Camp Delta

I woke up to a nudge from one of the soldiers,

“Wake up we are in city limits.” he said gruffly.

I read the sign on the way in “BOSTON.” The sight that befell me stunned me as I looked on in silence. Nature has overtaken everything As we drive down the streets through the city I admire the beauty. I see birds flying around and vegetation everywhere, the subways are flooded at the entrances and I spot a few deer which take off as they hear the engines from the Humvees. Cars are stricken with weeds and overgrowth.

The roads were grassey as well as the sidewalks, I see a few rabbits along the way eating grass and weeds, they too take off at the sound of us approaching. I almost become serene with the beauty. The soldiers smirk at the look of wonder on my face, seeming as they had grown used to this beautiful sight. We kept going and eventually stopped at an iron reinforced gate connected to a wall at least twelve feet high surrounding what seemed to be a gated base in Boston. Military men armed the walls with their rifles, on patrol. It seemed as though the military had paved over a large amount of the neighbourhoods to make a compound.

Daniels reached to his radio and contacted the base,

“HQ this is Daniels, we are back from patrol, found no Pales but found one civilian. We are bringing him in because he seems useful.”  

“Roger that sergeant, bring him in for processing.” The radio crackled back.

I was curious now so I asked, “When did this compound become constructed?”

“About eight years ago before the fall of the government, we bulldozed some neighbourhoods to make a protective camp for the civilians that hadn’t left the city. Most of these homes were abandoned, so the military decided instead of making the refugees run from here to a military outpost we would construct a base of operations to take them in.” He explained this casually.

“Why aren’t there more?” I asked curiously.

“There are a few of these outposts, but not many. The military could only do so much when the Pales started showing up en masse. Most bases stationed around the country fell within days of fighting. Cities didn’t last any longer than the bases, they caught everyone by surprise. They are vicious and smart as you probably have witnessed yourself.”  

“Yea they breed quickly I know that, but why weren’t they noticed sooner?” 

Sergeant Daniels thought for a moment then responded, “Honestly I think they were constructed in an underground lab as a weapon. They didn’t come from nowhere. Might have been a breach of security. But it's above my clearance to know the truth, if anyone has that level of clearance anymore.” 

The gate started to open and we entered the compound. I could see stairs leading up the walls on the inside. We went up to the armed checkpoint and Daniels swiped a security key over a pad. Then we proceed through another gate. The inside had a fence surrounding the compound as a secondary layer of defense.  What I thought would be a small base was actually a small military town, it’s huge! People were walking to and fro, going about their daily tasks, having not seen so many people in a very long time I was only able to gape at the sight of it.

“How many people are here?” I asked in shock.

“Only a few thousand. There were more but a lot of them have died. Mostly all military trained by the way. Boston has been Pale free for about two years due to the outpost’s efforts. Everytime we hear Pales at night in the city we send out squadrons to search and destroy the dens the next day.” 

That’s when I realized, “That’s why there’s so much wildlife in the city itself!” 

“Yeah. We often go hunting for deer or a rabbit, even turkey sometimes.” He chuckled at the thought.

There was a parking lot for vehicles off to the side where Humvees were parked. I see about 50 of them parked there with two lots  one on each side. Daniels pulls into the one on the right, the Humvee behind us following and they both park inside the designated zones for their vehicles. Daniels pulls the key out of the ignition and puts it up behind the visor. All seven of us exit the Humvees and I take a clear look around. There was an obstacle course nearby to the right, there were people running on it, a building which seemed like the headquarters just straight ahead after the parking lots.

Many people were entering and leaving among the many paths there leading to it. To the left of the headquarters there was a giant building, a sign on it said mess hall. Behind the headquarters there was an open paved center possibly for parades and falling in. At the back of the headquarters there seemed to be an armoury. Just beyond that there were tents and after that there seemed to be numerous buildings, possibly the barracks. Lookout towers stood around the walls, most likely to shine UV lights on the Pales if they ever showed up; there were large spotlights on those towers with generators at the bottom, which looked to be solar operated.

“Lot to take in the first time, god knows it was for me after fending for myself for a year or so.” Daniels said cheerfully. 

I mumbled back, “Yeah. It is.” 

“Stay here with Richards, i’m heading to HQ, to get you an assigned bunk and barracks. They come with a bathroom and a shower!” He seemed pretty happy to be home.

The sound of a shower seemed very promising to me, I hadn't showered in a long time. Hell it might have been years since I last showered.

“The barracks comes with a laundry service as well so you can wash the grime off those clothes. Probably been a while since that as well.” 

“Yea it's been a while.” I responded.

“Alright.” With that he walked off to the headquarters.