Blog Love Omega Glee: Believe In Cleaveland (6 January 2012)

Francine is researching the wars in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Korea, Pakistan, and Venezuela when the lights flicker. Amazingly, the computer doesn't have to reboot, but the flicker shakes her out of a trance, and she realizes that she'll be late for work if she doesn't hurry up. She tidies up, gets dressed, and is out the door minutes later heading to Believer Square where she'll catch the train downtown to serve the dinner shift at one of the last remaining frou-frou restaurants in Cleaveland. She can make enough money working the weekend shifts so that during the week she can concentrate on her passions: digging up the truth about politics and society through the disinformation and outright lies spewed by mainstream corporate-government-industrial-military complex media and then blogging about it.

On the way through the Square, a homeless man says, "Excuse me, excuse me . . ." but Francine keeps walking and ignores him, except to point at a "Help Wanted" sign in the window of a shop.

"Oh, it's gonna be like that," the man says, before saying "Excuse me, excuse me . . ." to the next passerby.

It is late afternoon but the days are still only gradually growing longer from the winter solstice so in the west the sun is setting, flooding the square with its last rays. Francine steps onto the train, flipping off one of the facial recognition software installed cameras on the station platform before boarding. She swipes her transport pass and takes a seat far away from the gaggle of teenagers arguing over who gave whom a low hug in school today, and which celebrity has the biggest cock or tits.

The train rolls into the setting sun, and Francine watches the neighborhoods and infrastructure deteriorate. First, the stately but seen better days architecture of the Square, then projects and slums where people still live, then decaying landlocked wrecks that used to be people's homes but are now boarded up or half-charred, then parts of the city going back to nature complete with packs of wild dogs roaming what used to be city blocks, then rusted hulks of former industrial glory now turned to ruin, then the sinister towers of the corporate bubble of downtown Cleaveland. Francine wonders why she stays here but seeing as wars over fresh water supplies are starting to break out around the world, it makes sense to stick close to a large body of fresh water such as Lake Eerie. Plus, there are enough farms in the countryside still that locals will be able to survive when civilization collapses.

The lots of fun cultural things to do in the metro area until then are a bonus.

Besides, since nobody else really wants to live here, the rent is cheap, and time not spent on working can be spent on doing things she actually wants to do. The area really isn't as bad as its reputation suggests. Cleaveland itself beyond the corporate bubble, or "green zone", is pretty much anarchy put into practice, but Believer Heights where Francine lives still has a more or less functioning government.

The train reaches the downtown station, and Francine makes her way to the surface level. The restaurant, Yaws, is a couple blocks away. On the way there, Francine watches a car catch on fire. A man gets out of the car, looks at the smoke pouring from the engine, opens the trunk, and takes out three gascans. He puts one gascan under his left arm, picks up another with his left hand, and picks up the last one with his right. He leaves the trunk up and calmly walks away.

The car continues to burn. In the twilight, it almost appears picturesque. Francine, along with some others, stops to watch. One man in a business suit throws water into the rapidly-spreading inferno in a half-hearted attempt to extinguish the blaze. It has no effect so he throws the plastic water bottle into the center of the fire and backs away. Francine watches the bottle melt. Church bells ring, reminding Francine that she must get to work. She doesn't hear any fire sirens as she walks away, but upon the entrance of Yaws she hears an explosion.

"This life can be like a strange dream," she thinks, "Some days, it's hard to believe in Cleaveland."

Blog Love Omega Glee is a novel by Wred Fright about two bloggers who fall in love while the world falls apart, which is being serialized on his blog. To start reading from the beginning or read another installment, please visit Blog Love Omega Glee Central on WredFright.Com. If you like what you've read, or you've read all of Blog Love Omega Glee and want more Fright, then please read his first novel, which is available in print and as an ebook.