Three weeks and a few kidnappings after the fall.

  We did it. The Scavengers and I finally cleared all the bodies out of a building. Luckily, it was one of the few that wasn’t too badly damaged in the chaos of the fall.

  Now we had a building with four walls, a roof, and even a decently protected doorway we could defend if necessary. It would have been better if it was something actually designed to be lived in, like a hotel or an apartment building, but having an office building that was mostly undamaged was decent. Not great, decent.

  I mean seriously, why humans reach up to touch the sky when it was so much safer to live underground and hide in the deepest hole you could find, I’ll never know. I’ve tried to convince people to return to the caves, but I got ridiculed every time I did, and still do. But hey, you do you. Just because I like them doesn’t mean they’re the only source of shelter.

  The problem with the building wasn’t just that it was an office building. No, the problem was much simpler. It was that no one else saw the value in it and just wanted to move on.

  If the scavengers couldn’t see the advantage, maybe Chuck would. After all, he seemed like the most normal person in a group of psychotic survivors, but all that meant was that he could tie his shoes without eating the laces.

  Where was I again? Oh…

  The other scavengers and I slowly made our way back to the park laden with so many supplies we could’ve stocked a small convenience store. I hated the work, but the knowledge that starving people could eat because of my efforts made it all worth it. With all the fallen debris in the streets, walking the handful of blocks back to the camp took significantly longer than expected.

  The survivors needed to get out of the elements if they were to, well… survive. No matter how much resistance he gave, I needed to convince Chuck to move into the office building. The weather would turn in a few months and trying to live through a New York winter without walls would be a nightmare.

  “Vandre, for the last time, we are happy in the park. Why should we move when we’ve built our city here?”

  “Because we can’t defend it for shit? Think about it, if the Accountants decide our taxes aren’t enough, they could just walk in here and do what they please.”

  “And you think a building is going to change that?” Throwing his hands into the air in exasperation, he turned his back and stared out at the polluted lake.

  “Yeah. Yeah, I do. Look, it’s not perfect, but we can clean up the blood and build some apartments so people can have a bit of privacy.” I replied with just as much vigor, “They know where we are. Moving will give us the gift of anonymity while we work on building some defenses.”

  “That’s… that’s a good point. But I can’t make us move without a vote…”

  I didn’t wait for Chuck to finish before I ran to the center of our camp and interrupted everyone eating their dinner.

  “Citizens… survivors… we have an opportunity,” I began, “the Accountants know where we are, and that’s a problem. If they came here right now and wanted to take you, your pants, or even worse… your dinner, there is nothing we could do to stop them. But we have a solution.”

  “Dammit Vandre, you can’t just run in and do shit like this!”

  “And why not, Chuck? You believe in putting things to a vote… we’re voting.”

  He took a breath to respond, but by this point in our relationship, he knew me well enough to just shrug his shoulders and accept that I would do what I wanted to do.

  “Thanks! That will reflect well on your report card,” I said, knowing full well he had no clue what I meant. “Look, the scavengers have just finished clearing an entire building. It’s structurally sound and has plenty of space for people to live, work, and grow. We could start to truly rebuild.”

  “And?” an old man asked from the crowd.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  “And, I think we should move into this place and make it our home. It won’t be easy, but it’s protected. No more rain on our tents and no more threat of a raid every time we cannot pay an outrageous tax.” I jumped onto a park table and looked around, making eye contact with everyone in the crowd before continuing, “And if we’re lucky, we might be able to restore power and water.”

  I went on explaining about the advantages of living in an office building, and the improvements it would make in our lives. The people loved it. No, I didn’t tell them about the bloodstains in various cubicles… that was a bridge I’d burn while crossing it. For now, the important part was that they wanted to have a home again. It had only been three weeks, but spending that much time without a place to call your own was… taxing.

  And if anyone should know what it was to miss having a place to call their own… it would be me. I miss my cave. Oh, and I miss my siblings.

  It didn’t take long for the vote to be cast and, to my immense joy, the overwhelming majority agreed. A few were hesitant, but enough were happy with the idea that construction of our home would soon begin. Once we moved, the wouldn’t be able to find us so easily. They might track us down eventually, but by that time, we should be able to protect ourselves.

  Should…

  It wasn’t the perfect answer, but it was one that I could be happy with for now.

  ~~**~~

  A few weeks later, I found myself on the roof of our new home, gazing out on a world of stone and ash. I wish I could describe the feeling of emptiness that filled me when I saw the desolate nothing, but you would probably just call me a monster, like so many others before you. But, just like the old Hollywood movie critics, I’ve seen it before.

  I watched the fall of Egypt. Many believe they know why it collapsed. But, if you ask me, our demise was directly linked to the extreme economic disparity cultivated by the various temples. They raised the rich while walking on the backs of the poor, demanding more from an already beaten population until there was nothing left to give. We watched the rich die when the Persians finally overthrew the government, and not a soul mourned their passing.

  I watched Rome fall. It took much longer than Egypt, but at its heart, it was the same. The empire split, weakening both sides, leaving them vulnerable to invaders. Then the economy collapsed and the middle class all but vanished, leaving only the rich and the poor in its place. When a rich man can eat a meal on plates of gold while watching a poor man struggle to clothe his children, all good will toward the ruling class is lost. That’s why so many left, and so many more joined the invaders when they took the empire for themselves.

  I even watched as America tore itself apart, forgoing the title of ‘Land of the Free’ and replacing it with acceptance only if you believed the same as your neighbor. They allowed religion to make policy and slandered anyone that pointed it out. These are things people could live with, though. But when the middle class became poor, and the poor became impoverished, it was only a matter of time before they fell. Just like empires before them. They laughed when the rich lost billions, celebrated when they died, and aspired for nothing so they wouldn’t become one of them.

  What was watching the fall of one more city? One more country?

  One more world?

  I heard the crunch of footsteps on the gravel behind me and I closed my eyes. Couldn’t they tell I was brooding up here? What was the point of being cursed to live forever if I couldn’t brood on my own schedule?

  “Vandre,” Chuck interrupted, “the scavengers said you guys brought back two dozen mattresses today. Good job. You’re making a real difference in these people’s lives.”

  Yeah, sure… Tell me all about how I’m saving society. I’m not the hero of this story. I’m just the narrator.

  Eh, nobody really cared about privacy anyway.

  “Is it worth it, Chuck?” I asked, letting the carefully crafted mask of mortality slip for a moment.

  “Is what worth it?”

  “This. Any of this. Are humans worth saving? Is humanity worthy of the planet they stand on right now? We build by destroying. I’m not sure anything we’ve built in the last thousand years had any consideration for what it would do to the world. The planet is facing a fucking ice age, for crying out loud!”

  At least that would be a new one for me. I remember the end of the last glaciation, but I wasn’t around for the beginning. Maybe I could wait out an entire epoch in the ice if I was lucky. Who knows, a new sentient species might roam this ball of mud by then.

  “Why wouldn’t we be worth saving? We can learn from our mistakes.”

  “Historically, that’s not true. In fact, humans have been so bad at that part of the process you excuse it by saying ‘history repeats itself.’ But what you don’t realize is that it doesn’t have to.”

  “You talk about humans like you’re not one of us,” Chuck said, joining me on the ledge to look at the skyline.

  “Aren’t I? If anything, I’m the most human of us all,” I mused. Would my audible thoughts get me in trouble? Probably, but if I didn’t say them, who would? And if I spoke, who would listen? Even if they could, what would they do? I knew God no longer looked after these people, or this world. If he did, he surely didn’t care enough to fix it. Wasn’t he just supposed to wave his magic wand and restore the planet to its former glory or something?

  “The way you talk… It’s almost… ancient?”

  “We both know that’s not possible, Chuck, but thanks for having such a high opinion of me,” I said, replacing the mask of mortality and resuming the persona of a fool. “Any accountants?”

  “No, the WalStore Accountants can’t seem to find us. They try to take people here or there when they’re out alone, but that has mixed results.”

  What was the catch? Things didn’t just go well for me. There had to be a time when everything would fall apart in my hands. It always did.

  What was wrong with me? Couldn’t I just enjoy having this home? Couldn’t I just enjoy having people that trusted me?

  Sadly, the answer was simple.

  No.