Change of Heart

The locket fell from the roof.

Thyme had always loved that locket. But the man in the blue jacket. had no regard for it. He just wanted the building. Thyme and his cousin, Othello, had found the building shortly after everything “went dark” as they now say. The three-story brick structure had a tower and was flanked by a gate around the entire perimeter. They never imagined they’d be there a year. They just wanted to get off of the streets on what was now known as “Hot Sunday”.

It wasn’t the zombies Thyme imagined would always take the world out. It was people. And it was people in their most desperate and irrational state. It seemed like it made sense to overthrow our government. It wasn’t until after that everyone realized that no one had a better plan. They had no allies. The world shut them off and refused to take any part in the anarchy. Most leaders were fearful of similar happenings in their own jurisdictions. But, the world took notice and their plight became a cautionary tale to the world’s general population.

After the overthrow, which trickled down to state and local levels, everyone tried to run everything business as usual. But, law enforcement had no one to answer to and in turn the people had no one to answer to. And the eerie moment when everyone seemed to realize it came on a day that a heat wave swept the entire country. And everyone literally lost it. Violence and crime spread across the land with the speed and inevitability of a hand across a double-sided sequin pillow. And the same country that had just looked one way changed with an immediacy.

It was the image of Nicole’s hand across the pillow that welled tears in Thyme’s eyes as the locket started it’s drop. They were picking out a few things for his new apartment as a birthday gift. He was still a server. She was still a nurse. She never made it home on Hot Sunday. And he and his cousin barely made it off the streets. But, they found the Complex. And before long they were joined by others. Some of them were on the ground watching the locket fall. They knew it signaled a change. They weren’t in charge anymore.

Thyme thought about when Nicole had given him the locket after they’d gotten home from the store on that same birthday. There was no picture inside. She wanted him to think of the first time they met when he opened it. And there was no picture of him running next to the pool, tripping, and landing right at her feet. He thought about her disappearing out of his life as suddenly as he had landed in hers. He knew she should stop going to work, but being a nurse was so important for her. She had all faith that things would get back to normal. They never did. And a madman brandishing a gun chased him and his cousin out of their parking lot and away from their home into a battle in the streets that sent him in a direction opposite Nicole forever.

The man in the blue jacket had heard of this place. He and his small band of hot heads, who were honestly all erratic before Hot Sunday, put a plan in place. Thyme was the clear leader and they had caught him outside the gates. The men would go in first. They knew this stronghold would be an easy usurp. They were more granola eutopia than warriors. And that type of thing had no place in the new country. This was a place that changed people. When the men were about to kill the leader, they would give the signal and the women would come in and help the men set everyone straight on how things were going to go from now on.

The man in the blue jacket had taken Thyme up to the roof and was very plain spoken in his disposition.

“I’m gonna throw that locket you’re wearing off this roof.”

He shot his gun in the air and Thyme looked back and saw about a dozen women run through the open front gate. Some were carrying guns but they all brandished weapons of some sort. Within seconds, the Complex’s inhabitants were gathered to witness the spectacle on the roof.

“Meet your new king!”

A ragged pirate motioned straight up toward the roof at the man in the blue jacket. Then he pointed to the woman next to him.

“And queen.”

Thyme’s people knew they were outclassed. And the name of the game at this point anywhere around was survival. The man in the blue jacket kept good on his word before giving a final one.

“With you wearing it.”

He pushed Thyme off of the roof. And his final thoughts were of Nicole. The people's new queen stepped aside, not wanting to get any viscera on the Valentino stilettos she had just scavenged. She hadn’t cared about those things before but she had fallen in love with being a bad girl. The man landed at her feet with a disturbing splat. The people all winced, some covering their eyes. The queen walked over to him to examine who this weakling was. And when she looked down at Thyme, Nicole knew that she had changed beyond the point of ever returning. A fact that was punctuated by the fact that she didn’t even care.