Orson read the last page of the vampire romance novel and set the book on the floor of the pool. “Well, there’s something I thought I would never do,” he said to himself. “Laugh, it’s not the end of the world.” He stood from the lawn chair and climbed out of the empty swimming pool. “One down. Three to go.” He knew he probably wouldn’t read the rest of the books in the series even if they were in one of the offices in the gym where he spent most of his days since the barrier went up. It was one of the few barriers he couldn’t cross. He was able to get into this Athletic Club which was mysteriously hard to get into by normal means. All of the external walls were secured by large sliding steel doors. It seemed bit excessive to Orson but some people were paranoid about their things with people like him running around.
The place was secluded enough as it was. It was right on the edge of the city. The two outdoor basketball courts and what was formerly a mediation garden were a stone’s throw away from the forest. Back in another life when he was Sebastian, or Baz for short, he used to come to the club frequently but not many other people attended. The members were a tight knit group and the club wasn’t well known. It was pretty nice. It had three racquetball courts and three small studios for group fitness classes. The place had a café with gas appliances which was quite useful. The kitchen was even stocked originally. The shop also held provisions.
The place contained a traditional gym area with treadmills, elliptical machines, Rowing machines, Stairmasters, free weights, and the like but it wasn’t too large. That was nice as was the pool but the main reason Orson came was for the dojo which was a large space with thick dark red matts for floors. One of walls lined with punching bags. Another was originally lined with bladed weapons, sticks and protective equipment. A third wall held the trophies that the dojo had earned in various martial arts competitions as well as the entrance to the rest of the club and the final wall of the dojo was a large mirror.
During the day, Orson would come to the club, work out, mediate, and train. During breaks, he would plan escape or read books. He spent most of his down time in the pool or in one of the offices. The pool was a little over 164 feet long and about 82 feet wide. The depth ranged from about 3 to 20 feet. The entire thing was empty and served as sort of lounge area for Orson where he could read or relax for a bit.
Orson decided to retrieve the book and return it to the office where he had gotten it. He leaned down and grabbed it from the pool. He walked out of the pool area and by what was formerly the front desk. The empty chairs briefly made him remember what is was like before but he put the thought away. Arriving in the office, Orson returned the book next to the others in the series on the shelf. He hadn’t really wanted to read the novel but he had gone through most of his first picks from the former staff’s personal libraries. The pickings were slim at this point. He had started the novel, Justine, but decided to put that one aside for the time being. So it was either the vampire romance, something by Voltaire, or the loads of textbooks on medicine and kinesiology. He knew he would finish, Justine, at some point, because he almost always finished what he start, at least, in the way of books.
The vampire novel had been selected because Voltaire seemed too heavy and he didn’t have the heart to dive into the textbooks, no matter how useful they might be to him at some point. Additionally, one of his former classmates was really into the vampire series, both the books and the movies, so he decided to give one a chance. It was an easy read and he was able to understand whysome people liked the books and why others didn’t like the books.
Orson stopped by the café to retrieve some raisins and jerky for the road. It was getting late and he figured he should get back to the cabin. As he grabbed the snacks, he paused to look around. The café used to serve coffee, sandwiches, salads, yogurt, chips, fresh fruit, protein shakes and smoothies. The list went on. Now, it barely had anything besides the non-perishables that he hadn’t gone through in the time since the barrier went up. After grabbing the snacks and a flashlight, he proceed to the sub-level where the lockers and showers were. He had flashlights stashed all over the place.
The main level had very dim lights that ran on emergency power that he figured was separate from the electricity the rest of the building used. The low lights had been on constantly. They didn’t use much power and weren’t very bright but he had gotten used to them. He was expecting them to go out any day now hence the flashlights.
Orson flicked on the flashlight and walked over to locker number twenty-three. It was his locker. Well, they all were his lockers now. Of course they were also all unlocked now. There was a bolt cutter in one of the offices for emergencies. He opened the locker and retrieved a gray cotton long sleeve t-shirt. He slipped it on over the tan short sleeve shirt he was already wearing. Next, he put on the black vest that had pockets for everything. “Vest with tons of pockets for all your society-induced localized apocalypse needs,” he joked to himself “brought to you by raids and looting after everything went to hell.”
He began to munch on the raisins as he did a quick check to make sure everything was where it should have been. He tried to be prepared for everything when going out. The last article of clothing was a leather trench coat which hung down to the knees of his durable blue jeans. The coat was mostly to look cool and match his black combat boots but it was also decently warm which is how Orson justified stealing it for himself.
In locker number 24 were the standard traveling guns: a Remington Versa Max 12 gauge shotgun, a Colt 1911 pistol, and a Walther PP pistol. He holstered the pistols but held the shotgun at the ready. These guns like the others he had stashed around were stolen just like almost everything else he owned at this point. He thought about this and said “Welcome to the New Age.”
After doing a final check, he returned the flash light back to the café and phased out of the building. He began to walk into the woods as silently as possible. He knew the way to the cabin in the woods but checked the compass every so often just to make sure he was heading in the right direction. He always expected one day to go back to the club and find it compromised but so far he had been able to hold it. The cabin didn’t have that problem there were traps around the perimeter far before you could see the structure. If the traps, which were mainly for animals anyway, were bypassed, the place had a second perimeter comprised completely of landmines. They weren’t hidden at all but there were so many that the average person couldn’t jump them.
Orson hadn’t set any of this up though. Although he reset the traps when necessary, he hadn’t lain them down originally. The cabin was a shelter against the people with powers. Orson figured that there were some people with powers who could probably survive stepping on a landmine but then the problem would be the noise would attract attention in addition to the destruction caused by the explosion. The puzzle was how the previous resident got in and out of the cabin. After he had made it a distance equivalent to about two city blocks into the woods, Orson checked the compass again and realized how much he had benefitted from the increasing aggression and paranoia that plagued the city during its final years and months before the barrier went up.