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"There you are!"
"hu--OOF! Hey Chris."
Dude can give a backpound with the best of 'em.
Cramped wooden tables between wall and stools. Green hooded lights hang from the ceiling. Dark bar atmosphere, minus the smoke. City outlawed smoking in public buildings a few months before the attacks. Personally thankful for that, though it does take a bit away from the otherwise noir feeling The After typically has. The post-5/6 haze that's replaced it, however, is just as carcinogenic.
Bursting through it, nova-esque, is the table where my +mates are at. Cam waved us over. Elle too, smile as bright as her now-orange hair.
Orange? Why?
They stood and we all shook hands, smiled, hugged, celebrated, etc'ed.
"Brilliant idea! This is all you man."
"Nah, nothing would've come of it without your touches."
"You realize the project's been renamed because of us? Guns for Hope?"
"God, how corny."
"But it's OUR corn."
"Tastes the sweetest!"
"Cheers to that!"
And then James Welsh materialized.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you people that if you set the bar too high on your first try, you have to do even better later? Your work'll never be good enough for me after that display!"
His grin, however, was as genuine as his threat empty.
"Have your fill folks. Your spot is the national face of the Guns for Hope project, so relax while you can. We'll be doing local, regional, AND national projects from here on out. You've made a name for yourselves, and you'll see how important that is nowadays."
"Wouldn't have it any other way, sir." Cam nodded to our boss.
Conversation became informal after that, as James blended into the group. During the celebratory buzz, I nudged the quietest of the members.
"You manage to catch the rest of the address after the ad, Elle?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Chris mentioned you'd blanked after seeing it; I didn't believe him." Sip of her drink. "Guess he was being serious for once."
"Yeah, well, can't say much in my defense. But fill me in?"
"Hm. We've got a curfew starting next week. Midnight without a permit."
"Ew. Why?"
"Didn't say directly, though he gave the impression it tied into the same reasons for the Guns program. Trying to reduce some of the looting and lawlessness still going on. Preventative too, against further attacks."
"We really having that much of a problem nationally? I mean, isn't the looting mostly in the attacked cities?"
She shrugged. "I don't like the feeling of it, but who would? Still, everything that's been done so far has had a positive impact so I'm not going to argue." Brushes hair from face, then fingers tap drink glass. "Everything else was about telecom stuff."
"Damn, I missed that? They say anything about the internettage they promised, what, weeks ago?"
Blue eyes smile. "Geek. Jonesing for connectivity, hm?"
"Guilty. So...?"
Laughter. "Said they're still working on it. Trying to patch security holes that were exploited in the 5/6 attacks."
"Damn."
"Yeah. Local phone lines are back up though."
Twirl of my index finger. Whoopie. "Yeah, I noticed. But how can cell service be up locall--"
"Y'all need anything more to drink?" Cam leaned toward us, quite obviously well along in his celebrations.
"Nah man, I'm fine."
"Fine, thanks."
Chris jumped in. "C'mon you two, it's FREE! Stop being shy!"
"Son, are you trying to break me?" James chuckled good-naturedly.
"Hey, you offered!"
Elle turned back to me. "Yeah, I don't know the logistics, and it still seems spotty. But it's a small sign we're moving on. And...OH! The big thing. The President's starting a nationally-broadcast TV and radio station controlled by the White House to make it easier to keep the populace informed."
"And you know who's going to be producing the PSAs for the station, yes?" James leaned towards me.
Took a second for that to sink in. "W...wait. You mean we...?"
"Well, you all, plus other groups who submit good work, but you've definitely placed us at the front of the line."
"Huuuhhhh...."
An electric jolt. Elle patted my shoulder. Nail polish still the same as her last hair color. Guess she was in a rush? "Hey, job security. It's a good thing."
James smiled. "Cheers to that." Raised glass.
"Cheers." All around.
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3 comments:
Well, my mini-vacation wasn't as productive story-wise as I'd hoped, but it was very productive rest-wise. Basically I'm down to one real-type job now, which means I have days off again. Which also means I didn't really have days off before. Trying to juggle that and this was getting rough.
But now I'm caught up on this, and I'll have more time to get ahead again. Looking foward to that.
Also, be sure to check the Profile for the 'about' page for this blog. Going to start linking to sites where I'm advertising, sites I read regularly. Not that I'll be directing them much traffic yet, but still...one day...maybe?
"Dude can give a backpound with the best of 'em."
Wow.
I gave your mother a backpound last night.
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