The Change - Chapter 1
The whole world knew that this was coming, and very few people prepared.
Introduction : It wasn't a subtle shift, and certainly not one where people had any real chance to adjust. This “change” as it's now referred to, was an event that altered the course of humanity, and it quite literally happened over night. Even seven years later, it is still unknown as to whether it was solar flares, EMP’s or some alien tech that did it. The first big change happened when all the people on earth woke up that first morning and nothing that required a microchip, or a circuit board worked anymore. Everything, and I mean everything electric just stopped. It was not just the phones and computers, it was thermostats, and cars, alarm clocks, TV’s, and electric stoves. It affected banks, stores, and gas stations. They all got looted within the first 3 days.
Sure there were some communities like the Amish that really didn't change much, at first. They just kept on farming, some of them even kept farming right up to the moment when the raiders shot them and claimed their farms. They were fought over for a while, until they all collapsed. Eventually raiders who couldn't farm for shit took them over, the soil failed, the crops all died. On the opposite end of the spectrum of social hierarchy, there were also those millions of people who had bought fancy off grid solar systems and Tesla power walls, who now just had useless old relics in their homes. To most people they were just a reminder of a lost age of humanity, an age where we had become spoiled and lazy. A time when we had machines and apps, that did nearly everything for us. For most people it is looked back upon like a time of wanton waste and instant gratification. A steady reminder almost everywhere the survivors looked, of what not to do in the future.
There were also some people who saw it differently, they still held on to their old electric relics, hoping that one day some miraculous thing will happen. That miraculous something they are hoping for was only hypothetical for the first year or so, now years later they call this thing a prophesized event. It's even gotten a catchy name, “the upgrade” and according to the Digital Disciples it will come from the heavens, and the machines will all just start working again. Most of the survivors considered them to be harmless fringe fanatics at first. Now that has all changed, it's been just over seven full years since the event, and in the last few years there have been growing groups of these relic hording Digital Disciples forming all over the world. They have even formed whole new religions with churches and everything. All based entirely on their new Gods of Technology. They have come to call their churches the “Digital Disciples Dens,” and refer to anybody outside of their faith simply as “The Analog.”
I know it sounds crazy to even say, but this seven years has shown people an odd but certain eventuality. That after another twenty years or so, almost all of the remnants of remaining human civilization will be rubble. Then within a few generations after that, the tales of being able to communicate with people all over the world on a device where you could see their face and hear their voice in real time, will simply just become old wives tales. Something that a few crazy old people talk about, and it will seem no different than tales of the old religions, and Bigfoot.
We had it very easy once, and this easy life lasted for several decades.
That time is over.
Teutonic American New Knights.
Nature was reclaiming everything that wasn't being regularly maintained. This included the cities and all of the man made items like the cars, trains, and airplanes that still dotted the landscape. Just seven years after the event, most people roughly 90 % of the global population either starved, or were killed for the little bit of food that they had, and a majority of them went within the first year. Of the remaining 10% most of them had joined into tribes based on nothing more than proximity. People who lived nearby became allies it was that simple, things like race, religion, and age mattered very little. Over the next few years, this gave them a bit of security. Unfortunately for most of them it wasn’t enough.
By the time we get to current day, 7 long years after the change, there are less than 8 million people on this harsh wet rock we call Earth. Only about half of a million of them are in the North American lands. Among these survivors is a small group that the people call Tanks, it sounds cheesy I know, but it's just a name stemming from the acronym for Teutonic American New Knights. Our story begins with one of them, one who is currently on a dire mission. He is tasked with ensuring the growth and rebuilding of the first real town since the change. In order to do this all he must do is deliver a package to their founders.
The Road And The Traveller.
The man in the black and green cloak made his way down the crumbling highway, passing countless rusted out shells along the way, some of which were once very nice cars. He had just passed a Rolls Royce, one that just 7 years ago would have cost more than the house he owned. Now as it sits motionless among all the other rusted out vehicles, it's worth no more than the 1990’s Dodge Caravan rusting away it's last days in front of it. It's funny how that just happened, and it was even with the worth of people also. So much of the stuff that people had coveted, and even went into great debt obtaining, was all rendered worthless in an instant. People who had bank accounts with millions of dollars, and those with debts to the bank had suddenly become equals. It didn't matter who they were, looters, hunger, and starvation, did not care or discriminate based on credit score, race, or even religious beliefs.
The traveling man was coming up to a big green road sign that said Atlanta 5 miles, he stopped and celebrated by relieving his bladder on the side of a rusted out Nissan Leaf. It also has died on I-75 sitting right between a Ford Fiesta, and a concrete mixer truck, all of them simply abandoned by their drivers when they suddenly stopped working. For now they are still a testament to humanities great capabilities, but the traveller knows that will only last as long as it takes for nature to turn them into rust stains on the crumbling road. His cloak had been tossing in the breeze, but he felt it laying flat back against his legs. The wind had completely stopped, but it wasn't just the wind. The birds went silent, the bugs stopped chirping, and this was early fall in Georgia. Silence was beyond abnormal, and this one gave him an odd feeling.
As he was continuing walking the cloaked man saw a jeep wrangler, it was one that looked very similar to his, and he was reminded of the day he woke up after “it” happened. Him and most of his closest neighbors were all standing out in their front yards or sitting in their driveways, at first. Their cell phones were lifeless, but they still had them clutched in their hands. “Nothing electronic works!” one neighbor a few houses down was yelling across the road to another. He remembers looking down to realize that even basic battery operated wristwatches had stopped working when the event hit.
The time on his watch was stuck at 4:17 AM. That was on the East Coast of the United States. On the West coast it would have only been about 1:17 AM, meaning that when this thing happened, most of America was literally still sleeping. They woke up confused and scared when they tried to check their TV’s and radios for news, but the devices didn't work. Even if they would have, there wasn't anything being broadcast. The first day the rumors started, some said it was a solar flare, others say it was black budget government weapons. No real news ever came. Every just assumes that literally everyone ran home to their families, that is if they were close enough that they could.
Simultaneously there was no local police, national guard, or any type of assistance, news, or order. By day two, people were panicking, but by day three, they realized there was no order. The refrigerated foods were spoiling, and most people had no way to even cook it. The now travelling man's fiance Rebecca, had a best friend who was their next door neighbor Shannon. Both Rebecca and her husband had flown out of town, her husband was on business. Rebecca went to her sister's a few days before. Unfortunately his flight would have still been in the air when the pulse or whatever it was hit. She was understandably growing more and more frantic over the first two days, receiving no news papers, no radio broadcasts, no social media. People were antsy, and some were clearly going mad starting to walk in circles, then late in the second day some people began riding bicycles and hiking out of the neighborhood. Then on day three some news started to come back in, it was from people riding back in on bicycles, and some from further off on horses also checking in on some of their family.
Unfortunately the only news that came in was bad, they said that planes had fallen from the sky, and trains had stopped dead on the tracks. There even said there was already looting happening, and there were still fires raging in many of the areas that the planes went down. Not one of these crashes or fires had any type of first responders showing up to help. These travelers said it was the same thing going on in every neighborhood and town that they had ridden through on their way there. By day four there were reports of raiding parties. It was all just furthering the worry of these very confused and anxious people.
Shannon his neighbor assumed the worst, how could she not. Her husband was on a plane, and all the planes went down. When she put it all together, and reached some type of acceptance, she sat motionless for hours and said things like, “he has to be dead, RIGHT?” Eventually that changed to “we're all going to die.” She gave up hope, and soon after that the will to survive, but he didn't. On day seven, he had grown determined enough that he decided that he was going to hike to his fiance. He really tried to convince Shannon to go with him, but she refused.
The man walking down the road now had watched, as Shannon and many of their other neighbors faded both mentally and physically. They didn't do anything to try to survive, they ate the foods in their homes and just waited for some type of aid that never came. The man remembered how he was also worried that first week about his fiance, Rebecca had flown out to her sister's house in Seattle a few days before the event. He was hiking to her sister's house, and he was going to see her again. Her plane was on the ground well before the event, and she was safe at her sister's, but it was in the city. He had to get to her as soon as possible. When he started this journey, he never imagined that the last video chat he had with her the night before, would be the last time he would have ever seen her. It was going to be about 4 months to meet up with her, at least that’s what he thought before he found out that Seattle, like many other places, had been wiped out when several nuclear reactors nearby began melting down. That was seven very long and hard years ago. He wondered if she was still out there somewhere. That thought snapped him out of his walking daydream, he looked up a saw that it was time for him to get off the main road.
The traveler knew that he had at least three more miles until he reached the southern edge of Atlanta, or at least what was left of it. From where he was standing, he could just see the tops of the tallest buildings peeking over the horizon ahead of him. He really did not want to be in the city after sundown. Hell, in all honesty he didn't want to head through it in the daylight either, but he would spend two more days walking around it than he would just going straight through. Time was something that he didn't have the luxury of wasting, not on this journey. This was a mission to help people rebuild a new town. Winter was coming though, and other than starvation, exposure to the harsh elements had also ended quite a few people. He couldn't be that careless, the package that he had in his backpack was highly valuable. If he made it all the way to Eastern Tennessee, the contents could actually ensure the future for hundreds of people.
After he got through Atlanta, if he survived, he still had at least four to five more weeks of hiking. He was still far enough outside of the city right now, that he figured it should be safe to camp. As long as he hiked a decent distance off the main road and didn't start a fire tonight, he should have no problem going undetected.
Being extra careful not to leave any visible footprints or other signs of his passing through, he made his way into the woods heading west off the side of I-75. In just a handful of minutes he was walking through waist high grass, and scattered patches of cabbage palms. Other than a few trees beginning to yellow from the seasonal change, there was still thick green vegetation for as far as he could see. The days were still warm enough, but the last few nights have been getting pretty cold.
He was heading through the shrubbery and grasses aiming for the tree line up ahead. Knowing from experience by now that he was far less likely to be seen, if he was in a wooded area. Nearly the whole way through the tall grass and shrubbery, the man in the cloak kept his eyes and ears focused on his surroundings. Being far enough off of the main road and encountering another person wasn't very likely, but stumbling into a pack of 20 or more wild pigs still wasn't outside of the realm of possibility. In fact the scar on his leg, and the 3 pounds of pork jerky in his bag were proof. He didn't want to get caught by a pack of them in the open grassy area. The rule with pigs, was to avoid them in packs. If that rule wasn't possible, and a pack found you, then you only have to remember 2 things. The first, was do not fall down, if you fall they eat you alive. The second rule was, climb something mother fucker, if not the pigs will knock you down and then, just as you guessed, they eat you! Not many other animals were a big threat. Bears were easily avoidable, and coyotes were skittish. But the pigs were assholes, there was a lot of them and they had grown bold.
The man had learned these rules about pigs, among several other hard lessons very early on. The scar on the man's leg happened just after the change, when he almost didn't get up the nearest sturdy tree fast enough. A hogs 4 inch tusk like cutter, found it's way into the back of his calf muscle as he was still climbing. While he was stuck up that tree, he had to remove the tooth and stitch his leg. Lesson learned, now he even sets his tent up right next to a sturdy, and easy to climb tree. Which right now was exactly what he was looking for. The bag of jerky, he made just last week when he was chased up a tree by another pack of them. He had shot 2 pigs with his bow from the tree, the first one the other pig ate within a few hours. The second one he shot just as they were beginning to disperse the next morning. He quartered it and carried it into a nearby cave and then dried and smoked it into jerky overnight.
Tonight though the wind blew in from behind him and he caught a quick whiff of a familiar musty scent, a pack of hogs. It was still just faint enough, for him to be able to tell they were not quite close enough to panic, yet. But he also knew that if he could smell them, they could smell him. He picked up his pace to a jog, and his graceful movement though the brush was nearly silent, his cloak flowed behind him in a way that was visibly reminiscent of a black panther. Silently flowing like a deadly shadow through the grass and into the woods. Instead of prey though, he was just hunting for a safe place to camp.
Once he had made it about a mile further off the road, and into thick enough woods he figured it was safe. He was deep in the heavily wooded area, and began looking for a clear spot under a big tree to set up his small tent. Soon he came to a spot where the woods thinned out a bit up ahead of him. He slowed down his pace and just hiked at a slow walk from here on. He was taking in every detail of his surroundings now, looking up in the trees for predatory cats, or for racoons or any other wildlife. Racoons had stolen his stuff more than once. He passed through a clearing, and another small patch of woods that was mostly mature slash pines, with a few scattered patches of live oak trees. This was it, this would be where he camped, he just wanted to be on the edge of this big patch of woods. He would find a place just inside the tree line, making sure that it was near one big tree where he could still see for a decent distance all around him. He looked around for a few more minutes and he came across the perfect spot. A small grassy clearing under a massive live oak tree. There was about a 20 foot circle around the base of it with no shrubbery. Just the last several year's worth of fallen leaves and acorns.
He set down his backpack and bow at the base of the very large old tree. If he had to guess, it looked to be a few hundred years old. He opened the bag, and pulled out his small camouflaged pop tent. After clearing away the old wet oak leaves where he planned on setting it up, he paused to eat for a second. The man pulled a few pieces of dried pineapple, and pig jerky from his bag, and grabbed his bottle of water. He sat down next to his bag at the base of the tree, and ate a few pieces of the pineapple first. This was his favorite time of day, that hour before sunset when the sun was just above the horizon. Today it created a skyline to the west that went from a vibrant pink down by the horizon, and it faded up to a rich royal blue directly overhead. Bright orange clouds dotted nearly the whole pink end of the western sky, they were spread out in a pattern that was similar to the spots on a cheetah. Behind him to the east it was dark already. He enjoyed the silence and the vibrant skyline for a few long minutes as he sat and sipped his water and ate his snack. When he noticed that most of the vibrant colors began to fade away, he figured that it was time to finish setting up the tent.
The Camp
The timing was seemingly perfect, as soon as he had finished setting the tent up and he put his stuff inside of it, a light rain began to fall. He scanned the area around the tent one more time, then he climbed inside and zipped it up. The man reached into the small front pocket on his backpack, and when he pulled his hand out he had a small cloth pouch. It was about the size of a fist, and was made from a thin light beige colored leather. There was a narrow darker brown leather strap the size and length of a shoe string that was wrapped multiple times, and tied around the top of it. The man carefully set the pouch on the floor of the tent in front of him. Inside of his cloak there was a pocket that had only one item stuffed in it, a small folded up cloth. He retrieved it and spread it out on the tent floor beside the pouch. Opened up it was roughly 12 inches and was cut into a square, there was a thick black circle drawn on it. The dark circle was almost from edge to edge. After it was meticulously flattened out, he untied the leather string from the pouch and reached inside. When he pulled his hand out, he tossed something onto the cloth. Three small rounded shards of antler each about the diameter of a quarter landed in the blank spot on the middle of the cloth. One of them already had a rune carved on the side facing upwards, the other two he reached down and flipped over to reveal the runes they held. Like a cold chill had just hit him goosebumps rose on every inch of his skin. The man's eyes grow wide, then within a second or two something occurs to him, and his face shifts, he instantly looks worried. They clearly spoke to him.
After he fully analyzed the runes and returned them to their pouch, he took a sigh of relief and said “It has been determined, I will stay the same course.” After folding up the wool cloth and returning it to one of his inner cloak pockets, the man laid out his sleeping bag, and finally removed his cloak. He folded the cloak once, and rolled it from the bottom upwards so that when it was done, he used the hood at the end to tuck it into. His bed was almost made, all he had to do was place the rolled up cloak, at the head of his sleeping bag like a pillow. Then he checked his knives, and discovered that he still had both of them, and they were still extremely sharp. He put the first one back in the scabbard strapped on his thigh, and the folding knife slid back into his front pocket. Then he laid down. Just as he was getting comfortable, the rain started to get a bit heavier and the sound of it quickly pulled him off into a deep sleep.
Outside the tent the rain lightened up but still continued to fall steadily. The sound was just loud enough that it tapped on the tent with every little drop, combining them into a cacophony that sounded like radio static. The half moon directly overhead shone between two of the clouds with just enough light that you could see everything with an almost magical glow. The leaves bounced as they were being hit with little drops of water. Everywhere that the plants were exposed to both the moonlight and being hit by the rain, it looked like there was a shimmering aura around them. Each splashing raindrop broke into half a dozen smaller drops, all sparkling in the moonlight as they danced through the air.
A masked bandit tiptoed through the cabbage palms just a few yards outside of the man's camp. His footsteps were masked by the sound of the rain and that emboldened him, now he had no fear of being heard. His pudgy furry body kept him warm, while his long narrow snout was sniffing at the air. He picked up the scent of food, but it was subtle. He got a bit closer to the tent to investigate further. He circled the entire thing, along the way touching it here and there with his tiny fingers. Eventually he determined that he found a spot where he would try opening it. At first he was only able to get one finger into the tiny hole where the zippers nearly came together. As he continues to fidget with it, one of the zipper slides moves just a bit.
The raccoon froze in place momentarily. The sound of the zipper buzzing as it slid about an inch, blew his stealthily silent cover. Something large inside the tent moved. He didn't retreat or let the zipper slide go, he just sat motionless. When he finally felt safe to move again, he quietly pushed his hand through the little hole and started to feel around. There was nothing within his arms reach. He slowly retracted his arm, and gripped the zipper slide with both hands. He lifted it slowly, and the sound was undetected. It was open just enough now that he could stick his head in, so he sneakily did just that. Once his head was in, his nose located where the food smell was coming from instantly. He also discovered that it was in a big bag, and that was sitting on the other side of a still sleeping human. It wasn’t worth the risk, he had seen his sister get her hand stuck in a human trap. She didn't survive. He decided to retreat.
The man sprung up out of a dead sleep, there was a screaming raccoon that sounded like it was dying not far from his tent. He listened for the sound of another animal that was doing it, but didn't hear any. That was not a good sign. The creature continued to struggle, while the man gathered as many of his things as he could and got outside of the tent. He got his bag, his cloak and his bow. The second he was standing upright he had an arrow in his bow facing in that direction. He was backing away from the sound of the struggle, while keeping his eyes open for the offender. He got to a parch of cabbage palms a few yards away and backed into them, then he ducked down.
As he silently watched, he saw a female come into view just passed his tent, she had the dead raccoon skewered on a wooden spear. As soon as she noticed the tent, she dropped the raccoon on a stick and raised her hands. Just as that happened the man accidentally snapped a small stick beneath his heal. She spun to face his direction and she said “please don't shoot, I was just hunting for some meat.” The man didn't say a word, he just kept his bow trained on her as he stood up out if the bushes. “You can have the raccoon, just let me live please” the woman clasped her hands together and dropped down to her knees as she pleaded with him. He noticed a few things about her almost immediately, things that let him know she posed very little threat. It was obvious to see that she had been under nourished for days, if not for weeks or even months. The dark bags under her eyes, along with her diminished muscle tone and slender bony frame gave it away. The other thing that he noticed is that she was injured, and she clearly needed help. He lowered his bow as he stepped forward. Miss, I have no interest in harming you, or taking your food. Before he got to continue, she gasped and pointed at him. She smiled as her face lit up as she said “you’re one of them.” She stood up and clapped her hands in excitement.
One Of Them.
The lady introduced herself as Jane, and told him that before the change, she was a loan agent at a small bank. He grabbed her raccoon on a stick and hung it up in a tree outside of the camp area. When he walked back over he asked her if she wanted to get out of the rain, and he pointed at the tent. He climbed in first, and slid his thin sleeping bag out of the way. The man said “come, I have food” and pulled an orange glow stick out of his bag, then cracked and shook it. Then he pulled out the bag of pork jerky, and dried pineapple. At first she just leaned down and peeked inside of the tent, then she figured that if he wanted to harm her he wouldn't want the mess in his tent. He would have already murdered her outside. When she finally climbed inside she began to nervously ramble.
There was just enough light from the glow stick for him to see that she was about 60 years old. The crows feet and laugh lines became obvious with the orange light shining upwards from the tent floor. She ate her fill of jerky and pineapple while she continued to do a majority of the talking. Once her nerves settled, she began asking a few basic questions about him. “I have only ever heard rumors about you fellas, never seen one of ya in person before. In fact, I only met one lady who said she had, but she also said she spoke to Elon Musk through a private psychic link.” Jane laughed, and he noticed that she still had a vibrant smile. Honestly he was really surprised to see that she still had a mouth full of healthy teeth. Then she asked “how long have you been one of them,” as she pointed to his facial tattoo. Few years ago, I fell into a bad situation. They helped me out of it. While I was with them I learned some things that changed the way I look at life. He sighed and went silent, he picked up the food and placed it back into his backpack. Not saying very much after that, he was clearly lost in thought.
Jane continued telling him about all of the problems she had run into since leaving a small town called Cairo, Georgia. While they were zipped inside the dry tent, the man dressed some of her most obvious wounds. It was apparent to him that her time since the change had not been easy. Each wound that he dressed came with a story. He mostly just listened as he stitched her stomach, and they sat there getting to know one another. By the way she was acting, he could tell that Jane had been fully deprived of positive human contact over the last few years.
Finally he finished stitching and bandaging her up, and she turned the topic of conversation back to him. She said, the face tattoo is far more impressive in person than I would have imagined, did it hurt? Only for the first hour or so he said, after that the last few hours were kind of easy. Her jaw dropped open like she was going to ask or say something but stopped before she did. A few seconds later she just came out and said “I can't believe it's true, and you all are real, like real real.” The man just nodded his head in agreement, yes ma'am I am real, I think. He touched his own face, “Yup, seems real to me.” She sat there almost totally motionless for several seconds, then she just burst out laughing. After seeing her bright smile again and hearing her laugh when she finally figured out he was joking, put a big smile on his face also.
While they were chatting, it had stopped raining outside at some point. It was still rather dark, so there was still a while for them to rest before sunrise, that is if they could manage to. The man figured that it was time to try. He unzipped the tent, and when he stepped outside he tied a piece of Paracord between two small trees not far from the tent. He then began taking off and hanging his wet clothes up. Don't worry Jane, your chastity will remain intact. I just can't sleep in these wet clothes. Jane saw what he was doing, and couldn't wait to get out of her own wet clothes herself. It was warm inside of the tent, but they were cold wet and stuck to her skin. She popped out of the tent, and instantly peeled off her sticky wet shirt. She hung it up next to his, then she continued with her filthy cargo pants. By the time she hung them up, the man had fully disrobed and sat back down in the tent. She stood their nervously at the base of the Big oak tree, right outside of the open tent door. Umm mister, I just realized I still don't know your name. It would make me feel a bit better if I did, at least before climbing into a tent while both of us are naked. He laughed, you can call me Erik.
Okay Erik, she continued while still standing outside of the tent, I don't know exactly what rumors are true and which ones aren't. . . I guess what I'm trying to say she continued, is that one rumor says y'all are either eunuchs, or abstain from sex. Clearly you still have a penis, so if you guys do abstain, I don't want to sit there naked in front of you and tempt you. It just seems sort of disrespectful, like waving a steak in front of a starving person. Erik broke into full on belly laughing, don’t worry about that Jane. I've been sitting here for the last 2 minutes talking face to face with your vagina, and I haven't exploded yet. Her hands shot down and covered her pubic area. She was so nervous that she had not even realized that she was standing right in the open doorway. Oh my God, I'm so sorry Erik. She squatted down and stuck her head in “I didn't mean to ..” He stopped her, it's fine Jane, please feel free to climb in and rest for a few hours if you want to. I promise you I'm not offended, or upset, and I won't bite.
She figured she must have just sound silly, and at the same time she was waiving her beaver in his face. I really am sorry, she climbed in and zipped the door shut. Erik assured her it was not a problem, and he laid down. Oh yeah Jane, Eric said, I forgot to tell you I saw a tick crawling on your lady parts. Jane sat there motionless for a second, are you kidding Erik, because it's really hard to tell right now. The man just shook his head no, and said I wouldn't joke about that. She turned her back to him, and began inspecting herself. Aww what the hell, umm Erik can I hold that glow stick. Yes ma'am he said, and he tossed it onto the tent floor right next to her leg. It took her a few seconds, but after removing the little parasite she unzipped the tent and flicked the half smashed tick out into the woods. Before she turned back around, she checked her under arms, and under her breasts, thankfully there were no more ticks. She saw the bandage that he put on her leg earlier and the stitches on her belly, and she was going to thank him again. Before she got the chance she heard that Erik was already quietly snoring.
She had so many questions still, like how he became a knight, what oaths they really took if the rumors aren't true. Honestly at this moment she was also truly hoping that she could travel with him, at least for a while. They were both heading North after all. She had never in her wildest dreams imagined meeting a real life knight, let alone sleeping next to one. While her mind jumped around between all of the what ifs, and new possibilities for tomorrow, the gentle rhythm of Eric's snoring allowed Jane to fade off to sleep. For the first time in years, she felt something that she thought was gone forever. She felt safe.
The Dream
Erik Baldursson was fast asleep, but in his vivid dream he was out shopping at Glens Gold and Custom Jewelery, buying his girlfriend an engagement ring. He chose one and got the fanciest little velvet box they had. They bagged it up for him, and printed a receipt. When he walked out the door, he took a step and was falling. He pulled his tip cord over and over, but the only thing that came out of his pack was mushrooms. Hundreds of mushrooms were flying out and floating like tiny umbrella shaped spores, they just kept coming from where his parachute should have be deploying. He was falling past a sheer wall of stone, heading for a pond full of freezing water. His speed was still increasing. He had no option but to prepare for a hard splashdown.
He pointed his heels at the water, and folded his arms over his chest. Just as he did, his feet hit the freezing water. He clenched his eyes shut, and held his breath. What he felt next though wasn't freezing cold water. It was warm, it was very warm, and his feet were on the bottom. He was under the bubbling water, in the crouching position. When he stood up, his head breached the surface, he was standing in a hot tub. This was when he had fallen into their hot tub, it had happened the night he proposed. His fiance was standing at the edge, holding her hand out to pull him out. The engagement ring already sat there on her finger, he had just stood up after kneeling and proposing. She said yes, and he stepped backwards into the hot tub. When he reached up to grab her hand, he was laying in their bed. It was later that night. She let his hand go, and walked across the room. Her bathrobe flowing just behind her as she stepped into their closet. He was waiting for her to emerge wearing the black corset, he loved this memory. A few minutes had gone by and he was laying there puzzled, she never came back out of the closet. Just as he stood up to go look in the closet, a raccoon came running out. He jumped backwards and up onto the bed. The raccoon ran passed him and out their bedroom door. Eric spun around to face the door.
He heard a loud crack back on the other side of the room, it sounded like it came from the closet. His head spun back to look there like it was on a swivel, then he spun back towards the closet and he had his hands balked up into fists, and was in a defensive stance. There were leaves blowing out of it, rolling onto their bedroom carpet. When he stepped over in front of it, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. His fiance was kneeling down a few yards into the forest inside of it. She had the black corset on, and her back was facing him. He took a few steps towards her, and she picked up a raccoon that was just a bit smaller than the one that ran past him. Unlike its friend, it was dead, and she was eating it fur and all. Strings of raw and bloody meat ran between the animal and her mouth. There were clumps of the animals fur stuck caked into the sticky red blood on her cheeks.
He stood there in silence, as she held it by its abdomen with one hand, and had one of its rear legs outstretched with the other. She bit again into its thigh, and tore off another piece of the stringy meat. The blood glistened on her lips, and splashed across her arm as the meat tore free. Eric took a few steps forward, and was standing right behind her. He slowly reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, as he did his heart was hammering in his chest. When he touched her, she spun around startled and fell. She landed on her butt, and dropped the bloody raccoon. A flood of confusion came when he saw that it was Jane, and not his fiance. She was wearing his fiance’s black corset. It only covered her belly, it was a black silk like fabric and it had laces all the way up the back of it. She wiped the blood from her face into her hands, then wiped her hands across her naked breasts. Instead of a long red smudge, her left breast had a bloody Othala rune, and her right breast had a Dagaz rune. He was frozen in place in total shock, just beholding this strange vision. She winked at him, and drew her bloody finger tips from her knee over her thigh. When she got to her lady parts, she dew a Gebo rune ( X ) that crossed right over it. Then she held her bloody hand out towards him. On her palm was another symbol, it looked like a bind rune but not one that he recognized. He jumped backwards and sprung awake instantly. He was alone in the tent, but heard Jane quietly stepping around outside.
When Jane had woke up she realized that she had to pee with severe urgency. She quietly unzipped the tent and stepped outside. When the air hit her skin she got goosebumps everywhere, the night air outside had chilled quite a bit since they had gotten in the tent. Now there was a dense fog everywhere. She went over by the spot that Eric had hung her raccoon on a branch, she squatted and began to pee. The relief she felt almost instantly, when her bladder was no longer screaming at her was amazing. The warm liquid was steaming as it hit the ground and puddled between her heals. Every ounce of it bringing her more relief, but also making her goosebumps more pronounced. When she looked up from it, she noticed the slight pink glow of the oncoming sunrise. It was still only a barely visible pink glow on the eastern edge of the sky, so it should be another half hour before the sun itself breaks the horizon. Knowing that she wasn't going have enough time to be able to go back to sleep, Jane went to check on their clothes. Unfortunately they had barely even begun to dry. She heard Erik gasp, then begin to stir inside of the tent.
Erik unzipped the tent and emerged with the same urgency to urinate, that Jane had just 15 minutes prior. She was by the clothes to his right, so he broke a hard left and stepped quickly for the nearest shrub. He got there, and it was just in time. His piss arched up through the air, flying way over and splashing down on the other side of the little bush. A grand sigh of relief came pouring out of him. Just as the stream was dying down to a trickle, he heard Jane say “Good morning Eric” and he replied in the like. How did you sleep, he asked Jane. Very well actually she continued, for the first time in ages I slept well, thank you so much. There was a bit of silence, then Erik asked Jane, “can you grab my cloak from the tent please?” He said it as he stood there with his back still facing her.
This was a strange change of modesty from last night, but she said nothing and grabbed it from the tent for him. While he was slipping it on, and wrapping it around to cover himself, she asked him how he slept. Not long enough he replied, then continued, but I slept hard for a while though, so it was better than usual for me also. He had stepped over and faced her by this time. Are you hungry yet Jane? No not yet, but I have to ask, why the sudden modesty. Erik noticed that as she asked him that, she was covering herself. I umm.. He blushed, and looked down at their feet. I umm, he shuffled his feet nervously, then just changed the subject, are you cold? He instantly removed the cloak, and in one motion as he stood in front of her, he spun it around her in a way that it landed over her shoulders. She was both motionless, and silent, she decided not to push the issue it was clearly a touchy subject. Is that better he asked her. Yes thank you Erik.
The man waited for the sun to fully rise, and at what must have been about 8 AM he began putting the damp clothes back on. These should be dry in no time from a combination of body heat and moving around in them, he slipped the sticky wet shirt over his head. I'll break down camp while you get dressed, then we can get on the road and through this damned city. So you don't mind if I travel with you, she was smiling. Erik who was already breaking the tent down looked up at her, I would thoroughly enjoy having your company on this long journey Jane. As long as we are heading in the same direction, you are more than welcome to travel with me. There are a few rules of the road I have to share with you, basic things not to do, and a few hand signals and bird calls. Sounds great, Jane was clearly happy that she wasn't going to be solo anymore, traveling alone had been taking it's toll on her.
The City
They stood at the base of a huge Bank of America building, staring up at the wall of randomly broken out windows. The day was warming up fast, and the damp clothes they put on at the camp site had already dried. Jane was running through all of the things that Erik had taught her on the road up to the city. There were subtle hand signals with multiple different meanings, like duck, run, stay silent, and a few others. He also taught her a few chirps and whistles that sounded like bird calls, they could be used to communicate a few things if they were not within sight of each other. She felt confident in her ability to survive before, but now with Eric keeping them both safe, she would be able to do more than just barely survive. He explained that it would take them about 4 hours to get through the city, at least if there were no delays and they hiked straight through. They both looked up the road running through the middle of the city with a nervous anticipation, then he grabbed her hand and they took their first steps into the concrete jungle.
To be Continued…
Thank you all for reading, you Rock.
Stay tuned for Part 2 !
The inspiration for this story comes from many different places. The thing that jumpstarted the process of me putting it in text, is something else all together. My son asked me what it was like when I was a kid, and there were no cars or cellphones. First I laughed my ass off, being 43 does make me old.. but damn. Then it made me think, what would the 30 and under generations do if all of it stopped working. These kids that never knew a world before social media, are largely ignorant to the outside world, society, and reality in general. There are many who can't read analog clocks, read or write in cursive, or even do basic math. If they had to plant seeds to eat the next season, they would be dead before the harvest.
They are a big part of the inspiration.
The premise for this story is fantastic, and it has alot of potential. It could easily become a book.
A few things:
His wife's best friend was ...
The man was worried too, about his fiance who had ...
Decide her status. Also, each dialogue line should be marked as such and given its own indent/paragraph.