Ground Zero
100 years later
"What we're asking is reasonable sir. GZS just wants to use New Haven in a commercial to show the excellence of their products."
"Are you fuckin' kidding me? I heard the stories passed down from my great-great-great grandfather who looked after the GZS central computer personally! And in his own immortal words: "GZS were a bunch of fuckin' loonies with too much time on their hands, who built inferior shit!" Zachary yelled.
"Sir! With all due respect this so called inferior product kept your ancestors alive! I think you at least owe GZS gratitude for your current existence!"
"I don't owe GZS shit! It was people like my ancestors who ensured my current existence! THEY built New Haven through hard work not GZS! Now get outta my office!"
"Fine! You could've made a lot of money from this venture! We'll just ask Last Chance instead!"
"Last Chance? THERE? Okay. Good luck on dealing with the xenophobic government. Last I heard they'd completely closed themselves off to the outside world and were shooting anyone who came near the walls of the place hmm, maybe you should go there after all."
GZS negotiator storms out of the room in defeat, while Zachary's wife Carol came in.
"Lemme guess, you turned down another GZS deal."
"Of course! Besides we're doing alright."
"But you know they were offering a lot of money this time, it could really help New Haven."
"Carol, I love you. You know I do, but you're from Ashtown you'll never understand."
"Here we go " Carol says hearing that remark from her husband many times before just like she was about to hear the same follow up speech before.
"Those motherfuckers think they can waltz in after a hundred and fifty years and take the glory that my ancestors earned? No fuckin' way. My family personally was responsible for most of the initial laws and practices still used to this day! Great-great-great grandma Nina was the FIRST shelter leader! It was her guidance and her husband's technical knowledge that got the shelter through those first few hard years! Why I even heard about how he rebuilt the GZS computer from scratch because the damn thing was faulty to begin with! The both of them were pioneers!"
Zachary points out of his window to a nearby hill.
"They both lie next to each other buried on that hill over there and I'll be damned if I'll let GZS cheapen their sacrifices or the sacrifices of ANY of my people!"
"I gotta say, that speech never loses its zeal, even if you've said it over and over to everyone."
"It doesn't lose its zeal, because it's something I believe. I'm not just talking out my ass when I say that shit. I'm not selling this place out to GZS for some money. We'll get by like we always have; hard work."
"Well that's one thing you've always been good at hard work. I guess that's what makes you one of the few excellent politicians."
"It's in the genes Carol. Politicians and technicians, that's what people in my family have always eventually become well except for great-grandpa Henry. He became an explorer and kept insisting on calling himself Arizona or something I dunno. They said his parents let him watch too many old movie vids. Nevertheless he always still called New Haven his home." Zachary looked out at the same hill he pointed to a few moments ago and fell into silence.
Carol smiled a bit, she knew Zachary was very proud of his heritage, perhaps a little bit misguidedly so, but still, it made him a better person who tried to do the right things, as well as someone she was glad she married. Even if he did go off on a tangent every now and then about how New Haven saved Ashtown's "ass" from The Combine invasion forty five years ago.
"You're right Zach, so are you ready to go to this dinner function? As President of New Haven you're kind of expected to be there you know."
"Huh? Oh yeah, I'll be there in a moment. I just want a little time alone first."
Another common habit Carol was used to, that one always puzzled her a bit since he was in politics, but that was just who he was. She knew he'd be down in a moment though. Carol left Zachary to his solitude.
Zachary cherished the silence he rarely got in his line of work and continued to look out on the hill where you and Nina were buried. He reminded himself that he would soon have to go visit your graves to put fresh flowers again.
He often wondered if you both were looking down on him from somewhere and proud of him.
"Yeah they are."
"What we're asking is reasonable sir. GZS just wants to use New Haven in a commercial to show the excellence of their products."
"Are you fuckin' kidding me? I heard the stories passed down from my great-great-great grandfather who looked after the GZS central computer personally! And in his own immortal words: "GZS were a bunch of fuckin' loonies with too much time on their hands, who built inferior shit!" Zachary yelled.
"Sir! With all due respect this so called inferior product kept your ancestors alive! I think you at least owe GZS gratitude for your current existence!"
"I don't owe GZS shit! It was people like my ancestors who ensured my current existence! THEY built New Haven through hard work not GZS! Now get outta my office!"
"Fine! You could've made a lot of money from this venture! We'll just ask Last Chance instead!"
"Last Chance? THERE? Okay. Good luck on dealing with the xenophobic government. Last I heard they'd completely closed themselves off to the outside world and were shooting anyone who came near the walls of the place hmm, maybe you should go there after all."
GZS negotiator storms out of the room in defeat, while Zachary's wife Carol came in.
"Lemme guess, you turned down another GZS deal."
"Of course! Besides we're doing alright."
"But you know they were offering a lot of money this time, it could really help New Haven."
"Carol, I love you. You know I do, but you're from Ashtown you'll never understand."
"Here we go " Carol says hearing that remark from her husband many times before just like she was about to hear the same follow up speech before.
"Those motherfuckers think they can waltz in after a hundred and fifty years and take the glory that my ancestors earned? No fuckin' way. My family personally was responsible for most of the initial laws and practices still used to this day! Great-great-great grandma Nina was the FIRST shelter leader! It was her guidance and her husband's technical knowledge that got the shelter through those first few hard years! Why I even heard about how he rebuilt the GZS computer from scratch because the damn thing was faulty to begin with! The both of them were pioneers!"
Zachary points out of his window to a nearby hill.
"They both lie next to each other buried on that hill over there and I'll be damned if I'll let GZS cheapen their sacrifices or the sacrifices of ANY of my people!"
"I gotta say, that speech never loses its zeal, even if you've said it over and over to everyone."
"It doesn't lose its zeal, because it's something I believe. I'm not just talking out my ass when I say that shit. I'm not selling this place out to GZS for some money. We'll get by like we always have; hard work."
"Well that's one thing you've always been good at hard work. I guess that's what makes you one of the few excellent politicians."
"It's in the genes Carol. Politicians and technicians, that's what people in my family have always eventually become well except for great-grandpa Henry. He became an explorer and kept insisting on calling himself Arizona or something I dunno. They said his parents let him watch too many old movie vids. Nevertheless he always still called New Haven his home." Zachary looked out at the same hill he pointed to a few moments ago and fell into silence.
Carol smiled a bit, she knew Zachary was very proud of his heritage, perhaps a little bit misguidedly so, but still, it made him a better person who tried to do the right things, as well as someone she was glad she married. Even if he did go off on a tangent every now and then about how New Haven saved Ashtown's "ass" from The Combine invasion forty five years ago.
"You're right Zach, so are you ready to go to this dinner function? As President of New Haven you're kind of expected to be there you know."
"Huh? Oh yeah, I'll be there in a moment. I just want a little time alone first."
Another common habit Carol was used to, that one always puzzled her a bit since he was in politics, but that was just who he was. She knew he'd be down in a moment though. Carol left Zachary to his solitude.
Zachary cherished the silence he rarely got in his line of work and continued to look out on the hill where you and Nina were buried. He reminded himself that he would soon have to go visit your graves to put fresh flowers again.
He often wondered if you both were looking down on him from somewhere and proud of him.
"Yeah they are."
