"Barinade" A Story of Loss, Betrayal, and Friendship

[I AM BARINADE]

This story tells the tale of Barinade Quatermain, son of Allan Quatermain. His life, his loves, his fears, his friends, and his mentor. Warnings: None yet...
First chapter will be up soon...

[I AM BARINADE]

The boat was crowded. People were bustling about in attempts to get off the ship. A seemingly old and frail man got off and took his first steps in America. He had to go through customs, were they questioned him about an old 1900 single-shot rifle with some minor modifications. They asked him to sign a piece of paper and he wrote down a name. The customs must not have been paying attention otherwise they would have noticed that he wrote “Allan Quatermain”. Allan was well-known back in England. He was a famous adventurer, did all sorts of things back in the late 1800’s. He stopped adventuring with his supposed death. Very few people knew of his continued life.
One of them was his old apprentice, a U.S. Secret Service agent named Tom Sawyer. Tom was brutally murdered in an effort to flush out Allan. The murder was arranged by Victor Von Hikzberg. Hikzberg was trying to start a world war to rise as ruler of the world and succeeded in starting one. However, it did not have the outcome he hoped for. Austria and the rest of the Axis powers were crushed leaving Hikzberg to wallow in hatred. He blamed Quatermain for the loss. Hikzberg wanted to hurt Allan horribly, so he murdered Tom.
When Quatermain went to America he was in search of a new apprentice. Quatermain had enough money to last him for a while so he didn’t need a job. When Allan got used to America he started to wander the streets of New York, where he got off the boat. He eventually made his way over the Appalachians, through the Great Plains and over the Rocky Mountains. He settled in a small town in Utah, having not yet found a suitable apprentice. he bought a little cabin and he lived there for some time, reading the newspapers and saying very little. There was a single mother of four kids named Claire who Allan often talked to. She had him introduced to many of the locals. It was during a conversation of Jules Verne that word of "The Attacks" had spread. It happened quickly. First New York, then Washington D.C. They were both struck by nukes of unknown origin. Quatermain and the mother watched in horror as news of other countries that were attacked. There was no one left out… Iran, France, Japan, New Guinea, and Costa Rica… everyone was attacked… Everyone was devastated…
War ensued. Everyone was attacking everyone. No one knew who did it… No one but Allan Quatermain. He had told Claire and her children to take refuge deep in an abandoned mine. He quickly gathered his belongings, nothing more than his rifle(Matilda) and her ammunition. He then followed Claire into the mine. They had not gone for more than an hour when a Earth shattering *BOOM* had erupted. The shaft had collapsed crushing the mother and three children. Allan had wept. But there was no time. He took the last kid, a boy, and ran through a maze of tunnels.
He eventually stopped running. He had said, "Your mother never had told me your name. What shall I name you then?" He named him Barinade. Barinade was only 2 when Allan saved him. Barinade learned quickly from Quatermain, in everything from math to shooting(of course not until he was ten).
They spent ages in the mine. Luckily, there were whole rooms full of crates of food that had kept them from starving. When Barinade was twelve he had found a secret shaft that seemed to go on and on. He told Allen about the shaft, and Allen had not believed him until he saw it himself. It had been hidden behind a couple crates and It was found when Barinade had accidentally knocked them over. Allan and Barinade both went exploring. Allan found some food and Barinade found a flashlight and some batteries. The shaft seemed to go to another mine and it seemed to make a network of mines with hidden shafts connecting them all. Allan and Barinade went through countless mines looking for a radio to tell them if anyone had survived.
After a long time Allan found a way out. Eager to return to the surface Allan speedily went outside. It was night so he couldn't see at all. The next day they took as much of their supplies as they could and went outside. Allan and Barinade saw the edge of San Francisco. But, it was war ravaged. It looked like it was struck with nukes at least twice. Barinade said the first words he spoke since a long time.
“Allan, what happened?” his voice was hoarse.
“I do not know…” Allan had said.
“Was this a city? It looks… awful.”
“We had best find a fallout shelter.”
They searched and searched, but couldn’t find anything. No other life was around. They walked and they walked, they shouted and yelled, and cried…
Nothing...

-------------------------------------------END OF PROLOGUE------------------------------------------------