Short Story 2: That World is Gone
Anita brought her cherry red Honda Ruckus to a dusty stop in the abandoned baseball diamond. Engaging the kickstand, and dismounting from the bike, she removed her matching helmet and wiped her brow, brushing a few loose strands of hair to the side. The trip out from the sanctum had been a good way to clear her mind. She loved the feeling of the bike grips in her hands, the feel of the wind against her body as she drove faster and faster through the ruins of the old city. The world may have ended, but she was still alive and wanted to enjoy every moment of it.
The old baseball diamond was an excellent source for a control batch of soil to sample from. Low nutrient concentrations, low quality soil, and contamination from the industrial processes that built the stadium meant that this soil was definitely not suitable for plant growth, perfect to compare to more promising samples she had taken elsewhere in the region. Taking a small metal vial from her belt, she knelt down on one knee and scooped up a heaping sample of soil from the middle of the baseball diamond. She leveled off the sample in the vial and sealed the lid over it. Anita affixed the vial back to her belt and took a moment to really take in the view from the middle of the baseball diamond.
Anita closed her eyes and breathed in slowly, taking in the smell of the dusty, old stadium. She tried to imagine the cheers of the crowd, the feel of a baseball glove on her hand. The grip of the ball in her other hand. Imagining herself winding up for the pitch and throwing her imagined ball at the batter, passing straight over home plate. She imagined hearing the umpire yell out the strike, as the crowd erupts in cheers of her name. It was probably such a glorious existence, being part of a baseball team. Anita longed for the days that the elders of the Sanctum spoke about. The leisure, the comfort, the luxury the people lived in before the cataclysm sounded divine.
But that wasn't the world she had been born into, it wasn't the world that existed anymore, and unless Anita completed her soil research, it wasn't a world that was likely to return. With a heavy sigh, Anita turned from the diamond and walked back to her motor bike. Kick starting the engine, she took off quickly, deeper into the ruins of the city. She checked the clock on her hud inside her helmet and saw that she was running early on her sampling duties for the day. She had just enough time to go pick up the item she found last week, if it were still there. Her bike dove and dodged rubble and debris on the ruined streets. She was a great driver, and enjoyed showing off. Driving across the bridge, she slowed down, taking it a little more carefully than she did the rest of her travels in the city. The bridge had recently lost a good chunk of track from the north side of the bridge. The bridge was crumbling and it wouldn't benefit anybody if Anita reckless drove herself off of a bridge by accident.
Arriving at the old Pioneer mall, Anita parked her bike and took the pistol, crossbow, and hatchet out of the back basket. Strapping herself and preparing for the worst, Anita approached the mall doors, which had at one time been made of glass but was now just a gaping hole in the structure. Anita cleared the first two corners in the mall, watching out for wild animals and raiders that called the ruins of the city home. Again, caution was the better part of valor. Coming to the open plaza in the center of the mall, Anita looked up into the skylight. It had long since shattered, but Anita always enjoyed the natural lighting that came through the skylight. She imagined how this mall must have looked during the height of the old world; People bustling around, the shops filled with goods and services, the smell of real coffee and fried foods, and the sound of laughter, conversation, and salespeople peddling their wares. But again, that world was gone and not likely to come back.
Anita hurried up the escalator, a long dead machine that had no life inside it. Careful to make sure her movement didn't draw any attention from hidden watchers or predators, she lurked up to the top level of the old mall, carefully watching her path. Finally, she stood in front of the store that held her prize: J-D Jewelry and Watches. The gate was down, the display windows smashed and the jewelry from those cases stolen long ago. But Anita had discovered that the gate was never locked when it was put down, and was still operable. Taking one last glance around her, she lifted the gate about twelve inches, and slid inside.
The inside of the Jewelry store was like stepping back in time. Aside from the broken windows outside, the store was surprisingly well kept. A knocked over computer, long dead, sat on the floor with the monitor broken laying next to it. The display cases here though still had jewels of all kinds: pearls necklaces, diamond rings, beautiful watches, and gorgeous sets of earrings. All kinds of jewels, harvested from distant lands long forgotten, sparkled and shined in the light from Anita's hand lamp. But these jewels weren't what she was here for. Anita stepped up to a door behind the back desk and popped the lock on the handle quickly. Ducking into the room, she saw her prize sitting there on a fake foam hand display. The ring on the first finger of the foam hand was a simple silver band, with small purple amethysts laid into the band all along it. In between each of the amethysts sat small diamonds that added a contrast to the ring. It would be perfect for Cassandra. Anita had spotted the jewelry store last week when she was out exploring. She had ducked in and spent an hour goofing around, pretending to be a prospective customer trying to find the perfect ring for her sweetheart. She had pretended to bargain with the fake owner of the jewelry store, demanding that true love was priceless and the owner should simply give it to her. She spotted the ring and had found this spot to hide it, in case of raiders discovering it. She was glad they hadn't.
Anita had another thought about the way people used to value jewelry like this. She thought about how couples would offer each other jewelry as a sign of true love. She thought about how the old world placed so much value on these accessories, so much so that they would pledge their lives to each other over these pieces of jewelry. But that world didn't exist anymore. But maybe, just maybe, she could make that world exist for a few moments for Cassandra and her. She would give it to her tonight, at dinner. She snatched the ring up and stuffed it into the breast pocket of her jacket. Smiling, she turned to leave the back room. As she exited, she stopped dead in her tracks.
“Well, well, what do we have here? A poor little critter lost in my territory.” A fat, bearded man in a leather vest and black pants stood in the doorway to the jewelry shop, a shot gun casually bouncing off his shoulder. Flanking him on the left and right were two similarly dressed skinny looking thugs weilding some mean looking machete blades. “Why, oh why, would a silly scientist come all the way from their precious Sanctum just to come into a jewelry store? Find something special?”
Anita casually dropped her hands to her side, “As a matter of fact, I did. I was just on my way out.” Anita began to move toward the three goons, but as she did, they took up a more defensive stance.
“Hold it right there, Red. No more movements, or I might have to have my friends here take you out.” The fat man had said, “Now, why don't you take that crossbow off your back, and set it down, nice and slow.” He gestured with the shotgun slowly.
With a nod in his direction, Anita slowly grabbed the crossbow and set it on the counter next to her. She then pushed it, causing it to slide across the glass counter toward the goons. “Anything else?”
A wicked grin flashed across the raider's face “Nah red, it just makes it easier to kill you scavengers when you're disarmed. I think we will just take what you have after we've killed you. Boys? Why don't you do the honors.” With that the large man, stepped back against the gate of the shop, while the two men with the machetes stepped forward bringing their weapons to bear on her.
This was the world that existed now. A world of blood, of desperation, of violence, and of death. This was the world she had inherited. This was the world she was born into and if she did nothing now, this was the world she would die in.
“Not today,” Anita said as they stepped toward her. In one swift motion Anita dropped low, avoiding the first swings of the blades by the goons, reaching behind her, she grabbed the hatchet off of the back of her belt and flung it toward the large goon's arm, catching him square in the hand. The large goon screamed in pain as he dropped the shotgun he was holding, gripping the hand in pain as it bled and bled. Once the large goon was pacified, Anita turned on the left most goon, swinging her foot out low and quick, causing him to trip and crack his head open on the glass panel of the table. Doing a quick somersault forward, she jumped back up to her feet and pulled out the pistol, holding it up to the goon, who froze in place and took in the situation. His boss was laying on the floor wimpering in pain, holding his wrist impotently. The goon's other partner was on the floor, bleeding from his head and knocked out and in the game of pistols vs. blades, the pistol often won. He dropped the blade to the floor and held up his hands.
Anita didn't take the gun off of him as she took two quick steps toward the large goon, and kicked his shotgun away from him.
“Now boys, this was a lot of fun, but I am going to be going now. Don't follow and next time I run into you, I won't be so nice.” With a quick flourish, Anita placed the pistol back into her jacket's holster, grabbed her crossbow, and pulled the security gate up and stepped out.
“This isn't the way the world should be.” Anita said as she reached her Ruckus. “And when my research is done, it won't be this way anymore.” With a kickstart of the bike's engine, Anita pulled on her helmet and peeled away from the old pioneer mall. She had to get back to the Sanctum; to return her samples and to see Cassandra.