Mormon city was one of the many state capitals that managed to survive the war with Palladia, now it was it's own independent territory, not a country, not a kingdom, just a place that's ran by gangs and the corporations they serve, or corporations and the gangs they served. It was the right place for a greedy person to make money, because then that would be all that matters as you focus on making the rich, richer and the poor keep on living in places like this.
Dogman Residential area Q-Block 177717. This has been my home for the last ten years. Before my parents and my siblings had been killed in the war, all of us had moved here to live with my grandparents. At the time they were doing well for themselves and owned all the apartments on Q-Block 177717, but they had lost it when their own people had needed a place to hold up refugees.
Grandfather was executed for harboring fugitives and the deed to the apartment complex seized…..they let us remain in our own house as compensation when it was found out a week later that supposedly it was a case of mistaken identity.
Grandfather had been famous in Dogman Residential area back them, a pillar of the community as they used to say. Him dying caused a riot so terrible, the city's army lost over 300 of their elite force, a shocking thing to witness when the enemies were just elderlies and civilians.
A paltry sum was paid to them and the complex was legally purchased for the price of 200 hamburgers. Some months later the Palladians rolled through the area, gunning down anyone and anything they saw, including what was left of my family after I had gone with my grandmother to go meet an old friend of her's in the city.
We lost everything, but never the less this place was still our home, and everyone knows and supports us which was why sneaking into it was a lot harder than I thought, I did not want to have to explain the state of my bloodied clothes to anyone, most especially as I know it would worry my Mama. I needed to be as discreet as possible. But never the less somehow I made it to our door and buzzed myself in.
As I stood there by the threshold trying to catch my breath, I could see most of the house had plastic sheets covering a lot of things. C-89 was not something that could be joked about, it was highly contagious and everybody infected were kept fully isolated until a vaccine was administered. But the damn vaccine was expensive as shit, and would take him a solid two years of working at his Grandmother's restaurant to be able to raise anything up, he needed a faster way.
"Omo Mi (My Child) is that you?" he could hear his grandmother's strained voice calling out to him from her room.
"Yes Mama it's me, how are you holding up, have you eaten? Do you need me to prepare something for you?"
He asked as he navigated the apartment building that had been home to four generations of his family. It was big, four bedroom, a massive Living room, a kitchen, a storeroom, a study, and a personal elevator down to the garage that has been out of service for the last 8 years. This used to be the landlord's home, so obviously it was built different and had a few perks.
"No don't worry Ade, Simone was here just under an hour ago. She made a meal and helped clean the house and the room, so you don't have to worry about me for now okay. You know you're not immune like she is, and you know it would be best for you to return her calls, if you guys-"
"Have children then all our children will be immune, yes Mama I know this we've had this conversation a 100 times before." I said as I cut her off, rolling my eyes as I picked my way to my room.
"then what is the problem, I know you're not impotent, I've heard you and that Rachel girl you know, too many times than I care to remember. And I know you care about Simone, you still write her love letters every week like she made you promise to do when you guys were kids, now you're just running from her and avoiding her….. she's hurting and she misses you."
A moment of white hot embarrassment held me as my grandmother spoke, I'd have loved to have the ground open up and swallow me whole but in the end It turned somber as I looked at the ground, my heart aching fiercely as I said to her.
"I'm not good enough for her Mama, she lives in a very different world than the two of us. She got out, her family got out of this mess, it wouldn't be fair for us to drag her back into it again in the name of starting a family or pursuing a romantic relationship. Things like love and all that sappy shit does not exist in this day and age again Mama." I said to her with a sad smile on my face.
"Maybe you should let her make that decision for herself no? Just because the future seems bleak doesn't mean you should be afraid to want something good for yourself or something more.
I blame myself really, I raised you too nice when what you really need to survive in this world is greed and selfishness. Be more selfish and greedy my love, it will get you a good life and at least some happiness." I chuckled
"Or it will land me in jail Mama. Don't worry about me I'm fine, I need to take a shower and I have to step out. I have a few errands to run today so that I can be ready to open the restaurant by next tomorrow or the end of the week. I need to find a way to raise some money for your vaccine."
"Ade-"
"I don't want to hear it Mama, you're going to get that vaccine, and live and be healthy. That's the end of it, now if you will excuse me, I need to go get cleaned up." She said something else but I had stopped listening as I went into my room, took off every ruined piece of clothing on my body and stepped into the shower.
It was already too late when I remember the pain I felt when I was in the river, I flinched, but the pain never came, instead just relief as the water washed away the sorrows and horrors of the night, by the time I'm done , I reckon I'll be a new me and that thought scares me.