A Life Sentence

July 11, 2026

July 11, 2026

After the excitement from a few nights ago things have been pretty quiet, too quiet really. I still spend most of my nights thinking about Elena, but after the few chores we have during the day are done there isn't a whole lot else to do. I never really realized just how much of my time was taken up by work until I not only had no job to go to, but no world either.

Me and Lucas had talked about going around to forage for anything we thought we might could use, but after those kids attacked us we decided to wait a bit. There are obviously people out there and they are scared and stupid, which a bad combination.

So now after our work is done we generally sit around or exercise or something like that. Lucas does a lot of the hunting, he is a much better shot, and I tend to the small garden that my parents left behind. It became pretty clear that Lucas does not have a green thumb.

After nightfall we often sit on the porch and talk about random things. It seems no matter how the conversation starts though it always ends up on the same thing, what we liked to do before the world went down the tubes.

Oh how I miss the stupid little things I used to do just to pass the time. At the time I would often think how it was a waste of time and I should be spending my time in better pursuits. Now, all that is gone. The only real pastime we have left is reading, which a person can only do so much of before they get sick of it. I think even the most ardent bibliophiles would reach their limit under these circumstances.

I want to watch a movie, it doesn't even matter what kind. Back in the day I was pretty picky about what I watched. I guess you could call me a movie snob. Now I would just be happy to watch anything as long as it made me forget about the world we are living in now.

Before Omega one of me and Lucas's most common rituals was to get drunk while watching some movie that neither of us had ever seen before. It sounds stupid, but I tell you that I had some of the funnest nights doing that.

Of course Lucas misses that too, but he misses video games more. To be honest I do too, but Lucas was much more of a gamer than I ever was. The older I got the more I got out of it. Lucas seemed to get even more involved as he got older.

It makes it hard to play games, watch movies or a great many other things when we don't have any power. We could use one of the generators we got to power a TV and a game system or Blu Ray player. Lucas has suggested it many times, but it feels like a total waste now. We only have two generators and even though they are in perfect shape I would rather not use them if we didn't have to. We would have used up fuel. At least we were smart enough to get generators that run on propane, that stuff keeps forever.

I suppose this is one reason why I want to go out and see what I can find. Maybe we will get lucky and find another generator and maybe some propane. I mean there has to be some out there still. Most of the country houses around here had huge tanks in their backyards. Hell, my parents do, which is thankfully full. We even wondered if we could bring more of those big tanks here. I imagine the smaller tanks are still around too. We just need to find them.

Still, it seems like a waste to use something so valuable on something so pointless. But there is the old saying "All work and no play" and all that. Lucas also made the rather deep thought that we need to detach from reality to help keep us human. That's true enough, but we can't stay human if we aren't alive.

I am willing to bet that in time both of us will just say eff it and we will cave and fire up a generator to watch something or play a game. Who knows I may even break my no booze rule just so we can bring back our old movie tradition.

Maybe I can make a deal with Lucas. If we find another generator that runs on propane and some more fuel we can use it just for a TV or something for a special occasion. Maybe make it a weekly thing. Who knows, maybe we can find some good old fashioned junk food and some soda as well. We have some, but we both won't touch it. It's more valuable than gold to us.

What an odd time when Mountain Dew and Lays potato chips are more valuable to someone than the metal that literally shaped the economy of the world. Well, that world is gone now.

I think these guys need to rot their brains on some games or movies? What do you think? The next chapter will be posted soon. Please vote and leave a comment.