《2244》 Chapter 1 Year 2244. A bright sunny day greeted Sam. Birds sang somewhere in the trees, and dirty dogs wandered along the muddy roads. Sam was probably one of those stray dogs in some way. Abandoned old shacks, rusty appliances, various types of garbage like rotten boards, bricks or who knows what else were lying around here and there. Nearby there was a huge depression filled with dark stinking water. But it was clearly not a lake. The right angles of the pit and the concrete walls sticking out of the water hinted at something else, although Sam could not understand what it was and why it was there. Some may think that this description resembles scenes from a post-apocalypse, but the truth is that no post-apocalypse ever happened. There have been many abandoned villages and small towns around the world, especially in 3rd world countries. No props for post-apocalyptic films were better than these abandoned lands. Even in cities, people often lived literally up to their ears in shit, let alone the outskirts of these same cities. Sam scratched his beard and stared at this inarticulate underwater construction in the water for a while, then moved on. He got used to call these lands wastelands. No one lived here; it was rare to meet at least one living person. The exception was a few fields that still occasionally came to be sown or harvested, but these did not come across very often. This wasteland were the outskirts of city X. And not particularly remote outskirts. In the summer, Sam stocked up on what he could find tens of kilometers around; for example, a corn field was almost the main source of food and supplies for the winter. He didn''t always live like this. He once had his own home and a job that he loved, but the state took everything away. Wars in one form or another were everywhere in the world. Well, almost everywhere, but most often in 3rd world countries with dictatorial regimes. About ten years ago, a war began in the country, even before the war it was not easy to live, and even more so after. He was unlucky to be born in such a country. His small business was forced to close due to the new laws passed. Formally, country X was at war with country Z, but in reality both countries were at war against their own population. It was simply a genocide. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. The borders were closed and the country''s population was held hostage by the state. The loss of the business hit Sam hard, however, he was still able to earn a living, but the country could not bear with it. One day, at the behest of the government, banks simply blocked the credit cards, thereby completely eliminating the opportunity for Sam to earn any money. No matter how much he saved, the money gradually ran out and the debts for the house grew. Ultimately, the house went to the state and Sam himself became a homeless beggar and went to the wasteland. In civilized European countries there were various shelters and places where food was distributed for free. However, this country would rather throw away the excess as dog food than feed its own citizens. Sam had never seen a huge amount of humanitarian aid from all over the world in his life, and none of his friends had ever seen all the food and other stuff that was sent to them as help. Considering the amount of declared humanitarian aid that was sent, hundreds of stadiums could be filled with this humanitarian aid. Now he knew that all this supposed help was just bullshit. Politicians in other countries simply earned themselves a few extra points by doing this or used other schemes. The officials of country X happily took apart everything that came from outside and sold it to their own population and god knows what else they did with it. Huge surpluses rotted in warehouses and were simply thrown into the trash. They would rather let it rot and throw away than help their own citizens. Of course Sam had another option. Everyone had another option. Just go to war. It''s that simple... This was the main message of all laws depriving people of rights and freedoms. They had to lose everything, having lost everything they would have no choice but to go die. And it worked... The vast majority of people were poor, and they also had various obligations to their families, or they were subjected to endless propaganda on the Internet or TV, most likely both. Finding a regular job was almost impossible. Crowds of armed soldiers walked everywhere and forcibly took people from the streets, workplaces, public transport, and so on. The only way to become an exception was to pay and few could afford this. People were beaten and driven to war like cattle and it worked. The pitiful isolated voices of protest were ruthlessly suppressed and hushed up. Moreover, not only the country itself was kept silent, the world community ignored what was happening. While Sam had the Internet, he did not see any news about the real state of affairs in his country, either from official foreign media or from popular bloggers. The country''s population was systematically destroyed and the power of the state systematically grew fat and strengthened. On the other hand, in his youth, Sam also did not hear anything about most of the senseless wars in the world, and he didn¡¯t care until it actuallly affected him. So now he roughly understood why no one gives a damn, it¡¯s logical. Kindness and empathy were very useful tools, but they were used only if they brought profit. At best, only if kindness did not cause any losses. Surely many would argue with his conclusions proving that the world is beautiful and all that shit. So for such people, Uncle Sam had only one message. "CENSO RED" Chapter 2 Sam was one of those who had no family or relatives. At least no one he would recognize. Considering this, he decided that he would rather die in a ditch than go to fight for government bastards whom he fiercely hated with all his soul. They took from him even those small things he had, and now they were going to take away his life. Well his life now really wasn¡¯t worth anything. He didn¡¯t mind giving it away at its current state. But not for them, not for these bastards. Frankly, his hatred of the country has long grown into hatred of all humanity. He lived enough to understand that being at the top and becoming part of the network, he would also put pressure on those below. You might think that people like him who became unwitting victims of circumstances were not to blame for anything, but Sam didn¡¯t think so. Even if slaves and slave owners changed places, it would not change anything. Their sympathy would be enough, at best, for a while, and then they would get used to their new situation. Sam could only be surprised when some idiot sincerely believed that by becoming president he would help people or something like that. Ravings of a madman. Only a complete idiot can think that way. Many people ridiculed the experiment of prisoners and guards, which is not surprising. In order to realize reality you need to eat a lot of crap. Only after getting hit in the face properly person have a chance to get realization of true world nature.. This was the reality. This was the essence of people. The most ordinary people. Nevertheless, Sam hid his hatred far away. No one cared about a pathetic cockroach like him and his hatred. The sun pleasantly warmed the soul and Sam was in a good mood. He walked calmly among the trees and abandoned roads, looking for something interesting. It¡¯s strange that there was practically no one here in wastelands, meaning homeless people. For some reason they preferred to rummage through garbage cans but stay in the cities; almost no one came here. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Not like he was complaining about it. More like was just curious. Sam loved summer and hated winter. It was very difficult in winter. Only Frank, who lived on the edge of the city in his workshop helped him. Although Frank refused to give Sam any work, he still accepted his finds in the wasteland and sometimes helped in return during the winter. In the summer, Sam usually just stored everything he found and rarely visited Frank. He turned his attention to the watch on his wrist. Sam Physique - 1.045 Agility 1.115 Endurance 0.924 Durability 0.772 The condition is satisfactory. There were also various indicators such as radiation levels and pulse. Actually, the gadget was mainly called Pulse. This device was quite a popular toy. They once tried to come up with something similar just to monitor people health, but this idea mostly failed. On the other hand, when digital values of various human physical parameters were added to this gadget, the popularity of the device skyrocketed. Of course, there were still quite a few who outright hated this thing. For example, an overweight person in most cases is unlikely to be happy to stare at his weight all day long and will generally avoid the scale like fire. Nevertheless, the technology of this device was quite interesting. Although Sam did not know the details, for example, the agility indicator could change in real time. The device had a special test function similar to a regular sports watch. You can time yourself and run 100 meters, after which agility is updated depending on the results of the run. Of course this was just one of the options. You could do no exercise at all on purpose, but after days and weeks the device would still collect enough information. Initially, the results were not very accurate, but over time they more and less reflected reality. The remaining parameters were updated accordingly. This not very clever device has literally changed the lives of many people. Usually keeping yourself in shape is quite difficult for various reasons, including simple laziness. However, when a person sees his parameters on the device all the time, he subconsciously tries to improve them, which is why people often start doing exercises, jogging, and so on. Even people who are just minding their own business, going to work or sitting on the couch, try to move a little more, a little faster. It¡¯s even more motivating when these parameters grow, even if only slightly. This is so motivating that the health of many people has improved significantly since the spread of the Pulse device. Thus this device and its analogues quickly captured the market. They say that originally something like this was developed for the convenience of the military in the dragon country or something like that. But like with mobile phones once developed for US military now this technology has spread everywhere. It¡¯s a pity that this thing was a rare exception. Mostly development of technology in the last two hundred years has almost completely stagnated. Chapter 3 Sam found this device next to the highway during past spring and since then has treated his walks as more than just a necessity for survival. He began to go further and further, run more often and even climb trees, trying to improve his performance a little. For him it was a kind of game, unfortunately the only game that was available to him in the current conditions. But even so this gadget may have to be taken to a pawn shop or given to Frank next winter. At least thanks to this gadget living the next winter will be much easier than the previous one. His parameters have also grown a little since the gadget was received. Perhaps if this toy had not been there, he would hardly have noticed it or attached any importance to his own health. Only his stamina was a little lagging behind, Sam suspected that this was due to the fact that he had been smoking since his youth and finally gave up on it only when he found himself at the bottom and did not even have money for food. While he had at least some money, it was extremely difficult to quit smoking. But when you''re down to your last five bucks and starving, cigarettes suddenly lose their appeal. Sam was no longer that young and had various health problems, fortunately nothing serious. What¡¯s also surprising is that he hasn¡¯t been sick at all since he was left homeless. Before that, he always had some kind of cold at least once every two years. In general, if this continues, he will eventually become a real athlete. Previously, he felt weak and helpless. Just being alive was already felt kind of success. But from the moment he received pulse and saw and felt his progress with his own eyes, his mentality changed a little. He no longer felt like a weak and helpless product of modern society. If this country distributed such gadgets to people, perhaps there would be more people willing to fight. Well most likely this is not the case however the health of the nation would definitely improve. Of course, these were just dreams, this thing was not cheap, and the state will not give you even a piece of bread for free. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Rather they will take away the bread and cripple you for daring to eat without permission. Moreover as far as Sam remembered, such devices usually came with many additional functions such as an additional screen, Internet access, and so on. But his pulse was clearly of some old model, perhaps one of the early ones. He had never seen anything like it on the Internet before. Strictly limited functionality, minimalistic screen made of unknown material. There were no abbreviations or time/date of production. One year later. Although Sam initially thought about selling the pulse, he ultimately decided not to. First of all, he had no idea about the real value of this version of the pulse. And secondly, this thing literally changed his miserable life and gave it meaning, how could he do this? Sam Physique - 1.175 Agility 1.245 Endurance 1.08 Durability 0.883 Condition - good. Looking at his improvements a year later, Sam was very pleased. It must be understood that he was not getting any younger, however the numbers clearly did not lie. He felt better than ever despite his miserable lifestyle in the wasteland. Durability was seriously lagging behind. As stated, the parameter demonstrated the resilience of a person. For example if Sam kicks a tree with a certain force he could be seriously injured, or at least suffer from pain. At the same time, a Thai fighter could deliver powerful blows again and again without serious consequences for himself. Something like this could only be achieved through years of training to the point of self-harm. Considering that Sam didn''t have much access to medications he never tried to focus on improving this parameter, a mistake would be too costly. He still remembered how he tried to climb a tree for the first time when he found himself in the wasteland. It was extremely difficult for him to lift the weight of his body; from the efforts made, the muscles quickly lost stability and he almost crippled himself by falling to the ground. Now everything was different. Now he sat comfortably on a thick branch of one of the trees and examined the wasteland. In the far distance, one could vaguely see the few tall buildings of this city, about ten floors high. A little closer there was an invisible edge. Although some garages were still visible there, beyond that there were only dirty puddles and the occasional abandoned buildings. He noticed a car that was slowly moving towards him. It was an old-style minibus without identification marks. Initially, he did not attach much importance to this. Although people rarely came to the wasteland, he still met people from time to time. But usually they just ignored each other. However soon he noticed a man was running in front of the car along a muddy road. Although it is difficult to call it running, he was rather walked at a fast pace moving his legs with difficulty. Taking a closer look, Sam realized that this guy¡¯s face was covered in blood, although it was difficult to tell for sure from here, but apparently he had been beaten. The car drove slowly behind him, as if mocking his efforts. Gradually they all approached Sam position. A man in a military uniform with a mask on his face got out of the car and having caught up with the guy took off the mask and began to tell him something unintelligible, laughing at the same time. Chapter 4 As a result Sam was able to make conclusions from everything he saw. These were the same military men. Instead of being on the front line they operated from within throughout the country, catching people and forcibly sending them to the war zone. Unlike the recruits whom they ¡°Recruited¡± from everywhere, they themselves were in full uniform and with firearms, in particular assault rifles. Although news on the Internet was strictly limited and even popular bloggers did not mention such things, if you tried hard enough you could find information about such cases all over the country. These soldiers literally kidnapped people, often accompanied by beatings and even torture. There were also deaths here and there. Hard to say what is the real number of victims because information was very restricted on the matter. Probably only few of many cases were accidently open to the public. They often wore masks and hid their faces because they understood perfectly well what exactly they were doing. This was one of the reasons why Sam could not find a regular job in the city, he would simply be caught and sent to war zone until his death. Sam hated those bastards as much as he hated the fucking politicians. These scum voluntarily became dogs of the regime. They knew and understood everything perfectly, but they went for it anyway. Moreover, they often enjoyed their power or position they are in. People in the country X naturally did not and could not have any weapons. Any rallies and protests were brutally suppressed and hushed up. What was it like walking through the streets and pointing assault rifles at peaceful people, calling them draft dodgers and deserters? They must have had a lot of fun. Although Sam also did not consider himself a good person, he didn¡¯t know if he could stoop to their level. Yes he hated this government and these bastards. Yes he would most likely crush others if he could exchange places with them. However, these were only his inner thoughts, feelings and reflections considering his life experience. A person who always helped people around him could imagine in his head that he was a brutal killer for some odd reason, but does this make him a murderer? Humans imagination is borderless. It can`t and should not be stopped no matter what is the origin of their imagination. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! A guy can imagine that he destroyed all of humanity with his own hands, and the next day he shifts from foot to foot in embarrassment in front of a girl he liked. So who is he? Killer of humanity or an ordinary shy guy? It''s the actions that matter. We are not what we think about ourselves. We are, first of all, our deeds and actions, whether they are good or bad. Perhaps this is the difference between a psycho and a normal person. A normal sane person knows the boundary between his fantasies and reality. Knows where to stop and can never cross a line. Looking at what was happening, Sam suddenly began to doubt himself. Would he be able to torture a helpless innocent person like this just for fun? Could he get some kind of perverted pleasure from this process? Would he be able to cripple helpless people by poking them with assault rifle and send them to death just because his superiors told him to do so? Sam suddenly felt a terrible feeling of helplessness and powerlessness. Not because he couldn¡¯t help or save someone, on the contrary. Because he couldn''t act like them. He certainly wouldn''t be able to give up his humanity so easily no matter how much hatred he had inside. In his youth, he served in the army and even completed a five-year contract. Sam knew firsthand what it was like to be subordinate or command others. His angry screams made young soldiers to lose ground under their feet. But what he saw now... He couldn''t do the same. He despised himself for this. Paradoxically, he despised himself for his remnants of humanity even after all the years he had lived. That''s probably why he''s here in the wasteland now. Homeless beggar. He just lived an ordinary life and didn¡¯t bother anyone, thinking that no one would bother him either. But he was bothered... Again and again. Nevertheless he never fought back but simply lowered his head and obediently sank to the bottom until he ended up where he is now. Sam''s eyes turned red with rage at what was happening. - Bitches! - he muttered through his teeth. Sam was afraid of death. He can justify himself as much as he wants by the injustice of the situation, hatred towards government or something else. But the truth is that another reason he completely refused to go to war was also because he obviously did not want to die or become crippled. Don`t he has such a right? Don`t he have the right just to stay alive?! All the disputes about who owes whom, for whose sake this war really is, what is right and what is wrong faded into the background. Why does he have to die simply because someone else wants him to? What right do they have to decide whether he should live or die? Why did someone instead of him get to decide what was worth dying for and what wasn¡¯t?! If government really want to kill him so badly, then they should just do it personally. Oh exactly... This is exactly what they are doing right now. Closed borders and hunting people around. What else could it be? A good intentions? Now Sam watched the events not through the screen but live. They have already taken off their masks, apparently they don¡¯t care anymore and that poor guy won¡¯t make it to the war zone. There were three of them, all in military uniform and with weapons. Was it worth intervening? Sam still didn''t want to die. He understood that he could find himself in the place of the unfortunate guy who was dragging his feet with difficulty in front of the car, covered in snot and blood. However, although he was not such a bastard as these animals, at the same time he did not feel much compassion for the guy he never met. Only anger at the situation itself. Chapter 5 Sam was more interested in the weapons of these military men. Even those old rifles was priceless in his eyes. Why is country X in such crap? One of the main reasons is that people are helpless. It doesn¡¯t matter how many people come out for the protests, it¡¯s all pointless. Just toothless attempts to appeal to the law, although the law has not existed for a long time. But what if many people among the multi-million population were armed like in the US? Would fat officials dare to thoughtlessly deprive people of all rights and freedoms under the guise of dogs from the army and police? Would these dogs of the regime dare to drive people through the streets like this, reveling in impunity and power? Sam was sure - no! That¡¯s why they walked around in groups because they were afraid even with weapons. If they understood that they could catch a bullet, they would instantly remember the laws and humanity. They would literally behave like other people and stand up for justice. It''s that simple. They were probably well paid and dressed, but this is a matter of wins and losses. As soon as they realize that it¡¯s not worth the risk, everything will immediately fall apart. Sam had never killed anyone before, but he had to get those weapons. People too rarely entered the wasteland, especially military ones. There was no one to catch around here. He continued to watch as the guy was humiliated, insulted and beaten. Finally they got tired of it and beat him to death. Then they started arguing about how to get rid of the body. Sam couldn''t hear their discussions though, so he could only guess. One stayed by the car, while the other two went in different directions. Apparently they were too lazy to dig a hole and they wanted to throw the corpse somewhere and decided to look for a suitable place. Now Sam had a choice, he could attack the one at the car or the one who moved towards the artificial pool with concrete walls. When this soldier gets to this hole with water, he will definitely find it a great place to get rid of the corpse and will quickly return. So Sam decided to target this warrior specifically. Unlike these soldiers, he literally lived here for the last years, so using this advantage he moved ahead and settled down next to the lake. Of course, he could have been mistaken and that soldier would never have found this place, that would have been the end of it all and he would have lived as if nothing had happened, forgetting about that episode. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Perhaps he even partly hoped for such an outcome. But the soldier found this place and approached. Sam lay on the ground and did not move until he heard his steps nearby. Then he stood up and began to approach him from behind. Of course the soldier heard or felt him and turned around. Sam wasn''t a fucking ninja after all. There were branches and bushes everywhere, making it impossible to move silently. Nevertheless, he didn''t care. The soldier had the rifle on his back, but instead of reaching for it when he saw Sam, the soldier began to pull the mask over his face. He was clearly more worried about the witnesses than about his own life at that moment. Indeed, who would dare to attack an armed soldier? Apparently this happened too rarely. In response, Sam switched to running and stopped trying to hide the bat behind his back. - What the fck?! The soldier stopped fiddling with his mask and, screaming, reached for his weapon, but it was too late. In fact, he was a hefty, well-fed large man, and although Sam himself was not small, he doubted that he would have defeated such a man in a fair fight. But the surprise effect did its job. As soon as the soldier received the first blow, everything was decided. Hunter and prey have been identified. Having beaten him to death, Sam tried to catch his breath and vomited while squatting, but quickly came to his senses. Although most likely the screams could not be heard from here, he could not be sure. He removed rifle from the corpse and wiped it, after which he breathed a sigh of relief. So many years had passed since he participated in shooting ranges... He already doubted that he would be able to use a weapon. But when Sam got his hands on it he realized that it was still an old model and there was nothing special about it. He threw the corpse into an artificial pit with water nearby and hid the traces of the incident by covering the traces of blood with earth. Having made sure that the rifle was loaded and ready to fire, he returned the same way he came and climbed the same tree. The soldier by the car was still there, and he climbed inside the car. Sam waited patiently for the second scout to return. He couldn''t let any of them go, otherwise he would have to run. Although it wasn''t a big deal, Sam still didn''t want to take the risk. The distance from his tree to the car was about 50 meters or something like that. He wasn''t sure he would be able to shoot them from here, but he was going to try. When the scout returned, soldier got out of the car and they began to smoke calmly chatting about something and laughing. Sam took aim and was breathing deeply when he finally felt ready to pull the trigger. Everything went smoothly. He managed to shoot the first one immediately, but the second one took half the magazine. He approached the car and made sure that the soldiers were dead, after which he took away everything valuable from them and dragged all the corpses, their phones and everything unnecessary to the pool where he dumped them. There was a chance that someone heard the shots, but he didn''t care too much. The country is at war after all. Sirens howled regularly with or without reason, even now. And the city was quite far away. He drove the car far into the wasteland and hid it. There were no electronics in it. An ordinary unremarkable old-style car. Just another rusty piece of iron in the wasteland, who cares. Sometimes people donated such vehicles voluntarily, among other things, to the needs of the army. Of course more often they were simply confiscated. Unfortunately those same cars, drones, uniform etc witch was donated were used against the people themselves, nothing new. Chapter 6 One week later. City B. Captain Rondel was sitting at home having dinner with his family when he received a call from the station. After exchanging greetings with him, the deputy got down to business. - Captain three armed soldiers and a service vehicle went missing in city X. - What does city X have to do with me? - Well, the fact is that the missing were assigned to our city B... Rondel immediately understood what was going on. No one wanted to shit where they eat, so the soldiers who were looking for volunteers preferred to act either in other areas of their own city or even go to other cities and often used face masks to hide their identity. Considering the aspects of their "job" if their neighbors and acquaintances knew about... Lets say at least they would often give them not the most friendly glances... - Maybe they went to party or something? - At first, their colleagues themselves hid information on the issue thinking about something similar, but a week had already passed. A few days ago, the wife of one of the soldiers filed an application to our police department. None of them have been seen since and we barely managed to find out anything on the matter... Rondel thought about it. The army and police cooperated so that most likely both sides would hide the truth about the incident in any case, this was the order from above. It is not yet known what happened, but if rumors spread about the disappearance of three military men, people might have unnecessary thoughts about it; such rumors could not be allowed to spread. On the other hand, we still need to somehow investigate this matter while maintaining ethereal silence. - I understand, I¡¯ll be in the office soon, we¡¯ll sort it out. To be honest Rondell didn¡¯t care; he didn¡¯t feel a drop of warmth for the missing. But he could not ignore it either. He himself did not intend to go to city X and conduct the investigation personally until he was forced to. He will simply contact the police of City X and cooperate with them as much as necessary. Sam was running around the wasteland, then did exercises using the means at hand. In general he just played his game while glancing at the pulse on his hand from time to time. Perhaps some people would be perplexed how in the year 2245 you can kill three people using a firearm and go unnoticed? It''s impossible, they think. If we were talking about decent Western countries or alike then perhaps this would be really difficult to imagine. In the era of information technology, when there are cameras everywhere, how can a criminal escape? Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Well, first of all country X has long been rotten from the inside. Even during his time in the army, some of the military units that Sam visited looked no better than the wasteland around him. Everything was stolen and sold off long ago. Corruption was everywhere and army was one of leaders in that regard. The only problem they had before war - everything was already stolen and sold. Sam was sure they are really happy with the new recourses and opportunities since the war has began. Secondly, movies often show how professionals cordon off an area, conduct examinations and the like, but you need to understand that in reality not every crime receives such attention. To be completely honest proper investigations in outskirts of country X happens only if there is actually someone important is missing. Especially if we are talking about a crime in which there is no place or body at all. Especially in a rotten country which is in a war state. Moreover with a dictator as lead.. The only way Sam could be caught in such circumstances is if he personally films the video and uploads a sincere confession to the Internet. Naturally, he did not intend to do this. Although theoretically he could also be found if he used looted weapons. But if he someday gonna use it and will not get rid of the evidence it will probably mean that he doesn¡¯t care anymore. Moreover, it is not at all necessary that in modern realities all weapons are registered and all formalities are observed. In general, he has already thrown this problem far away as unimportant. Sam wasn''t going to start a revolution or anything like that. He did what he did only for his own sake and out of personal hatred for the regime. Just a small revenge for his own personal reasons. He did not drink, smoke, or use any substances. Until he personally starts talking too much, we can assume that nothing actually happened. But now he truly felt like he was the master of his own destiny! The presence of a weapon and its absence are two huge differences. Now no one can ever force him to do anything against his own will. And if they try, more corpses will appear, easy as that. Naturally, the weapon was hidden and he was not going to take it out unnecessarily or give it to anyone else. He took it away for personal use and nothing more. He loved the book 1984, but unlike the hero of that story, he did not feel any need to express his own feelings. No need to share his feeling with anyone around. And even much less change anything in this country overall. At least with his current capabilities. Pure selfishness. Let everything burn with fire as long as that does not affect him. Of course Sam realized that this was exactly kind of thinking that led country to turn into what it is now. But this was the sad reality of our time. Maybe long time ago people as himself would have been considered selfish, but now almost all people on the planet are like that. And since overwhelming majority are selfish, then they are no longer selfish, but rather just ¡°normal¡± people. This is objective reality, whether it is good or bad. Nobody gives a shit about each other. All the chatter about sympathy for those suffering around the globe isn¡¯t worth a damn. They will always say that human life''s matter the most and shit but only actions and deeds should be observed for the matter. And if you open your eyes you will realize that human life worth less than a toilet paper. Probably the only reason why they even chatter on these topics everywhere is because its simply profitable and makes them look better that¡¯s all. Chapter 7 Winter has come again and the first snow has fallen. In addition to three assault rifles and a pistol, Sam also found a certain amount of money. Thus, he now did not have to visit old Frank, but he still decided that they should see each other. Frank loved various conspiracy theories and often spoke nonsense. However, he also told him the latest news if something interesting happened in the world. He also had his own game on his phone. In this game you created a character and he received certain characteristics, for example Strong, Lazy, Cautious and many others. There could be very few of them or a lot. They could be positive or negative. The paradox is that you could not control the character, the only influence from the player was to give several general commands. For example, just wander, become a knight, open a dumpling shop, and so on. There were thousands of different types of these orders can be given but you could only choose one order for a certain period of time. And depending on your character he could even somewhat ignore it. So the character went out into the world and lived his life and everything. The player could only watch the process. The game followed the time frame of the real world and even if you closed the game, it continued on its own. All the character''s encounters and experiences influenced him in one way or another affected him. Sometimes for the better sometimes for the worse. Therefore, when two characters from different players met, it was difficult to say who would win if they entered into a fight, there were too many variables. The fights were very colorful and varied, because they were generated automatically and the player could not interfere. Sometimes you go into the game and your character is already dead. A kind of Tamagotchi in a serious manner. Of course, such a game could not become too popular, but it gained its niche among users despite the extremely limited gaming interface, and Frank was one of them. Sam usually had a hard time putting up with Frank''s nonsense about the flat earth and the lizardman invasion for too long. The stories about his character¡¯s adventures seemed the same. But considering that they really hadn¡¯t seen each other for a long time, he was ready to listen and probably even felt a little anticipation. Is his character still alive? This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. However, when Sam arrived at his garage, he saw no signs that anyone had been here recently. The workshop was closed and he didn¡¯t even find any traces in the snow nearby. He knew Frank enough to understand that he would hardly have left for long on his own accord. But the old man was definitely about 60 years old or more and he looked accordingly. Are old people really being drafted into the army now? This was quite possible. Everyone was sent there, no matter if you were blind or deaf, disabled or a drug addict. They took everyone indiscriminately. Sam led a lonely life for a long time, even when he had his own house. He got used to it and didn''t feel any problem with it. Still, he sighed slightly in frustration. Nevertheless, he could hardly help himself; the thought of helping someone else did not even occur to him. He went to the city, bought what he needed and went back home. On the way back the snow got heavier. Sam was returning to the wasteland to his small bungalow while catching falling snowflakes with his right hand. Suddenly one of the snowflakes changed its trajectory and landed on his hand. Sam raised his eyebrows and stopped, most likely it was an accident, but it looked unnatural. He focused his attention on another snowflake flying past and again it changed its trajectory and settled in the middle of his palm. - Interesting. After playing around a bit, he resumed his steps again, continuing to influence the trajectory of the snowflakes around him. But this only worked with one single snowflake at a time. Nevertheless, it was an interesting new game. At first he thought it was something like telepathy, but after doing a couple of tests he realized that it was more likely a matter of water. The weight of the snowflake was insignificant and, due to the presence of water in it, he could influence its trajectory. With water itself, even if it was a small drop it was much more difficult. It was only possible to slightly influence the drop of water. Nevertheless, the very fact of what was happening was shocking. He doubted that he could have missed something like this after living for so many years, which means these changes happened recently. Now he regretted even more that he didn¡¯t find Frank because he didn¡¯t even had a phone. He simply didn''t need it. Or at least such was his excuse. Various theories of the apocalypse began to pop into his head. Why did such happiness suddenly fall on his head? He can''t be the only one like that, can he? While in the city, he did not notice anything unusual. Yes, there were terribly few people outside, but this was rather the norm given the circumstances. At first he suspected a pulse. Since the mechanism of its operation was unknown to him and there was an almost invisible hole on the back of the watch. Perhaps body statistics were collected using nanorobots or something. Then he remembered this suspicious pool with dark, stinking water where he dumped the corpses. Although he couldn¡¯t even think of any specific suspicions about this place. And finally, one more interesting fact. Since he became homeless and began living in the wasteland, his life has changed slightly. In particular, he literally stopped washing himself. Frank was not so kind as to invite him to take a bath, and Sam himself was not eager to impose himself. Over the years, he simply got used to it and began to ignore this problem.