Chapter 3

"Hello, is this the commander's tent" he asked to a tall man with a medium build dressed in military uniform, from the arrows displayed on his shoulder he was a sergeant first class, he was quite the intimidating man but he was nothing in front of Cameron's towering stature and large build. The man turned and introduced himself "Hello I am Sergeant Mark Andrews with the CDC under authorisation from the U.S. Military, you must be Mr Ferrous nice to meet you." He outstretched his hand so Cameron shook it firmly and greeted him as well. "Yes I am Cameron Ferrous and I just came down to greet you and to remind you not to use the back entrance loading bay as I will still be getting deliveries." "Okay duelly noted" he replied. "Okay goodbye then sergeant" Cameron said as he turned to leave and walked out of the tent.

Cameron walked back upstairs, as he re-entered the apartment Cole called him over to the desk and gave him a notepad, it was a list of weapons that Cole had bought within the last half hour.

(See information list for [Inventory])

"What the hell, you were busy weren't you"

Cameron exclaimed as he looked through the notebook.

"Well yeah, do you think it's enough, I would have bought more but if I bulk ordered anymore stock then it wouldn't be here before doomsday." Cole replied while scratching his head and yawning.

"The parents and sisters will be here soon by the way, any news on the boys?" Cameron asked.

"Logan got back to me, he said that they would all be here by February 1st" Cole replied with a scowl on his face.

"What's up?" Cameron asked with concern as it seemed someone had given him grief.

"It's Declan, I just don't think we should let him in on the secret" Cole said.

During the first apocalypse Declan had deserted his own family to rule over Southern California with his biker gang, resulting in the death of Klay and ultimately Cameron and Cole as well. The short, fat man who had been hidden behind the glass was a direct subordinate of Declan and he was stationed in a settlement which Cameron and Cole had visited on a supply run. When the fat man saw them he instantly radioed to Declan and attacked them, he outnumbered them 9 to 2 so he had an overwhelming advantage he had them locked up and tortured. Declan thought that the two had hidden their parents somewhere and refused to believe otherwise, finally taking out his revenge on the two by murdering his own brothers in cold blood.

Cameron snapped out of his daze remembering the crimes that had been committed by Declan and looked at Cole.

"There is a simple solution, we just don't tell him. We could send him out on a run somewhere on the day and just hope he doesn't make it back."Cameron hypothesised.

Cole was silent for a moment before replying, "That would break Shaz's heart."Cole said solemnly. Cameron hadn't thought of that his mind set was still in that of the apocalypse, so he didn't realise that i acting revenge would have alternate consequences.

" So what we just leave him and hope that he doesn't turn to a darker path?"Cameron asked.

Cole just nodded and turned over on the sofa to browse the Internet on his phone.

Cameron went to the cabinet underneath his desk, inside was a black lockbox, inside of that lock box was an accumulated 309,650 hours of Cameron's life. Cameron took out his keys and unlocked the box, inside were 5 small black boxes. They were hard drives containing the secondary life of Cameron in the fantasy world of Gilain, a world where the strong ate the weak and rose to the top on pillars made from their bones. Cameron took them out of the box and hooked them up to his computer, he had decided that he would download everything he would need to as the world of Gilain would soon be gone anyway.

As Cameron wiped the drives one by one he started to reminisce about all of the people he had killed in game, then realised he would be able to relive the thrill of destroying lesser lifeforms once again when the apocalypse came around. Cameron downloaded lots of things including Medical Encyclopaedias, Herb Diaries, Survival Manuals, School Curriculum, World History, Maps, Books as well as every language known to man. Once the upper point in his head had been evolved to the second stage his cognitive thinking would be unlike any other on earth and he would gain the added perk of an idetic memory meaning he would never forget any information given to him.

Just as he finished filling the 4th hard drive the apartment door buzzer buzzed in the Super Mario theme tune letting him and Cole know that their parents had arrived, Cole went over to the intercom and buzzed them in.

The time between the buzz of the intercom and the knock at the door felt like hours, but finally the knock came and Cameron went to open the door. Cameron stood in stupor for a moment before tightly grabbing the man and woman standing in the doorway. It had been years since he had last saw his parents, but it had been mere weeks since they saw him last so they were confused with the overwhelming greeting they received. The second Cameron let go Cole rushed forth from behind him and hugged his parents, Robert was taken aback by the second embrace as Cole never hugged and it seemed like he was a completely different person.

"Hi Dad, Shaz. Where are the girls?" Cameron asked to try and leave behind the sudden hugging situation.

"Yes...Um hi son" Robert answered awkwardly "The girls are helping the chauffeur with the bags." he replied. Whenever the family visited they stayed in their own apartments set out along the top floor of the building, making it safer if disaster struck.

Robert had been a prepper since before the family moved to America, he only got serious when Shaz was diagnosed with Breast Cancer as he had a sudden realisation of how short life truly was and decided to make sure his children were safe in the event of his death. The entire compound was built to be a fortress in the event of disaster, that was why it lasted throughout the apocalypse the first time.