Avery has lived in New New York her entire life, and after the Fallout of 2016, nothing seems to be going well at all. Now, she's walled up in a city where crime riddles the streets and corrupt politicians do nothing to help those in need. When Aver...
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I pulled my hood over my face a bit more as the cold breeze bit against my skin and blew my blonde hair back gently. The moon could be seen through the small clouds that had formed in the sky and stars were sprinkled everywhere above. There was an odd tinge of green in the air, warning of the approach of another electrical storm, and prompting me to head home. Perching on top of a residential area rooftop, I looked through the glass window of a building across the street, watching the performance inside. Besides the play itself, I had already witnessed a secret dealing between two strange people in hoods, but that wasn't new for this part of town. Illegal stuff was happening everywhere, and it's not like the Chancellor was going to spend his resources trying to fix this part of New New York.
I turned my attention back to the performance to see a girl in a pink dress start dancing around on stage, probably singing about love, or some other ridiculous situation she was in. I didn't have the money to go into the theater--to actually hear what they were saying, but I could watch. And I could imagine.
The man in the suit was popular, from what I could tell, but there was a woman who just wouldn't fall for him. And another woman that would just not take no for an answer. The man in the suit had a friend that was pretty funny, from the looks of it, but...what would I know? No one from my sector was wealthy enough to see the performances, honestly. We lived in the poorer part of the city, but not the poorest. People around here were lucky to have a roof over their heads, regardless of how many people were forced into the small homes. There was hardly any space in the apartment my father and I called home. We lived there with four others: a fisherman named Hanak, who surprisingly never smelled like fish; his wife, Carlotta; their five-year old daughter, Merian; and their son, Bellamy. He was about my age, and growing up together in this kind of world would bring anyone close. Now, we were practically siblings.
Quietly, I slid down the rooftop, making sure the coast was clear before clambering down a drainage pipe and onto the ground. People were bound to be headed home, if there was an imminent electrical storm, so I figured there was only a small chance of someone being out on patrol. My hands were shaking from the effort of clambering down the pipe and I stuck them inside my jacket pocket before slinking back towards home.
Usually, people didn't enjoy drawing attention to themselves if you weren't from the wealthier sections of the city, but my father took special pride in it. The reason we didn't have any money was because he was bound and determined to get drunk every day, and spend the night in jail. I usually had the means to bail him out, but when I didn't, Hanak would usually let me work for him to get the money I needed.
After the Fallout of 2016, the world had changed. The nuclear war had caused Old America to become this bleeding mess. New America was supposedly a solution to the Nuclear Crisis, but everyone knew it was just another power trip. New America had abandoned most of the old ways and now, things were even worse. The Great Five Cities were walled up, and anyone who couldn't get in, stayed out in the Nuclear wasteland. New New York, New Los Angeles, New Chicago, New Houston, and New Phoenix. All five equally as difficult to find housing in if you weren't there before the Fallout.
