I remember when the buildings were newly fallen, before the dust had settled and people still had the energy to scream. It was my 18th birthday.
Everyone ran around scared, unsure what to do next. People were willing to help each other out back then, desperate to know they were not alone. Things are different now.
I wander around the buildings sometimes, still awed by their size. They took them you know, the adults. They just came and took everyone older than 30. The older ones who were left managed to raise most of the smaller kids but that's about it. It turned out that most of the people who knew how the world worked before were over 30, so no more skyscrapers for us. They said they would be back to check up on us again after another few thousand years or so. They said they were disappointed in our progress. From what I could understand about them, this had happened before. I managed to hook up with some farm kids so I eat alright. We try not to eat other humans. We've seen what happened to the cannibal tribes.
The Jesus Freaks are the tribe closest to us. They're mostly alright. Some of them are really pushy about making us join them but most of them are alright. They're changing too. More of them are trading for weapons lately. It looks like they're losing members. I guess people got tired of waiting to be saved.
I'm getting worried. More and more people are joining the more violent tribes. I heard the KKK got officially wiped out last week. But everyone knew that was going to happen. After the Africa tribe managed to get all the blacks, there was no way the KKK was going to last.
The problem is all the other whites feel threatened now. I heard they're all banding together in a European Union or something. They're collecting weapons too. An arms race. History is repeating itself. It looks like this world's first major war is going to happen soon.
None of that is what really scares me though. It's the Asians that scare me. Most of them got together from the very beginning. Not the Indian ones, the Orientals, my kind. The quiet ones always scared me in school too. They've got some kind of plan hidden. No one even knows how many there are. In the world before, there was something like 2 billion of them. So where the hell did they all go?
The Indians couldn't let go of old conflicts and supposedly killed each other off.
My groups been talking lately about joining one of the bigger tribes. They're getting scared. Most of them want to join the Jesus Freaks because they're so close. But Betsy and some of the others want to go to a tribe with more weapons. I think we're going to end up being broken down by race. I feel sad for the mixed ones. I don't even know if I can find the other Asians. I've seen Bret giving me dirty looks. He thinks I'm hiding something. I wish I were. Maybe then I wouldn't feel so scared.
I do agree with the others though. Unless Jesus Himself comes down, the Jesus Freaks aren't going to make it.
I managed to get a good knife for my watch the other day. I keep it on me all the time now. It looks like if we don't split up we're going to kill each other anyway. The trader said he heard rumors about the Asians hiding out in the east. I guess they didn't go very far from home. I don't know what else to do.
Whatever happens, it'll go down in a week, after the harvest is done. The Latinos went back to only speaking Spanish to one another. It's making the others feel antsy. The mixes are learning the hard way that its not what you are, its what you look like. It's the darker mulattoes with blue eyes that are having the toughest time.
I've been stashing food lately. I don't think anyone's going to get much from the harvest. I plan on leaving when it's my turn for fieldwork. I drew the first night so with the full moon I can travel until morning.
Fights are starting up. People are picking sides and wearing matching colors. It won't be long now. The smarter ones know we won't make it through the harvest. The first night of work is tomorrow. I can't risk saying goodbye, tipping anyone off. They say the Asians have spies and lookouts everywhere, I hope its true. The only way I'm going to find them is if they find me. I prayed to God before I went to sleep last night. One of the Jesus Freaks gave me a cross, I hope it's magic was working. We'll see what happens tomorrow.