Ashen Heart

Day 1776

It's been nearly 5 years since the eruption... 1776 days to be exact and yes, I counted them all. What else was I supposed to do?

My name is Alexander Hamilton, some call me Alex, but don't call me Lexi, I hate it. Like I said, I've been stuck here for almost 5 years, the airports have long been shut down since the ash blew over cause y'know, Ash isn't good for flying

Oh, here by the way is New York, not very much is left of it, most of the population is gone. All that remains are the empty buildings, stragglers like me, oh and the lobsters

The lobsters, as we call them, are the largest gang in America, stretching across the entire Eastern coast practically. They're backed by this millionaire rich bitch who calls himself "King" or whatever

The nerve of some people. Makes me sick

Anyways that's enough exposition for now, time to get on with this

My day normally starts around 5 am, sometimes earlier, sometimes later depending on the amount of light in the morning. I get up, grab my backpack full of supplies (a bottle of water, maybe some food, a map and compass, rope, extra bullets, and a communicator), my gun (see backpack for extra bullets) and of course my gas mask

Nothing too fancy, just one I found in a lobster abandoned building, kinda looks like what you would see in the movies. Just enough to keep me from dying from the ash

Anyhow, I leave my house and walk downtown after making sure the vent system and airtight locks are on (Which I built myself, you're welcome). Don't want no stupid suffocating ash in my house

The walk downtown has become peaceful at this point. No NY traffic or angry pedestrians blaring at you, no crowded side walks. Sure you might have to run for your life from some lobsters once in awhile, but other than that it's a nice walk to the more urban part of the city

Once downtown, my routine really gets going

1. Check abandoned buildings for supplies: find anything that might be useful and or valuable, spare parts for vent systems, food, water filtration systems, extra masks, medical supplies, ammunition etc. Keep searching until around 7 am, or when the light has become much stronger

2. Scope for lobsters: Find out the latest movements and where their camps are. Avoid those areas at all costs. 

3. Go home: Yeah that's about it, I could spend more time out, but I had a son to take care of

My 9 year old son Phillip was still at home, possibly awake now but who knows, kids have weird sleep schedules. I had to get back to him, before he thought something bad had happened to me. I took a quick swig from my water and packed it up before heading on my way back home

Or that would've happened, but things were gonna be a bit different today

"SOMEONE HELP!!" A male voice rang out. I instinctively ducked behind an abandoned car and looked back towards the source of the voice, cursing whatever idiot decided to just scream out in the open

The man looked to be about my age, but I couldn't see any discerning features. He was wearing long sleeves and pants (so he wasn't a complete idiot) and I could tell he had darkish tan skin. But I couldn't see much about his build to tell if he was a threat, or just some poor starving soul

I inched my way closer while still under cover to try and see what this man had to say "SOMEONE HELP!! MY DAUGHTER FELL DOWN AN OPEN SEWER GRADE AND HURT HER ARM" the man called and I immediately softened up

If this man truly had a daughter who needed help.. well I couldn't just sit by and do nothing. I cursed at my own softness before coming out of cover and holding my hands up to show I was a friendly figure

"Where's your daughter??" I asked, loud enough for the man to hear me and he stopped his yelling to look at me. We made eye contact and both froze as we recognized each other 

"Alexander??" the man called and I sighed "Aaron Burr- How lovely is is to see you again"