Post-Pandemic: A New World

Chapter Twenty Two: Bridge's Past

The Phoenixes were at the marketplace in Denver, using some seeds to purchase food, water and first aid kits. Ever since the Fall happened, people had become desperate for food. So seeds had become more valuable than gold. Mainly because you could grow food with seeds and money had become nothing more but firewood since people needed to keep warm during the night. Society had changed so much since the Fall, it wasn't uncommon to see someone burning old banknotes from the Pre-Fall Era to keep warm and it was very common to see a merchant trading some apple seeds for a first aid kid, or a few bottles of water. The Phoenixes had seen the same thing happen in Pittsburgh at the U.S Steel Tower and now they were seeing it happen in Denver, with the Patriotic American Army's administration over the city.

Anna was talking with a street vendor about the possibility of buying a spare tire from a car repair garage. The owner of the garage, Sampson, carefully examined the old bicycle Anna had bought with Her and said "Throw in a bag of strawberry seeds and it's a deal". Anna reached into her handbag that was hanging around her arm by it's strap and pulled out a small bag that was filled with about forty strawberry seeds. She handed it to Sampson and said "Thanks for the wheel". Anna then left with the wheel, carefully rolling it back to the Phoenix Convoy. About a dozen or so people were lined up at the bus, getting the Phoenix tattooed on a part of the body of their choice. Bridge had put up a sign saying "Free passage to San Francisco" on the bus and some people were willing to head to San Francisco to start over. They were all travellers, who had come to Denver to trade resources and were looking for a place to start over. When they saw that Bridge and his people were headed to San Francisco, they all quickly decided to try their luck in the "Jewel of the West Coast" as Bridge called it.

Bridge, meanwhile, was buying some fruit in exchange for a roll of bandages across the street. After all, they needed the food now that there were just over thirty of them. Bridge began walking back to the Phoenix Convoy, when He heard somebody scream at the top of their lungs. He turned around and so did many other people, to see a woman running for her life. That was when everyone saw what was chasing her: a large gorilla that seemed to be infected with rabies. A lot of people quickly started running, ducking for cover inside of the buildings or behind their street stalls. The woman ran into a small grocery store, whose owner quickly locked the door so that the gorilla couldn't get in. The gorilla had clearly once been in a zoo, but had escaped after the Fall. Now it was infected with rabies and had to be put down.

While everyone was running, or hiding, Bridge just stood there. Frozen, like he had seen a ghost. The gorilla noticed that he was just standing there and charged at him. Bridge was too scared to move, as a terrible accident had occurred years before and the gorilla reminded him so much of it. The gorilla was meters away, when all of a sudden, the street market was filled with the sound of gunfire. The gorilla fell to the ground, having been shot dead by a P.A.A soldier. As the gorilla's lifeless body spewed out blood, the soldier said "Calm down everyone, it's over now". The citizens all started coming out of hiding, grateful that the incident was over now and that the gorilla had been taken care of. Bridge then started walking back to the Phoenix Convoy, as if nothing had happened. But then Anna appeared in front of him and said "What was that?" Bridge froze in place and said "What?" Anna was shocked as Bridge's reaction and said "The gorilla!? That gorilla tried to kill you and you act as if nothing happened!?" Bridge was quiet for a moment, but then he said "I'm just scared of gorillas". Bridge then walked back to the Phoenix Convoy and saw that everyone had seen him freeze upon seeing the gorilla. Phinehas stepped forward and said "What the heck was that!? You froze when you saw that gorilla, why!?" Bridge, who was now standing on the sidewalk, tried to brush it off, saying "I just have a fear of gorillas, that's all". But then Anna walked in front of Him and said "You don't JUST have a fear of gorillas. Listen Bridge, I get it that there are some things you don't like talking about and I don't like to push. But when you saw that gorilla, it looked like you had seen a ghost! Now I am not a therapist, but I know that something must've happened to cause this. What happened!?"