26 January 2013
~Based on Wool/Silo Series by Hugh Howey. Obviously not in the same league but I will die trying. See www.hughhowey.com or search Wool Omnibus on Amazon to see why. Feedback welcome.
I. Hundreds of people scurried in all directions, in their haste forgetting the normal pleasantries one would afford when passing in less crowded spaces. Karl was no longer Karl as he passed Joel and likewise Joel was no longer Joel as he passed by Karl. All were the same, just someone going somewhere for some reason. If it was not for the different coloured attire denoting each of the individuals' profession, they would all be identical in the dim lighting, not unlike ants in their farm scurrying somewhere for some reason.
Sheriff Carlson stood leaning against an iron oxide encrusted railing, he should have been watching the crowd, this was rush hour the busiest time of the day, but he had his back to the colony and instead he stared down into darkness below him. The power shortage meant that only the emergency lights were visible, intermittent green spiralling down following the stairs into the abyss and sometimes eclipsed by those making the trip up from who knows where. The floor to 32 could not be seen.
Julie Barnes jumped from this very spot three days ago, Carlson wondered what was going through her head as the floor approached her in those short four seconds. He shook his head on the third second... splat. Not a single person had in those three days so much as laid a wreath at the spot. Carlson too was on this list. He did not feel sorrow for the passing of this woman, even though she was more than a mentor to him in his role of sheriff. Carlson turned his back on the drop, just as his mother, the leader of the population had turned her back on them all.
The Plagiarist (Work In Progress) • Opuss № I