The World After

It was an unassuming plant, with its blue tulip-like flower, and its slender green stalk. Indeed, it wouldn't have looked out of place in someones flower garden. But William knew. Knew that if left alone, this innocent looking flower would grow into it's true form, a monstrous twenty foot bloom with jagged teeth and sharp thorn covered vines. Or perhaps another form, one that spit acid, or any other disgusting abomination of nature. Grimacing, William lifted his flamethrower from his tool belt, pointed the nose towards the flower, and pulled the trigger. With a roar, liquid gasoline sprayed forth, quickly ignited, and doused everything in front of it in flame.  "You'll never get a foothold here you damn plant." He taunted, watching it burn with glee. It let out a small screech before truly dying, only the small crackling of sap filled the air. William  backed away from the flame and wiped his brow as he stowed his flamethrower into his belt once more. He wiped his brow and pulled out a small gold disk-like device from his pocket. He flipped it open, revealing a dark screen. Numbers flowed down over it with soft green lights, seemingly giving coordinates, or perhaps codes.  "Hmm..." he stroked his stubbled chin, thinking. Though he already knew where he needed to go next, he was reluctant to head towards it.  He sighed and began walking towards the sparkling lights on the horizon, putting away the gold disk. It was pointless to delay heading back to the city. After all, he was nearly out of gasoline, and he needed to repair his belt.  The trek towards the city was not difficult. The terrain had been flattened, and there were no plants or animals to speak of.  It was barren, as the outer perimeter of every city was now. William couldn't remember a time when the wastelands around the cities Hadn't  Existed. To him, they were perfectly normal. His grandfather, however, had scoffed when he didnt seem fazed by the wastelands.  "Bah! You think this is normal?" He had growled, pointing towards the barren dirt outside the city. "Boy, before you were even born, everything was green. Plants didnt try to kill you. Humanity covered every inch of this god forsaken planet no matter how harsh the environment."  William never quite believed him,  even when his grandfather had pulled up photographs of the world before. Before the Living Jungle. It was just fanciful thinking by his grandfather. Even his father hadn't taken his world seriously.   "Dont take him seriously." He had whispered to William after his grandfather had left the room. "He likes to fill people's heads with stories of what he calls 'the before.' " and  personally, William agreed. The world was too cruel to have been so peaceful before. Reflecting on past memories, William didnt even notice the city coming closer amd closer until the shadow of the tall buildings loomed over him. He quickly pulled his mind away from his inner thoughts and memories and paused, looking up towards the towering behemoths. Their rectangle bodies reached for the sky as if to tear the gods from.their perch and prosecute them for their crimes against humanity.  "Its always unnerving seeing all this..." william muttered to himself as he approached the checkpoint outside the city. Dozens of people killed about it, some soldiers, some travelers awaiting admission. A small booth accepted the next person, and a stern looking women either accepted you into the safety of the city...or denied you entry, cursing you to wander the wastes and risk your life in the far off Jungle. Even now, the line of green on the horizon ominously reminded everyone whom glanced upon it that they were prisoners, their time limited. Still, he wasn't worried. He had visited this city before, amd had always been admitted. So he waited patiently, and when he was called forth, confidently strode towards the booth. The woman raised her brow and sighed.  "Name?" She asked, pulling out a small tablet.  "William, Willian Hawthorn." She typed away, and raised a brow.  "It seems you've visited here several times before. Good, we dont have to go through the tedious paperwork then." She taps a few more keys, before handing him a small clear card. "This is your ID card, dont lose it. Or you'll be thrown out."  William nodded and thanked the woman as he walked past her and crossed into the city. He took a deep breath and kept walking, taking in the sights around him.  "Wow this place has changed since I've been here... " he groaned, and  it had.  Where there used to be a gasoline station, there was now barracks. Where he remembered a fountain, a greenhouse. It was utterly different. However there were a few things that had not changed. The small electronics shop with a cracked window still stood where he remembered, and the hotel he had stayed at before was still where it had been.  Though he wasn't looking forward to learning where everything went again, at least he wasn't totally re learning everything.  So, with this knowledge in hand, he wasted no time getting an updated map of the city. Thankfully a vendor with an accurate map was not hard to find, even if the man selling them set the price ridiculously high.  "Hmm..." William stared at the map as he walked down the street, deftly avoiding running into other people. The nearest gasoline refilled was two miles away, almost near the other end of the city. "Damn. " he quickly folded the map back into its pocket size and stuffed it into his belt, running towards the station. He had to get there before nightfall, and sunset comes faster than most believe. He had already spent most of the day travelling towards the city,  and being out at night was dangerous. Desperate people were more likely to appear, and rob you blind. Even though William was pretty confident in his ability to protect himself, he still would struggle against two or three people at once, and if they came with more, he wouldn't stand a chance.  Picking up the pace, he ran even faster towards the station as the golden Ray's if the sun turned blood red while the sun began to sink below the horizon. He continued to run even as the sun vanished, knowing full well the fueling station was most likely closed. And as he rounded the corner towards it, he groaned internally. The gate had been closed and bolted, ensuring no man could get inside. So he came to a stop amd leaned against the wall, chest heaving as his body attempted to replenish the oxygen he had lost in this pointless endeavor. He stood there for a few minutes before walking away from.the wall and pulling his map back out again, looking for.the cheapest inn or hotel.  "That one could work.." he said to himself, letting his feet take him  where they wanted. After a few more.moments mulling over his desicion, he carefully folded the map back up and set it back into his bag. Thankfully, there was a rather cheap inn nearby. However, it was right next to the red light district. William only hoped he could sleep with all the noise nearby.  After all, even when he was traveling, everything was silent. Quiet. Sometimes it was unnerving, though most of the time.it only filled him with a deep sadness for everything humanity had lost. The technology, the knowledge. Perhaps even the right to exist as a species. But that didnt deter him from what he had to do. He had a mission. A mission to find out why the Living Jungle existed. Why all the plants were deadly. And how to stop it.  William cautiously scanned the street for suspicious persons. When he didnt find any,  he entered the Inn. The inside was clean, if a little worn down. The carpet was a dull brown, though it might have been red in the distant past. The woman at the counter looked up from her tablet and, with a monotone, almost annoyed voice, began to speak. "Yes? How may I help you?" She asked, her sunken eyes dull and lifeless.  "I would like to rent a room." William answered, slightly uncomfortable from her gaze.  "That will be one hundred and fifty credits." She sighed, and went back to staring at her tablet blankly. William reluctantly held out his ID card and scanned it under the scanner nearby. It blinked green as it withdrew the credits from his account and spit out a dull grey key with the number 206 engraved on it. He scooped it up and groaned as he walked towards the stairs leading up to the rooms. He was thankful that his account still had money inside it, but appalled at how many credits a room was. Even if the room was quite well off, it didnt make sense to ask for so much.  "And this is why I prefer the wastes.." he muttered, scanning the doors for his number. It took him a while, but he managed to find room 206. The door was a dull red, its paint chipped, but not peeling.  He quickly slid the key into the lock and entered. It was a simple room, one bed, one desk, a closet, a bathroom, and a personal tablet for his own use. It was clean, at least, but it was so barren he wondered why it had cost so much. Well, he couldn't really blame them upon reflection. Recently the world seemed as if it were falling apart even faster, with crops withering, the Living Jungle creeping closer, and the huge dust storms that blew over the wastes every few days.  "Yeah, the world isnt exactly forgiving." William carefully unbuckled his tool belt and set it beside the bed and shrugged off his pack. It hit the floor with a soft thud as he walked over to the bathroom, inspecting himself in the mirror. His face was caked in dust, his bright blue eyes standing out sharply against the dark dirt. You could no longer see his hair behind the muck, only dirt.  "I look atrocious. What did people think when they saw me?" William stripped down and hopped into the shower, determined to wipe the grime of the road off.  It took him nearly an hour, but he managed to wipe every piece of dirt off of himself. As he got out, he checked himself in the mirror. His high native american cheekbones, a gift from his grandfather, were now visible. His blue eyes were even more intense as he inspected the rest of himself. His brown hair was now visible, his jawline more defined. His stubble looked less like dirt smudges and more like hair. His body was no longer caked in the hard shell of mud it once was, now free to stretch and flex as it should. He nodded and put his clothes back on, walking back into the bedroom. He laid down on the bed and stared at the ceiling, holding his head in his hands. He wondered how everything was before, if his grandfather's stories were true. He wondered if the Living Jungle would ever be destroyed. And he wondered if he should stay within the city for longer than he originally intended. After all, he was safe here, he could shower, and though he hadn't tasted any food yet he had smelled it, and it smelled delicious.  "Maybe I can stay here for a while." He mumbled to himself as his eyelids grew heavy, and he fell asleep.  The smell of iron was thick in the air as William hefted his flamethrower, pointing the nozzle away from himself. It was leaden in his hands, and he barely managed to lift it high enough to be useable. The nozzle was  broken, and dripping gasoline as if it were blood. Screams pierced the smoke filled air, causing him to jerk towards the sound. A giant red flower, nearly fifty foot tall, was devouring man after man. None had a chance to burn it, if they did, it was put out again by the blood that dripped from its maw. Suddenly, he felt someone rush past him. It was a man he recognized. "No! Dont go!" He shouted, chasing after the  man. It was too late. The flower turned its deadly bloom towards the poor victim and struck, biting the man in half. His death was swift, though not painless.  "Dammit!" His eyes filled with tears as he pulled the trigger  to his flamethrower, filling his vision with flames...  William's eyes snapped open as he sat up in bed, heart pounding, sweat dripping off his face. He looked around in the dim early morning light and sighed, swinging his feet over the edge of his bed and slipping his feet into his boots. He stretched tiredly as he stood and buckled his tool belt around his waist, threw on his jacket, and hefted his pack onto his back. He opened the door to his apartment, paused, then stepped out into the hallway. It was just as dim as his room, perhaps even more so. Sighing again, he walked down the stairs and out the front of the Inn, out into the street. He pulled his map back out to double check he remembered where the gasoline station was before beginning to walk in its direction.  It took him longer than it had last night, but after all, he wasn't running. He rounded the corner back to the refill station and waved to the gaurd, who waved back. He handed over his ID card to one, which they scanned, before ushering him towards the refill nozzles.  "Thank you very much." William politely said before pulling out his gas tanks out of his pack and flamethrower, hooking them each to a nozzle. It wasn't hard work, but it was going to take a small moment. To pass the time, he set down a cloth and disassembled his flamethrower. Carefully, he cleaned each part of excess grease, oil, dirt, what have you. Soon, he had the flamethrowers tubes clear, the nozzle closing and opening with surgical precision, and the injector working almost as fast as when he had first acquired the flamethrower. He looked at the percentage on his tanks and nodded, unhooking them from their nozzles and storing them back into his bag. He weight several more pounds, but that was no consequence. It was nessecary to his survival.  He shook his back to make certain his gas tanks would not fall out, and headed out of the station. He placed the flamethrower back into its designated spot on his rool belt and sighed. He was going to run out of funds soon, and he still needed to repair his belt. He could sew, but that only got you so far would repairing tough bioleather. He looked around for a repair shop, and when he didnt find any continued down the street. He continued to scan his surroundings as he walked, not quite paying attention to where he was going. Suddenly, he nearly fell over as he ran into something.  "Ouph"  he rubbed his stomach and looked for whatever he had run into. A woman sat on the ground, running her rear as she hissed in pain. "Oh I'm sorry-" William shook his head. He should have played more attention to where he was going. He held out a helping hand to the woman and after she had gotten to her feet, he began walking again. He checked his pockets to make sure he hadn't been robbed, and nodded when he found everything where it should be. Almost by accident, he nearly ran into the door to a repair shop. He was really spacing today, and it was really showing.  "Excuse me. I have something for you to repair..." William slowly opened the door to the store and poked his head inside. It was a dingy place, with dust everywhere.  "Is anyone even here?" He shouted, entering the shop. It was quiet, and this made him nervous. He cautiously began to explore the shop, making sure nothing was going to jump out and attack. When he found nothing, he approached the front counter. There was a small bell there, so out of pure desire, he just rang the bell. Out of nowhere, an old man walked our of a nearby doorway behind the counter and faced him. "Yes?" The old man asked in a rough, gravely voice.  "I need my belt repaired." William slowly unbuckled his belt and set iton the table, carefully taking everything  from it he knew was valuable. The old man inspected the ragged edges, the worn buckle, and even the stitching that had been done.  "Simple enough." The old man held out his hand, gesturing towards the ID card. William compiled hesitantly, handing over the card to the old man for him to scan. The man scanned the card and grinned as money trickled into his account from William's.  "This will only be a moment." The old man said, licking his lips as he walked into the deep darkness of the doorway. William sat down next to a shelf, content to just wait. He had nothing planned, and leaving was foolish. He didnt want this man to take his belt and sell it to the highest bidder, and many were likely to do nowadays. If he stayed ehere he was, the shop owner, or who he assumed to be the shop owner and not a random worker, would be less likely to steal his belongings. Especially with his flamethrower now out and prepared. No one messed with someone who had a ful flamethrower. It was madness, and moreover stupid. Burns and charred skin was not worth whatever was in his back, and William knew that.  He nearly had fallen asleep sitting there when the old man returned with the tool belt, setting it on the counter. All of the previous damage had been repaired, almost as if they had never existed.  "Thank you." William nodded towards the man as he left, feeling the old man's eyes on his back.now he could fight. Now he didnt have to worry about his belt snapping off his body, and leaving him out to dry. Now, he could fight the Living Jungle.