Chapter 67: World War III (Part 1)
I was with my subordinates down the sword cave and then somehow we...why there was a long blank in my head? I didn't remember anything?
I was...lying on the ground? I felt a bit strange, I slowly opened my eyes and then I noticed that I was lying on the ground, in front of me was now looked to be a small alley that looked to be very dirty.
Dammit! My head hurt for no reason, I slowly stood up while holding my head and walked through the alley, I wanted to know where I was.
I went a few steps while still in the alley and noticed that the road that led out the alley looked didn't have any people, I also looked around for more but there was no sound of the people here, just only me.
Strange! I walked through the alley and then noticed that there were many buildings that around me looked to be burned, destroyed or have many crashes on them, looked to be caused for a long time.
What was this shit? I saw there was somewhere in Washington but I didn't know where, the road forward even didn't have people. No one here at all, only me with the broken buildings and the streets full of damage.
This place had got into wars or something? That was what I thought but I could not give a proper answer myself until I can find out what was happening here. Where should I go now? Maybe I should go forward on the road that I was now standing on, that was all that I could depend on now, I didn't know where to go so maybe I will follow the road forward.
I walked toward the road that I saw, still no people at all but only me, now I noticed that I was wearing green clothes that looked to be made of cloth but with simple made, simply tailored.
But why did I feel these clothes were very important to me? Not only that, I was also wearing a belt that carried a sword, a sword, huh? Strange! Maybe I could protect myself with this thing if I got into some situations, must find out where I was now.
I kept looking around and noticed that the buildings that had been destroyed seemed to be destroyed very heavily, maybe the place I was standing had gotten into some kind of war a long time ago. Not good, standing here wouldn't make me know where I was now, should go next until I could find out what was this place.
I kept going forward the road and then...maybe I was mislook, I hope I was mislook, that looked to be a corpse of a soldier, exactly was a US soldier with the military combat uniform that looked to have sand features for the camouflage.
I slowly crouched down the dead soldier and noticed that his weapons had been lost or something like that, his hands were holding a thing that looked to be a gas mask.
This gas mask...wasn't it looked similar to the Alrotz gas mask that I have before?
Maybe I should take it so I held the gas mask, I looked at the dead soldier for more, his dead face showed me that he was very scared before he died or so, his face looked very pale.
His nose had some runs, maybe this corpse had stayed here for at least days, maybe I should go now, must find out where was this place exactly.
What the hell? Maybe I should have someone beside me to explain what the hell was happening here. I ran forward the street and then saw a bunch of corpses of the soldiers that also looked to be the same as the previous corpse.
Some of the corpses still have weapons but the same feature of these corpses was these dead soldiers' hands were holding the gas mask.
The soldiers had been attacked by some kind of bio-weapon or chemical weapon and didn't have time to react again them or what?
Maybe I should take the weapons from the dead soldiers, I crouched down and slowly took one M4 Carbine and an M9 Beretta from a soldier's corpse, the weapons looked also weird.
The M9 Beretta looked to be used for a long time, it looked to be old with dirt, the M4 had no red dot sight or anything, just an iron sight, it also looked to be rusted a bit, these guns...had been used for decades or what?
I slowly removed the M4's magazine and saw the bullets were very full 30 rounds so I put the magazine again and loaded the rifle, I also checked the M9 Beretta, also full of ammo so I put it on the right side of the belt.
I started to search the soldiers' ammo pouches and saw that they had very less of magazines inside the pouches, only 2 or 3 for each soldier, lack of ammunition? But anyway, I took the ammo and then stood up and kept going forward to the street.
Dammit! If there was a real-world war here then that would be the most possible answer that I could explain for myself but if there was a real-world war 3 then which side our US soldiers were fighting against?
I started to be cautious and then walked slowly with the rifle in my hands, I slowly peeked the corners of the streets with the rifle and then when I make sure there was no one forward, I continued to go.
Ah! Someone please appear here for me! I need an answer, shit!
"Hey! You over there! Your hands in the air, now!" - An aggressive voice called me from behind
I turned around and saw two US soldiers, they were now holding the M4 Carbines and fastly headed toward me, they looked to be very cautious about me because I was holding an M4 in my hand.
I dropped the M4 and raised both of my hands in the air as the soldiers ordered, the soldier that was stepping toward me closest looked very aggressive, maybe he was the one who called me.
That soldier was white, brown eyes, his hair cut looked like mine but a bit shorter, he had an Advanced Combat Helmet which had been strapped down his belt but for some reason he didn't wear it so I saw his entire face.
His collar had a Gas mask that he wore under his neck but he didn't wear it, he didn't have a beard so he looked to be young, maybe more than 20.
"I've got you now, you son of bitches!" - That soldier at the time he stepped close to me, he swung the rifle's butt with a very hard blow to my cheek making me fall to the ground
"Hey, Cawess! Stop, the ceasefire just has been signed a few hours ago!" - The soldier that followed the asshole named Cawess who beaten me warned him, hope these guys will treat me good
"Fuck the ceasefire, Sulivan! I didn't care, I will kill any SRs when I see them, that's all! I lost my parents because of them, I didn't care about the ceasefire." - These two soldiers were now quarreling, maybe I should
"Hey, where the fuck you think you are going!" - I was about to stand up and run but Cawess saw me so he pointed his carbine toward me
"What the fuck you are carrying on your belt, fucker? Slowly give those to me now!" - This man Cawess had sworn at me very much, okay! As you wish!
I slowly pulled out the sword, the Berretta pistol and then handled them over to Cawess.
"Oh, shit! Where did you get this sword? Only the stupid bring a sword to fight guns, and the Beretta and the M4, where the fuck did you get?"
"I took those on the road behind you two, there! Over there, not so far, you see?" - I pointed my hand to the road for those two to see
"Oh shit! Poor those guys, the SRs have attacked too heavy yesterday with the B28s, they inhaled the gas before they could wear the gas masks, poor them."
"What do you mean? Can I have the answer? I didn't know anything had happened here?"
"Where the fuck did you come from? Fell here from the sky or what?"
"Hey, Cawess! This man doesn't look like an SR but to make sure maybe we should get him back to the base to meet Shizu." - The man named Sulivan told Cawess, maybe this man was not aggressive as Cawess, maybe I should ask him
"Hey, you are Sulivan, right? Can I ask you what is happening here?"
"Ah, please follow us back to the base and I wi-" - Sulivan was talking to me and I felt my cheek was very painful, that was Cawess, he punched me
"Cawess, stop!" - Sulivan stopped Cawess, why did I feel I wanted to beat this guy!
"Have anything to tie him, Sulivan?"
"No!"
"You hold him, Sulivan! I will guard him, we will return to the base, the ceasefire will be ended for the next week so we will have a bit party today." - I didn't know anything, can anyone here explain to me?
Then for some reason, Cawess took all of my weapons, only leaving me the Gas mask that I considered an Alrotz Gas mask.
Sulivan had to hold my collar from behind to tell me to go, Cawess kept pointing the carbine at me and also glared at me as if he wanted to eat me alive.
"What? Do I look handsome for you to watch? Keep moving, you fucker!" - Cawess kept beating me again with the rifle butt
"Hey, sorry! Please don't hate Cawess, you know? He has some issues with the SRs so please endure, good luck." - Sulivan told me to calm down while leading me to the base
"Can you tell me what are the SRs?"
"We will talk later when we go back to the base, now please silence."
The three of us walked on the streets, there were only three of us with the crashed buildings above, Cawess while going, he made a sighed and then scratched his hair.
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I have to walk for a few minutes and then I saw there was a wide area that looked to be cleaner than the other streets, US soldiers were standing next to each other, they were typing phones and talking to each other.
Some of the soldiers were cleaning their rifles, two soldiers guard the area's entrance, they saw me and then raised their hands as if wanted to ask Cawess or Sulivan.
"This guy is just someone who fell here from the sky, we found him in the are over there not so far, let him in, you two." - Cawess said to the soldiers so they also let me in
When I got in, I walked for a few steps and then I was forced to kneel on the ground, the US soldiers that I saw were having conversations with each other and were now pointing their attention to me.
"This guy is an SR?" - One of the soldiers asks the others
"Don't know, just wait for Shizu! She is now here."
"Hey guys, press f to pay respect to that poor guy."
The soldiers kept talking about me until there was a figure of a woman appeared, they suddenly ignored me and then turned back to their previous acts like looking that the phones or talking to each other.
"Where did you find him?" - The woman that looked to be an Asian with a long black hair asked Cawess
"Away from this area a few minutes of walking, Shizu! Well, I will let you decide his life, I also found a sword that this man carried, want to take it?"
"Give it to...give it to me." - The woman named Shizu took the sword from Cawess and drew it out, she looked at the sharpness of the sword and then walked toward me
At the time the woman named Shizu walked toward me, I noticed that she was very familiar, did I see her somewhere, didn't it? Shizu looked at me with very scornful eyes, she later pointed an M9 Beretta toward my forehead.
"What's your name?" - Shizu asked me while spitting around
"John."
"Name means full name, kuso!"
(Name means full name, fuck!) - Shizu hit me with the pistol's barrel
"John Rigen."
Shizu looked at me for a long time, she kept shaking the pistol while pointing it to my head as if to choose the choice to shoot me or not and then she pulled the pistol away with her eyes still looking at me scornfully.
"This man is ours! Cawess, give him this pistol for defense, I will consider giving him an M4 later." - Shizu gave the pistol to Cawess and then Cawess gave it to me
I took the pistol and put it into my belt, I slowly stood up with the look from the soldiers around me as if they had seen a very rare scene or something, they all looked relieved.
"This is the first time I have ever seen Shizu spare someone she saw." - Cawess looked at me and raised his hand out as if he wanted to make a handshake
"Hey, sorry for being so harsh to you earlier, my name is John Cawess, want to make friends?"
"Nope, I want to have an explanation here first."
"Okay, go to meet Sulivan, he is now talking to Rambo." - Cawess pointed his thumb out for me to see Sulivan was talking to a black soldier, but Rambo? What the hell?
"Ah, don't mind about the name Rambo, that's just a nickname from Pambo, when you see him fight in battles, you will know what I mean." - Cawess walked away to Shizu, I was wondering who was that woman exactly, she looked familiar
Then I walked toward Sulivan and Pambo, Sulivan had now removed his helmet so I could see his face, white, blonde buzz-cut hair, blue eyes and a full beard.
About Pambo, he looked to be big, he also didn't wear a helmet, had black skin, black buzz-cut hair and didn't have a beard.
"Hey, come here, newbie." - Sulivan saw me so he called me to come
When I got to the soldiers, Pambo suddenly hugged me tight, oh! Dammit! My ribs had been broken earlier so the way Pambo did that to me made me feel more annoyed.
"Hey, hey! My bones are breaking, stop!"
"Oh, sorry man!"
"You said your ribs broke?"
"Yeah, my bones broke for some reason before I got here, I don't know."
"Sigh! Man, I just want to make friends with a homie like you but, sigh!"
Anyway, my name is Pambo, do you want to shake my hands?" - Pambo asked me if I wanted to shake hands with him or not
"John, call me John." - I made a handshake with Pambo
"Pambo! Shizu calls you, get here a bit." - Cawess told Pambo to come to the woman Shizu
"Ah, sorry! See you later, homie." - Pambo said to me and then walked to Cawwes
Now I only stood here with Sulivan, maybe I should ask him something for sure, I wanted to know where was this place.
"Hey, Sulivan."
"Ah, sorry! I just have smoked a bit, want some?" - Seemed like Sulivan didn't notice me at first, he was now raising a cigarette toward me and asked me if I wanted to smoke or not
"No, man! Thank."
"Well, I don't need to introduce myself to you, you have already heard my name and I have already known your name, why don't you ask me something?"
"Well, can you explain to me almost everything here, I just have lost my memory so...can you?"
Sulivan stopped smoking and stared at me a bit, as if he was doubting my words.
"I don't care where did you come from before getting here but don't lie, you are very bad at it."
"You just look like Shizu, when she got here 6 years ago, she is very similar to you." - What?
"I don't care if you and Shizu are from the same place or not but listen, I will try to explain to you anything in my reach, now ask me because I'm free."
"Why did the soldiers here are armed as if they are in wars? And where is this place?"
"We are in the Third World War, and we are at Washington, the White House is just away from here not so far, just a few miles."
"What?"
"The SRs that we mentioned earlier is the rebels from the southern states, we are now fighting with them, we are in the second civil war of the United States' history."
"Hey! Hey! Explain to me fully, I don't understand."
"Sigh! Cawess, are you done!" - Sulivan suddenly called out for Cawwes
"Wait for me a bit!" - I looked back and saw Cawess, Pambo and other soldiers were now gathering things that looked like the beers outside from a sewel or something
"What are you guys doing?" - I asked the soldiers
"Preparing for a small outdoor party, today is Fourth of July, man, cease fire, cease fire." - The soldiers that were gathering the beers looked at me and laughed
Looked like I was the one that didn't know anything here.
"Hey, I'm done, Shizu just wanted me to help her for preparing the party but seemed like she has kicked me out because of you." - Cawess got toward me and complained, why did I hate this guy?
"Well, who is Shizu anyway? She is you guys commander?"
"Nope, just a fellow soldier like us but we are scared of her."
"Guys! Rigen, you want to ask me, right? Now ask." - Sulivan told me to stop doing trash talks
"Well, I don't know any of these so tell me...everything."
"Okay, well I will try to explain as fully as possible."
"Ahem! Well, in 20, I mean 2020 during the presidential election, Donald Trump died, he got assassinated by a black. That man has been set up for the assassination from an organization that wanted to overthrow our government, that caused everything."
"What? Trump died?" - Did I just get to another world???
"Ah, wait! Cawess, in 2020 right?" - What? Sulivan even didn't remember the year of the incident?
"Yeah!"
"Well, after Trump's death, a very big riot has been caused by that underground organization, their members are very huge, many shootings and riots have happened."
"In only 4 weeks, 15 states included: California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina have been controlled by that organization."
"Is that right, Cawess?" - Again!
"Nod!"
"Well, we have tried to fight to retake the states but soon later we have a truce with them, don't ask me why we have that truce, I don't even know the answer."
"You must ask our president who made that truce, so the United States has been divided into two nations, one from the north and the other one from the south that has 15 states like today."
"So we call the military forces from the southern states are SR, the South rebels."
Maybe I should stay silent to hear, I have finally sure that I was now in another world, a world that has world war 3.
"But that's not the thing that caused the world war, that's only caused the civil war, the factors that caused the world into the world war were Russia and China."
"After the death of Donald Trump, Biden never got elected and the chair of the president got into another person, our military didn't leave Afghanistan and suddenly 2025, Russia invaded on Ukraine."
So in this world, Ukraine was still being invaded like in my previous world but in more late, maybe I should hear more from Sulivan.
"When Russia declared war on Ukraine, suddenly our president withdrew all of our troops in Afghanistan and led us and the NATO got into the war."
"The war in Ukraine lasted for 3 years. After that 3 years, Vladimir Putin got captured and executed right away, the war ended after that."
"Hey, John! Did you get here from another world like Shizu?" - Suddenly Cawess asked me, Sulivan didn't ask but he wanted to hear the answer, I wanted to know who was Shizu now, she seemed very familiar to me
"Yeah, you can say so, I don't want to make you guys believe me but I have to say I'm from another world honestly."
"Okay, let's forget about what I asked you earlier, continue, Sulivan."
"Well, after the war in Ukraine not so long, the war ended in January and suddenly on February 6, 2028, right at 11:30 AM in Berlin, Germany as I could remember."
"That was caused by a secret type of chemical weapon that developed from China, that kind of chemical weapon is called B28, that chemical bomb hit Berlin."
"The B28 gas spread the chemical gas and made a big massacre, one day after the attack, 200.000 people of Berlin have died."
"Don't ask me why we didn't know about it, the worldwide Internet, satellites or anything that can help us to reach for the information have been shut down mysteriously."
"China has used B28 to attack Berlin, Paris, London and Tokyo, only Tokyo caught the cargo truck that carried the B28 attack so they managed to get out of the massacre."
"We didn't know why China made the war, three hours after the attack in Berlin, Washington got a call from Tokyo, that's when we know the world is in chaos."
"China has allied with India"
"What?"
"Hear me, I don't even know why India sided with China."
"Well! China, India, a few countries in the middle east, maybe entire Southeast Asia sided with China."
"Russia stayed neutral at first but when they got attacked by China, they sided with us too but now they have sided with China after 5 years of war."
"Well, the war has happened in 2028, this is the 4th of July, 2037, 9 years have passed since the day the war began."
"Let's me remember a bit for the story, I don't remember properly..."
"Hey! What are you guys doing?" - We didn't notice that when we were talking, the soldiers around us were very confused
"We just got intel that a missile that shot from Beijing is about to hit the White House. We didn't sure if that is a missile or not but Mr. President just has sent five F-15s to stop it." - A soldier shouted to us
"Didn't we have the ceasefire? China broke the ceasefire or what?"
"We only made the cease-fire with the SR, not China, dammit! Everyone hide down the sewel Now!" - Cawess shouted to me
Suddenly I heard a plane sound then looked up the sky, the other soldiers also heard and looked up the sky, we stared at an F-15 that was now flying very fast and was about to collide with another thing opposite it.
The F-15 a few seconds later had collided with the thing that looked to be a missile that flew in the sky and exploded.
The explosion shook the ground, we were very shocked, then I saw that the thing that we considered to be a missile had exploded. It exposed a very large green smoke in the sky and was about to get down our position.
"What is that green smoke?"
"B28, everyone wears Alrotz masks now!" - Cawess said to us and then I saw the soldiers rush to wear the masks
I also wore the gas mask like the soldiers, just a few seconds after we have done wearing the gas masks, the green smoke had covered us.
I had worn the gas mask but now I was so confused when the soldiers around me had run away and because of the green smoke line, my vision had been limited.
I looked around and heard sounds from forward so I ran toward the sounds, those were two soldiers coughing blood, their hands were holding the gas masks as if they didn't have enough time to wear them.
Their skins had been scratched and rotted slowly, they screamed in pain and then fell to the ground, didn't move anymore, maybe they had inhaled the gas from the B28.
"Commander, follow me!" - A woman's voice called me and suddenly grabbed my hand
I was pulled by that woman toward the sewer and then I got pulled down the sewer by Cawess, Pambo and Sulivan, they looked at me and were relieved as if they have saved someone important.
"Did you inhale the B28 gas?" - Cawess asked me while wearing Alrotz gas mask, not just him but also the soldiers around him wore those masks
"No!"
Then I turned around and saw the soldiers had covered the sewer, they behaved so relieved and then pulled out their gas masks, the woman that saved me still now wearing the gas mask, she stared at me.
"Everyone stay down the sewer, we will go up when the gas disappears, it may take us hours to go out by the dense of the gas." - The woman that saved me earlier talked to the soldiers
"Kuso Chugokugo!" (Fuck Chinese!) - That woman talked two Japanese words but the way she talked as if to swear, to scold or something
Then the woman took off the gas mask, I slowly realized that was Shizu, I appreciated what she did to me but now I have realized something odd about her, who was this woman exactly when she called me "Commander"?
I saw Shizu was very familiar to me but I didn't remember her name, maybe I should ask her later, I must look around first.
I ignored Shizu and looked around, now I have noticed that the sewer I just got in was not normal. There were soldiers and even civilians inside, it looked to be a shelter, like a vault from Fallout, what's a strange world, isn't it?