Ground Zero.

Ground Zero; Bunkerville.

    'It was a town, not a big one and not a small one. Just a town. Nothing interesting happened there. People were born, lived and died there. Nothing changed. It was set in its ways. It was a town where nobody felt fear and where people could grow without being stunted by the "rat race". It was a place that people knew only by going out there. It wasn't an important place. Far from it, in fact. It was as far away from anything important as it could be. Perfectly serene and beautiful. Quiet and careless…

     'I suppose then that it was the perfect place for the world to end. For humanity to realise that we were, are, always will be, pathetic and useless. It was the perfect place for the outbreak to begin. It was the place that the world realised, we would lose this war. Yes, we're alive now… But we lost the war in the end. Mark my words, we lost this war.

     'This town's name was lost in the war. It is not on a map, it is no longer relevant, but it is known that Ground Zero or Bunkerville. I hate the name Bunkerville, it shows a disregard for the lives lost and the story behind the name. Ground Zero is more clinical, it shows some distant respect. Both names though, both names show that people will move on and forget what happened there. I don't like that idea, that's why I'm telling you about it.
     'If you talk to the people that have studied Ground Zero, you’ll find them all very interested in the layout of the town. I don’t understand that, it’s got no baring on the story. They say something about the nuclear power plant being close by caused the muation... Although, that theory has been disproved. But still, they study it all. It’s not got any value, but they do it.
     'I guess that’s how you could sum up the war. "It's not got any value, but they do it." The war was a shambles, complete and utter failure, but it was only at Ground Zero they worked that out.
    'Here's the story...'

Author's Note

Prologue.