Boston

Zane woke to a nudge from one of the soldiers,

“Wake up, we are in the city limits.” The soldier said gruffly.

Zane read the city sign on the way and it said “BOSTON.” The sight that befell Zane stunned him as he looked on in silence. Nature had overtaken everything. As they drove down the streets through the city he admired the beauty. He sees birds flying around and vegetation everywhere, the subways are flooded at the entrances and he can spot a few deer which take off as they hear the engines from the Humvees. 

Cars are stricken with weeds and overgrowth. The roads are filled with grass as well as the sidewalks, he sees a few rabbits along the way eating grass and weeds, they too take off at the sound of the humvees approaching. He almost feels serene, with the beauty of this city. 

The soldiers smirk at the look of serenity on his face, seeming as they had grown used to this beautiful sight. They kept driving and eventually stopped at a steel reinforced gate connected to a wall at least fifteen feet high by ten feet wide, surrounding what seemed to be a gated base in Boston. Military men armed the walls with their rifles, on patrol. It seemed as though the military had paved over a large amount of the neighborhoods to make a compound.

Daniels reached to his radio and contacted the base,

“Command, this is Daniels, we are back from patrol, found no Pales but found one civilian. We are bringing him in because he seems useful.”  

“Roger, that sergeant, bring him in for processing.” The radio crackled back.

Zane was curious now so he asked, “When did this compound become constructed?”

“About eight years ago before the fall of the government, we bulldozed some neighborhoods to make a protective camp for the civilians that hadn’t left the city. Most of these homes were abandoned, so the military decided instead of making the refugees run from here to a military outpost we would construct a base of operations to take them in.” He explained casually.

“Why aren’t there more?” Zane asked curiously.

“There are a few of these outposts, but not many. The military could only do so much when the Pales started showing up en masse. Most bases stationed around the country fell within days of fighting. Cities didn’t last any longer than the bases, they caught everyone by surprise. They are vicious and smart as you probably have witnessed yourself.”  

“Yea they breed quickly I know that, but why do you think they weren't noticed sooner?” Zane inquired. 

Sergeant Daniels thought for a moment then responded, “Honestly I think they were constructed in an underground lab as a weapon. They didn’t come from nowhere. Might have been a breach of security. But it's above my clearance to know the truth, if anyone has that level of clearance anymore.” 

The gate started to open and they entered the compound. Zane could see stairs leading up the walls on the inside. They went up to the armed checkpoint and Daniels swiped a security key over a pad. Then they proceed through another gate. The inside had a fence surrounding the compound as a secondary layer of defense.  

What Zane thought would be a small base was actually a small military town, it was huge! People were walking to and fro, going about their daily tasks, having not seen so many people in a very long time he was only able to gape at the sight of it feeling utterly culture shocked.

“How many people are here?” Zane asked in shock.

“Only a few thousand. There were more but a lot of them have died. Mostly all military trained by the way. Boston has been Pale free for about two years due to the outpost’s efforts. Everytime we hear Pales at night in the city we send out squadrons to search and destroy the dens the next day.” 

That’s when Zane realized, “That’s why there’s so much wildlife in the city itself!” He exclaimed. 

“Yeah. We often go hunting for deer or a rabbit, even turkey sometimes.” He chuckled. He seemed happy to be home.

There was a parking lot for vehicles off to the side where Humvees were parked. Zane could see about 50 of them parked there with two lots one on each side. Daniels pulls into the one on the right, the Humvee behind followed them and they both park inside the designated zones for their vehicles. He then pulls the key out of the ignition and puts it up behind the visor. 

All seven of them exit the Humvees and Zane takes a clear look around. There was an obstacle course nearby to the right, there were people running on it, a building which seemed like the headquarters just straight ahead after the parking lots. 

Many people were entering and leaving among the many paths there leading to it. To the left of the headquarters there was a giant building, a sign on it said mess hall. It was a high volume training mess hall. Beside it, was a smaller mess for officers. Behind the headquarters there was an open paved center possibly for parades and falling in. At the back of the headquarters there seemed to be a modern armoury building. 

Just beyond that there were sprung tents and after that there seemed to be numerous buildings, possibly the barracks. Lookout towers stood around the walls, most likely to shine UV lights on the Pales if they ever showed up; there were large spotlights on those towers with generators at the bottom, which looked to be solar operated.

“A lot to take in the first time, god knows it was for me after fending for myself for a year or so.” Daniels said cheerfully. 

“Yeah. It is.” Zane mumbled back. 

“Stay here with Richards, I'm heading to HQ, to get you an assigned bunk and barracks. They come with a bathroom and a shower!” 

The sound of a shower seemed very promising to Zane, he hadn't showered in a long time. Hell it might have been years since he last showered.

“The barracks comes with a laundry service as well so you can wash the grime off those clothes. Probably been a while since that as well.” 

“Yea, it's been a while.” Zane responded in shock.

“Alright then I'll see ya.” With that he walked off to the headquarters.