Chereads / Star-Spangled-Shutdown / Chapter 66 - Burying The Hatchet

Chapter 66 - Burying The Hatchet

The Pulse Sparrows stayed at on the road, LQ drove them out of Free City, heading to god knows where. The Ghost punched in coordinates and LQ kept driving. Nobody knew where they were going, but everyone was silent. Clarity held the Ghost's hand, Kay and her brother Kip had fallen asleep, and LQ and Rose keep each other awake. The van flew down the freeway as the scenery changed over and over again.

They drove through the night and reached the edge. On the other side of the fence, was the city of Ottawa Illinois. LQ busted through the fence and drove slowly into what was the former northern district of Ottawa.

LQ woke everyone up as he stopped the van and took his bag down into the city center. Bones, and rubble littered the area, parts of old cars, and vehicles used by the Joint Illinois Coalition. Everyone walked eight paces behind him.

"Where are we?" asked Kay

"This is apparently the city where GH is from." said LQ

"It's like a war happened here." said Kip and Rose

"That's because there was a war here." said LQ. "GH and I talked about this place, said he wanted to come back here, and just so happened we needed to lay low for a bit. This was once the home of the infamous Ghost Of Ottawa, aka GH, he and a bunch of survivors lead a reconstruction effort trying to pick up and rebuild a better world. As we all heard, that Rothschild asshole laid waste to this place after he'd shot GH. I did some digging after GH killed Rothschild, the citizens had a bunker here, they tried to survive in it...."

Before LQ could finish, they find themselves looking at what was the Washington Park Super Bunker, now it was just a hole, a tomb of the final stand of Ottawa. The Ghost stood nearby silent, looking into the hole. He turned to the group and finished LQ's sentence.

"They tried to survive in the bunker like we'd drilled. The Preppers told us it could withstand a nuke, they didn't know about a certain satellite that housed a laser. That laser drilled through the entire bunker, leaving nothing but ash and bone in its wake. Evelyn was kind enough to show me what had happened on Rothschild's computer. They didn't stand a chance."

The group looked around seeing the once great city, now a burnt out husk of what it was. The Ghost took off his WWII coveralls and make memorial scarecrow of sorts. On a sign it read, "Here lies the brave souls who conquered and defied the odds, survived an end of the world only to be murdered and slaughtered by the NWO. May they rest in peace knowing he died like the coward he was."

The others gathered around him, LQ nodding at his "Kiss My Arsenal" hoodie.

"I am once again, the last voice of Ottawa. A city that didn't quit till the bitter end."

"Damn straight, we all agree Rothschild was an asshole. He deserved what he got from you. This will be our reminder." said LQ as the Ghost finished the memorial. The Coveralls flapped in the wind, the sign driven deep into the ground. The crew walked back to the van, all of them doing their best to comfort GH.