Invasion Adventure

Seattle was attacked; a large building, many blocks in circumference erupted into balls of flame. I watched it from above, as a tv-less news feed. Terrorists were blamed.

I was in Portland and nervousness was in the air. A local volcano, probably Mt. Hood, erupted, shooting black smoke up in a solid chimney column, miles into the sky. All the water was contaminated, and we only could drink what we already had in containers. I and a few friends had water bottles with some water in them, and a pair of my goggles held a small amount of rain water. We were determined to conserve it. We lived in a forest with large trees and wide rivers, large, college-campus buildings sprinkled here and there. In 3 days, the river water might be ok to drink again, but we started to question the news feeds as barbaric northerners invaded on horseback.

Some friends and I determined to head out into the wilderness to find a better land in which to live, but as we considered maps and our options, the world started to look much more wild and uninhabited than we had previously thought it was. The barbarians from the north had traveled a long distance to come here, and the land in between was mostly lawless forests. The world we had known - a modern, overpopulated, dense one of cities and highways - did not seem to exist as the news feeds had taught us to believe.

We followed a river across our land, and when the barbarians rode close to us, we found a giant, ancient, natural-rock bridge to hide under. They looked past us and rode on.

Word came that there was pizza available in one of our building's cafes. It had been found safe, not looted and not touched by the volcanic eruption, cooked, and was now being given out - one slice per person - if you stood in line. We joined the line, and I stood just in front of Eric H. There were seven or eight people ahead of me, and I was mildly concerned that the pizza would run out, but it seemed like there was enough. I noticed that Eric was holding a plastic plate and a fork, and then I noticed that everyone in line but me were as well. Eric said that it wouldn't matter, and I agreed.