Tent City

Chapter 6 - Andy

Another night of insomnia, I sighed to myself as I twisted and turned, getting tangled in the military-issued blankets. I looked up at the ominous cement ceiling. Whenever I looked up, it seemed that the ceiling appeared to be getting lower and lower.

I sighed again, wrestled my way out of the blankets, and paced around my room. The room was supposed to be one of the biggest in the bunker. A perfect room for a militia leader. This room used to belong to a weapons scientist.

To tell you the truth, this whole bunker belonged to a group of wealthy weapons scientists and their families. Their sole purpose was to create weapons that cause more damage but were more compact, easily transported in the backpacks of soldiers, and could create the same amount of damage as a bomb three times its size.

That was until Lee and I led an unnamed freedom fighter group made up of a rag-tag mix of people, with varying degrees of experience, and claimed the bunker as our headquarters.

The bunker dwellers left without much of a fight. They knew they were outnumbered, outgunned, and by leaving, they'd save their pathetic, privileged lives.

Only a small number of bunker dwellers remained; a couple of engineers who decided to join us and our cause, plus a solitary doctor, Doctor Su. She was a surface dweller like us once and witnessed the pain and suffering that all surface dwellers experienced, while the wealthy, and the whole reason we were suffering lived their lives unaffected underground in the bunkers created purely for them. She wanted to be our Militia's Medical Doctor, and both Lee and I agreed that it would be of great use to have an actual doctor within our midst. Not many militia groups were lucky enough to have a doctor in their ranks.

Our group was the first-ever militia group that claimed a bunker as our own. Thanks to our influence, four other militia groups have successfully claimed bunkers as their own. We keep in contact with them, and we are stronger together.

I sat down on the edge of my bed, no more sleep for me, I sighed. I was already exhausted, I was lucky to get four to five hours of sleep a night. Doctor Su offered me medication to help, but our medical supplies were critically low, and it would be selfish of me to take medication that could be used to help others. So I push through it.

I decided to go to the common room, which had books, maybe reading would help me get tired.

I exited my room and walked down the cold, sterile, hall to the common room. I was happy to find it empty of people. I searched through the bookcase and found a book that looked boring as fuck. I opened it up, and from what I saw of the diagrams, the book was about agriculture, irrigation systems, and what systems worked best for crops of various types, such as rice or wheat, etc.

Yep, this would put me to sleep, I thought to myself. I don't believe I was ever interested in irrigation systems. I read through the lines of technical jargon, and complex diagrams, this book was not for a layman like me.

I heard the door open, I looked up... Shit, it was Marcie. She was the last person I wanted to see. Shit. I whispered to myself. I hoped that Marcie did not recognise me, as my face was in the book. Unfortunately, I was not that lucky.

"Ahh! Andy, fancy seeing you here. Still having trouble sleeping?" She said as she approached me. I was stuck.

"Uhh! Yeah." I said, faking interest in the book.

"Irrigation systems for the propagation of grain crops...hmm, that doesn't sound like a very interesting book, let alone an interest that you would partake in. Unless this is a side of Andy that I have not seen, and believe me I've seen all sides of you.." She whispered in my ear.

"Ummm! I should get going." I squeaked in urgency, as I tried to stand from my seat.

"Oh, Andy, I can help you with your insomnia. After all, I've helped you many times before. All you have to do is ask me to go back to your room." Marcie whispered, seductively as she firmly placed her hand on my shoulder, preventing me from standing.

"Umm, No thanks, Marcie. There's no need for you to come back to my room. I'll be OK. Now if you'll excuse me.." I said awkwardly as I tried to stand.

"Oh," Marcie replied disappointed, "But, you didn't refuse my offer last week and the week before that, and you slept like a baby after...Are you sure?"

"Ahh! Yes, I'm sure. Uhh, Goodnight Marcie." I stuttered as I escaped the room.

Once I was back in my bedroom, I let out a sigh of relief. I did have a weakness for hot chicks, and Marcie was hot. She had killer curves, smouldering brown eyes, and wild curly hair. She also had a fiery temper, I'm not sure if she got that from her Italian father or her Mexican mother. I couldn't believe that we dated for a couple of years.

I ended it, we just weren't that compatible. She was fiery, confident, and outgoing, not to mention she was so freaking attractive. I was the opposite of her, I was calm, awkward, and very introverted and I wouldn't consider myself "hot".

Our break lasted a year with moments of weakness, I'm ashamed to admit. However, we just couldn't keep away from each other, and I couldn't date her again. We settled for more of a casual relationship.

That "casual" relationship has been going on for 6 months now, I wish I could just quit Marcie, but I struggle every day.

Maybe, to cure myself of Marcie, I need to find a person that I can fall in love with, and then, maybe, I can finally quit and forget about Marcie.

I lay down on my bed, again staring at the ceiling. I don't know how, but I managed to sleep, it was only a small sleep, as the shrill ringing of my alarm filled the room. I groaned and rolled out of bed, tired. I hated my inability to sleep. I cursed my alarm.

I started the day tired, but that soon changed when a crackling voice spoke over the portable radio we carried.

"Attention Andy, sir. There's been a sighting of a wanderer within our territory. The wanderer is a young female, with red hair, wearing tattered clothing, she looks to be in a bad way and heading for Lake illusion. How would you like us to proceed? Over."

"Keep her under surveillance. Don't approach her, keep your distance. I will take a few soldiers and intercept her at Lake Illusion. Over." I replied.

"Understood. Over."

I quickly gathered about 8 of my soldiers, including Marcie and drove one of our vehicles to Lake Illusion. I hoped that by the time we reached the wanderer she hadn't had a drink from the Lake.

The lake was contaminated as the chemical runoff from the wastelands had made its way into the water basin and as a result created, Lake Illusion.

The whole reason that the lake was called Lake Illusion was that it appeared clean and safe to drink from, which was not the case. Many wanderers have fallen for the Illusion of clean, safe drinking water, but have died before we could reach them. It all depended on the amount of water the victims had consumed. I found the wanderer crawling in the water, letting it cool her down.

"Oi! Stop! Don't drink the water. I repeat don't drink the fucking water." I yelled, she stopped crawling in the water, looked over at me, and her face reflected shock, and bewilderment. Her skin was very pale. That's when I knew I had arrived too late, she had consumed water from the Lake.

"How much water have you digested?"

"Uh, I don't know, maybe the equivalent of about two cups. Why do you ask?" She answered nervously. Before she started to sway, she was close to collapse.

"Fucking idiot, the water is contaminated with chemicals, which have leeched into the water basin from the wastelands. You'll need medical attention." I was unbelievably angry at this point.

I told Marcie and Alice to take her back to the vehicle and drive her to Dr Su for medical attention. They carried the barely conscious wanderer to the vehicle. As they were leaving, the wanderer mentioned another name, Ben, and a vague description of where he was.

I urged Marcie and Alice to hurry as the wanderer was now unconscious. She didn't have much time left and would die without medical intervention. I reassured them that I'll keep at least 1 of the other soldiers with me and that the rest could return to base with them.

From the description of the area that the wanderer had given me, I had a slight idea of where it was. I motioned for the other soldier to follow me. It was quite a walk to the other wanderer.