Urban Renewal

The rustling and creaking had slowed in recent days. The buildings were all restored, every brick and stone. They were pristine, untouched, and in perfect working order. The stores were filled with every manner of useful good, kept safe behind polished windows. There was no one to steal them. The streetlights faithfully flashed red and green, keeping watch over empty streets. Each night, the buildings lit with soft yellow glows as basement furnaces hummed, illuminating and warming silent rooms.

On the outskirts, an overpass crept out towards the blasted desert. The task was not yet finished. It was barely begun.