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24 Under฀my฀feet,฀I฀could฀feel฀the฀club฀below฀me.฀I฀locked฀the฀door.฀I ฀฀knew฀they฀couldn’t฀hear฀me,฀and฀I฀wanted฀to฀stay฀inside฀forever.฀ I฀could฀hear฀the฀thumping฀through฀the฀walls—the฀nonstop฀taps฀of฀triphop ,฀ strange฀ record฀ scratching,฀ and฀ strong฀ drum฀ and฀ bass.฀ The฀ room฀ shook฀little฀earthquakes,฀and฀I฀just฀sat฀on฀the฀floor.฀This฀was฀the฀only฀ place฀I฀felt฀safe. I฀scraped฀notches฀into฀a฀dirty฀windowsill.฀With฀small฀tally฀marks,฀I฀ kept฀track฀of฀the฀days฀since฀I฀had฀last฀seen฀him.฀So฀far฀I฀counted฀ninetythree .฀There฀were฀no฀clocks฀in฀the฀room,฀so฀I฀had฀to฀try฀to฀keep฀the฀date฀ in฀my฀head. Hiding฀wasn’t฀something฀I฀was฀used฀to.฀As฀a฀dancer,฀you฀were฀so฀exposed ฀on฀stage,฀showing฀off,฀as฀you฀performed.฀But฀life฀inside฀this฀theater฀ ฀ was฀ different.฀ I฀ was฀ a฀ prisoner.฀ I฀ looked฀ out฀ the฀ only฀ window,฀ but฀ I฀ couldn’t฀see฀very฀far.฀Just฀a฀few฀red฀lights฀in฀the฀far฀distance.฀The฀rest฀was฀ dry฀land,฀tiny฀dust฀devils฀swirling฀through,฀and฀sharp฀metal฀pieces฀of฀old฀ hotel฀signs฀jutting฀out฀of฀sand. My฀life฀before฀this฀was฀hard฀to฀remember฀sometimes.฀Growing฀up฀in฀ this฀strange฀town฀was฀something฀that฀was฀peculiar฀to฀others,฀but฀not฀to฀ me.฀All฀I฀ever฀wanted฀was฀to฀be฀with฀a฀boy฀named฀Vin. The฀last฀time฀I฀saw฀him,฀we฀were฀at฀a฀house฀party.฀We฀hardly฀spoke฀ because฀we฀were฀fighting. I฀poured฀him฀a฀drink฀over฀crushed฀ice฀cubes,฀ and฀we฀stared฀at฀each฀other฀from฀across฀a฀bright฀kitchen. Now,฀lying฀down,฀curled฀up฀in฀this฀shadowy฀corner,฀I฀tried฀to฀remember ฀his฀voice,฀but฀I฀couldn’t฀hear฀it฀anymore.฀I฀tried฀to฀scream,฀but฀nothing ฀came฀out. Nuclear฀Wasted฀Love฀Song LORI KOZLOWSKI Nuclear฀Wasted฀Love฀Song ♥ 25 ♥ ฀฀The฀bees฀were฀all฀dead,฀and฀there฀was฀no฀honey.฀Spring’s฀sticky฀ amber฀juice฀had฀left฀the฀planet฀long฀ago.฀Funny฀how฀no฀one฀seemed฀to฀ think฀this฀was฀a฀sign฀that฀there฀was฀something฀wrong.฀The฀little฀yellow฀ jackets฀were฀the฀first to฀go.฀And฀after฀that,฀many฀other฀life฀forms฀became฀ extinct,฀many฀of฀them฀a฀thousand฀times฀bigger฀than฀the฀bees.฀Polar฀bears,฀ blue฀whales,฀walruses.฀They฀all฀succumbed฀to฀the฀global฀collapse.฀While฀ the฀outside฀world฀suffered,฀too,฀ours฀was฀just฀the฀last฀city฀to฀see฀real฀desolation .฀Since฀the฀desert฀always฀had฀limited฀flora and฀fauna฀anyway,฀no฀ one฀even฀noticed฀the฀despair฀until฀it฀got฀completely฀dark. The฀Big฀Boom฀ruined฀everything.฀All฀the฀mass฀implosions฀caused฀the฀ caliche฀to฀give฀way.฀As฀difficult as฀digging฀could฀be฀in฀a฀town฀of฀constant฀ construction,฀the฀Boom฀left฀a฀cavernous฀hole฀in฀the฀middle฀of฀the฀city฀ where฀the฀Strip฀once฀had฀been.฀All฀of฀Las฀Vegas฀imploded.฀Not฀just฀one฀ hotel,฀here฀or฀there.฀But฀all฀of฀them.฀In฀one฀big฀cave-in,฀the฀entire฀city฀fell.฀ Shards฀of฀glass฀from฀a฀million฀hotel฀windows฀blanketed฀the฀landscape.฀ Dried-out฀shrubbery฀became฀ensconced฀in฀metal฀scraps.฀It฀left฀the฀town฀ a฀wasteland,฀a฀place฀where฀listless฀life฀forms฀wandered฀alone.฀The฀drifters ฀ and฀ chemically฀ altered฀ characters฀ roamed฀ around,฀ seeking฀ signs฀ of฀ other฀life.฀It฀was฀quiet,฀and฀we฀were฀all฀plagued฀by฀a฀deep฀loneliness฀that฀ would฀not฀go฀away.฀ For฀years,฀all฀the฀magic฀of฀Vegas฀had฀been฀piling฀up.฀The฀wizardry,฀ the฀gluttony,฀the฀lust.฀We฀went฀from฀everything฀all฀the฀time—wild฀sex,฀ designer฀ drugs,฀ food฀ and฀ drink,฀ flash and฀ cash—to฀ nothing.฀ What฀ was฀ once฀life฀on฀an฀accelerated฀track฀came฀to฀a฀complete฀stop.฀A฀town฀that฀ once฀shined฀with฀so฀much฀light฀not฀a฀star฀could฀be฀seen฀in฀the฀desert฀sky.฀ A฀city฀with฀enough฀neon฀gas฀to฀light฀up฀the฀whole฀world.฀Now฀we฀sat฀in฀ darkness. I฀wanted฀to฀go฀home,฀only฀I฀didn’t฀know฀where฀home฀was฀anymore.฀ The฀desert฀valley฀I฀had฀once฀known฀was฀no฀longer฀a฀pearl฀string฀of฀fancy฀ casinos฀and฀bright฀lights.฀Instead฀it฀was฀a฀no-man’s-land.฀A฀hole. How฀ the฀ Huntridge฀ remained฀ standing,฀ no฀ one฀ knew.฀ Its฀ walls฀ weren’t฀ particularly฀ strong฀ like฀ the฀ newest฀ hotels.฀ It฀ wasn’t฀ retrofitted, remodeled,฀ or฀ remade.฀ It฀ was฀ just฀ itself.฀ An฀ old฀ art฀ deco฀ movie฀ house฀ that฀became฀alternative฀music’s฀finest grunge฀palace.฀In฀the฀ruins฀of฀the฀ Huntridge,฀it’s฀almost฀as฀if฀we฀went฀back฀to฀where฀we฀started.฀The฀place...

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