Had he known that the last time he spoke with his parents, that it would truly be the last time... Perhaps their conversation would have gone better. "You were born to follow into the family business! There is nothing else for you but becoming a lawyer, Roswell, that is what this family is, lawyers! he could still hear his father screaming those words at him from the top balcony of their home. And him, screaming back, "Then I suppose we're no longer family, because I'm going to become a teacher! My professor already sees me becoming a great one! was shouted as he stormed out of the house, unaware that this would be the last time he would be able to properly speak with either of his parents again.
That conversation took place when he was a College Freshman, when he was just nineteen. He was twenty-three now, and... if circumstances were different, he'd have been in his final year of college. A Senior. Months away from graduation. Roswell, or Ross, was stood in the hospital and watching as his father slowly breathed, the machine attached to his throat helping keep him alive. He was on the opposite side of the containment wall. Doctors, nurses, medical personnel in general were all wearing hazmat suits to protect themselves from the contagion that lain in wait in their patients bodies. Of approximately 7.8 Billion people in the entire world, Roswell stood amongst the 1 Million that were still alive today. After the Pandemic that took the entire world by storm, everyone was moved to the United States. Cultures were now mixed, no one was allowed to leave the United States, not for a very long time anyway. Not until what remained of the CDC and the Government dictated that outside travel was acceptable again.
Ross gave the doctor his nod of approval. It was time to end his father's suffering, as much as he wanted to continue watching him suffer. It was just time to let his past go. The future was still ahead of him. Once the final beep of the machine gave out, Ross turned on his heel and headed for the exit. Even though the pandemic had been relatively 'contained' or so the news outlets stated; it still caused mass hysteria and panic. People destroyed things that they had no reason destroying. People looted buildings, stole things that were unnecessary. People burned down buildings, homes, destroyed entire communities, for no other reason than selfishness. They were worried, and Ross got that. He did not understand why they destroyed, stole, or... really he didn't understand why people didn't just follow the laws that had been in place to protect the world from things spreading out of control like they had. The entire world was in ruins now. Large cities were mere shadows, shells of what they used to be, skyscrapers with windows blown out and their facades destroyed from generalized chaos. The towns surrounding those large cities were now wastelands, piles of rubbish everywhere, they were landfills, where all of the 'unwanted' stuff got dumped.
Roswell sighed as he stopped outside of the hospital doors, just staring at the sky. It was red, as if the world itself knew it had been doomed. Knew that life was no longer what it used to be. It spoke volumes without saying a word, and Ross couldn't help but to agree with the world's silent plea that things be returned to the way they had been. There were rumors of a place that was nice, decent and wholesome, but he was sure they were just rumors. There was no way there was anything out there like that, The New Hope Federation, that's what it was supposedly called, and Ross wanted to believe, wanted that place to be real... but with what this world had come too in just a span of three years, he doubted anyone or anything could be nice anymore.
That conversation took place when he was a College Freshman, when he was just nineteen. He was twenty-three now, and... if circumstances were different, he'd have been in his final year of college. A Senior. Months away from graduation. Roswell, or Ross, was stood in the hospital and watching as his father slowly breathed, the machine attached to his throat helping keep him alive. He was on the opposite side of the containment wall. Doctors, nurses, medical personnel in general were all wearing hazmat suits to protect themselves from the contagion that lain in wait in their patients bodies. Of approximately 7.8 Billion people in the entire world, Roswell stood amongst the 1 Million that were still alive today. After the Pandemic that took the entire world by storm, everyone was moved to the United States. Cultures were now mixed, no one was allowed to leave the United States, not for a very long time anyway. Not until what remained of the CDC and the Government dictated that outside travel was acceptable again.
Ross gave the doctor his nod of approval. It was time to end his father's suffering, as much as he wanted to continue watching him suffer. It was just time to let his past go. The future was still ahead of him. Once the final beep of the machine gave out, Ross turned on his heel and headed for the exit. Even though the pandemic had been relatively 'contained' or so the news outlets stated; it still caused mass hysteria and panic. People destroyed things that they had no reason destroying. People looted buildings, stole things that were unnecessary. People burned down buildings, homes, destroyed entire communities, for no other reason than selfishness. They were worried, and Ross got that. He did not understand why they destroyed, stole, or... really he didn't understand why people didn't just follow the laws that had been in place to protect the world from things spreading out of control like they had. The entire world was in ruins now. Large cities were mere shadows, shells of what they used to be, skyscrapers with windows blown out and their facades destroyed from generalized chaos. The towns surrounding those large cities were now wastelands, piles of rubbish everywhere, they were landfills, where all of the 'unwanted' stuff got dumped.
Roswell sighed as he stopped outside of the hospital doors, just staring at the sky. It was red, as if the world itself knew it had been doomed. Knew that life was no longer what it used to be. It spoke volumes without saying a word, and Ross couldn't help but to agree with the world's silent plea that things be returned to the way they had been. There were rumors of a place that was nice, decent and wholesome, but he was sure they were just rumors. There was no way there was anything out there like that, The New Hope Federation, that's what it was supposedly called, and Ross wanted to believe, wanted that place to be real... but with what this world had come too in just a span of three years, he doubted anyone or anything could be nice anymore.
![[Image: 8Ww3nNU.png]](https://i.imgur.com/8Ww3nNU.png)
You can lead a horse to water, but cannot force a horse to drink.