Days of Decay

Chapter Thirty Nine

Harbour truly was a sanctuary; but anything would seem like heaven compared to roaming around the desolate streets of a country gone by. Noah talked and talked, every word said with enthusiasm and pride, but Asha found it hard to listen. The overwhelming sight of it all stunned her. Just seeing a bustling place of living sent her into a state of shock.

The majority of the people on Harbour were between the ages of sixteen and forty, with a few exceptions. One thing that Asha noticed in all of them was a sense of freedom and ultimate contentment. They had nothing to worry about, they were protected from the Nox-filled world on an island of pure paradise; a clean and disease-free zone.

Another thing that she noticed was that all the people had a small tattoo on the inside edge of their wrist; it was a small and delicate anchor. She learnt that everyone who lived on Harbour got the same tattoo, representing solidarity, hope and safety. A homage to the island. Many people had lots of tattoos, and most of them had them done once Harbour became Harbour; the taboo of tattoos became meaningless as creativity and carefreeness soared.

Noah also explained that there was no such thing as money on the island. They stocked every penny and note away in an underground bunker that was being saved in the event of worldwide regrowth. But in reality, it seemed that that currency was over. Even if the world got back on its feet, it was highly unlikely that it would start off in the capitalist, money hungry way that it used to be. It would rise from the roots of civilisation, where bartering and goods were how you made a living, where helping each other was a priority and not a favour.

As they walked around the streets and open areas of Harbour it was clear that everyone had something to do. Men and women were carrying fresh fruit and vegetables, piles of fresh laundry and flowers in abundance. There was also a large amount of scientific and medical personnel who walked around in a rush, papers in hand and brilliant white lab coats covering them.

"It's a blessing to have so many young people eager to help. A lot of them only had a college education before all of this. But now, they are budding scientists, nurses and doctors, learning fast because they know the urgency of the task at hand," Noah said as they rounded a corner to a large building where a red cross stood grandly by its entrance. "This is the main headquarters; you'll grow very accustomed to her. She is a big beauty, waiting to birth that cure," he grinned, beholding the building.

There was a large open space in front of the hospital where a large, intricate stone fountain sat proudly, spouting out water from its many flower-shaped appendages. Around the rim of the pool of water sat a few tired, but accomplished looking medics, fruit in their hands and water in bottles near them. It seemed to be break time. The sun shone down on the whole area and the sound of the water splashing down, paired with the scene of normality warmed Asha to her core.

They moved on, and as they walked through the heavy glass doors to the building, Asha was met by a girl who was around her age.

But she wasn't met with a handshake, she was met by her running full throttle into her, knocking her backwards into Noah's ready arms.

"Oh shit! I'm so sorry!" The girl exclaimed before hurriedly sinking to the floor, gathering all the papers and things she had dropped on impact.

"No, no, it's fine." Asha brushed it off with a smile, bending down and grabbing the name badge that she had dropped. "It's fine... Harper," she smiled, and handed it to the girl, forcing her to look at her.

Asha's breath caught in her throat as Harper stared at her with her almond eyes.

Everything stopped for that slight moment. Harper had deep chocolate iris's that were swimming in light, her hair was hip length and golden in colour, her skin was caramel and it was flawless. She bit her full, pink lip nervously as she looked at Asha, which only made the dark-haired girl force her gaze away, bringing herself out of her trance.