David woke up in his hammock made up from wire and hemp rope material.

He sits up on his hammock looking at the cloudy day through the holes in his tin roof.

"Rain yes!" David got off his hammock to grab a metal cup of water from his water collection barrels there were 100 total. Fifty for each floor of his two story stilted metal cylinder home above the ocean's surface. Every cylinder building had these collection barrels designed into the building. At one time they were said to hold enough water for the skyscrapers they were each built for. 

"I'm hungry, Fish sounds good." David walks over to his sea chest made of metal David bends over and opens the chest David reaches in and grabs some worn gloves, a shirt a set of swim trunks a water canteen.and David's forged metal Blade he used to gut and prepare fillets of fish caught on his trip with the crew. David also grabbed his spear and slung it over his shoulder. Walking down the metal staircase to the first floor where his kitchen was and his heater room which was also his bathroom the furnaces to every home used any organic flammable materials which had its sewer system built into burn bio human waste and the copper tubes that ran through the cylindrical home heated the place and boiled water too from a stove top which was also hooked to this copper tube furnace home modification built by a well known family in the community the Greg's which mechanical engineering ran through their families blood. They repaired and built these home furnaces, boat mortars and community fish farms. Which also had a part in the bio materials coming from the plumbing in the cylindrical homesteads. 

David started eating some dried seaweeds looking through one of the squares cut into the metal wall. The rain pattered against the metal walls David watched the waves rocking the boats around the metal docks.

The clouds were a dark grey and the sea looked dark and cold, but David was hungry and the sea weed wasn't enough.

David opened his door and climbed down to the dock holding his boat. The rain made the climb down tricky with its wet handlebars.David got to the bottom and to his surprise he found his boat was gone. "No, The storm must've knocked my boat loose and it drifted away." David scanned the seas in a 360° turn but didn't see the boat in sight, just the cylindrical homesteads that went on into the sea's horizon. 

"No, that's no good." David walked to the end of his dock and started to signal to the nearest boat, gesturing to them to pick him up. The boat notices David and starts to propel to his dock.

 David smiles and yells to the fishing boat crew of three guys. " My boat got away." 

"Well let's go see if we can catch up to her, hop in David!"

Henry is a broad man dressed in a thick black sweater shirt made of hemp cloth and his black pants, his pot belly that poked out from under his shirt that can eat a school of fish. He waved his arm towards the boat gesturing for David to hop in.

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David takes aleap once the boat is close enough. Landing in the middle of the boat. He was with the usual crew of this area Henry the boat captain, von the Net guy, sergal the extra boat hand. Von and sergal were too light skin men thin body structures but they were perfect help to Henry and the fish farms. 

David lifts his hand into the air.

"Let's try east where the wind is blowing." 

Henry nods and starts the motor 

"Sounds about right to me!" The boat takes off at a decent speed making the waves a little nauseating. But David shakes this feeling away, keeping his focus on his getaway boat.

Passing alongside many of these stilted cylinder buildings that appeared to go on forever it was quite amazing all these buildings once were a vast city many years ago now submerged beneath the water's surface. Till eventually the stilted Waters Edge which basically was a last lonely row of connected cylindrical buildings then after that the deep vast unknown seas people leave and never come back.

"There it is, Just before the last row of homes!" Von points at the boat being pushed along by the storm's current. 

Waves crashing the dark seas current was strong but the biofuel motors were putting out enough thrust to over power the waves with the boat approaching David's drifting boat. A sense of relief calmed his mind.

"Come here, you thought you would just get away from me did yah!" David got a hold of the side to jump to his boat.

Henry pulled the boat alongside David's.

David leaped across landing In the center. David turns to Henry, von and sergal signaling the all clear with a thumbs up.

Henry, Von and Sergal start to boat back to the fish farms they gather from.

David drifting along walks to the motor engine and pulls the start cable.

The boat's motor starts and David takes control.

" Nice now to go see the smelting factory." 

David boated along the cylindrical buildings back towards the main stilted town that is connected to a cluster of cylindrical buildings. 

The stilted city of iron was a glorious sight standing above the ocean. The waves had no effect on this metal structure which provides a shelter to most of the population.

Just as the boat was getting closer to the port of the stilted city. The engine to the motor makes a shot sound and starts to blow smoke out. One tug boat at Port started up it's engine and approached David's small fishing boat with smoke ascending into the air. David waved his hands in the air for help.

The Tug boat crew started throwing out ropes for David to tie to the bow.

There were some metal rings he tied the ropes around and the Tug boat pulled David to port. 

David climbed onto the port dock and greeted the Tug boat crew. 

"Thank you for helping me, I would have drifted to sea, the current and wind were strong enough to pull me away if you guys didn't notice me on time."

David holds out a couple of metal coins that the Tugboat crew Gladly took.

" Can you guys hold my boat while I get a new chain and one of the Greg's to come fix my motor?" David holds out a few more coins which Brian the Tug boat captain reached out and accepted his request.

"We will keep it here boy, go get your mechanic and bring me a small barrel of fine herbal smoke." Brian throws the coins back to David and he nods. "Right away, be right back here." 

David turns and walks towards a mechanical elevator that runs on an advanced gear and pulley system. 

David opens the cage door and enters the large metal box cage.

The device starts after David hits a release lever. The elevator begins to follow its track up to the first giant platform.

Of the stilted city.

End Chapter 001 The stilted Waters Edge written by Travis Willier copyright 2021