The Arena

The arena's original purpose was as a concert venue, though it eventually expanded to include a hockey rink for the local college hockey team. Once the bombs demolish the city, it becomes a refugee sanctuary for local survivors, hiding them from enemy aircraft and providing shelter during the winter months.

The arena has two sets of three double doors - a main entrance on the east side of the building, and a back exit on the west side of the building. There are various fire escapes on ground level, as well as a door to the roof.

All fire exits and the door to the roof are barred for the safety of the arena residents, as well as to keep someone from accidentally giving away their position via the roof. The two large bays of doors on the ground floor are protected by armed guards who will only allow members of the Advisory Council to come and go as they please, those folks having experience with what lies beyond the arena's borders.

Even the main sets of doors are kept locked via the armed security alarms; the guards are equipped with the small silver keys used to disarm the alarms.

The arena feels like any other space set aside for refugees during a climate emergency or natural disaster. The light inside is muted since it all comes from backup generators with no windows. There's no heating with the main power down, but the presence of so many warm bodies keeps the temperature between comfortable and stuffy. Unfortunately, the amount of people also contributes to the pungent smell as the scent of body odor mixes with the stale arena air. Common sounds include the clatter of something being dropped on the concrete floor, the dull thrum of many conversations happening at once, and occasional shouts of laughter or screams of impertinence from the children.

In the immediate aftermath of the initial bombs, the military and its associated disaster relief still functioned normally and were able to deliver cots and bottled water to the arena. The cots take up a lot of space within, but there remain existing furnishings from when the place functioned as a concert venue and sports stadium

When it became apparent that the military would not return, nor would the government show up to save everyone, the Leadership Council issued orders to reinforce the arena's protection. This involved hammering sheets of plywood to the roof as well as installing an aircraft censor via the technological genius of Cleo.

The arena sits just off the interstate in the shadow of the southern side of the mountain range that sits to the city's west. It stands out there, large and looming, silver and rounded, totally unique to the surrounding shopping strips and nearby neighborhoods. It will stand out further the more the area around it falls apart due to bombing aftershocks.

When it faces its own bombing campaign and becomes abandoned, the arena will still stand, though now with gaping holes in it as a reminder.

There wasn't much to work with, so there was only plywood nailed to the roof in places that had taken damage from aftershocks in the initial bombing campaign to the southwest. Beyond that, the residents learned to shut off their backup generators when aircraft came within the vicinity again. There were also guards placed on every door in the event they faced a threat from the ground.

The Arena became the only shelter for miles around that survivors of the initial bombing campaign could flee to. Though it only survived as such for four short months, future generations in the area would leave it standing to show the resilience of the original community of Willowmoor, who fled from there to build their humble village.