The Aftermath

Four years had passed since Nuclear fire had consumed the Prairie State for the second time. Cities and buildings had been reduced to ash, people and streetlights reduced to shadows in a flash of nuclear light. The resurrected city of ODTA (Ottawa) had been on of the few places that had been largely untouched by the bombs in the first wave, now had been hit hard, buildings burnt to a crisp and not a soul in sight. The damaged Veterans bridge had finally collapsed into the Illinois River flooding the areas closest to the water, the Lincoln-Douglas Debate statue in Washington Park was one of the few remaining historical sites left after the second fires devastated the entire state. Mutated Ducks and Waterfowl had begun to take up residence nearby as there were still no signs of human life anywhere. Two-headed deer roamed the empty streets of the former city and had been helping mother nature decay all that was left of human civilization in the area.

A deer popped its head up at an unfamiliar sound. A camo quad rolled into the city with a single man on it, wielding a shotgun. He hopped off and surveyed the broken city. Exhaling cigarette smoke, he marched to the remaining ruins of the Reddick Mansion, inside he found old evidence of human life he'd seen on the traffic cam feed four years ago but the resident in question was no where to be seen. He pick up a burnt out rifle and looked around, the city was quiet except for the occasional quack of a duck, and footsteps of deer. The man threw the destroyed rifle to the ground and left the building. Hopping on the quad, he took one last look around then stared at the Ottawa Savings Bank, he took a moment to look at it then he drove off, searching Ottawa, looking for a ghost.