The Separation (Continued Volume II)

My apologies for leaving the reader in suspense.

After the "cosmic dust" settled on the world, the lull of life was forever altered. The Separation between the haves and the have-nots became blatantly obvious. Food unaltered by "the dust" was scarce. People were hungry and frightened and desperate.

The government was non-responsive to the needs of the people and provided no recourse for everyday people. Banks were poised to take back home and property. Jobs, businesses, and livelihoods were simply discontinued and businesses small and large closed their doors to the public and filed for bankruptcy leaving their employees wide-eyed and lost. City governance operated on the jagged edge as a regular course of business and had no cushion for rainy days or cosmic disasters.

Meetings of unemployed and disenfranchised people began springing up under the bridges at Grove Park in the city. Those in attendance included even the second in command -- which were now deemed non-essential -- and had served as back-up for business vacations, illnesses, childbirth, funerals, and retirement parties for the Grove Park Water Supply, Grove Park Energy Northeast Subdivision, and State Parks and Recreation Administrators. If they were crappy bosses, chances are they would come face to face with the very employees whom they slighted. The large burning trash cans dotting the communities were open to all. The past was unimportant. The police shared their sympathies and feared they were not welcome rarely interfered with these unofficial gatherings. The reason would always be that he food lines were long and people needed to post their positions early. There was no refuting this reasoning.

The physical effects of the dust began to show after seven days. New arrivals at "the meeting" showed signs of loss of attention, the faraway look, unkempt appearance, loss of appetite. They were living zombies without the taste for blood. That would come later.