The harsh, blistering freeze of another winter, in its height no less, had crested the earth once again. The skies overhead, although clear and bright, held within their grasp a coldness that seemed to tighten the bones and cool the blood. At the peak of a truly cold day, the simplest acts, such as tying ones shoe, could be an extreme hardship to the unadjusted or the unconditioned. One thing was certain; If you were not used to the cold weather of winter in South Dakota it was Brutal. Climbing off the Train, just west of the Border, Chuck Green felt just how brutal it was.
With just one foot on the cold earth Chuck found out quickly why the states name had been changed from "The Sunshine state" in 1980. Thick plumes of vapor shot from his mouth as he tightened the pull strings on his windbreaker. He took a second to adjust his beanie, pulling it off and letting his dirty bond hair spill out over his face. Just last week, although it seemed like in a different life, Chucks mother had been telling him he needed a hair cut and how no decent school loan board would sponsor a "messy haired rag-a-muffin'", as she put it. It brought a smile to his unshaven face to think of his mother, but that life was gone now and that reality soon painted an expression on his face that matched the harsh weather.
Everything seemed normal at the Train station. People came and people went. Children tugged at their parents mitten covered hands with little requests, asking to use the restroom or wanting to look at a toy in the small gift shop, but more often than not the parents were in such a hurry to reach whatever destination they had planned out for the day, they paid little attention. Chuck laughed to himself as a small boy tripped and fell face first in the snow, his father, who was apparently in a huge hurry, didn't notice until the boy started screaming in frustration and worry at his misfortune. Business as usual at the Station, thought Chuck.
After rubbing some feeling back into his hands Chuck reached into his faded blue jeans and pulled out the ticket that would would grant him pass to Northern California. A smile appeared on his worn out face as he inspected his ticket. California was where he wanted - Needed - to go, after all She was there, waiting for him. However the smile soon disappeared as he approached the loading gate.
"What the hell?" Chuck whispered to himself while aimlessly scratching at his chest, for the time being forgetting all about the ticket clutched in his hand. He glanced up at the departure and return times of the trains and saw in big red letters ALL TRAFFIC CANCELED UNTILL FURTHER NOTICE
Now this was just great. In all the places, in all the cities in America to be stuck, it had to be in South Dakota. His day, however insignificant in the grand scheme, had just taken a sharp turn for devastation and disappointment. Only at this point he didn't realize how bad things were going to get, , but for the entire country.
As he made his way back out into the penetrating cold he saw something that took a moment to adjust to; swarms of people being herded like cattle by gas mask wearing men. The armed soldiers wore protective gear over their entire bodies so only the tops of their heads and their eyes were visible.From what Chuck could see in those eyes, aside from duty and discipline, was fear. The young boy, who had fallen in the snow just minutes before, was now crying in the arms of his worried father.
Something bad was happening. Chuck was shivering as he turned to run from the scene at hand, he was shivering but not from the cold.
