After the End

Chapter 7

PART II

JOURNEY TO HAVEN

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Phillip's Perspective,

One Day Later.

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"Our wonderful city, a place of peace, justice, and beauty! To our city!"

"To our city!" The words spread through the room like a wildfire, followed closely by the sound of refreshed sighs and empty glasses being placed back on tables.

"And now, let's give a warm welcome to our governor, the honorable Mr. Phillip Reeves!" He looks over at me and holds his bubbly glass of liquid in my direction, a big smile on his face.

My heartbeat quickens, I never was good at these kinds of things. I'd rather be behind the scenes, solving Haven's problems without threat of public exposure. Yet here I am, coming onto the stage with a waving hand and a smile so fake it gives me a headache. It's a wonder no ones called me out on it yet.

I reach the podium and place a hand on Rick's shoulder, pointing at him theatrically with my other. "Let's have a round of applause for Rick everyone!"

I hate this.

The crowd claps and whistles, soaking up my socialite act like a mop.

When the applause begins to die down Rick heads off stage, he takes a deep breath as soon as he's clear, ditching his public personality and slipping back into his usual quiet self.

I can't think about that now, not while I have a fake personality of my own to uphold. I lean forward on the podium and scan the audience. A few dozen richies from the high class end of Haven, all of them wearing some combination of fancy watches, shiny jewelry, bright suits, and shiny revealing dresses.

Of course I could never say this out loud, even to someone I trust, but these people seriously bug me. Honestly if they weren't the biggest contributors to the city's treasury I would've...I don't know, exiled them or something by now.

"Thank you all for coming tonight," I say, suppressing the thoughts I'd been having beforehand. "As you already know, this banquet was orchestrated by myself, and the council, as a fundraising event for those who were affected by the terrible disaster that struck Haven only three months ago."

It happened just after dark on a day that had already been trying its best to stress me out. I had finally made it home, also known as my office, and was preparing for a much needed rest, when Rick burst through the doors. His face was coated in sweat and his eyes were wide like a madman.

"Fire!" He spit out between quick breaths. "Fire on the east side!"

I remember pulling open the curtains to a fire in the distance so bright and vast that I felt my heart drop, then and there I thought, 'this is it, the end of everything we've built.'

The fire raged as we tried our best to extinguish it, nearly the entire city took to the streets to form lines that would transport buckets of water to and from the blaze. (At the time we hadn't yet gotten water flowing through the fire hydrants again.) This went on for most of the night, until something miraculous happened.

Clouds filled the sky, and a parade of lightning and thunder came with them. Giving way to a downpour of rain stronger than anything I'd seen before. The fire was all but gone as the sun rose the next morning, leaving behind a smoldering section of Haven filled with the ashes of ruined lives.

In total nearly one hundred and thirty buildings were rendered uninhabitable. Their burnt carcasses left standing due to the brick used to build them. Worse though, was the death toll, a number that is still technically unconfirmed three months later.