Forties.¤ What Are You?The Mayor
¤ What defines you?Hard, I guess. Can’t afford to be much else. I’d like to think I could use my words to resolve situations, though.
¤ Who are you?My mom was a good girl. She raised me right. I can’t imagine most people know their fathers these days, and I’m no different. Trying to eek out a living on the edge of insanity wasn’t easy. Wasn’t easy at all. Guess that’s why she died. Left me and my sisters, Lizzy and Ti, by ourselves when I was thirteen or so. So I was the leader of the house after that. Apparently, I didn’t do a very good job.
I guess a stray bullet to the right spot is all it takes. Just some more assholes, you know how it is. Killin’ for survival. Killing for fun. Killing for some made up bullshit. I guess it doesn’t really matter, what’s done is done. They killed my Lizzy. Wasn’t long after that Ti passed on too. They were kids. So was I, I guess. I tried to grow up fast but I didn’t do it fast enough. In a perfect world, I would have found a way to take their place and let them live on. Like a real man. But it didn’t work out like that, I guess. So here I am. Still alive.
When you’ve got people depending on you for that long, you learn a thing or two about leadership. You learn that sometimes the people who rely on you don’t need to like you, but they need to respect you. You learn that fear is a tool, not a weapon. You learn that a little compassion and kindness can go a long way. You learn that no matter fucking what, all of it can be taken from you.
The nobodies who killed my sisters were the first people I ever killed. It was a wonder I made it that long without killing anybody. I guess most people took pity on us enough to leave us alone. I don’t know why they killed Lizzy. Maybe it was for our stuff. Maybe for their made up gods. Maybe for fun. Perhaps they knew they were monsters, perhaps they didn’t. Perhaps they weren’t monsters at all. I’m not sure which one is worse.
After being on my own for a little bit, without my sisters “holding me back”, or more accurately, holding me together, I was free to do as I pleased. My family had always lived on the outskirts of Steelbird Landing. We had decided the big city and all it’s vices weren’t for us. But I had nothing left to lose, so I said fuck it, and started making moves. It took a while. I was say, twenty or so when I first got there. People decided they liked me. Started moving up. Before I knew it, I was mayor. Democratically elected. It helped that the last guy died, I suppose. I’m not sure what they expected from me, but the people seemed to be a little surprised that I have made it as long as I have. It seems, for now, that they are waiting for me to die before they replace me with a new mayor, which is nice. Until then, this place and it’s people are my dysfunctional, hateful, and scared little family. All of us have seen what’s out there. I won’t let it break us.
¤ What do you want?I want my sisters back. But that ain’t fucking happening. I want something real. Something real to live for. Not some made up shit, or some crazy drug trip, or just for the sake of it. There’s gotta be something real out here. Something good. Steelbird City can be that for me. It can be that for all of us.
¤ What do you believe?I believe there’s hope. Real hope, not made up bullshit. The whole world isn’t full of murders and rapists waiting for their moment to strike. Fear of authority isn’t the only thing holding Steelbird City together, I know it. I refuse to believe otherwise.
¤ What do you follow?I follow my gut. Follow your head too much, you end up losing all connection with what really matters. Follow your heart, you might go crazy. But a little of this, a little of that, and following what I think is right has done well so far. Rules and such.
¤ A scarcity embodied:Forgiveness. Can’t forgive myself for what I let happen to my family. I can’t forgive the rest of the world for what it has become. I cannot forgive those who try and take what we have from us.
¤ Basic Instincts:Save the kids.
When in doubt, turn left.
Back to the walls, eyes on as many exits as possible.
¤ What is the worst thing you've ever done to stay alive?Killed people who might not have had it coming. It’s hard to tell. I needed the food, needed the water. They didn’t look like they earned it fair and square, but there was no one around and they weren’t looking at where I was. So I took the shots and took their stuff. One of them was still alive when I got over there, though. Didn’t want to waste the bullet so I let him do his thing. That was in the early days when I was all by myself. I was an angry boy. Don't worry, I've graduated onto "angry man."
¤ What do you most regret doing?Back in the early days, I saw a group of wanna-be slavers start pickin’ off some random poor saps. Old man, little boy, little girl, some lady. One of those groups of people that make you wonder how they even made it this long. I probably could have taken them. I didn’t. I bet I could have taken them. They weren’t even looking.
¤ Who did you fail to save? What did it cost?I failed to save my sisters. It cost me everything that mattered. Now, I’ve just got the memory of better times and the hope that maybe they could be achieved again. Maybe not by me, but by someone.
¤ What/Who are you addicted to? What are you willing to do to acquire it?Addicted to hope, I imagine. Someday, all of this will be over. Maybe in a thousand years from now, all these sick fucks will die off and only the good people will be left. Laughable, I know. But I have to try.
¤ Who's intentions do you question?My own. I think about my place in this world a lot. To myself, I talk a big game. About the little guys, the farms, peace, good guys and bad guys. But in the end, I’m just another guy in charge, aren’t I? Just another prick bullying people with his lackeys. “Listen to me. I know best. Or else.” Maybe my self-doubt is what keeps me from turning into a monster. But even the monsters half self-doubt. Maybe they used too, and justified their horrible actions, or they all think they have real self doubt and everyone else is the monster. Too many fucking maybes. This circular logic gets me nowhere...but here we are.
Hear the Whispers...
I try not to let that poisonous shit into my head. I’ve seen what it does to people. It’s probably just left over cancer-beams from the pre-apocalypse, giving people diseases and shit. But hey, kind of hard to ignore something when you all you have to do is look up to see it. Sometimes, when I get drunk at night, I find look out the window at the think about all the shit in the world and it gets weird. I haven’t done it much because it freaks me the fuck out. Someone’s in the room, lookin’ at me. They hate me, I can feel it. Just waitin’ for the right moment to sneak up and slit my throat. The longer I look, the stronger the feeling gets, the closer it gets, until I can hear the fuckers footsteps. I look away from the window, and there’s no one there. Maybe someday I’ll pass out while looking out the window and I’ll die in my sleep. That’s why I sleep with the curtains shut.
Own What You've Become
¤There’s a rumor going around Steelbird Landing that has you nervous. What is it? Besides the usual stuff about this and that, what really concerns me is rumors that those monsters from the west are getting closer. No one’s ever brought me proof, and no one I trust has corroborated these claims. I’m not even sure they exist at all. But enough people seem to believe that they do, and if some say they’ve seen them closer to the inland than ever before, that’s enough to make me worry. The last thing we need is nightmare creatures plaguing the outskirts of town.
¤ The governor of another town has been sending men over to intimidate you. What is her name? What does she want from you? That would be Novella. It’s pretty simple- subordination. Tribute. For us to bend the knee. I imagine she would be perfectly happy if her boys had free reign to collect taxes from our people for living in “their land”. Well, it’s not happening. A full blown war between the two of us, and chances are we’d both collapse into ruin. Hopefully her lust for power, or whatever the fuck she really wants, doesn’t drag us both into Hell.
¤ You’ve got a gang of men and women who help defend Steelbird Landing. Let’s describe them, pick 2 words from a list of words and 1 word from another list. Organized, obedient, but wanting. I’ve picked good people, good men and women, who aren’t fucking crazy. It’s why I’ve been able to be Mayor for so long. Not only do they stay in line, but they do drills. Lots of drills. They know this city like the back of their hand and get around it in no time, their response time is beyond what I could have ever expected. Unfortunately, when you don’t get your supplies from murder and thievery, guns and experience can be in short supply. Hopefully muscle memory gets them through the tough fights, as it has so far, and their training makes up for their lack of high firepower. They got guns, don't get me wrong, but they ain't some of the crazy shit-eating warriors I've heard of from other parts of the world.
One of the other characters was the second runner up to being mayor, and their voice still carries weight that is threatening to you. Who?Milk. If she wanted to cause trouble, I'm sure she could. Her and her girls have some sway in the town. She's charming, beautiful, and intelligent. People could potentially give her the clout in politics if she wanted it. Fortunately, she is not interested in these things, at least for now. Hopefully she understands a group like hers could really only exist in a place like Steelbird Landing, where we still believe in basic human rights. She's also a skilled entrepeneur in other things as well. Ours is a mutally benefecial relationship.
One of the other characters is your fervent supporter, and you have turned to them in confidence before. Who?That would, perhaps ironically enough, be Milk also. We don't talk much, but as two of the most influential people in town it's only right that we talk sometimes.
Like I said, she is not really interested in the politics but she gives me a place to clear my head. Sometimes she provides insights that I might not think of. Though we think about the world in very different ways, (she has too much of an obession with bloodlines), we both agree that children should be protected. You'd probably be surprised how many self-destructive psychos out their either think kids are useless, or only to be used as weapons and tools. Instead of, you know, people. Little people who grow up to be big people, who then get to make their own decisions and decide the future of our species.
Milk can be a little creepy about it sometimes but hey, at least she believes in something good, right? That's all I can really ask of the people here.
S'all any of us can hope to do.
¤Mama Told Meyoutube.com/watch?v=wkM7uWBjUrIWill you have whiskey with your water
Or sugar with your tea
What are these crazy questions
That they're asking of me
This is the craziest party
That there ever could be
Oh, don't turn on the light
'Cause I don't want to see
Mama told me not to come
Mama told me not to come
That ain't the way to have fun
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