Chapter 4, part 2
Male Barracks, Guantanamo
Duke had seen better conditions in some jails around the United States. This place was a dump. The barracks had been part of the prison that held suspected and convicted terrorists after September 11, 2001. After the assination of Osama Bin Laden in late 2006, the UN Security Council acted swiftly and was able to disband any and all terrorist actions. Most of the radical Muslims had either died or were in prison. If there were any out there, they were quiet.
At the door were two military guards. Duke guessed that they were put there to make sure they didn’t try to escape or was it that anyone would try to get in? He thought this ironic as who would try to escape out into a dying planet, when hope was in the hanger across the base. He was finally going to get his chance to be free. Sure he was the architect of his own destiny but when you are caught in a vicious cycle, it’s hard to catch a break. The cops expect you to break the law, so you do. Duke had lived his life his way since he was 15 and all that money wasn’t going to make it better. He only stole what he needed to survive. If he had wanted wealth, all he had to do is ask for it or “give in” as he put it. He laid still on his bunk, smoking a cigarette, hoping that they had been able to accommodate his wish in bringing a few cartons along. He knew he shouldn’t smoke and he could quit any time he wanted but hey why would he want to.
Duke’s mind then wandered to what kind of little senioritas would be a long for the ride. He was looking forward to meeting them alright. Procreation! Well he was all for the sex part, not the baby making part. According to Duke, he had bedded more women than you could shake a stick and only God knew how many children he had fathered. If those women knew who he really was, he would then know how many children he had. But no one knew. He escaped that pompous life and all its fakeness. For all his grandparents knew, he was dead or just didn’t want to be found. His mother, well that was entirely different story.
“Hey have you got an extra fag?” Duke’s ears picked up. Standing next to his bed a tall slender strawberry blonde man stood. It was Addison
“Listen buddy, I’m not up for that shit. I built these muscles so I didn’t have to put up with that shit. No fags here. Go back to your bunk or you’ll be sorry.” Duke only half listened. Addison rolled his eyes.
“No you stupid sod, a siggy, you know your fag, cig-a-rette. Bloody Americans.” Addison was regretting his decision to ask for one now and turned around to go back to his bunk. Embarrassed, Duke threw him the package of Marlboros. Its manufacturer was the only cigarette manufacturer left on the planet. The rest of them had gone out of business or bankrupt.
“Thanks. Listen, sorry about the comment. It’s been a rough couple of days. I quit smoking four years ago. I don’t know why I want one now. It’s hard enough to breath even with a PV on. I’m Addison, Addison MacKenzie. You can call me Addi, just about everyone does.” Addi extended his hand out to Duke.
“Duke Johnson. The Duke is what everyone calls me. But Duke will be just fine.” Duke shook Addi’s hand.
“Some crazy shit this all is huh?” Addison sat down at the edge of the empty bunk next to Duke’s. “Do you have a light?”
“What, huh, oh yeah sorry. It’s better than the alternative. All those other sorry bastards are going to die and nothing will be left. I had no idea. I knew it was bad, but not that bad. Those guys told me they figured we had only a few months left before all the oxygen runs out. How do you run out of oxygen? Don’t the trees make it or something?” Duke couldn’t wrap his head around the whole planet dying. To him it was bullshit.
“Well if the trees are dying due to the toxins in the air then they can’t produce oxygen can they? It has something to do with the atmosphere becoming more nitrogen than oxygen. All those CFC’s and chemical dumping in the 1960’s and 1970’s started a very bad chain reaction. Funny thing is my mum used to talk about this global warming stuff all the time. Everyone was like, yeah yeah, what’s she like? The air always better next to the sea anyway.” Addison’s mind then wandered back to his mother.
“Daddy, DADDY, DADDY!!” A young boy in the corner bunk started to yell out from his sleep. Addison quickly got up and rushed to his side.
“It’s alright son, go back to sleep.” He brushed the boy’s forehead with hand and lull him back to sleep. Addison got up and walked back over to Duke.
“Your boy?” Duke asked. Addi shook his head no. “What’s his problem?” His disgust for children was obvious.
“The boy’s been ripped from his parents. What do you think his problem is?” Addison became agitated.
“Whoa there Scottie.” It was obvious that Duke wanted to pester Addison some more.
“Addison. Not Scottie, or beam me up Scottie. Why is it that every bloody American says that to a Scot? Ahh sod it. I’m going to sleep. I guess we are all tired.” Addison got up “thanks for the fag, I mean cigarette.” He walked over to the bunk beside the boy and laid down. This was going to be interesting. He wished that he could choose who went and who didn’t. Certainly people like Duke didn’t belong in the mix, let alone be responsible for carrying forth the human race. Tomorrow was the day they would get to view this ship and have an orientation. Finally, he was going to get to see who the other people were.
Duke had seen better conditions in some jails around the United States. This place was a dump. The barracks had been part of the prison that held suspected and convicted terrorists after September 11, 2001. After the assination of Osama Bin Laden in late 2006, the UN Security Council acted swiftly and was able to disband any and all terrorist actions. Most of the radical Muslims had either died or were in prison. If there were any out there, they were quiet.
At the door were two military guards. Duke guessed that they were put there to make sure they didn’t try to escape or was it that anyone would try to get in? He thought this ironic as who would try to escape out into a dying planet, when hope was in the hanger across the base. He was finally going to get his chance to be free. Sure he was the architect of his own destiny but when you are caught in a vicious cycle, it’s hard to catch a break. The cops expect you to break the law, so you do. Duke had lived his life his way since he was 15 and all that money wasn’t going to make it better. He only stole what he needed to survive. If he had wanted wealth, all he had to do is ask for it or “give in” as he put it. He laid still on his bunk, smoking a cigarette, hoping that they had been able to accommodate his wish in bringing a few cartons along. He knew he shouldn’t smoke and he could quit any time he wanted but hey why would he want to.
Duke’s mind then wandered to what kind of little senioritas would be a long for the ride. He was looking forward to meeting them alright. Procreation! Well he was all for the sex part, not the baby making part. According to Duke, he had bedded more women than you could shake a stick and only God knew how many children he had fathered. If those women knew who he really was, he would then know how many children he had. But no one knew. He escaped that pompous life and all its fakeness. For all his grandparents knew, he was dead or just didn’t want to be found. His mother, well that was entirely different story.
“Hey have you got an extra fag?” Duke’s ears picked up. Standing next to his bed a tall slender strawberry blonde man stood. It was Addison
“Listen buddy, I’m not up for that shit. I built these muscles so I didn’t have to put up with that shit. No fags here. Go back to your bunk or you’ll be sorry.” Duke only half listened. Addison rolled his eyes.
“No you stupid sod, a siggy, you know your fag, cig-a-rette. Bloody Americans.” Addison was regretting his decision to ask for one now and turned around to go back to his bunk. Embarrassed, Duke threw him the package of Marlboros. Its manufacturer was the only cigarette manufacturer left on the planet. The rest of them had gone out of business or bankrupt.
“Thanks. Listen, sorry about the comment. It’s been a rough couple of days. I quit smoking four years ago. I don’t know why I want one now. It’s hard enough to breath even with a PV on. I’m Addison, Addison MacKenzie. You can call me Addi, just about everyone does.” Addi extended his hand out to Duke.
“Duke Johnson. The Duke is what everyone calls me. But Duke will be just fine.” Duke shook Addi’s hand.
“Some crazy shit this all is huh?” Addison sat down at the edge of the empty bunk next to Duke’s. “Do you have a light?”
“What, huh, oh yeah sorry. It’s better than the alternative. All those other sorry bastards are going to die and nothing will be left. I had no idea. I knew it was bad, but not that bad. Those guys told me they figured we had only a few months left before all the oxygen runs out. How do you run out of oxygen? Don’t the trees make it or something?” Duke couldn’t wrap his head around the whole planet dying. To him it was bullshit.
“Well if the trees are dying due to the toxins in the air then they can’t produce oxygen can they? It has something to do with the atmosphere becoming more nitrogen than oxygen. All those CFC’s and chemical dumping in the 1960’s and 1970’s started a very bad chain reaction. Funny thing is my mum used to talk about this global warming stuff all the time. Everyone was like, yeah yeah, what’s she like? The air always better next to the sea anyway.” Addison’s mind then wandered back to his mother.
“Daddy, DADDY, DADDY!!” A young boy in the corner bunk started to yell out from his sleep. Addison quickly got up and rushed to his side.
“It’s alright son, go back to sleep.” He brushed the boy’s forehead with hand and lull him back to sleep. Addison got up and walked back over to Duke.
“Your boy?” Duke asked. Addi shook his head no. “What’s his problem?” His disgust for children was obvious.
“The boy’s been ripped from his parents. What do you think his problem is?” Addison became agitated.
“Whoa there Scottie.” It was obvious that Duke wanted to pester Addison some more.
“Addison. Not Scottie, or beam me up Scottie. Why is it that every bloody American says that to a Scot? Ahh sod it. I’m going to sleep. I guess we are all tired.” Addison got up “thanks for the fag, I mean cigarette.” He walked over to the bunk beside the boy and laid down. This was going to be interesting. He wished that he could choose who went and who didn’t. Certainly people like Duke didn’t belong in the mix, let alone be responsible for carrying forth the human race. Tomorrow was the day they would get to view this ship and have an orientation. Finally, he was going to get to see who the other people were.
posted by Tracey at 5:50 PM
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