by Ashley Chappell

Created on: February 23, 2007   Last Updated: May 14, 2007

Living In The Fallout

As she watched the cab meter slowly tick upward in increments of forty cents, she reached into her coat pocket and lovingly thumbed over the paltry heap of change that remained.

$4.40 $4.80...

The loose bills were few and had been saved only by her decision to exchange her dinner for a few minutes of warmth. Only a bit more and I'll have to tell him to stop, she thought miserably.

$7.20 $7.60

She shuddered at the thought of going back out into the bitter cold that held the city so relentlessly. She would once again have to fight with the others who had been driven to similar desperation for the few dollars that their clients could afford to spend on such temporary distractions from the dying world around them. She shuddered even harder.

$9.60 $10.00

"You wanna tell me where yer goin', lady?"
"Just head toward the center of the city. I'll tell you when to stop."

The cabby looked into his mirror and saw her eyes focused on the meter as he spoke and smiled grimly. This was not the first time one of the girls had sought out his cab for relief from the ever-present winter. Few taxis still roamed the icy and broken streets with gas rations so hard to come by. Suppressing a sneer he flipped down his visor pretending to search for a fictional piece of paper while intentionally showing her the wad of cash he stored there. He always kept plenty on hand for the occasionally necessary bribes. He watched his mirror for the moment her eyes would register the stash and betray the cold mask she wore for the pain and desperation that were always underneath.

$11.20 $11.60

His battle with the sneer was lost as her eyes were torn from the meter and to the visor with a look of helpless rage and despair. Before the war he'd never have been able to imagine that such an expression would become a common greeting for the eyes that passed one another grimly on the streets. As for now, the only thing left was to take advantage of it where he could.

She dropped her head as she blinked back the tears. What he had tucked into his visor had to have been less than $100, but to her now it seemed a fortune. So many memories of her life before the war had been washed away like a dream she clung to as she awoke, but she could still remember a time just a few years ago when she'd carried purses worth more than that wad of cash. Suddenly, feeling more desperate than ever, a secret resolve in her flared into life. Had this strength always been there, instincts hiding beneath what civilization

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