Beyond Man and Machines, Chapter 9.

                                              

Peterson's prediction was right. Although the governments response to the pandemic became more desperate and often extreme; all efforts to contain it fail. The pandemic ripples across the country, flowing with the panic that is now the full evacuation of North America. In the chaos it is hard to tell who is friend or foe. Running battles on the ground and dog fights in the sky, rage around the fleeing civilians.

The hostiles are well organised, precise and ruthless. Masquerading as the army or police they set up road blocks, pulling people from their vechicles; taking them away. If challenged by a superior force, they disappear without a trace. It is like fighting the wind.

More and more areas of America are held by the hostiles, more prolifically around major cities. Camps that are set up along the routes to the borders are attacked night and day. Refugees move from camp to camp, only stopping when they cannot travel anymore. Often finding the camps have been compromised, becoming traps not shelter...

Families, not trusting the camps or anyone but close friends, run from one safe house to the next. At night they hide themselves away, listening in fear to the screams and the struggles of others being dragged away. Parents pull their children closer, praying they will not be the ones taken next.

The armed forces are pushed back as increasing numbers of bases are compromised. In the chaos, constant attacks and with communication lines being cut, the battalions fend for themselves. Paranoid, they make their way to the borders, warning off anyone that approaches them. opening fire on those that do not heed their warnings.

As more and more areas of North America are cut off or compromised, the limited protection that the armed forces can provide, is focused on the civilians that have made it to the borders. Although the borders with Mexico and Canada have been closed and heavily guarded by armed forces from across the world, safe zones are set up to house and protect the refugees. UN forces supply air cover and supplies to protect the safe zone and the borders. The borders are the last line of defense to halt the epidemic, no risks are taken, anyone that approaches do not get a warning, they are shot on sight...

After a while It was apparent that no one else would be arriving at the safe zone. Only an estimated thirty percent had made it, of which just under half had not been processed yet. The refugees camp out in front of the defenses, waiting to be processed, still not out of danger, still in constant fear of the night....