MorningStar

My New Life

A year later.

I stood in the dark sewer, waiting. Where is he? I thought as water dripped from the ceiling on front of me.  The darkness seemed to envelope everything except for about a foot radius around me because of my dying flashlight. And so, I depended on my hearing. The slow drip of the water in front of me drove my mind insane. 

I heard footsteps a couple hundred feet ahead of me. Smirking mischievously, I moved silently  until I was up against the wall and turned off my flashlight. He continued to walk down the side of the pitch black sewer. As he passed me, I flung myself onto his back and covered his mouth so that he could not scream. Not that anyone would care. No one cared anymore.

"Hello, Karter," I whispered in his ear before hopping lightly off of him. As he fell to his knees in slight shock, Karter looked up at me in fear.

"I-I'm sorry. I'm late," The man mumbled as I flicked on my flashlight. With a shaven head and trimmed beard, he seemed richer than he really was. His thin body showed his poor lifestyle.

Snorting, I grabbed his arm, digging my fingernails into his torn shirt and pulling him up to a stand. "Just tell me why you think you might be so important to me. I don't have time for stupid shits in my life," I warned him as his eyes widened. Shaking a bit, the man, who was obviously older than me, picked at a widening hole in his shirt.

"Well- I- uh- I heard that uh- that other guy- um- Parker, is coming into the city soon. The- uh- the one you said you won't allow back..." He trailed off, not looking me in the eyes. I smiled widely.

"Thanks for telling me," I laughed, "Here." I grunted, shoving a couple of coins at him before slipping silently down the sewer. Finding a ladder, I climbed and found myself in a completely empty street. The sun had just begun to set, leaving the streets in their usual dark, damp state. 

As a child, I had read books about the world becoming like this. Millions of people dead, countries at war, people fighting to live, no one left to make food or medicines. I never would have dreamed that this would happen in my lifetime. But, I helped people. My city basically flourished next to others. Of course, not many other people knew about it since all technology had disappeared. No one remembered how to make anything more complex than a walkie-talkie now. But in my city, people got the food they needed. They got protection from anyone who may try to raid the city. They got equal shares of what we could find that was still in good shape. It was a beautiful society.

I walked down the street toward my house, the first floor of an old apartment building. No one else lived in it, but I did not need that much space. I entered my main room.

A small kitchen stood on one side with a microwave, a stove, and an oven, but none of the three worked since no one got electricity anymore. A small table stood in front of an old, beaten up sofa which stood against the wall with a sheet and a knitted blanket on top of it. Leaning on the couch stood my favorite thing in the entire world, my Morningstar. Everyone knew about her. That was how they remembered me and my city. No matter how you come into the city, you get to meet her. Whether it be in warning or connected to your arm or stomach, if you come into my city, you meet the real ruler of the city. After a little while people had started to call me MorningStar. 

Personally, I like it.