Durango24
03-03-2007, 9:28 PM
Perhaps there will be a second part to this. :D
It was dead. Not just the once bustling city streets but the lives of those who’d made the city what it had been and, in the end, led to its demise along with the rest of the nation. The only relic of life ever even existing, as it seemed from a glance, were the buildings that stood in the city. The cars that were parked, unused for years, in lots or in the middle of the road. The unlit but fashionably decorated stores on almost every corner, each advertising a need that the humans had felt necessary. Now, however, nobody needed any of it. Nobody wanted the plasma television or the portable, satellite radio, or even the turbo engine hybrid car. All that was important, all that was necessary now, was anything to keep the last band of survivors alive.
Footsteps echoed in the city, sound waves bouncing off the mammoth buildings and reflecting back in twice their normal frequency. Running. Not one, but two people.
In the lead was a man in ragged, torn, black pants and a matching color shirt. His eyes seemed frantic and filled with desperation. Behind him, a gunshot blasted and slammed into a nearby cars tire, blowing a hole in it. The pursuer had missed but was persistent. As light shed upon her, a glimmer of light bounced off her gun at the same second she fired again and this time, the shot collided with the man, dropping him to the pavement. Slowing down, she walked over to him and jammed her boot down into his chest, keeping her foot there as he looked up at her. The pistol took aim at him once more and his eyes shifted to the end of the barrel.
“Please... Don’t...”
She offered him a light smile, almost comforting in a strange way, before her finger snapped back on the trigger, ending his life. She holstered the gun and crouched down next to him, sliding her finger to his neck and verifying the lack of pulse. With two hands, she flipped him over on to his stomach and padded him down for anything he was carrying. She pocketed his wallet, his watch, and the gun he had but never got the chance to use on her. Then, she stripped off his pants. His shirt. His socks, shoes, underwear... everything. Everything had value to her. To anyone. When she stood back up, the clothes all bunched in her hand, the man lay naked on the city street, dead.
Her head snapped back and her dark eyes frantically glanced over her shoulder. Nobody was there. But, she couldn’t be sure. Quickly, she darted off and away from the man.
The city got cold fast that night but she was prepared. She had sewn the clothes off the man into somewhat of a blanket for her, wrapping it around herself as she sat against the brick wall of the building overlooking South street. From her perch on the fire escape, she couldn’t be reached and could hardly be seen to anyone who, by chance, might pass by. Just the way she liked it. She pulled her legs to her chest, covered by the only pair of dark green khakis she owned, and wrapped her bare arms around them. Then, slowly, she let her head rest against her knees and drifted off to sleep.
“Take it all!” a heavy voice rang off. “We’re going to need this shit.”
She snapped back to life. It was morning. Voices surrounded her and, slowly, she peered over the edge of the fire escape into the alley below and noticed two men sifting through a garbage.
“What about this?” asked the skinnier man, holding up a bag full of rocks.
“We need everything. Anything. You heard Smith.”
The man shrugged and tossed the bag of rocks into a cart.
“And remember.” the larger, almost bald man said. “Any females are to be brought in as well. That’ll get us extra pay.”
Irony had its moment because, at the very instant he finished those words, a lady walked by the alley pass. She seemed to be in her early thirties and didn’t seem overly concerned about wandering these now dangerous streets. However, when she saw the two men in the alley, she felt different.
“Well hello there, missy.” the bigger man said, pulling a whip from its holster which had been fastened to his side. “Aren’t you just a sight for the eye?”
“I ... was just passing. Good day to you.”
When she turned, the smaller man was blocking her path, a small dagger in hand that gently poked her in the gut.
It was dead. Not just the once bustling city streets but the lives of those who’d made the city what it had been and, in the end, led to its demise along with the rest of the nation. The only relic of life ever even existing, as it seemed from a glance, were the buildings that stood in the city. The cars that were parked, unused for years, in lots or in the middle of the road. The unlit but fashionably decorated stores on almost every corner, each advertising a need that the humans had felt necessary. Now, however, nobody needed any of it. Nobody wanted the plasma television or the portable, satellite radio, or even the turbo engine hybrid car. All that was important, all that was necessary now, was anything to keep the last band of survivors alive.
Footsteps echoed in the city, sound waves bouncing off the mammoth buildings and reflecting back in twice their normal frequency. Running. Not one, but two people.
In the lead was a man in ragged, torn, black pants and a matching color shirt. His eyes seemed frantic and filled with desperation. Behind him, a gunshot blasted and slammed into a nearby cars tire, blowing a hole in it. The pursuer had missed but was persistent. As light shed upon her, a glimmer of light bounced off her gun at the same second she fired again and this time, the shot collided with the man, dropping him to the pavement. Slowing down, she walked over to him and jammed her boot down into his chest, keeping her foot there as he looked up at her. The pistol took aim at him once more and his eyes shifted to the end of the barrel.
“Please... Don’t...”
She offered him a light smile, almost comforting in a strange way, before her finger snapped back on the trigger, ending his life. She holstered the gun and crouched down next to him, sliding her finger to his neck and verifying the lack of pulse. With two hands, she flipped him over on to his stomach and padded him down for anything he was carrying. She pocketed his wallet, his watch, and the gun he had but never got the chance to use on her. Then, she stripped off his pants. His shirt. His socks, shoes, underwear... everything. Everything had value to her. To anyone. When she stood back up, the clothes all bunched in her hand, the man lay naked on the city street, dead.
Her head snapped back and her dark eyes frantically glanced over her shoulder. Nobody was there. But, she couldn’t be sure. Quickly, she darted off and away from the man.
The city got cold fast that night but she was prepared. She had sewn the clothes off the man into somewhat of a blanket for her, wrapping it around herself as she sat against the brick wall of the building overlooking South street. From her perch on the fire escape, she couldn’t be reached and could hardly be seen to anyone who, by chance, might pass by. Just the way she liked it. She pulled her legs to her chest, covered by the only pair of dark green khakis she owned, and wrapped her bare arms around them. Then, slowly, she let her head rest against her knees and drifted off to sleep.
“Take it all!” a heavy voice rang off. “We’re going to need this shit.”
She snapped back to life. It was morning. Voices surrounded her and, slowly, she peered over the edge of the fire escape into the alley below and noticed two men sifting through a garbage.
“What about this?” asked the skinnier man, holding up a bag full of rocks.
“We need everything. Anything. You heard Smith.”
The man shrugged and tossed the bag of rocks into a cart.
“And remember.” the larger, almost bald man said. “Any females are to be brought in as well. That’ll get us extra pay.”
Irony had its moment because, at the very instant he finished those words, a lady walked by the alley pass. She seemed to be in her early thirties and didn’t seem overly concerned about wandering these now dangerous streets. However, when she saw the two men in the alley, she felt different.
“Well hello there, missy.” the bigger man said, pulling a whip from its holster which had been fastened to his side. “Aren’t you just a sight for the eye?”
“I ... was just passing. Good day to you.”
When she turned, the smaller man was blocking her path, a small dagger in hand that gently poked her in the gut.