American Apocalypse IV - Chapter 3f - by Nova

"Is that so?" I answered politely.

"Yes sir. Why I don't know if you noticed but our town water tower is painted to look like a giant pumpkin." He was obviously proud of this.

"Oh, I thought it was a tomato." I really had too.

He laughed.  "Yes sir. It has faded a bit since we last painted it. I can see how you might make that mistake." He paused, looked at Zane "How's them pancakes young man?"

Zane had his mouthful so he just made a grunting sound of approval.

"I thought so." He smiled again and shook his head.  "Okay. I know you are wondering why I stopped by."

"Yeah."

He smiled again. I was now thinking of him as Sheriff Smiley. "I'm here as the community liaison to new arrivals. We're now a Zone area, and proud to be I might add, the government has stepped in and is handling the current situation quite well." 

I could tell he was warming up to recite his standard script but I wanted information -- not a monologue.

Exactly how are they handling the situation quite well?" 

I was genuinely curious.  This felt like an alternate reality to the world we had been living in so it probably had an alternative reality government. One that actually cared and was doing something. I doubted it but you got to keep an open mind. Plus a part of me, despite my personal nightmare of becoming just another IT guy again, actually hoped for a moderate return to stability. I liked electricity, cheap food, and shelter.  I wanted Night to be safe.  Hell, I could always go back to killing people online. Maybe. I was surprised by how bad I actually did miss the old days.