Empty World Ch. 01

A necessary disclaimer: this is a story about a group of adults, traumatized by their life experiences, trying to survive, stay sane and find love in the post-apocalyptic world. This is a slow burn story, and you won't likely see any lewd activities for quite a while, so if this is not your cup of tea, find something else to read. Also, all characters are 18+ years old.

You've been warned.

Love,
Cy~

Empty World

Chapter 01

'Cause we lost everything
We had to pay the price

"This is an automated broadcast for everybody who's still there. For anybody who's still alive... If you can hear this, head to the Tower on Buffington Island, north of Ravenswood. It's got food, water, power and climate control. It's safe here. This is an automated broadcast..."

Max sat in the security room adjacent to the lobby of the Tower, a 40-story autonomous habitat in the middle of the island on Ohio river. Message he recorded two days ago fired into the air every minute by the Tower's ELF broadcast system, hitting all channels in a 60 mile radius. Wall of displays was switched to stream feeds from all the outdoor cameras on the island. The air was dead, movement sensors detected nothing.

Ravenswood, small city two miles south wasn't only dark - power grid seemed to be down too - the thickest fog he'd ever seen descended and wouldn't dissipate for the last two days, hiding even the most prominent features of surrounding West Virginia landscape, so a lit up Tower with its autonomous power source would be a perfect beacon, visible from miles away, day or night.

"Should finish the projector system, they might not see a damn thing in this fog," he muttered, the sound of his own voice in the empty silent building was strangely soothing. "Alright then, time to get to work I'm being paid for," he chuckled. He was the chief engineer of the building, after all, overseeing all the works for the Tower's grand opening a week from now.

Was, because two days ago he woke up completely alone in the world filled with fog.

All the insane preachers of the world, who were screaming 'the end is nigh' for the last couple decades, would be probably having the biggest 'I told you so' moment of their lives - if they still had their lives, he thought, making his way across the grounds. Fighting climate change wasn't a success. Stopping endless mindless wars wasn't a success either. The only two good things that happened to the world in the last several years were discovery of subspace siphon, technology that allowed to produce endless amounts of free clean energy, and invention of organic matter replication, which should have nearly instantly ended world hunger. The Tower - he stopped and looked up, admiring its futuristic architectural design - had both, ahead of many government entities and institutions. Designed and financed by the most powerful philanthropists of the nation, it was supposed to serve as the last fortress of humanity in the post societal collapse world.

"Too late though - no society to save. It seems Mother Nature finally got tired of our bullshit before we could make the change", he grumbled to himself, making sure the last projector had its cables plugged in. The entire array was installed a week ago by the maintenance team, he only had to make sure they've been connected to the grid and point roughly at their respective reflector plates, scattered across the Tower facade.

Max returned to the Tower and took the stairs down to the maintenance floor - the heart of the building's life support, walked into the power control room and sat in the swivel chair in front of a huge console. He still preferred manual control for everything, but to save some time...

"Mother, check the projector array for me, please." Mother, an omnipresent AI of the Tower, was in control of all technological and security aspects of the building and surrounding area. She still needed humans to do grunt work, though. Schematics and diagrams pertaining to the projector system appeared on the central display, followed by a long list of checks, each marked with a green checkmark.

"Projector system is ready, Max." Soft deep middle-aged female voice reported. He always imagined her to look like Shohreh Aghdashloo, the star of an old sci-fi TV show. The voice was certainly a close match.

"Good. Fire it up, calibrate projector gimbals to point at their reflectors. Show me."

Display switched to a security gate camera, looking at the building from below. Tower lit up like a Christmas tree, getting shinier with each passing second, as Mother adjusted projectors to perfection.

"Projectors are calibrated and operating at 99.8% efficiency." Well, a hundred percent is a bit too much to ask for.

"Perfect. Thank you, Mother." Show respect to your machines, and they won't turn on you. He didn't really know if that was true, but that rule never failed him - he had no problems with machines his entire life. Max got up and left maintenance to resume his duty in security.

--//--

Lucia opened her eyes and watched the white panel ceiling for a minute, gathering her thoughts. She didn't sleep, no, it didn't feel like sleep. She turned her head to the only source of light in the room - the window. Gray light streamed through half-closed blinds, giving no indication what time of day it was. Her gaze wandered, then stopped at the machines surrounding her.

"Hospital. I'm in a hospital."

As the sudden rush of memories flooded her mind, she gasped and shook, the slight movement causing faint pain in her lower abdomen, left side, right where the bullet hit her. Wincing, she pulled her hospital gown up to inspect her body, peeled the tape holding the bandage and slowly took it off. Tiny pink scar was all that's left - the only reminder of her wound and following surgery.

"Thank gods for medigel, I'm going to wear bikini again..."

Perfect timing, Lu, she chastised herself and exhaled through her nose. Wait, that didn't feel right. Oh fuck, the tubes. She carefully took off the oxygen tube from her nose - bleargh - then extracted the IV needle from her arm.

"The IV is empty, why didn't anybody change it? Machines are turned off... Blackout? Por qué carajo está tan tranquilo? Never imagined a hospital could be this quiet... Nurse?" she called weakly, gingerly turning her body on the bed to put her feet on the floor. "Nurse?.. Anybody?.."

Getting no response, she tried to stand, overcoming the thumping in her head and ringing in her ears. Her legs gave in immediately and Lucia collapsed on the floor, luckily not hitting her head in the process.

"Ah, mierda..."

The world went black for her.

--//--

"Gone, gone. They're all gone, Molly, you don't have to worry about them anymore. Gone. You're a free woman now. Don't cry for them, whatever happened to them, they were bad people and deserved it. They're gone now."

Molly was walking south, carrying what little she managed to scavenge in her backpack. Jalopy she took back in the Mormon Nomads camp had to be abandoned miles ago after nearly a full day of driving empty roads - the poor old thing stalled and wouldn't start anymore; her old sneakers, stitched and taped - she didn't find any better footwear - were about to quit on her too; her left ankle she bruised taking off the chain was swollen and hurt like crazy, but she pressed on.

"Blasted chain, had to be more careful with it. You need a medkit, or this leg will kill you."

She looked around as she walked, keeping her distance from dark buildings.

"No, not going inside. Don't need no more bad people. What if they're not bad? No, shut up. You don't know what good people look like. Been too long since you seen one. But my supplies... No, you're not going inside. You still have some cans left," no electricity, no means to make fire - she resorted to eating cold canned beans for the last two days, opening the cans with an old rusty kitchen knife.

Fog, fog everywhere. She didn't know the distance she covered so far, everything around looked the same in the fog. The road made a turn, joining the interstate, and Molly looked up, trying to read the signs above, when a faint glow somewhere far ahead in the fog grabbed her attention.

"Light, Molly, lots of light ahead. There should be good people in there? Yes, let us have hope."

Her heart jumped, and she sped up down the interstate, limping but nearly running.

--//--

Max was restlessly pacing around the security room.

"I have to do more... I have to do... something. Think, Max, what don't we have yet?.. Foghorn would really help, yes," he smirked. Nearest place he could've got that was about 300 miles away. With the fog, it would take at least two days. No, not leaving the Tower for that long. "Think again."

You're manic, Max.

"I have to do something... It's- it's my duty."

Calm the fuck down, soldier!

He stopped dead in his tracks, his spine straightening like a wound string nearly against his will.

"Y- yes, sir."

Sit your ass down! Breathe!

He slumped into the chair, head down, hands on his knees, and started to breathe, concentrating on his rising and lowering chest. In a minute his pulse slowed down and head stopped spinning.

Revise and reiterate.

He closed his eyes and visualized the working plan for the Tower grand opening.

"Engineering systems - check. Security perimeter - in order. Safety systems - in order. Life support - check. Replication system... samples... Samples!" He jumped up.

"Mother, revise replication system sample banks!" Displays flickered, switching to sample bank diagram.

"Food bank. Raw food ingredients, 1874 samples. Basic international cuisine, 307 samples. Advanced international cuisine, 218 samples. Ethnic cuisine, 78 country banks, 2984 samples total. Clothes bank. Tower employee uniform, complete with basic underwear and bathrobes, 6 adult sizes for 4 body types, 14 types of uniform, 3 seasons, 1008 samples total, seasonal footwear 8 sizes, 3 seasons, 24 samples total. Domestic textile bank. Bedding, 12 samples. Towels, 8 samples." Mother went silent.

"Wh- what, that's it? Food, fatigues and linens, no other banks?"

"Samples for other banks were not delivered on time, sample convoy arrival date was January 20th 2038 11:00am EST."

Yesterday morning? Shit, those trucks could be anywhere in a thousand mile radius! Max grabbed his head with both hands and collapsed back in the chair with a groan. Tower didn't have meds, even basic ones, medical equipment, hygiene items, normal clothing... alcohol and cigarettes. He slumped in the chair, throwing his head back and looking at the ceiling.

"I could kill for a cig right now," he looked down at his shaking hands. "Hey, Max, you know what's funny? There's no one to kill!" he giggled hysterically.

Pull your shit together!

He took a deep breath. "I'm okay, I promise," he murmured, exhaling. "Thanks... dad." He stood up.

"Okay... medical first." He grabbed a shockgun - non-lethal, but 'you'd wish you were dead' kind of non-lethal - from the armory locker, attached the holster to his belt, pulled on his jacket, and, grabbing two empty gun bags, headed down the hallway to the garage.

"Mother, are EVs charged?"

"Yes, both of them."

"Thank you. Open the garage doors, please."

He dropped his bags onto the back seat of the maintenance EV - light, fast and spacious buggy staff used to get around the island and make short trips to the city, jumped into the driver's seat and a minute later was rolling across the bridge, connecting the Tower island and the interstate. The buggy nearly silently rolled off the bridge and turned right, speeding up in the direction of Ravenswood.

He didn't close the garage doors.

--//--

Lights in the fog were shining brighter the closer she got, painting the building as some sort of fantasy castle from the children's books she used to love. Molly reached the bridge, dropped her backpack and stopped to take a breather, tired and hurting all over. She suddenly felt uneasy.

"Look how beautiful it is! What if people of the castle are not good? But how could bad people live in a beautiful place like that?"

Conflicted, she leaned on the bridge railing and looked around, then at the Tower again.

"It doesn't matter, Molly. You got no choice, you got no more food, no place to sleep, your ankle would kill you in a day. Whatever they want for their help - you'll do it."

It's not like they can come up with anything she didn't have to do before. She picked up her backpack and slowly moved across the bridge.

--//--

Mercy Hospital, built back in 2029, was a four-story glass, steel and concrete box in the middle of the city, just a couple blocks away from the Main. The roads were empty, cars neatly parked in driveways or parking lots - the Event, as Max decided to call it, took place very early in the morning. He crossed the half-empty parking lot in front of Mercy diagonally and stopped right at the front doors, taking up the ambulance spot.

"I would've been arrested or at least heavily fined for something like this just a week ago."

He smirked at the thought. Ravenswood was proud of its police service and the lowest crime rate in the state - no gangs, no trafficking of any kind, about as peaceful as in the 1990s, no small thanks to Sherman and Lombardi Group, the founders of the Tower, who made sure nothing hindered their biggest project. He grabbed his bags and pushed one of the automatic doors - now unpowered - to slide open, then headed inside.

Two doors forward, reception, 20 meters along the left hallway, storage room with medical supplies, including the cabinet with controlled substances - Max had been here before. He had to break the glass, no one seemed to mind, and the noise soothed him - the only thing that didn't let him go completely insane in the new silent world. Humming some tune, he began to stuff the bags with medical supplies, stoking up on IV and suture kits, surgical tools, saline, basic antibiotics, painkillers, medigel and portable equipment, making as much noise as possible.

--//--

Noise echoing through the hallways of the hospital woke her up. Lucia pushed herself upright and sat on the floor, listening, trying to determine the direction from which the sound was coming from through the ringing in her ears.

"Heeey..." she called weakly, getting no response, but the noise didn't stop. She grabbed the edge of the hospital bed and pulled herself up to stand, then, using the rolling food cart for support, moved out of the room and down the hallway, closer to the source of the sound.

"Hey... Who's there... I can hear you..."

Noise stopped suddenly, and deafening silence reigned once again.

--//--

I can hear you...

Shit, he hasn't had an episode in years, and now would be a really bad time for his PTSD to kick in. Max silently put the bag on the floor, unholstered the shockgun, and holding it in a tactical grip, slowly turned on his heels to face the door. Whoever was out there, they've been making a lot of noise. This is not a hallucination, definitely not, he told himself. Please be real.

"Hello?.." They called again. Hallway on the left, approximately 5 to 7 yards, he reckoned, then leapt forward through the open door, coming out from the roll to stand on the other side of the hallway, gun aimed, pointing at...

"Damn," he muttered, lowered the gun and put it back into the hoster.

"Nice to see you, Lu..."

She felt like falling flat on her ass out of the surprise of his tactical trick, but just clutched her cart tighter, her hands shaking and heartbeat thumping in her ears as a result of adrenaline spike.

"Weller? Puta madre, you nearly scared the living shit out of me!.. What are you doing here?" She finally caught her breath.

"What are you doing here?"

Max stepped closer, still keeping the safe distance, fighting the urge to grab her and never let go. It's such a fucking relief I'm not alone after all, his eyes stinged warning him of the floodgates about to open, so he took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Lead poisoning," she winced, shaking her head.

"What, here in Ravenswood?" His brows flew up. "I didn't hear about any recent fights in the area."

"Nah, we backed the raid on White Cavaliers down in Ripley... So we're back home, huh, tha's good," she looked around, observing the empty trauma room behind the glass walls.

"Say, Maxi... where's everyone?"

He took another step, closing the distance between them, and put his hand on her shoulder, looking down into her eyes.

"Lu... you might want to sit down for this."

--//--

"That booth is empty," Molly passed the empty security booth and entered the gates, open wide, looking around, failing to notice the security camera following her every move. The Tower shone in front of her, but nobody was guarding the place. "Maybe it shines all by itself and its people are gone too?"

She walked the path from gates to front doors.

"It's locked... There's got to be a way in, you have to get inside!"

Molly began circling the huge building and, soon enough, came across the ramp, leading down into the underground garage. Gates were raised; with trepidation, she slowly descended the ramp, holding onto the straps of her backpack.

The garage was empty too. One fancy buggy was parked near the gates; lifts, work tables, tool boards and cabinets - everything completely new and very expensive.

"Oh, look at this! Just like in dad's shop, but much better! Never you mind this, girl, keep walking, you have no need for tools now."

She walked past all the mechanic paraphernalia, admiring the setup, when it abruptly ended, and she found herself staring at the back wall of the garage with hallways leading both left and right.

Left one was dark and uninviting, so she chose right, trying all the doors on her way - some locked, some leading to empty rooms - until she opened the door to the large and dark space. She flicked the switch.

"Storage!" She quickly walked in and locked the door behind her.

"What's in the crates? Food... clothes... oh my, shoes too!"

Throwing her nearly empty backpack on the floor, she started to open the boxes.

--//--

Lucia couldn't believe it.

"Max, I- I don't understand how's this even possible... What do you mean, all people, not just Ravenswood..."

Her face expression went from doubt to incredulity to shock to despair in a minute Max took to describe the situation. He knew the feeling - he felt exactly the same emotions just two days ago, except one.

"Oh Dios mío, my family!" She stood up suddenly, nearly falling again, but Max kept her upright.

"You need to change first," he nodded as her hospital gown.

"No time, Max!" She extracted herself from his hands and slowly headed to the exit on unsteady legs. He took off his jacket and covered her shoulders.

"You sure you can walk on your own?" Getting an affirmative nod in response, he quickly returned to the storage room, grabbed both bags and followed her outside.

"Hope I got enough," he stashed the bags on the back seat and helped her to get into the buggy, then jumped into the driver's seat and swiftly maneuvered out of the hospital grounds into the street.