The World Versus Ones & Zeros

Here I am strolling through the ruins of what was once downtown Milwaukee. Before all this occurred, it used to be a happening place. People would vigorously conduct business as usual. High paid business men wore fancy suits settling deals over breakfast. Beautiful waitresses served clients near the lake where the three digit tab was jump-change for some. Construction workers used to run the jackhammers along with huge cranes erecting monument-like buildings. It all flowed together naturally like a set of gears in a well-oiled machine creating a catalyst to make the city thrive.

Now things are different—extremely different. It’s quiet; no more workers wielding hammers, no more three digit meals near the lake, and certainly no more profound deals performed by business men. The Miller Park now resembles closer to the Coliseum in ancient Roman times than it does a stadium. The Harley Davidson plant only reminds one of being a road warrior. The boats in the marina sit still only to be rocked by the waves. Charred vehicles litter the street showing plain steel. Everything has been stripped to its core.

Thankfully, I am not totally alone. My girlfriend Cassie is by my side as there are no longer prisons. Only the steel bars surrounded by cement exist in a creepy way of being empty and silent. When things started to collapse, I got lucky by finding a gold necklace that included a heart-shaped locket. In fact, no customization necessary. It was already inscribed saying “Lots of Love” in a fancy font. This was my first gift to her when she got back out on the outside.

We cautiously embark down the city street. It’s broad daylight during the summer, but a dark haze in the sky produces an ominous aura. The occasional breeze lifts scraps of papers off the street like a lottery ticket lost in the wind. We step over random debris taking it slow to keep an eye on each other. Our earthy-colored clothes deter being easily spotted by an unwanted guest. Neither of us really know what we are in search of. Perhaps some answers on things, or to simply find a safe place to camp. Everyone including ourselves is in survival mode, so we are aware danger can lurk around any corner.

Several hours has passed us, but where we are now there is no time. There is no time, there are no bills, and there’s nothing illegal. There’s also no more cell phones which means no more texting, no more apps to download, and social media has become debunked. Morality and survival here are the higher laws. Cassie, and I have accepted the way things are now. We complement each other in different ways to work as a team. The catastrophe didn’t occur overnight, but it has been like this for a few years now.

A wooden shack observed is on the end of the street we are on. The sage-green colored paint is faded, and peeling off from the hard light of the sun. Pieces of plywood cover what was once a couple of windows. The front door attains a rugged lock with of course no key in sight.

“Hey Cassie, do you think I should check it out?” I ask.

“Well, there’s not a soul in site, so why not?” she points out.

“Okay, I’m going to try to get inside, and I’ll be quick. You never know, there might be something of value inside,” I mention positively.

There’s a piece of rebar adjacent to the shack which I firmly grab. The nails in the plywood slightly squeak as I pry an opening. I crawl inside through the now open window. After I size-up the new environment, I decide to knock out some other boards to let in more light. Once I deem it’s safe inside, I call out to Cassie to join me.

We scout the inside of the building opening some interior doors, cabinets, etc. It’s rather gloomy inside, but we didn’t expect otherwise.

“This looks like this may have been some kind of discount store in the past maybe,” I say questionably. “Perhaps some kind of market...?” I add.

“Do you think there we’ll find anything?” asks Cassie after several minutes.

“I don’t know? We’ll look around for a few more minutes, and then we’ll go if nothing is here,” I reply.

Cassie opens a chest-high cabinet in another room. “Look!” she exclaims. Sitting on one of the shelves, there just happens to be unopened spring water along with some canned goods. We find some cans of stew that include the convenient pull-open top with the tab. As we are substantially hungry, we don’t waste time, however, we give our hands a quick wash with the water along with giving a rinse to the top of the cans briefly. Unbelievably, there is also plastic ware among us still in the wrapper.

After the scrumptious meal, we exit the shack as if nothing happened. I tack the boards back on just enough to make it unattractive.

“Hey, do you want to head towards the lake?” Cassie asked in a jaunty tone.

“Ummm...sure, why not,” I replied casually while glancing in that direction.

“I know the water is polluted, but it’s still a small break from the streets.”

“Yes, this is true,” I declare in a positive firm voice.

We get close again continuing our venture now towards the lake. The slight breeze of the lake feels good dropping the temperature down to the mid-70’s. A few less buildings, and a couple more trees is a nice hint of nature to us.

“We might as well head over to the pier; it’s only about a couple hundred yards out”, I mention as my walk turns into a slight brisk exchange.

“Yeah, that sounds cool. It’s been so long since we have even been close to that.” she acknowledges.

After about halfway to the pier, I slow down my walk with suspicion.

“What is it?” Cassie asks in a low voice.

“I.....I think I see somebody at the pier,” I hesitantly say. Running into another person nowadays could mean a lot of different things—literally life or death.

“Should we continue?” asks Cassie.

After a few seconds of study, “Yes, but carefully,” I mention with a brief sigh.

As we get close to the pier, we keep some distance in a safe manner. There’s a man—an older gentleman sitting in a chair at the pier wearing a simple gray t-shirt and jeans. Soon thereafter, he sees us.

“Oh! Hi,” the man exclaims. “I wasn’t expecting to see anyone.”

“Yeah, neither were we,” I mention with a brief nervous chuckle. I have strong instincts, and at this point I can sense we are in no danger. I still take heed naturally while the two of us step on the entry of the pier.

“So, hello. My name’s Eric,” he mentions as he reaches out for a handshake.

This guy is old fashioned; I like that as I extend my arm for the return greeting while continuing towards him on the boardwalk. “I’m Hank, and this is my girlfriend Cassie,” I say as I point towards her with my left hand.

During normal chit-chat relinquishing our own personal stories, and where we are all from we pause for a moment. Eric begins again saying, “You know, when I was a young adult living in Jersey things were fine. Things were more than fine actually. There was a lot more authenticity amongst everyone.”

At this point I can tell Eric is an educated man who attains many years under his belt. “I can’t believe how things are so much different now,” Cassie says uttering some sort of disbelief.

“Yeah, what exactly happened to our world sir, can you explain it? I mean, I of course heard some rumors here and there, but I want to hear more”, I assert.

“You know...it’s funny. We all thought a bacteria, or a virus, or some other weird disease was going to be our demise. Even the whole zombie apocalypse was a fad in our society for a while before all this,” Eric says while gazing towards the lake from afar. “Nope, not us my friend. We become too smart for our own good. One man caused all this actually. A brilliant man that is, who was a mathematician and a computer scientist. He made a sophisticated computer program that was able to crack all the encryption for banking. All of the codes, and special banking software didn’t stand a chance. All of the money in various accounts were then easily hacked into—nothing was secure anymore.”

We all pause for a bit surrounded by silence with the exceptional sound of wind reflecting off of something.

“To add insult to injury, I can’t believe we don’t even know the fate of this guy, or even his name!” Exclaims Cassie.

“Supposedly, he changed his name so many times, not even he knows who he is,” Eric says with a chuckle.

“I know,” I said. “I heard he’d spend hours, and hours in his basement alone writing code. I presume that only makes sense,” I ascertain.

“Eric, when do you think things will ever get back to normal?” asks Cassie.

“None of us really know,” says Eric.

I spend a minute pondering the big picture. We’ve all accepted this world for how it is. We all have the understanding that our lives are back to basics. We will make do with whatever life throws at us. No matter how good, or bad our world is, it’s really our perception of it, and who we are with. It is much easier to accept this though knowing that I am not alone.

“Well, it’s been great talking to you friend; we should probably head on out now.” I say to Eric. His response is null and void.

Cassie leads the way as she is in front of me. As I slowly start to follow her, I hear the wooden boards creaking below my feet. I recognize this sound from a little while ago...

Before exiting the pier, I stop for a moment. Cassie then does too as she ceases hearing the sound of my footsteps. I rotate my posture 180 degrees facing the wise one.

“Hey...you hungry?” I ask politely.

The End