I was in love once, a long time ago, in a time that does not no more exist, but.. that was before the war. As now the surface has been ravaged and worntorn. It all started some years ago, with the mutant population. It all started out innocent enough. They were basically an offshoot of evolution, at least that is what we thought. We went through all the basic prerequisites, hatred, racism, revolution and the sudden boom and apparent overpopulation. An humans, as we normally do, get scared for no apparent reason. They were taking over, we said, pushing us out, when really it was just mostly in our heads.
That is when I lost her. Everything happened just so seemingly fast. I was in the military, and was called for overseas. We were in the middle of it all when the real war began, stuck in the middle of the atlantic ocean when the bombs decided to drop.
We can still go up there, to a certain extent anyhow. The air is toxic, but it is only certain areas that are off limits. But as you know these things have a desire to spread. Now its just people in masks and big bulky suits looking, scavaging for whatever they can to preserve for the future. Or anything we can use in the present.
Down here is like any other town you have been to before, people live in apartment buildings that are only about two or three stories high. More like those cheap motels you used to see in all those shitty towns across the country. There are many more towns like our own peppered throughout this area, though how many is left to be said. The one I am living in is Newport, and I'm here working in the outskirts around town as security. People down here do what they can to help, mostly its whatever they were good at in the old world. Kind of sad if you think about it, that the best I got to offer is being a basic lookout.
After work I usually hit the bar by my house, I go in fairly often so the bartender knows me quite well." Hey John, another bad day around town I see huh?" The place is fairly empty, people are scattered about as if everyone thinks everyone else is carrying some kind of sickness." Another busy day at the bar huh Paul, maybe its time to shut this place down?". He laughs, as he normally does and sets a beer on the counter for me". As I sit there Paul helps the few others that have wandered in, and as I, now in silence, fail to see the man come by and sit next to me." Hey! John is it?". I look over, slightly, and see a man sitting beside with dirt covering his face as if he wears it as a fashion statement. The rest of him is in the same state of disarray, which for around these parts, comes off as a little out of sorts.
" The names Dean, Charles Dean. I work down in the mines, I heard about ya 'round town". The mines are located a couple miles below us, its were they get all the metal and what not to build this great place we all find us in. From what I hear its not bad actually, as nowadays they use huge machines that do all the work, as the workers sit in their comfy rooms staring incessantly at some television screen basically playing real life videogames.
"Whats with all the dirt, I didn't think anyone actually went down there?". He smiles and says." Yeah, nobody really does, unfortunately I have the misfortune of being the mechanic. And those machines don't always have the good manners of breaking down in the most opportune of places". He says, and continues." How about yourself, I hear your security around here?".
"Yeah, not the most interesting of jobs...". I pause for a second, as some people do when they change there mind mid sentence. "Well...every now an than I guess". At this his eyes perk up a little, like a child's when your just getting to the good part in a bedtime story." How do you mean exactly, every now an than". I sigh, and begin to pull up my sleeve.
"You see this scar, I was on the south wall a few years back. Heard a noise out in the back by one of the caves. Went to investigate you know. Found nothing, but as I turned back... there it was. Like a bear without fur towerin over me. I grabbed for my gun but it swiped it way and jumped up upon me. It happened so fast its hard to tell what exactly happened". Before I could finish he chimes in, an says." So, what happened. How did you get out?".
"In all the commotion, I failed to realize my gun was a couple feet away from me. Lucky enough, 'cause if I wasn't able to grab it at that point. I wouldnt be here right now". We order a couple more beers, and off in the near distance I can see Paul sorta listening in to our conversation. The story in which he heard before, and in greater detail." Wow, that's crazy". He says still enthralled." I wish my work was that interesting". He seems bored, in general I mean. Like a man that wants more than to be stuck in a menial job buried under the earth like the dead." I am really making it more than it actually is". I tell him.
We don't actually know too much about these creatures, all we know is that they appeared a few years back. It's believed that they are a kind of offshoot of the mutant population. that or a more mutated version. The bar is starting to get rather busy now, comparitively." Well it seems fairly fascinating". He says with a partial smile he looks as if he means to hide. He puts his beer down with a sudden thud, and drops a few bills on the counter." Well John, it was nice talking to ya. Hopefully I will see ya around". Its at that I say my goodbyes as he disappears out the door. After a few more beers in silence I start to think its the same for me. So after the obvious formalities, I leave the bar and find my way home. I end up falling asleep on the couch, as I sometimes do, after a long day.
The next morning I awake to coffee and breakfast, which normally consists of toast, an bad coffee. Its really the only thing you can get down here anyway,(coffee wise) so you can't complain to much. I don't work till late in the day, so I have some time to spare. We have these farms up above town, just below the surface. They're kind of like those hot houses or whatever we used to have. Their is this glass dome covering most of it, its nice actually, makes you almost think your outside as the sun spreads out over the land as it passes through the glass that acts as a type of filter. After they were built we decided to expand on it and make a park for the people to relax. A way for everyone to get away from the dull doldrums and have some good ol' vitamin D. A lot of the towns outside of our own thought it was a fabulous idea so they made one all their own. So I made up my mind this morning to get some sunshine into these bones and soak up some relaxation.
Its not hard to get to, and doesn't take too long. Just outside of town to the east we made this elevator that takes us right there. There lies a few houses up there for the farmers, almost a small town you might say. But it only consist of a few small houses.A good gig though, if you ask me.
The park is nice, trees and grass cover the land with a few picnic tables and such peppered throughout for groups to get togethor in parties. I take a seat at my usual spot, under this big umbrella like tree just off of the farmland. The farms and houses behind make a nice backdrop. Almost as if I am in some field back home. Up above the glass hovers over like the ceiling from some old school shopping mall. You can see the sun through the glass peaking through getting fairly distorted because of the curvature of the windows, making it a almost oval shape.
In all of this I don't barely notice the woman now sitting next to me. An when I finally awake from this mental dream state I look over to see that its one of my next door neighbors from the same building. "John! Fancy meeting you here. Its been awhile hasn't it!. She says with the slightest of smirks." Yeah, sorry. I have been in a haze lately". I say." I know how it is John. It happens to the best of us". She is right, being down here will do that to a man(an woman alike). We are not built to be hidden away in caves. Its been years now and still people struggle to get used to this new ordeal. There are certain groups we have appointed to check up on the world, to see how an when we might find ourselves once more kings. Afterwards, us an the mutants (if you can call them that) came into a agreement. Seeing how this war was affecting the planet we decided to put our differences aside for the better of mankind, and all the notable factions. Not that we had too much choice in the matter. "So how's the job treating you Joanne, still taking orders from Jake?". Jake is the boss down in the city centre, its basically the heart. All jobs report to them.
She smiles, one of those smiles people give when their trying to hide their contempt." Yeah, sure am". She says as if she is cutting through the air with a knife." I thought by now you would ha
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