My life changed on Dec. 29th, 2030. Maybe it was all the work of some mystical being, or just my terrible luck. No matter how I looked at it, I hated the change. New Dawn City, that's what they call it but there was nothing ‘new’ about it. The place was praised as a fresh start, a rebranding of an entire city that was filled with drugs, crime, gangs, and all sorts of violence. You name it, and you’d probably find it just down the street from the local market.
I’m getting ahead of myself here, let me go back a bit. I’ll tell the story, or the start of it as I experienced it or it was told to me. As I said, it all started that not so fateful day in December, in New Vegas.
“Sorry hun, I'm going to be a bit late tonight. Things got a little hectic at work today.” Huey shuddered as he walked down the dim lit street in the middle of the night. It was cold, and with the climate changing it would only get colder going forward. He hated that, and wished they lived somewhere much warmer. Like Old Plebo or something. A place in the southern part of the USA, not in the north where it snowed heavy.
“Yeah, I know I promised, and I'll try to make it up as best I can.” He said as he spotted the cafe across the street. “I got to go, i’ll talk to you when i’m home.” Not waiting for his wife to reply back, he said goodbye then hung up the phone.
Traffic was dead this time of night. Truthfully, the entire city was dead this time of night. People rarely left their homes after the sun went down, that’s how bad things were. At least New Vegas was better than their old hometown. That place, forget that place. Huey didn’t even want to think about it.
A chime rang out in the small cafe as he entered. There were barely any people inside, just an old couple in the corner. He liked that, not seeing the old couple but being here without too many people around. It gave him a sense of security that the world lacked nowadays.
With a quick glance down at his watch, he knew he was early. It was five minutes till nine, more than enough time to grab a drink.
The red-head waitress smiled at him showing off her unnatural white teeth. She looked older than him, two or three years older give or take. Except, her curvaceous body was anything but old. ‘The things I could do to you.’ He quickly caught himself from saying anything he shouldn’t to the woman.
With a click of her pen she leaned forward across the counter. “What can I do for you handsome?”
“Been a while since someone called me handsome. Thanks, I needed that.” He moved his sight from her to the menu above quickly scanning it. Mostly to check and see if they changed anything but also to change the view. With the way she was leaning he was sure something was bound to pop out of her blouse at any moment. His wife would kill him if she knew he was paying attention to another woman's rack. But man, they sure were nice. “I’ll take a Blackshot with a bacon cheeseburger.”
“Coming right up.”
The view from behind was just as pleasing to the eye as the front was. God, how was this place so empty? He didn’t know but was glad for it. If another person caught him staring, he’d be considered a creep. A small chuckle escaped his lips when he noticed the old man in the corner eyeing the redheads derriere.
“What’s so funny doc?” A voice asked from his right. With a glance at his watch he noticed it was now nine. Right on schedule.
“Nothing,” Huey told him in a low voice. No time for much small talk, it was now time for business. Sliding his hand across the table, the newcomer placed his on top of Huey’s. Huey removed his hand as the newcomer pocketed whatever was exchanged.
“This everything?” The newcomer asks.
“Everything that’s relevant,” Huey said before he turned to look the man in the eye. He was young, much younger than Huey by at least twenty years or more. How he pulled off the ultimate fuck boy look, Huey didn’t know. It suited the young man too as he just didn’t look as good without the face piercings and tattoos. Till this day Huey still was clueless as to what those chinese symbols on the side of his face meant.
“Don’t forget, you didn’t get it from me,” Huey swiftly reminded the young man.
“I ain’t stupid doc, no one’s going to know who it came from.” The young man replied before he placed hand back on the counter.
Neither of them said a word as the waitress came back with his drink. She smiled at the young man and he winked at her. From the way she bit her lip, it was clear as day she wanted to jump on the young man.
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Huey coughed to draw her attention. “How long for that burger?” He asked her because she was in the middle of what seemed to be a silent conversation with the young man. Neither of them spoke words with their mouths, but the way they were eyeing one another it was clear there was something going on.
“Shouldn’t be too much longer, darling, let me check.” Huey noticed how she went from calling him handsome to darling.
“Does that ever work for you?” Huey asked the young man while keeping his eye on the curvy waitress walking away.
His eyes weren’t the only one glued to her figure, as the young man was eyeing her too. “I don’t know, never tried it before. But, I'll let you know later.” Huey didn’t even need to think about it before he shook his head. He did not need the details, but that doesn’t mean he didn't want them. Even at his age there were just a few wonders of the world that never got old.
“Thanks for this.”
“Whatever you need, I got you. Besides, it is about time those corrupt fuckers get what they deserve.”
“I hear that.” The young man turned his gaze towards the waitress that was returning with a plate in her hand. On it was a bacon cheeseburger that looked juicy and he wanted to bite into it. The sway of her hips was making it look even more appetizing.
“Here you go.” She placed the plate right in front of Huey.
“You going to order something or keep looking at my plate?” Huey asked the young man that eye’d his food.
The young man pulled out fifty dollars and handed it to the waitress. “Nah, I think I'd rather have something else.” He replied before he looked at the waitress. “This for him, and this is for you.”
She looked at the money and saw there was something else along with it. He gave her a look then turned and left. Huey didn’t even get a chance to say a word before he was already out the door. “Oh yeah, this is good. Compliments to the chef.” Huey said after having a bite of his bacon cheeseburger. Was it as good as the one his wife made? No. Was it better than any of the fast food joints scattered all throughout the city? Yes! This was a godsend after having been eating chicken all the time for the past week.
“Aren’t you too old to be having friends so young?” The waitress questioned Huey as he was eating. She still couldn’t get the image of that young man out of her head. Huey knew that look in her eyes and envied the youth of this era.
'Aren't you too old to be attracted to someone so young?' Was what he wanted to say.
“Sorry to break it to you, but he’s not my friend.”
“Then can you tell me if your not a friend is single?”
Huey looked at the woman and let out a chuckle. She had to realize that she could be his mother. Guess good looks and a great physique was all you needed to have women getting all hot and bothered. “Last I checked, no.” Huey said before he pointed to her pocket. “Best hurry, he won’t be in town long.”
She left him to his meal as she vanished around the corner. A few seconds later he heard someone who he assumed to be the cook yell at her for trying to leave. That clearly did not stop her as he heard a door close.
‘Fucking hell.’ Huey laughed as all sorts of images ran through his mind. He chewed angrily as his meal was ruined. It left a bitter taste in his mouth for some reason, and he couldn’t finish his burger.
He left the restaurant as he pulled on the side of his jacket. He disliked the cold, and tonight it was supposed to drop below ten degrees. No snow, just a nasty wind chill that made a person's fingers feel as if they were going to fall off at the slightest touch.
The lamp light down the street flickered on and off. ‘All this money we put in and they can’t even fix the light bulb?’ He complained as he went to grab the keys from his pocket. His car was just up ahead a short distance from the restaurant.
Right pocket, left pocket. They were empty. ‘Where is it?’ He asked himself as he felt the pockets on his pants as well. Only thing he had was his phone. ‘Don’t tell me, I dropped it in the cafe when I sat down.’ Huey started to turn back around to head back down the street.
That is when he heard it, the sound of a motorcycle humming. It sounded far away but coming closer and he chalked it up to nothing. In places like these it wasn’t unusual for there to be street races at this time of night. New Vegas was home to a lot of things and was one of the better cities to live in. That meant it was still a trash city within a terrible state, but hey, what could you do about it? Just have to make the best out of a terrible situation. Better here than where they used to live.
A bright light blinded him. Squinting his eyes he noticed the motorcycle was flying down the street coming his direction.
Huey didn’t have time to make out the two people on the bike as gunshots rang. The shots echoed as they bounced off the walls of the buildings, stirring people awake. Huey dropped to the ground as blood dyed the dull gray concrete red.
So yeah, my life changed Dec. 29, 2030. It was the day I lost my dad and the police had no leads to go on. Meaning his case was as good as cold, and if there was one thing I knew from living in New Vegas. It was that the law enforcement there were a bunch of lazy fucks who sat on their ass and did squat. Maybe I’m just venting my frustrations out, but whatever. I have a right to be upset. So don’t tell me otherwise!
Here I was, looking out the window in the passenger seat listening to some awful music my mother insisted was a classic during her time. Heading back to a place I used to call home, a place I escaped. Funny how life works. Just when you think you’re free, something just pulls you right back.
I rolled my eyes and sighed. ‘Welcome to New Dawn City’ the sign read. Under it read, ‘The city of change’.