myself with the flashlight over to my pitiable “bed” and get comfortable. Hermes, finished eating, plops down on the blanket and falls asleep. I soon follow his lead and drift off to sleep.

    I wake up in the middle of the night to a deep rumbling. Hermes is howling, evidently annoyed. I quickly get up and, using my flashlight to lead the way, turn the lights on. The rumbling’s irrefutably not in here, and since I won’t be able to get back to sleep with this going on, I unbolt the factory doors and decide to search around. I see nothing, but I notice that when I head south, it gets much louder. I think I know where I’ll be going tomorrow. I proceed to walk back to the factory when a small tattered piece of paper flies into my face. It only has a couple of words on it and is definitely not the entire message. I wait until I get back to the factory to read it. I make sure Hermes is with me before I shut the doors tight. Then I get back to my blankets and read the message. It only says,

    Failed attempts

    “Failed attempts,” I say, hoping that saying it out loud will help me figure out what it means. “What failed attempts? Who could’ve written this?”
    As soon as I speak those words, the rumbling stops. So, instead of staying up and worrying all night, I put the paper in my pocket and go back to sleep.
    I wake up in the morning and say hello to Hermes. Then I eat some cheese crackers I find and stick the rest of the box in my backpack along with all of my other supplies. Hermes is busy eating some cheese crackers himself and tags along with me when I head out the door. I know exactly where I’m headed. I begin to walk south. Hermes and I walk for a few miles when I stop at a small pond to take a break. I drink some of the water I have in my backpack and pet Hermes, who wags his tail contently. Then, I look over to the other side of the pond and see yet another sheet of paper. I amble over to pick it up.
    Plan to ………… will come …. effect is all I can make out. The paper is the same type of paper I found last night.

    Failed attempt..…plan to……….will come….effect.

    I look at these two pieces of paper side by side and have no idea what they mean, but I’m sure they mean something. The only thing I can do now is keep heading south. I walk until I reach another town. This town, I notice, has people. It’s very small and has about eight buildings which are made out of scrap wood and metal. I get excited to actually see people and run to the entrance. Maybe the person who’s causing all the strangeness is in this town.
    “Well howdy!” Says a tall man, no older than 20. He has long, thick, blonde hair and baby blue eyes. He looks like something you would see only in movies. “What brings you here to Texlasee?”

    “Texlasee?” I ask, confused.

    “Texlasee! All the best of the south- Texas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee!”

    “Oh, ok. Well, um, I was just wandering around the country…”

    “Say no more, lassie. Here in Texlasee, you don’t have to worry about the dangers of the outside. You’re safe here!”

    “Well, thanks, but I was just hoping so stay here for a little while. I have somewhere to be.” It’s not a lie. I have to find the origin of this weirdness.

    “Okie dokie! I understand! Well if ya don’t mind, I’ll give ya a tour of the place!”

    “Sure, why not?” I say mostly just to be polite. I really don’t want a tour, but figure that I can take notice of the people and try to find any eeriness.

    “Can I ask you what yer name is, lassie?”
    I stop and think for a second before I give him my boring birth name, Kristin Johnson. This, I thought, would be the perfect opportunity to change my name.

    “Nothing.” I reply. “I don’t have a name.”

    What? I think it’s cool! It sounds intimidating.

    “Well, nice ta meet ya, Nothing! I’m Redford Thirtyfortytwo!”
    “3042?”

    “Well, it’s not my real name, but that was a real good year for me, considering it was the year I was born!”

    I think for a second and realize that his name is no better than mine.
    I hold out my hand for him to shake. Redford 3042, being the country boy he is, shakes my hand jerkily and fast.

    “Come on! I’ll show ya everyone!” He says.

    After the first three hours of slow, country small talk with everyone in town and sweet tea on the front porch of Redford 3042’s house (who sure knows how to make some good sweet tea), I was ready to leave this town forever and never, ever come back.. I know, of course, that I can’t do that. Not because Redford 3042 won’t let me leave, but because I’m looking for someone… or something. I reach down to pet Hermes’ head.

    “What’s his name?” Redford 3042 asks, looking at Hermes.

    “Hermes,” I reply, “After the Greek messenger of the gods. He did a lot of traveling, just like Hermes.” I pat my Hermes’ head. Redford 3042 nods his head in understanding. Then, realizing I have truly have nothing to worry about here, I lean back in the lawn chair that Redford 3042 let me sit in. Maybe I can spend a while here, though I would have to find somewhere to sleep. That reminds me-

    “Redford?” I ask.

    “Hmm?”

    “Last night, did you hear any rumbling?”

    “Rumbling?” He asks, suddenly strangely fidgety, and is avoiding any eye contact. “Whattya mean rumbling?”

    “Rumbling! Like…like an earthquake, but not as intense.”

    “No! Of course not!” He yells, gradually becoming more and more defensive.
    I lean back in my chair again and groan, desperately wishing that I could go back thirty seconds when I believed that I had not a worry.

    “Mmkay,” I say, making sure the skeptic in me stands out, “whatever you say.”

    “Hey, ya want some more iced tea?” Redford 3042 asks, as if trying to avoid the subject.
    Before I can answer, Redford 3042 grabs my tea glass and runs into his pitiful little scrap metal house while bumping into my side. He is such an odd fellow.
    As the sun begins to set in the west, I’m still sitting on Redford 3042’s front porch.

    “Well,” he began, “It’s gettin’ late. Ya better be on yer way, now.”

    This is undeniably strange. This is the man that just a few hours ago kept insisting that I have “one more glass” of iced tea.

    “On my way? You mean I can’t stay here tonight? I have nowhere else to stay!”

    “Ooooh. Um, we don’t really have much room here. Sorry. Goodnight!” He says, and then goes into his house. There is something definitely up with that man. Instead of leaving like he obviously wants me to, I stick around, looking through his side window that’s made of a piece of broken glass. I know it sounds like I’m being a bad person, but I’ve got to figure out what’s up with this guy.

    I see him sit down at a little busted mirror and look at himself. Then, he takes a bucket of water and washes his face. You will never believe it, but right before my eyes, he turns from a cute Texlasee cowboy to a creepy, old man. I have no idea what he put on his face to make him look like the young cowboy he was just ten seconds ago. It fooled me! I nearly gasp, but cover my mouth. I look around his house for anything else that might be strange, and see a book. It’s a journal, I notice- and an open one, too. It has a few ripped up pages and I can see the handwriting. I reach into my pocket for the two pieces of paper I found and stop cold when I realize they’re not there. He must’ve taken them when he bumped into me earlier. Man, he was smooth. I try to find his name somewhere on the pages but have no luck. Then, in the middle of my mental jigsaw puzzle, I notice something Redford 3042 does. He slides open a small, disguised panel on his floor and walks down into it. Then he slides it back. I wait a few minutes and decide that he’s not coming back up. What could be down there? Who is Redford 3042?

    I tiptoe to his front door that’s barely hanging on two hinges and slowly open it, making sure to leave Hermes on the porch. I look around inside. It seems like a pretty normal place. Then I go over to the journal and read the first entry I see. It has the two pieces of paper taped back into it and some parts have been written over with a different color ink from the original. It reads:

    My failed attempts at total world destruction disappoint me. There still remains too many people. I would like to use the few nukes I have left, but they might not work, and people might find out who I really am. I will try to re-create the dome bomb, but make it bigger this time. I would also like to keep Joanna, a woman from the town I created, Texlasee, for myself and we can start our own world afterwards. I know for sure that my plan to truly destroy this generation of humankind will come into effect soon.

    Already nervous, I flip the cover over and look at the name on it:

    Dominik Vouri.

    I freeze. I’m not just nervous anymore. I don’t know what to do. I just had a conversation with the man who killed everyone I knew and loved, who killed pretty much everyone in the entire world. I mean, ever since Redford 3042… I mean, uh… Dominik Vouri started acting strange I kind of had the idea, but never let myself believe it. I stagger back. What can I do? Do the people in this town know who he is? I look around for any weapons. Surely Dominik has some weapons around here. I find a safe in the corner of the room and easily bust it open. Of course, it contains an AK-47. I take it out and make sure it’s loaded. I’ve never used one, but it can’t be that hard, right? Then, I stand in front of the sliding door, trying only to focus on killing Vouri. I can’t turn around. I can’t go back outside. I would be a coward, and if I survived the second apocalypse I would never forgive myself. I know I have to go in there.

    I quietly slide the door open and step inside, going down the staircase that’s there, my heartbeat getting faster with every step. I am about to kill the deadliest and most wanted man in the entire world. Am I crazy? I’m just a teenager! I can’t destroy him! Blocking all of these negative (yet so, so true) thoughts from my head, I keep descending the seemingly never-ending staircase. When I reach the bottom stair, I look around and can’t believe my eyes. First of all, I am following through with a plan to kill someone more evil than Hitler, who is smarter than Steven Hawking- and I just now came up with it. Secondly, I am standing in the largest arsenal possibly ever known to man. There are weapons in here so high-tech, I don’t think I can dream of them. I also see an extremely large test area with a bunch of flashing lights and blinking things, which is most likely the cause of the rumbling last night. What I am about to do is extremely risky and crucial, but necessary. As long as he doesn’t see me I’m sure I’ll be fine…not.

    I look around for Vouri, and when I finally spot him, I’m afraid my heartbeat might give me away. He’s standing next to a table with a large gun and some tools, apparently fixing it. I can feel my hands start to shake. I take a few measured, deep breaths to calm myself, slowly take the gun up to my eye and secure the butt between my arm and my side. Then I make sure to get the most precise aim, putting the sight on his head, which I make sure won’t move anytime soon. I clear my mind, put my finger on the trigger, and-
    Before I know what happened, I am lying on the floor, in a complete daze. Have I been shot? I can’t move my head so that’s just what I will assume. I knew he’d be too quick for me. I try to look around for Vouri, and when I see him across the room, also lying on the floor, I relax. I must’ve shot him! Yes, I know. I am dying. But when I came down here with a plan to kill the man who destroyed the world, I was also taking the extremely large chance of being killed. I squint, trying to see if he’s okay or not. I see him close his eyes, and with a long, last gasp, he stops breathing all together. I close my eyes, too. When I die, at least I’ll die having done the right thing.

    I take one extensive, last breath…