Kelsey & Carl

Kelsey O’Shea, retired MMA champion turned local MMA school owner, and her student Carl Taggert, a reformed criminal with a violent felony record, were conducting a private lesson at the dojo when the coronal mass ejection hit earth. As the lights went out, the phones stopped working, and the electronic lock on the dojo door died and sealed them in, Kelsey and Carl realized that the peculiar presence of military vehicles and personnel over the last three days now made sense: the government knew, and told no one. The pair of friends survived for a week on the dojo’s supply of protein bars and shakes while they waited for the government personnel to move on. Peering through the blinds on the morning of day seven, Kelsey observed with steely blue eyes as the last armored assault vehicles departed town ahead of an even larger incoming threat: a rain of toxic ash serving as the herald for a rapidly-approaching wildfire. Kelsey and Carl knew this marked the end of their stay. Arming themselves with various traditional Chinese weapons from around the dojo, Carl’s .38 snubbie, and carrying packs filled with what supplies they could carry, the pair set out into the ruins of the city of Leyde with a course set for the only destination available, that being anything away from the coming conflagration. As the pair emerges from the rain of ash into the deserted suburbs and eventually the wilderness beyond, the conversation is hushed and grim. Carl: “What’s the plan, Sifu Kelsey?” Kelsey: “Hey, don’t call me that anymore, eh? That’s all gone. It’s all gone…” Kelsey sighs heavily as they quietly march into the dark. “We find and observe survivors from afar, see if we find a safe group to hitch up with. Our skills should make us valuable enough to carry weight.” Carl: Typical Carl, he nods stoically, falling in beside Kelsey, eyes watching their surroundings all the while.