The sun streaked through the windows on the crisp spring morning as Jeremy opened his eyes. The fresh lawyer of snow meant that the light streaking through the window was extra bright, even though it was into the positive range in the morning. Jeremy rolled over and groaned as he pushed the bottle of vodka to the side and looked at his alarm clock. “8:45” it displayed prominently, and Jeremy groaned again, louder this time. Why did he need to wake up at this ungodly hour? He knew that he was heading to the border soon, but even this was pushing it for needing to “wake up right quick” as his gran had put it. He sat up in bed, knowing that there was no way in hell that he was ever going to make it back to bed, and stretched his arms to the heavens. “This is going to be interesting yet again” he muttered to himself as he swung his legs to the side of the bed. Crossing the border was not something anyone relished, the checkpoints leading up to the wall was just a pain in the ass on a good day. But Jeremy went over every other month for about a week, which added to his troubles. The border guards were always suspicious of anyone staying that long in the wild zone. “What the fuck are doing in the zone for 15 days kid?” the guard had asked him last time. “That’s borderline suicidal, even if you are staying in one of the cities; and don’t even get me started on needing to drive there. Christ, you’ve got more guts than I do kid”

The Zone was no place to fuck about in, you never really knew what you were getting yourself into. The war from 30 years previous had left much of the zone almost completely desolate, with pockets of roaming bandits and highwaymen, it was truly a gamble every time you left the safety of civilization. Thankfully the first twenty kilometres from the border were occupied by soldiers and revolutionary guards that ensure the peace. But beyond the signs demarking that kind of pseudo-civilization, all bets were off. You would be lucky to run into a random patrol, and because of that, you needed to ensure that you had your identification ready. If not, well soldiers didn’t like finding people well armed with no ID. But hell, love makes you do crazy things, eh? Jeremy’s boyfriend lived over on Staten Island. This was now one of the most fortified locations in the wasteland; with what remained of New York City being stuffed onto that island.

Jeremy riffled around in his sock drawer and found what he was looking for, his passport and about $250. The wasteland use to have its own currency, but since the government imploded the only currency which is worth anything is Canadian dollars. That $250 could probably last him for about a month down there, but even so, he wanted to ensure that he was safe in case anything came up. He was hoping that he could bring his bf, Robbie, back into Canada. He always hated when he would call him and in the background, you could hear the gunfire and explosions from the rival gangs over in Newark. Jeremy needed to have Robbie safe, and he wanted to have him by his side. He put on his jeans and slipped his favourite hoodie into his suitcase along with a couple of emergency rations, 250 rounds of ammunition, a week's worth of clothing and his camera. He was hoping that his trip was going to be better than the last one when he ran into a bit of trouble just past Syracuse where the last checkpoint was. He had to run a highwayman down who was trying to make his life difficult. “I wonder if he..” Jeremey tried to push the thought of him out of his mind. “Don’t you think of him Jer, he was shooting at you remember. It was you or him.” He told himself under his breath.

Jeremy made his way down the steps of his apartment building and walked down to the grocer. There was a bit of activity as per usual on a Saturday morning, and as he walked through the front doors he immediately smelt that familiar smell, Mrs. Jenning’s fresh bread. “Good morning Jeremy!” Called the sweet old lady behind the counter, “And how are we doing this morning?” Jeremy smiled to himself, the Jennings were probably the nicest people in town, and they also were endless gossips. He always loved hearing that little slice of information that went unseen by everyone but themselves, he just wished he had the time to hear some of it today. “Morning Mrs. J, I’m doing great. Just stopping in to grab something for the road, heading to the border.” Mrs. J looked at me, a sad smile on her face, “Be safe Jeremy, and do bring Robbie back this time,” she chuckled at that, “I want to meet this guy. He must be something special to make you spend a week in the waste eh” She reached over to the table behind her and handed me a loaf of bread and a small, brown paper bag. “Here ya go, the treat is free dear.” I smiled at her warmly, “Thanks Mrs. J! I always love your tarts!” I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my wallet “And I’ll use a ration on the bread today.” She pulled out a sheet of paper “Ok Jeremy,” she said, “You know the drill just sign the form and put your ID number there and we’re set.” I did as she said and snatched both off the counter and walked back to my apartment building. When I got inside I cut the bread in half, stuck one half in the freezer and then he sliced the other half into thin slices and placed them in a baggie. He walked into his room and grabbed his suitcase. He placed the baggie of bread into a separate backpack which he kept in the passenger seat when driving. Also in there were two books for Robbie, his laptop, some water. He picked them both up and headed into the kitchen; he grabbed one last glass of water and then went outside and locked his front door.

When he got outside of the apartment building he placed his suitcase in the trunk of his car, just behind the rifle case, and slammed it shut. He got into his car and turned the key. He always loved hearing the sound of that old engine roar to life. Cars were reserved for people who demonstrated a need to have them, such as people with significant others in the waste or who worked with heavy equipment. Everyone else either used public transportation or saved up to get their own electric cars. Jeremy turned the radio over to the news to try and pass the time, his phone said that he had about a two-hour wait today to get through the checkpoints, as he had woken up late and was now stuck behind two convoys going to collect grain from the waste. He fiddled with the nob until he heard the distinctive tone of CBC turn on, “This is CBC radio. King George today called to congratulate Prime Minister-designate Samantha Hutchinson of the Socialist Monarchy Party for their electoral victory. The party was swept into power on a promise to end breadlines and to reassert the role of government in food collection, which the outgoing People’s Worker Party had tried to limit, in an ultimately failed attempt to speed up grain collection in the waste. The Prime Minister today made an address congratulating Mrs. Hutchinson on her electoral victory while assuring the people that he would remain on as leading of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition to ensure that the socialist tradition was maintained in Canada. Today the Minister of Defence and Wasteland Colonization, Konrad Erickson, announced that Canada would be redoubling her efforts to re-establish a link between British Columbia and the California Republic. The land border was severed three years ago when a far-right militant group known as “The New Founding Fathers” blew up the highway leading through Oregon and killed two railway conductors carrying fresh water to the Republic. Canada and California have retained friendly relations since they declared independence. The only current way to get to and from the Republic is by boat or aircraft. And that is your world at noon, stay tuned to catch all the latest information from the CBC.”