Fission

Chapter 2

:Emergency: New Orleans has been hit with a Nuke. seek shelter now.:

Camila was in shock. Her family was in New Orleans and a bomb just hit, was this true? Camila's mind flooded with so much emotion that she forgot she was driving for a moment. When she looked up from her phone, Camila had to swerve to avoid hitting a van coming in her direction. Camila was able to steady the car and park it on the side of the highway. The Van drove past her and flipped into the grass area of the highway. The driver crawled out of the van groaning. Camila shoved her phone into her pocket and ran over to check on the man on the ground. He was dressed in a police uniform that was stained with blood droplets. He clenched his chest and gasped. It was as if he was having a heart attack. Camila could only kneel beside him panicking.

"What is wrong... Sir!" She looked around for anyone to help, but others were wrecking or speeding by in a panic-like state. The sounds of yelling from the van caused her to turn and look at the smoking van. There were more people inside. Camila stood up and ran to the busted window and bent over to look inside.

" Help! We are cuffed." One man said.

"Get the key lady!" Another hollered.

"Where are the keys?" Camila yelled back.

"On the guard." The one man motioned for Camila to go back to the man on the ground. Cam stood up and ran back to the guard. He was now passed out or dead, Cam could not tell. She did not have time to figure it out. She needed to get those men out of the van before they caught fire. She quickly reached into the pockets of the man and grabbed the keys. Without delay, Camila ran back toward the van. She was able to slide the van's door open and wedge her way inside. She then quickly began to use the keys to unlock all the shackles on the men. She was able to free two out of the four inside. The first man took off running down the road, but the second man that was freed stayed to help Camila. The two managed to get the other two men who were still inside out. One of the prisoners hobbled to the guard and bent down to check his pulse.

"Yo, he is dead."

"We need to call an ambulance." The other man spoke in a raspy voice.

"I doubt anyone is coming to help," Camila spoke up. The men quickly turned to look at her. She took out her phone to show them as she stood there shaking. The one man that was closest to her reached out to take the phone.

"A nuclear bomb has hit New Orleans."

"Why?!From who? Who shot a bomb at us?" The other man asked.

"I don't know Colby. We need to find and get as far away from the city as possible."

"Yeah, fallout and if there are any more bombs coming." the other man that was beside the guard spoke up. He walked towards Camila and held out his hand.

"I am Ian, that is Colby and the other is Darren. Thank you for saving us." Camila took the tall tan man's hand and shook it. He was older with salt and pepper hair. He was heavier than the other two. Colby was a skinny white guy with tattoos covering his body while Darren was a shorter black guy with a normal body type.

"We need to get going, you can come with us, miss, we will keep you safe, promise. I owe you my life." Ian was sincere. Camila was a bit skeptical, but he was right. They needed to get to safety. Colby lifted his finger to see where the wind was blowing.

"We need to head northwest." Colby pointed in the opposite direction of the wind.

"My rental car is right there, but I have no service or data." realization of the situation began to flood in. His parents, her sibling, and everyone she knew were in New Orleans.

"I need to get to New Orleans, my family."

"NO! It is a wasteland no doubt." Ian spoke up.

" NO, I HAVE TO GET TO MY FAMILY" Camila began to cry and freak out. Darren places a hand on her shoulder to make her look at him.

"Camila, no one in New Orleans could have survived that blast. The bomb not only knocks down buildings for miles but burns flesh from the bone. Heck, we are not too far from the transition-affected area, not to mention the coming fallout." Darren pointed up at the plume of smoke.

"Radiation Particles are gonna fall all over. We can not survive that, we need to get as far away as we can." Ian added.

"I am sorry about your family, but you need to try and get to safety now." Darren made Cam look at him in his eyes.

"How do you know?" She asked through teary eyes.

"Darren was in the Army, He knows Sha." Ian tried to comfort her as well. Colby stood around scratching himself and tweaking out. Camila reached into her pocket and handed Darren the keys to her car.

"Come on," Colby yelled at them. The four turned and ran towards Camil's car. Darren Took the driver's seat while Ian sat on the passenger side. Camila slid into the back seat alongside Colby who was still jumpy.

"We can go north to Bogalous," Ian suggested.

"My son and baby mama live there."

"Then to Marksville? Or Alexandria? I have kin there." Colby spoke up. Camila sat quietly sobbing in the back seat as the men discussed where to drive to.

"I know how to get to Bogalusa. Once we get there we can rest and then figure something out." Darren drove in the middle of the grass to get off the main highway.

"Good thinking, stay off the main roadways." Ian buckled his seatbelt and glanced over at Darren. Camila could barely make out what the men were talking about. She was trying not to have a breakdown in the back seat of the car. Her eyes avoided looking out the window. No doubt there was absolute chaos out there. People did not know what to do, while others did not know what happened. Some would no doubt try to get to the city if they had loved ones there like Camila wanted to do. Others would try and pack their things up and flee. Some no doubt would try and run to the grocery store to stock up and hunker down and others would try their best to find out what exactly was happening. Camila was too shaken up over the death of her family to wonder what had happened. Her whole life was turned upside down and now she was all alone. Her whole family was wiped out in the blast no doubt.