Happyville - Chapter One

Happyville

Chapter One

"It won’t be long. It’ll start any day now." Claire said to her husband. They had been sitting in the living room on the couch Jason’s mother gave them as a Christmas present when they first got married. Arguing for hours on end was a past time for them, but it never amounted to anything major and neither of them went to bed mad.
"You’re just over reacting Claire. Korea won’t do shit, and if they did we would annihilate them. This is why they won’t do it. If you knew you could hurt someone, and it would leave you completely obliterated you aren’t going to do it. That is just fucking stupid on your part." Claire folded her arms and looked around the one story house. She was getting so angry with him, and then saw the brown miss-shaped circles on the ceiling from water damage. Jason was supposed to fix that weeks ago.

"Whatever Jason, Why don’t you fix the god damn roof like you said you were going to do instead of proving me wrong?" She sighed and walked to the bedroom, this always pissed him off. The house was scummy and hadn’t been cleaned in or out for months. He knew she had the right to be mad at him, but he still didn’t like it one bit. Jason got up from the couch and started working on the house. Dust fell over him when he opened the curtains, and he saw how disgusting the house had really become; week old dishes lying on the coffee table, blankets and pillows scattered all over the house, and of course clothes. He spent the next few hours cleaning the house, not making it spotless, but making it better.

Jason looked down at his own clothes that he had been wearing for at least a week. An old Hawaiian shirt splattered with food stains, and ripped jeans. The red flannel shirt fit him well, so that was thrown on as well as the khaki’s he got for his birthday. The couch was a tan color almost the same as his khakis. It had little buttons all over it with small light blue and light red faded pixels on them. They looked like small flowers from far away. Jason hated this couch so much. It was one of the ugliest he had ever seen, but Claire loved it so it stayed. Slowly he drifted to sleep thinking about all that had been happening, and all that could happen. This scared him.

"I told you Jason! I told-", the bombings had started. Korea unleashed a world of hell upon the United States. They weren’t hitting the rural areas, but up and down the coasts both East and West. "Okay, I was wrong! Take Jo and get to the basement." She grabbed the child and ran to the reinforced basement. Jason had a company come in to reinforce that basement walls with metal and concrete. He was proud of this decision.
"See Claire, we are safe down here, and I highly doubt they will attack a small rural town like ours…" There was a moment of silence; Claire was looking around the basement making sure everything was okay. "And besides, the radio said the only bombings were on the coasts." Jason looked down at his stubby little fingers and his fat hands, they were shaking. He had never been this scared in his life. Claire got fierce with him, "This is not good Jason; our entire government is going to be fucking ruined!" They just sat there holding their child. Jo fell back into his deep sleep, but Claire and Jason just sat; staring at the blank wall across from them…

. . .Six years later. . .

Six years after the "Impact" as it came to be known; Government in big cities had been eradicated, the only authority was in smaller towns. Marauders ran the country sides, but they usually left the small towns alone. They had enough to survive on what was in bigger cities.
Life is more dangerous for Jason’s family living outside the town, but they had not been in any trouble yet. Once a week one of them, Jason or Claire, would go in town and get groceries. The police force was strict, but as long as you didn’t cause any trouble you would be fine.
"It’s that time Claire!" Jason yelled from the fridge in the kitchen. "Time for what!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. She had spent all day reading in her room, and didn’t intend to be disturbed now. She was getting tired of the rough life they lived. "We need groceries." He loved his wife, but here lately life with her has been unbearable, and he was really looking forward to getting out of the house. Getting groceries was a chore since the Impact.

There was a loud bang that came from front door. Claire had run out with the keys, and was on her way into town. Jason ran after her, "Hey, I’ll go, why don’t you just stay here, and read of something?" He had never wanted to leave the house so badly. "Fuck you! I need to get away from you, this house, and our kid!" Never in their marriage had she been this angry at anyone. He just said I love you, and went back inside to look at the old Star Wars action figures that at one time were worth money.
After he finished depressing himself Jason decided to cook the last Ham they had, and make Claire a nice dinner for when she got home. Jo, who was almost 7 now, came downstairs to help. Jason let him cook the macaroni and rice, while he worked on the Ham. He wanted it to be perfect.

"When’s mommy gonna get here?" Jo said sitting at the dinner table. The ham looked delicious. It was a honey smoked ham, Claire’s favorite, and the macaroni wasn’t very good but Jo made it. Jo also made the rice, but it wasn’t eatable; he had dumped it all over the kitchen floor. Both Jason and Jo had a good laugh after Jo finished crying. "I don’t know…" Jason said worrying, Claire had never been gone this long, and it was dusk. Marauders usually came out at night around these parts. "But, let’s get you in bed, and you can see her tomorrow."
Jason was almost finished with Jo’s story book, and Claire still wasn’t home. "And with the last turn of the page, the princess and the price lived happily ever after. The End." Jason looked at Jo, sleeping like a baby; slowly he got off the end of the bed as to not wake him. Gave him and kiss on the forehead and left turning off the light on the way out. He went to the porch to look toward the Monroeville and thought he saw a glimpse of light, but brushed it off as nothing. He was scared, so he went back inside sat down in the reclining chair, and drifted off to the land of sleep.

The next two days were the same as they always been, nothing exciting happened and the only difference was that Claire was gone. Jo still had fun, and Jason intended to keep it that way, but soon he would have to go into town and find out what had happened to his wife, and he intended on doing so the next day.

"You’ll be fine, just lock the door and don’t open it for anyone." Jason was leaving for Monroeville today. "But Papa, I’m scared… I can’t stay here alone!" Little Jo began to cry. Jason gave him a big hug, and told him to be a big boy. Jo still didn’t stop crying. He walked off down the dirt road, and turned to see Jo still standing with the door wide open crying his eyes out. Jason gave a motion to go back inside and lock the door. Jo did as he motioned.
Jason loved walking down that old dirt road. He hadn’t for awhile, but now that he started he remembered how beautiful it really was. The breeze blew a little while he walked, and the shadows that fell upon the road made it look as though something was dancing with him. He wasn’t a religious man, but this made him think that maybe… just maybe there is something of a higher power.
Walking was making him tired. Staying in a house all day everyday for six years except to do a few normal tasks really took a toll on his body. Smoking probably didn’t help too much either. He thought of this and thought it was the funniest thing he had heard for quite some time. He laughed hard.

Another hour of walking brought Jason to a corn field, and from there he saw what he had most feared. Smoke. Right then and there he knew that something in town had gone wrong, and that his wife had probably not survived. He started to run, and this really killed him. When he got near the back gate of Monroeville, and saw the sign had been painted over in what looked to be blood, but he couldn’t be sure. Jason whispered what was written over Monroeville, "Happyville…" This scared him; it meant Marauders.
The town was fortified by walls made of wood, scrap metal, and old vehicles. It had taken years to build, and everyone in the town helped. They liked the protection, but then again who doesn’t like it. He found a small hole in the fortification and made his way into the town. It was worse than he had ever expected. . .