It was a typical day at the fort. The stormy clouds on the horizon, the smell of the salty sea air, the yelling of the commanding officers. My name is Barnaby Milestone. I am 30 years old. Have volunteered to fight in the world's apocalypse, and I don't know how many days are left on Earth. The apocalypse began when I was 12 years old. My parents used to be marine veterinarians. They were happily married together, until the barnacle came. The barnacle was a strange organism that latches itself onto humans when originally latches onto crabs. It started out in San Francisco California. The barnacle is able to spread its eggs through the air so it could be breathed in and it was an intelligent disease. Its gestation was sporadic. My mom started showing signs of infections in a few weeks time. My dad was three days after contact. My parents became zombies. My mom was euthanized in a hospital. I was walking home from school when my father with barnacles on his face and hands charged after me. He was shot dead by people in black overcoats with silver reflector strips. The strangers wore black helmets and gas masks. I was rescued and sent to a sanctuary. We have no president anymore. We have a single world leader by the name of Sally Salty. She used to be part of a cooking showing and decided to go into politics. She became a prominent leader within five years. After the president died (as so did many other world leaders) she offered to be the world's mother figure during these horrible days. Everyone knew her face, her charisma, and her cooking. Her cooking shows were one of the few things that made me feel like home. My mother used to watch her make herring pies. I tasted them myself and they were so good. I would watch her shows on my standard issue phone. My platoon is not part of the traditional military. We are nicknamed "The Briny Batch" for it is our job to rescue the uninfected as well as eliminating those infected to prevent the spread of disease. Do I love my job? No. Does it give me purpose? I guess. My fort was alongside the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, far away from ground zero (Sand Diego). The Briny Batch torched the place to prevent the eggs from flying through the wind. Some places on Earth you can't even set foot without a gas mask or protective covering. I sat alone in my bunker with the window open. I could hear the waves crashing against the beach. I took a peek outside the window and saw dead fish on the shore. The seagulls were having a field day. I turned on the radio listening to the weather forecast. The wind started blowing hard into my room making it chilly. "For Pete's Sakes!" I groaned shutting the window and locking it. I then noticed something on the beach. It was a beached dolphin. A group of Briny Batch officers were looking it over for traces of the barnacle on the creature. The two men lifted it up and walked away with it. Of course it was infected. And I knew what happened to anyone or anything that showed signs of infection. That was the way of the world now. I laid down on my bunker choosing to sleep. The next day, Sally Salty gave a message over our phones "MARINE BIOLOGY LAB...CLEANING MISSION" Missions presented to us were either classified as rescuing, cleaning, or investigating. Rescuing means that there were uninfected people needed to be taken to sanctuaries so they can be checked for the barnacle. Investigating means we are to search the parameter to see if they place needed rescuing or cleaning. Cleaning means demolishing the place. The buildings were burned down to destroy the eggs or any infected person inside. Sally Salty gave the call. She always does. I woke up the next morning and climbed onto the bus. My gas mask was on, my rifle in top notch position, I sat quietly ready to be taken to a boat for transport since the lab was out at sea. We sailed the boat to the marine biology labs. The sign to the entrance read "Hope Glows Labs". A few of my colleagues chuckled at the sight. How could I blame them? Hope seems to flee everyone nowadays. I waited quietly outside the entrance waiting for the entrance to the inside. As soon as my team leader gave the signal--inside we went, not knowing if this mission would be our last.

End of Chapter