The Dawn: The Bombs Fall (A Dystopian Science Fiction Series) by Muckley Michelle

Author:Muckley, Michelle [Muckley, Michelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Michelle Muckley
Published: 2014-09-15T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

His head hung low, propped up against a feeble hand as he hunched over the bar in NAVIMEG. Ronson set a drink down as he saw Zack walk in, and he spoke to Zack too. No doubt something chipper and amusing in his usual style. But Zack hadn’t heard it and he paid the beaker of Moonshine no attention. At one point Ronson offered him a small puckered tablet, but again Zack did nothing. The sight and smell of the Mess Room on level forty eight was still too fresh in his mind, and he didn't want to be any part of it. Zack huddled over the bar, his nose picking up the alcohol tinged scent of the drink, and he closed his sodden eyes to shut out the world.

Behind his eyelids, ideas and images of his life played out. His university days and Samantha, her blond hair cut into a bob, a blunt fringe that in his mind always made her seem kinky, and a bit like a stripper. He thought about how she used to lie at his side without any concern for her naked body, her weight balanced on a single elbow. She would lean over him, trace her finger along the ridge of his nose whilst whispering promises that she would love him forever into the curves of his ear. Sometimes she would let her finger drop down over the ridge of his chin, trace it over his chest, but Zack could never stand it and always ended up in fits of giggles. He knew that Samantha was the woman who he could have loved even after her beauty had faded. He would have loved her just for who she was. Sometimes he still tried to imagine her, perhaps living in Zeta Tower, or Alpha Tower. Even Omega. But he knew that she wasn't there. It was impossible. She would have been in the building to the north of Delta when the bombs landed. The one that he was no longer sure that he could find. He tried to imagine her last moments, the speed of it, that she was right under a bomb when it exploded so that she wouldn’t remember a thing. But the idea of her surviving for hours or days, burnt and hungry before death finally clawed into her, was another possible reality. He had seen those bodies. He had seen their charred, dust-covered remains. He had looked for her face amongst the bodies on the one and only time that he had ventured outside. He had seen shapes that he was sure were human underneath the layers of dust. He had seen their bloated bodies in the water filters. He was grateful that he had never found her.

Tonight, images of Billy crept in there too. His tiny hand and skinny tattoo-free wrist. Zack hadn't been back to his room to change his clothes, and he was still covered in Billy's smell. He had considered going back to the sick bay to find out what they had done with the body, maybe to go and see it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.