Nancy (part 2 of 3)

Nancy

"We are bastards of the businesses and unions,"

Elroy

The darker it got the slower they moved and the more tired Nancy got.  The bottom of her foot hurt and so did her butt.  The buttons on her steering wheel that were connected to the cruise control were black and flat.  The right ones said ‘cruise’, ‘cruise set’, and ‘reduce’.  The left two buttons read ‘on’ and ‘off’.  She pressed ‘on’ then released her foot from the pedal.  The relief was sweet as the blood in her foot circulated evenly with her foot now horizontal.  The relief was sweet but brief.  The speedometer began to slowly sing and she returned her foot to maintain her speed.  She then pressed ‘off’.

 ‘On’ then ‘cruise set’ then release.  Again the speedometer slowly sank.  She pressed each button multiple times except for ‘off’ and released the accelerator again.  The speedometer stayed steady at forty-one miles per hour. Success!

The next turn was different because it turned from gravel road and no barriers to smooth black-top pavement and aluminum barriers.  Street lights lit the black road ahead and bright orange reflectors lined the sides and centers.  Just a little bit more now, Nancy thought.  Ador had told them as much when they started in the morning, “Once we hit the paved roads again we’ll only be 48 miles from the Polished City.”

The Edens under Montrose Bridge

Their trip lead them to a major port city of the Mediterranean Sea, The Polished City.  It’s strength came from the silver mines and fine smith work that dominted the area similar to other hubs like Germany and Ireland.  Its wealth was top heavy similar to most of Spain, though.  The riots in The Polished City were weakened as of late since many left to help with the humanitarian aid to the Tigris and Euphrates collapse.  Nancy wondered if she or her mother had any of the local, famous silver jewelry. Probably not, it’s probably too expensive in Newtopia.

The Polished City riots were of another flavor than Spain’s said Elroy, a native to the Italian coastal city, who had joined them from Spain.  “We are bastard children of the businesses and unions.  And now we riot for food, silver, peace, or war, or whatever the day calls for.  See the businesses wanted protection from local crime.  Ironically two powerful unions stood up to fill this role the police could not seem to do: The Artisans and The Italian Elite Guard.  There were other smaller groups but those were the main two.  The two unions quickly became rivals. They fought with bottles and fists for superiority at first.  But soon the Artisans and the IEG began stacking so many bodies it became bad for local business.  Now, mind you, the international trade was doing just fine so no one stopped anything.  They scored.  All the while though, more bodies fed the sea.”

“Artisans and the IEG were among the dead?” Nancy had asked.

“Well yea mostly, at first but then there were civilians and everyone knew.  And you guys in Spain inspired us.  You guys were protesting and causing trouble in Spain so it kicked our asses to start doing the same,” Elroy said.