Malcolm Donovan checked the notations in the old notebook on his desk. He kept a paper trail, power cuts were becoming more frequent. Four hundred and twenty-eight days after the collapse of civilization. The world as it was known turned to chaos. The government could not contain the spread of the deadly virus that infected the population. Confinement was mandatory. The number of deaths increased daily. All attempts to get a vaccine failed and fear spread throughout the country.
The economic collapse brought the system crashing down. Disruption of supplies reigned in the supermarkets. The food industry was only half-functioning. It was difficult to supply everyone. It didn't take long for people to come out with their guns and steal. It was either that or starve to death.
Malcolm was attacked by an hour of looters. The whole neighborhood was overrun by the most dispossessed. Many of Malcolm's friends lost their lives. The government sent troops into the city. A permanent curfew was decreed. Walls were erected to divide the areas. It was forbidden to go beyond the walls and go outside the protected areas. Anyone who did so was at their own risk.
Outside the walls, the landscape was apocalyptic. Abandoned houses, destroyed businesses, dirty streets. The army made surveillance raids to keep the looters as far away as possible. In the last confrontation, the leader of the criminals was killed along with hundreds of his followers. It was a great victory. Now there were only small groups of looters left, facing each other.
Loneliness was affecting Malcolm Donovan. Former employee of the district bank. He now received a government grant, part in cash and part in coupons, which were used to redeem for food. Although he no longer consumed the same amount as before, he was still built to be overweight.
Locked in his home, he peeped out the windows at his neighbors. When his friends' wives go out to arrange the garden flowers. He hadn't been with a woman for over a year. The situation was getting crazy. Before the collapse, every weekend, at the end of the work day, he used to go to exotic dance clubs. I was already known in that world and I made deals with some who sold the body to known clients.
The five hours the government gave them access to wifi to communicate with family members in other cities or parts of the world. Malcolm spent them visiting women's websites. His father died when he was two years old, in a battle in the Gulf War. The mother had been dead for ten years from cancer. He had no siblings or other close family.
I've been going through the pages of the local newspaper, whose edition was online. She saw in the free classified ads, that of a female person requesting friendship online to fight depression and loneliness. She copied the address in her browser and was redirected to a video chat room. Malcolm was surprised when a beautiful woman of about twenty-three appeared on the screen. Black hair, brown eyes. Prominent curves of her body were visible, the girl was dressed in black leather pants. He didn't activate the webcam, he preferred to write in the chat.
The girl's name was Amanda. She lived in another residential area located twenty streets from Malcolm's area. She put up the ad because she couldn't stand the loneliness. Where she was, there were fewer people. They became friends and she chatted every day. The conversations became more intimate. She proposed that they meet. They were tired of the lack of human contact. Malcolm was a little afraid, but she convinced him. She told him it didn't matter what he looked like. She was attracted to him and wanted to be with him.
Amanda made him an offer. In the middle of the two communities was a toy store. That used to be his business. She would also leave her area, so that the two of them would meet there. They would both travel the same distance. Malcolm accepted enthusiastically. On the day of the meeting, he took a shower, dressed in his best clothes and bravely left the community. The military at the gate warned him that it was risky. He didn't listen to them. He was thinking about Amanda.
The streets were completely deserted. There was no one there. He felt a little afraid. But the latest online reports said the army had cleaned up the street of looters. He made it all the way to the site. Amanda was at the scene, waiting for him. They hugged shyly. She had a peach scent. He was sweating from the walk, looking embarrassed. She told him it didn't matter.
They went all the way into the abandoned toy store. There was a big table in the middle. He showed her a bottle of wine that he had saved for special occasions. They toasted. Malcolm was very excited, at last, after almost two years, he would come back to feel the carnal pleasure. His breath was shaking, his vision was clouding...
When Malcolm woke up, he was naked, tied hand and foot. He couldn't move. I turn my neck and look around. The whole place was full of unwanted looters. Survivors who lived outside the communities. The ones the government didn't take into account. What the army was after. Those who were hungry. Very hungry.
Amanda was the wife of the murdered leader. She was the one who came up with the idea of cheating the people who lived in the communities by using the free ads in the online newspaper. Malcolm was the first victim. He had been tempted. Desire was his undoing. Now he would be the meat that would satisfy the hunger of the looters.
Stories of a non-writer.
Original content.