Vas was young.

At least he felt young.

In his early twenties, however, he was one of the oldest people in Last City. Because of this, his name was at the top of the list when the draft orders came in.

He lounged outside on a small folding chair and was surrounded by snow, looking at a screen only he could see.

Apparently a Risen assault on The Wall the night before had resulted in sixteen deaths. A girl at one of the turrets had turned and killed the people on either side of her, and the ripple had continued until everyone in that room was dead.

The article Vas was reading on his holo-display claimed this incident ‘further validates the extra amount of resources’ that were spent on The Wall.

Vas hadn’t realized The Wall would need any more validation than it’d already earned by saving the human race.

The sound of a bell suddenly reverberated through the air, which signaled the summoning of everyone indicated on the draft papers.

Vas sighed and stood up. He had a trench coat on, which he wore over a hooded jacked and two layers of pants. His hood was up, and had a tight scarf-like addition sewed onto it, which he had wrapped around his nose and mouth.

Consequently his only bit of exposed skin was the small opening between his hood and scarf, which left room for his eyes.

There was also another bit of skin, the tips of his fingers on his right hand. That went without mentioning, however, as everyone knew to wear a cut-off glove on their primary hand.

The bell sounded once again, for redundancy’s sake.

Vas shook himself, folded his chair, and walked to the closest building—his house.

He kicked the door open. There were no door handles this far north, only an electronic lock that released when someone neared the door.

Vas dropped his folding chair on the floor and quickly went to his bed. He reached underneath it and grabbed the only weapon the army had not confiscated from him.

It was a large Japanese sword called a ‘Nodachi’ but Vas had no delusions about actually being able to use the weapon. He strapped it onto his back. His father had worn the weapon upside-down on his back, but Vas wore it right-side up.

Vas took one last look at his single room abode before exiting through the second door. He descended down a flight of stairs and reached a giant lit tunnel. It was heated, and the majority of the townsfolk spent their time in the tunnel.

Hundreds of thousands of people crowded the vast network of tunnels, doing all sorts of activities. Selling, buying, working, playing. All of them were younger than Vas.

As Vas walked through the giant tunnel towards the base of The Wall, he was interrupted by a girl a few years younger than him.

“YO!” Miiche grabbed his arm enthusiastically, “I haven’t seen you in aaages!” Vas gave her a blank stare. “Pretty sure I saw you last night, Miiche.”

Miiche’s eyes twinkled for a second. “Funny, I don’t remember seeing you. The only thing I did last night was take a bath. . .” She left the implication there, which made Vas uncharacteristically blush, “Dinner.” His response was curt, signaling the level of his embarrassment. Miiche put her hands up to her face and faked realization, “RIGHT!”

The two walked silently side-by-side for a few minutes.

Miiche laid a hand on his shoulder when they neared The Wall. Vas was taller than her by more than a head and a half, so this took some effort.

“You’ll be okay, V. They’ll put you on a turret!” “They don’t put young men on turrets very often.”

Miiche looked at the ground, “You’ll still be okay. I’ll join the vanguard in a few months and come find you!”

They were almost to The Wall now. There was a guard watching Vas, likely having guessed yet another late recruit was arriving. This draft had probably only included more than a few dozen people, but Vas had managed to be the last one to show up.

Suddenly, Miiche’s words hit him and he turned to her suddenly, “Don’t you dare join the vanguard. Your sister would be devastated. Get a good job on a turret.”

Miiche’s eyes were fiery. She hated being told what to do. She didn’t argue, but that didn’t mean she would obey.

Seeing the impatient guard, Miiche gave Vas a quick hug, “Be SAFE!” After an extra squeeze, she darted off. Vas thought he might have seen a tear in her eye as she scurried away.

The guard cleared his throat, and Vas turned around to meet the eyes of the agitated man. He walked up to the guard, “Vas Tremor, drafted this morning. Reporting.”

The guard just stared at him, and Vas looked at another guard quizzically.

The second guard looked at him with amused disbelief and Vas flinched.

“SIR!!” He added with passion when the realization hit.

The irritated guard consulted his holo-display while his companion snickered in the background.

Not helping! Vas thought as he glared at the second guard. “You,” the first guard grated, “Will report to the vanguard department.”

Vas nodded. He had expected this much.

The guard smiled darkly, “The scouts could use some reinforcements.”

Vas’s heart dropped. The Vanguard department was far enough south that the EMP’s effects were complete. Every member of the vanguard used a sword, a spear, and usually a crossbow as well.

The vanguard was dangerous, it was on the frontlines. However, it was where the majority of the army was. Hundreds of thousands of people comprised the vanguard.

The scouts, though.

The scouts pushed forward. They went on search and rescue missions to the south. They watched for and warned of Risen assaults. They searched for survivors.

Vas took a deep breath and nodded again. He started walking forward, but the guard continued to bar his path. “Your sword. You won’t be needing something so extravagant out there.”

Vas unstrapped his sword and handed it to the guard. He was too numb to put up a fight now.

“Yes sir,” he said.