FALLOUT              

Owen McDonald

Jack hated the DHS and all they had come to mean in his life.

Yesterday, Jack had been a normal gamer with a normal habit of playing Sniper 30303. Like all players, Jack loved to play on servers, especially 20402. 20402 was a map based in Slingiria.
To all the regular players on 20402, he was “QWERTY123” the unbeatable player.
The day his life changed he had come home from school, done what little homework he felt like doing, and logged into his gaming computer, an all new lightning pro 32000 plus. He went to 20402 and went to the board which showed the games available. His gaze quickly found a new map, CHERNOBYL, and he clicked on that link.
Instantly, his computer filled with code, and then started beeping.
On the screen, words started appearing in green, technical font: UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY PROTOCOL FOR ATTACK ON FOREIGN COUNTRY VIA NUCLEAR WARHEAD ; PLEASE ENTER SECURITY CODE…
Jack, thinking it was part of the game, typed in random numbers: 19293949596979899909. The computer went to a protocol screen.
That was when Jack realized: Sniper 30303 was set in a place called Slingiria, but his computer had said United States. Worried about what this might mean, he quickly shut his computer down.

Later that evening, while he was eating his dinner, his mom got up to make more salad, which Jack hated, and froze, looking out the window that showed the street.
“Honey,” she asked, “why is the military on our front lawn?”
Jack looked outside and saw men with heavy duty weapons marching towards the front door. He looked like something out of a movie. They saw him look in through the window and broke out into a run.
Jack‘s mind raced. He had seen something on the police uniforms: DHS/NSD. DHS Nuclear Security Department.
  Jack bolted out the back door and into the alley that he used so often to sneak out, before turning onto the side street that led into downtown as police stormed into the house. He ran past the corner store, past the police station, past his friend laurence's house, and onto a street he had never been on. He stopped running a few minutes later, in front of an electronics store. The TV’s were playing the news.
One channel caught his eye. It was on a popular news show about the nation’s security. “The department of homeland security has confirmed that there was a breach of the nuclear protocol system, but nothing was done during the breach by the hacker.
They also said that the “hacker” was traced to this area and that the suspect is on the run after DHS agents arrived at his house. Jack, disgusted, moved on.
He went next to his friend's house. Kirby’s mom answered the door and let him in.
“ Hello Jack.” she said. “How are you?” Jack looked around nervously.
“Is Kirby here?” he asked. “I need to talk to him.”

A few minutes later, Kirby came downstairs, and did not seem to notice the nervous, worried look in Jack's eye.
“Hey man, how are you.” Jack motioned for him to follow him.
“ Why are you so jumpy, man. It's the middle of the night, you should be in bed.”
“Yeah, yeah. OK, so the DHS is chasing me because I accidentally broke into this weird webpage.”
Kirby was awestruck.
“ Whoah. That was you?”
Yeah.
‘But...You’re 15, man, and you hack the nuke protocol? Dang!”
Even though it was the middle of the night, Jack looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping on them.
“I need to run away, I need you with me.
Kirby looked skeptical, but agreed.
“Fine, but you better not get me in trouble.” 
They ran quickly to the mall, which was open for the day, and made their way to the grocery store in the middle. They pooled up all of the money they had. $29.50. They bought all they could. They quickly moved out, in case any police or security guards saw and recognized them.
They went to an alley behind a subdivision. Suddenly, a boy with a small knife walked slowly out from behind a large box that looked like it had once held a refrigerator, but now held a nest of mice. The boy looked threateningly at them.
“Why you all in my territory?” 
“Sorry” said Jack. “We did not mean to.”
“Well, SCRAM!”

Jack and Kirby ran for their lives. They ran straight back to the mall, and they did not stop until they were back at the grocery store. Then, they slouched against a wall they talked for a few minutes, before Jack realized Kirby had fallen asleep. Jack did not want to, but his mind forced his body to sleep, to rest.

Suddenly, a mall cop, with two DHS agents beside him, grabbed Kirby. Jack ran, and did not stop until he found an open manhole cover, and lowered himself inside, into the sewer.
It was warm and dry inside and Jack laid down and took another nap, as was becoming his habit. He knew he needed it.

Jack was woken suddenly by police streaming down the ladder leading into the sewer. They yelled and ran towards him. Jack was up and running in a split second. He dashed into the darkness and dove into an alcove as soon as he ran around a bend in the sewer. Police ran past as he pushed himself farther into the alcove, trying to reach the back.
All the sudden he was falling down, down into black nothingness.
There was a splash, and he knew nothing more.

The boy floats down the sewer, filled with trash and muck. He floats for hours, until the pipe he is in spills him out. His semiconscious wonders what all the commotion is. Suddenly, he is floating over the crests of waves. An island appears on the horizon. He floats towards it. There is a small village, with smoke rising from chimneys. For a moment it seems that he is going to miss the island. At the last moment, a wave pushes him onto the shore.

Jack woke up on a beach, surrounded by people. He looked around, confused, and the people muttered under their breath. They seemed to be arguing about what to do with him, and he could hear snippets of what they were saying.
“Go back…”
“But he’s a kid!”
“Can't let him…”

He closed his eyes and laid back.

Suddenly, helicopters flew around them. The people that had found him were running screaming over the dunes, through the fields of corn, and into the trees. One by one, they disappeared, and with them, his chance to escape. Jack ran for his life, but officers, hundreds of them, surrounded him. One, obviously the leader, came forward and put hand cuffs on him.
He led Jack into a waiting helicopter, and as they took off, Jack wondered what lay in store for him.

END STORY 1