White Gold

I liked going on walks, but this was different, I had to walk around the back of old stores by their recieving docks to get inside without being seen. Didn't want any of the jerks that survived to get the wrong idea when anything with a vagina was walking around alone, so stay out of sight and I don't have to hurt anyone . . . hopefully. I checked the doors first, if they opened and looked broken I didn't bother. If they were locked I picked them open. Most of these old doors were push bar locks from the inside so I had to card them. 'come on,' I muttered getting excited. The harder the door was to open the better the prize. The door clicked open and a decrepit alarm started going off. Electricity long since gone left the alarm battery all but dead and not much louder than a cat meowing, but that was a good sign. It meant no one has been there since it was abandoned. I kept on guard and took my stance regardless. Can't be too careful. I made it into the store room and looked around. My hope deflated.

'Seriously?' I asked out loud. It was a jewelry store. A God. Damned. Jewelry store. Everything in here was useless. It specialized in yellow gold . . . beyond useless. I looked around regardless, maybe I could find some tungsten or Silver, but I found something worth more than the whole store in the breakroom. Shoes and an unopened 12 pack of cup of noodles. it had a note saying that read 'Jimmy's Lunches don't touch!'. Good enough to stop looking around for the night. I got out and left the door open. I went for a walk. I slowly made my way back up Freemont street onto the bridge. Yerba Buena Island was the safest place. The east bridge was destroyed and I could usually see if anyone was coming from the city along the west bridge.

When everyone 'died' there were no bodies, there was no get sick period. It was just like the Roanoke Colony only the whole world dissappeared instead of a few hundred people. Not everyone obviously, but it was to the point that I woke up one morning and there were maybe forty people in all of San Francisco. With the few people there were the only outcome was clearly for all hell to break loose. I just kept my head down until the freaks and rapists had calmed down or died. I knew I would have to leave eventually, but turns out killing horrible people isn't as hard as people made it sound.

go figure.

I shook my head, I can't believe I broke into a Jewlery store to steal a case of over salted noodles. I got to the farthest house along the base and unlocked all the locks. The ace of hearts fell from the door so no one had been here since I left. I unpacked and opened up my locket with a picture of Karly. My Karly. I kissed her picture and closed it, for the first time really just looking at the locket itself. White gold.

My mom didn't like yellow gold. She always said it made her half white half Mexican skin look jaundiced and by extension it did that for me too. That being said, when my father died four years ago when I was 15 mom gave me a white gold heart locket. I loved my dad, but I ended up taking his picture out and replacing it.

to be perfectly honest I often resented my dad for a long time because of how paranoid he was. I turn four years old and he's all, 'oh, she's too pretty, sign her up for Kung Fu.' . . . seriously old man? I was four and I wanted to be in my great aunt's dance class, but because I spend two hours a night at the dojo there was never time. I hated it, I absoulutely destested it! I mean seriously what was the point of studying Kung Fu that young?

Who would have guess it would pay off the way it did. Dad said that when I achieved mastery I could join a dance class, so I started practicing my Kung Fu early in the morning before school and then in the evening at the Dojo. Yeah I didn't have a lot of friends in school, just a few really close friends. I acheived mastery at the age of 15 and my dad has a heart attack. he dies before we make it to the hospital. I start dance the following week. It was easy, it wasn't really that different from Kung Fu, but . . . well the first day of dance another rookie named Karly accidentally trips and falls on me. It would have been fine, hell it would have been funny if I didn't react by reflexively bending her arm back and dislocating her shoulder.

oops.

The funny part is she wasn't even mad, she actually thought it was cool.

Dislocating Karly's shoulder was all my fault and I was the one crying all the way to the doctor. Since I didn't break anything it was solved in a matter of minutes, but I was expelled from dance after that and basically black listed from them all over San Francisco. Freaking jerks. Karly felt horrible so-despite my objections-she quit dancing too. She was only doing dance to get in shape so I made it up to her by taking her on runs to get her in shape.

Her cute pudgy body wasn't ready for running at first so we just went on walks together. The walks would get longer and longer every night. They eventually turned into slow jogs and by the year mark we were running evrey night at least five miles. I know it's bad, but I liked it a little more when she jiggled . . . in certain places. I've know I was a lesbian forever. I found out she was too when we ran from Golden Gate Park to the Welcome Center of the Golden Gate Bridge. That alone didn't prove much, but when we got there it became clear that she wouldn't be able to run all the way back. She called her dad and he came to get us. We were just looking out over the bay waiting for him when she kissed me. I cried, was so happy with her lips against mine that I cried.

'Fuck,' I whimpered out loud. the more I remember Karly the more I don't want to remember. I hadn't eaten in a few days so I went for my water, 'oh double fuck,' I muttered. I had enough to stay hydrated enough, but not enough to make noodles with. I sighed, I really didn't want to go back outside tonight. I put Karly over my heart and got my empty bottles. I drank the last of my semi salty water and went outside in my new shoes.

I walked down to the tide pool where my Tampa plants were overtaking the little pool. I filled the bottles with mostly desalinated water. That's when I heard it. I leapt up and faced whoever was sneaking up on me, 'who's out there!?' I shout.

How the hell did they sneak up on me? no one has bathed in three years I can smell the people in the city from the island. Out steps an obcenely pretty young woman. My age maybe older, blonde-like white gold blonde, short, bombshell chest . . . too good to be true.

Now I was even more paranoid. 'Who else is with you?' I asked. 'I'm alone, I saw you in the city and followed you here.' she was talking like she was reading from a card, damn it. I had a suspicion, I just hoped I was wrong. 'why did you follow me?' I prompted inching closer to her. I could smell her now, she smelled like roses.

Fuck.

'Are you out here all alone?' she asked loudly. Fucking bait girl! I lunged and grabbed her to put her in a headlock. 'Get out here jerks!' I shouted. Nothing, but a weak pamperd bait girl trying to get out of my arms. They were calling what they thought was a bluff, 'Alright, sorry hun.' I pin her to the ground on her chest and start bending her arm back. It bends unnaturally and the pretty girl starts screaming in pain. Two dirty looking guys charge me. 'There they are, good bait girl,' I leap off her her and wait for the two lunatics to get closer. The both tall boys, both young beefy men that looked similar enough to be brothers. both wielding pipes . . . Fucking amateurs. The first to reach me took a wide swing which I stopped my by driving the back of my wrist into his distal radial joint. He drops his pipe and the other guy gave swung at me while I still next to his brother.

Idiot.

I drop down and his pipe aiming for my face five and a half feet off the ground connects with his poor brother's sternum. Brother number one now crippled over in pain, I take his pipe. 'Didn't you father ever teach you not to give your opponent a weapon?' I teased. he came at me screaming profanities. Good, an angry oppenent was easy to overpower. He swings low, I leap over the pipe simultaneously driving mine into his eye socket blinding his left eye.

The boys scrambled away after that. I deliberated letting them go when the bait girl says, 'no they'll tell the others'. She starts shaking like a leaf. I take a deep breath, 'they raped you yet?' I questioned. She looks at me without answering out loud and starts crying. I bite my tongue.

Fuck

I chase the boys down. Without really going into detail they got a water burial. The little bait girl was more than happy to help me clean up, but was about as useful as a football bat. 'have you ever had to work since the loss?' I asked. 'Not like this, I do . . . other things,' she mumbles. 'Well, there's a bunch of boats if you want to row yourself to Sausalito. No one really went there and if you start heading east-' I start suggesting. 'Please can't I stay with you?'

'No,' I deadpanned. 'she stepped back, why not?' she asked desperately. 'A lot of reasons, but mostly beacause you're a short pretty little bait girl who's going to attract the wrong kind of attention and get in my way. I have a hard enough time feeding myself let alone someone who probably couldn't run a mile without stopping.' This wasn't my first rodeo dealing with bait girls. I've had a few situations similar to this, but usually I can smell them coming first. Her reaction surprised me, 'I can help you some other way,' she said looking at me suggestively. Did she know I was a lesbian? I'll admit that smoky gleam in her sea green eyes was hard to ignore, but I wasn't THAT stupid. 'You need help,' I said walking away.

'Look I don't want to go back to the clan and I bet you're tired of having to deal with them, you fight like you've been trained am I right?' she asked. that got my attention. I turned to look at her, 'Okay I'll bite, what do you suggest?' I asked. 'Partnership, do you think you can fight ten reasonably sized adult men?' she asked. 'If I got the drop on them it would be easy,' I said. 'Listen, if we do this right we can clear the city of the clan. You can have the well water and I don't have to fuck to stay alive anymore.' There were worse deals. 'Okay fine, but let's make something clear. If this is some sort of long con, I'll have absolutely no qualms about killing you in the worst of ways,' I said not really honestly. Oh sure I'd kill her, but it wouldn't take more than a couple seconds.

She nodded and held out her hand, 'Deal?' she asked. I shook her hand, 'Deal, I'm Melanie by the way,' I said. 'Carly,' she responded. I sighed, putting my hand subconsciously over my locket.

Seriously?