The Moon Is Down

(Interested in the role? PM me)

Don’t set the world on fire. From quotes to song it remained a strong line of advice, a warning. But so many had assumed the match would be struck by human fingers rather than the tight grip of the sky.

An asteroid sunk into South Africa off the Cape of Good Hope, instantly obliterating the world of infrastructure and culture the Europeans had introduced to the mangy territory. Railroads were warped, melted, and electricity had flashed off one final time. Waves washed deep inland, sweeping away threatened species, the poachers who hunted them and yet-to-be-discovered tribes.

The tidal forces that followed swarmed, gaining speed until waves consumed Madagascar, on their way to destroy the population centers along coastal India. Only the rocky terrain, a gift from the Himalayas, spared the protected eastern and northern sides. With only an hour of separation, Australia followed suit, lacking the kind of geographical protection offered by their Asian neighbors. And in the same instant, much of the Dutch East Indies were swept away.

Few coasts were safe. But what was worse wasn’t the fireball screaming from the sky or the waves spreading in violent concentric circles; it was the debris thrown into the air, stuck in the sky like white-speckled stars. Over time, even though stars would be virtually impossible to find.

Over the few years that stumbled after the event, the only thing that failed faster than established governments were harvests. Starvation ran rampant, crime exploded and national borders dissolved. The Communists initially proclaimed victory but Anarchy won the day. When it came down to the wire, only the band, tribe, or if you were lucky enough to be penned in, the city you were a part of was all that mattered.

Allen Sparks had earned his Hollywood Public Service badge the year before in 1934, four years after The Collision, two after the US Government began treating the West like a territory and one year after the state government became non-existent. The Wild West had reclaimed its name but people like Allen Sparks were hired to reclaim the street.

It wasn’t that Allen had the credentials. He was available. And he was a resident of the city.

Before the fateful impact, Allen was an actor. He’d found his face more than a few times on the silver screen but he had yet to be labeled a leading man. Jet black hair, looks comparable only to Valentino and a voice ripe for the “talkies”, he was one of many happy to put actors like Chaplin out of work.

But things had changed. Now he was tasked with rooting out undesireables from their homes in Hollywood and to throw them outside the city’s freshly built walls. It took some time to acclimate himself to his new position but he came to accept, and then adore it. The power he held over others combined with the fact that he was one of a few who had the freedom to do almost anything he desired was overwhelming. He’d finally made it in Hollywood.

After arriving to work in the morning, one of the few buildings left that were permitted electricity, Allen was given a card at his desk. It had the apartment complex, a room number and a name. Since she was single and female, he was left alone. Not that he’d need backup to decide whether a single woman would be a threat to the future of the city, Allen stood up and took care his weapon remained at his side. It was a carefully cared for weapon, considering the lack of resources to replace it.

He wasn’t high enough on the caste yet to demand a car, few of which were permitted to run on the street due to fuel shortages. The last transports had come earlier in the year and demand had all but sucked the tanks dry. Horses were needed but they cost food for the people and couldn’t be housed thus virtually all went by foot.

Once at the prescribed place, Allen climbed the stairs three floors until he reached the specific number on the card handed to him. Upon approaching the door he loosened his weapon from its holster should she be housing convicts or squatters. No chances were taken.

Putting away the card, he slipped his hand into his jacket, reaching for his identification. Three hard knocks on the door came one after the other, repetitive in their declaration as he called, “Hollywood Public Service. Open the door or we’ll be forced to make a lawful entry.” Then his hand relaxed, letting his wallet unfold to show his identification card for the peephole in the door. Not only did this prevent her from seeing how many of them were outside her door, it also prevented delay.

The knock on the door made her eyes snap open and she rolled over looking at the time on her watch. Then she heard the shout and she groaned pushing the sheet back and sitting on the side of the bed.

She stood grabbing a sleep shirt, at 5'10 Jayne was tall. As she walked she pulled the shirt over her head, down over her D sized breasts. Walking across the room towards the door "I'm coming" she shouted, not wanting them to break down the door again.

Shaking her long hair and running her hand through it, she looked through the peep hole but saw nothing, groaning she unlocked the door keeping it on the chain she opened it looking through the crack in the door.

"Yeah, what do you want?"

Allen waited patiently as he heard her on the other side of the door. He’d been waiting for this assignment for some time considering who this woman was before the world came crashing down on itself. It would be he who would be able to decide her fate.

Once she came to the door, opening it just a crack he smiled briefly. Chain locks offered such a small sense of security but he wasn’t about to break down her door. That wasn’t his department.

“Its time for your interview,” he spoke professionally enough as he looked into her eyes. “I’ll decide if you’re able to stay here in Hollywood or not. If you choose to leave your door locked and close it then some men will be here later on to expel you from the sanctuary.” Allen was content no matter which route she chose.

As she opened the door, leaning against the frame on the insie she saw him standing on the other side of it. He didnt need to explain to her for her to know who he was and why he was here.

Looking over him a second time she pushed herself from the door frame, closing the door enough for her to slip the chain free and she opened the door stepping back as she did so.

"Would you like to come in then...officer?" She leant on the door as she asked.

And with that he was in. Allen doubted there would’ve been much of an objection but there were still those people who thought they could put up a fight. It already felt like a long day and he was glad he wouldn’t have to go through those motions.

Once he was inside he was kind enough to close the door behind him as his eyes settled on the woman. She was instantly recognizable for who she was before but that wasn’t what struck him. It was the fact that she was in a nightgown. Not that there weren’t plenty of half naked women roaming around on the street but there weren’t too many people who still held onto those kinds of clothes. Then again, actors and actresses were a different kind of people.

It was only when he was inside had he offered his first words, “You must know why I’m here and what is going to be asked of you. So to save us both the time. We already know your stats: Name, date birth,” he rattled them off casually as he continued. “But there’s a blank next to your contributions to the city after its fall. I must know if you plan on making any contributions otherwise tomorrow you’ll be forced to wake up on the other side of the wall.” It wasn’t a threat, or at least he hadn’t meant it as such rather it was a line developed over the course of time. It was nothing more than simple fact.

She watched him walk in, smiled and turned walking to the couch and sitting down as he even closed the door himself. Jayne couldnt help herself but look over him as she pulled her feet up under her as he walked over and spoke.

Jayne looked at him, listening to him concentrating and she nodded, "I plan to contribute, I want to contribute. I want to stay in the city." She stood walking up to him, "Can you tell me how I can do that, Officer?" she asked letting a smile appear at the corner of her mouth.

"I would like one of those," she said as she reached out running one finger over the badge that was clipped to his chest.

Allen watched her as she moved across the room. The size of the area seemed to shrink in size in seconds as she folded her legs underneath her before rising once more to come to him. He looked down to her as she came closer, fingering the badge on his chest.

There were plenty of desperate girls but none of them had truly been something before the war. It still didn’t keep Allen from saying, “You’re going to have to do more than act. Acting doesn’t do anything for anybody around here. You’re going to have to show me that you’re capable of doing something that the city or I consider worthwhile.”

Allen let those words ring through the aging room as he looked down to her. He was as motionless as he was when he began talking, “Is there anything that you can think of that would be worthwhile to me?” Allen had a few thoughts racing in the back of his mind but he wasn’t going to press them. Not unless her mind remained as blank as it seemed on the screen.

She smiled and then turning walked back to the couch, sitting on it once more with her legs folded underneath her as he mentioned acting her smile faded.

"No there is no more acting for me." she sighed as she sat there her hands in her lap looking down at them.

"I do want to contribute, I do want to stay here in the city Officer, but I dont know what I can do." She looked up at him her eyes a little teary. "So can you help me?" It sounded almost like a plea more then anything else as she looked across the room at him. "I dont care what it is that I have to do I want to do it." She allowed herself a brief smile at him as she looked back up at him.

Allen figured she wouldn’t come out and say it. Maybe she didn’t know what he had in mind but she couldn’t be that innocent. You don’t make it as far as she did in the twenties without doing some favors; after all, the only thing that wasn’t desirable was her acting ability.

He caught that fleeting, brief smile and returned his own for a moment. There was some humanity in it but it was forgotten almost as soon as it was delivered. Without drawing it out any further Allen moved toward the couch, setting the case he carried on one end as he walked to her on the other.

Since she had offered no alternative whatsoever he stood over her, looking down into those eyes that had begun to tear. Perhaps she wasn’t as bad of an actor as she seemed.

Placing her face in his hands he stared down at her with his confident eyes as he spoke honestly, “Girls are expensive around here. If you are interested in contributing then you can be my girl every night or whenever I want you. That’s going to be the only way you can stay behind these gates. I’ll provide you with a simple job handling papers or minor complaints at the office but your true job is to serve me in any way I desire.”

Allen released his gentle hold over her as he took a step back, “If you wish to accept this offer then you can disrobe and I’ll have you begin right away. If you don’t then you can expect to be seeing what the sky looks like on the other side of the wall by nightfall.”

As soon as he said the word 'expensive' she had known where the rest would lead. She felt his soft hands on her and she stared back up at him watching his lips move hearing his voice. As soon as he had let her face go and stepped back Jayne had stood up. She knew full well she had little or no choice.

By the time the last word was coming from his mouth Jayne was reaching for her shirt, grabbing the hem of it she pulled it up over her body over her head, pulling it free from one arm and then the other, finally letting go of it it fell to the floor and she stood there naked in front of him. "I accept."

It was easy. But she had likely already resigned herself to that fate. They both knew there wasn’t much left for her and he was going to take advantage of it as often as he could. Morality meant nothing and satisfied no one. But what did surprise him was how quickly she moved to begin, almost as if it were ritualistic. For him that was a good sign. It meant there wasn’t going to be much fighting left within her.

As the shirt coated the floor and she stood there in front of him he knew he was about to take what so many men had dreamed of when they first saw her pictures flying through the projectors. And while time seemed to be in abundance, Allen wasn’t about to waste any of it.

“We’ll see if you do,” he spoke casually as a hand rose, pinching her nipple. “Why don’t you crawl over onto your bed and get on your hands and knees. Then we’ll see if you do. And if you’re worth the hassle of everything I’ve just offered you.”

Jayne smiled watching as he walked over glancing down she felt his hands touch her tummy and her fingers move up until it slipped over her breast. Her mouth fell open as his fingers touched and teased her nipple letting out a little moan as he pinched it.

She glanced over at the bed as his hand slipped from her now hard nipple and got down onto her knees. Crawling over she would look back at him smiling as she crawled across the room and crawled up onto the bed. Falling down onto her elbows as she did.

The girl was an obedient little thing. There was little wonder how she made it so far in Hollywood before the world came crashing down on itself. At least she still had some useful skills hidden away. In fact, she was so pliable he wondered if he’d been the first one to trade her safety for sex. No, considering how easily she gave in to it she had to have been either sex starved or used to the routine. But that didn’t stop him from enjoying the view as she presented herself on the bed for him.

Allen took his time as he began to remove his clothing. Each piece was laid upon the couch she’d just left until he was just as naked as she was. Then with his eyes on her ass he moved toward the bed, climbing onto it and moving toward her until he could feel the heat coming from her body.

His right hand reached for her right leg, pulling it away from the other to spread her legs farther apart. Then he moved his body a little closer to her as his hand turned to her inside thigh, rising up the length of it until his hand touched upon her pussy, his fingers playing against it.

Jayne sat on the bed watching as he walked over, undressed and climbed up onto the bed with her. Not taking her eyes off of him she felt his hand. Warm on her leg. She let out a moan as his fingers touched her pussy.

Her eyes closing and her mouth opening to moan she reached out, feeling him and feeling how hard he was she wrapped her hand around it, looking back up at him as she slowly started to stroke him. Laying back she felt a finger push inside her, her free hand grabbing at the sheet and arching up pushing down onto his finger. Her other hand closed a little tighter around him squeezing and stroking letting her thumb rub right over the head of him and hearing him moan and feeling him shudder.