As I look around the field all I see is despair and anxiety. It’s been exactly one year since the nuclear explosions in Europe. Most people call it E-Day. 32 countries have been at war, over power to control nuclear bombs, and weapons. People just don’t know when to stop fighting. It hasn’t been the first time this has happened; it’s just the first time “they” succeeded. Over 20 bombs have been detonated around the world. One after the other. So many lives have been taken, old and young. Twice as many have been injured.

If only, we could’ve known what was to come. These people were known as S.T.R.I.P; no one knows what it stands for even though many people live their everyday lives hearing the name on the news frequently. Many people recognize them for all the crimes and murders they have committed. The leader is known as “Wolf-dog.” People claim to have seen him before, but I doubt that. He’s been in hiding since Bush left office. I speak for many when I say, “I wish he were dead”. Maybe then things would go back to normal. Though things will never go back to normal because a lost and broken up family can never come together as easy as it sounds. I hope this won’t be true for me.
I came from the small town in the far west part of Iowa. The borderline to Nebraska wasn’t far from my century old house. I lived with my wife Valerie and my daughter Sofia. Sadly we were once a big happy family and now we are separated from each other and hoping to be reunited once again. Luckily we have been able to get the messaging system to work, or the world would go even more “mad” if they couldn’t talk to their loved ones that lived far away. I’ve sent about 15 letters out hoping and waiting anxiously for a response. The government doesn’t want to give specific locations of where families are because they don’t want people traveling around the country in these conditions. It’s so bad that people are living in houses made up of scattered pieces of trash that survived. Some people have the luxury of having tents.
Most of my days I’ve spent watching discovery channel when I could. When they broadcast different shows like "Survivor Man”, it makes me think what if I was stuck in those kinds of situations. Now I realize its exactly what is happening now. I wish I could have paid more attention and took notes. They would be really useful at a time like this. I bet those same specialists or "actors" are helping others in need. Another thing I've realized is that there were always some sort of weather channel warning to help people have a back up in case of a weather emergency.
I guess is just my loss. It took me awhile to get accustomed to my new environment, and just when I thought I was a cozy a voice in the distance projected itself towards me.
“Tttooonyy”
I shifted my head and my face lit up like a child’s face in Christmas morning. It was my brother in-law Josh.! All that could take in was the fact that the closet person I have to “family is here in front of my eyes. I sprinted to him and gave him a firm hug and asked him how he was doing. We tried to explain how each of us ended up in the same place without knowing that we were so close. After a couple of laughs we came to the conclusion that both of us were missing our families. He told me that there were certain cargo trucks that we could “get a lift” to where most women and children were staying. I was so excited to be reunited with my family after a long period of time. We both agreed that it was our mission to get there before the next night.

The next morning we got up and headed to the cargo trucks. When we got there most trucks were getting ready for their weekly supplies drop-off. Me and tony quickly jumped in the trunk and waited until we could feel a sudden stop. After about a 30-minute drive we jumped off and acted as if we left for walk. Luckily the guards didn’t suspect anything. We went to the main office of the small camp and asked for our families. They pointed us to the direction and didn’t question us at all. We both were the happiest people on the face of the earth knowing that we will see our families once again.

Tony had left in a different direction because his family was in the south of the territory; I thanked him over and over until I could tell he was getting annoyed. I walked closer and closer to where my wife and daughter supposedly were staying. Many thoughts came into my mind of how they were doing. My mind felt as if it was housing millions of bees. Every step I took I could feel myself getting stiffer and stiffer with anxiety. I slowly reached for the tents zipper and pulled it down to were it was meant to stop. I lifted my head , only to find out that my family wasn’t there.