ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇᴡ ᴡᴀsᴛᴇʟᴀɴᴅ discussion

before the wasteland, the beach was pretty. now it's just sad. smoke fills the sky and scrap metal covers the sand, and the water is filled with several purifiers - the western wastes' main source of drinking water. it's far too irradiated to swim in or drink without being thoroughly cleaned first.

the young teen filled up their canteen with the water from one of the purifiers. honestly, she sort of wished she could have tasted the water from before all of this. it didn't have to filter out as much. how tasty would it be? she took a sip of her water though and sat on the metal somewhere else and looked at it all. it wasn't the prettiest sight, but it was theirs. though, she had no intention of admiring the horrid sight. she was just tired from working all day. she was still a bit dirty, having not yet had the time to wash all of the gunk from today's work off. she looked at the water quietly. there was once a time when humans swam in that water. it was amazing, in her opinion. must have been nice. she would love to go on a swim herself in the ocean. at least, in the ocean, she had heard about and that was depicted in her books. not the water before her, water so disgusting that she didn't even want to entertain the thought of touching it.
she sat there and yawned as she thought about what her scavenger friend of hers had done that day. she had been busy with her work that she didn't really have much time to talk to anyone that day. fixing up something again as usual. she wanted her own project, to work with other mechanics to create something big and useful. but, well, she'd have to have a plausible idea for that and be able to pitch it to their superiors. oh, how nice it must be to be a mechanic head. she was pretty sure one of them didn't even know how to mechanic. at that point, they were basically just a figurehead to keep them working, but she didn't mind. she always did her work so it didn't really matter. she had nothing else to do. scavenging and moving all around was a lot of work for her and there was the risk that she could get sick again. sure, she had been fine for a while, but she had always been very cautious about overexerting herself and not doing too much that would strain her body. there was no telling what would happen to her if she ventured out somewhere dangerous. it was frustrating. she was fast, but she had little stamina and has no experience. but she didn't want to endanger herself just because she wanted to do something a little more fun. she let out a soft sigh. this sucked.

All she could see was sand and water. She’s always liked beaches, for the simplicity of the color and the consistency of the waves. She had been coming to them since she was a child, since she was allowed outside without supervision. She was a little tired that day, even though she didn’t do too much to warrant it. She spent the first part of her day sorting the objects and trinkets she had found on her adventure the day prior. She didn’t always find a lot, and sometimes she had to throw things back due to them being worn beyond use, but when she did find things, they were usually good. Metal scraps, broken technology, structural pieces, all sorts of things could be repurposed for a better use. That was what she did, every day. Scavenge and sort.
It’s a wonder she was in the Riveters at all. Most of them are a lot more brave, a lot more outgoing then she was. Their words flowed off their tongues with an elegance she never seemed to match, no matter how hard she tried. For her, she spoke in spurts to preserve energy and only felt comfortable with her entire face covered up. What brave person does that? When she learned of this position, one of discovery and adventure, she knew it was the position for her. She had always been like this. A scavenger. Roaming out as far as she could in search of aged treasures. It made sense to apply for the position when she was of age. It was only the right thing to do. The time she spent exploring lands far from her home with a bag full of supplies and a small compass, it was freeing beyond belief. There’s nothing like being so far away from everything familiar. Just new space, ready to be combed through. Maybe this was why she was so good at her job. She looked forward to this time of the day. It was when she could fully unwind. She wasn’t sure if she was on the right beach, or in the right area. For a moment, it didn’t really matter. The water was clean… clean enough… and she had all the time in the world. It was in these moments that she truly appreciated herself. Her ability to take herself places so beautiful she believed they were dreams. She wondered what she would have thought of such a life when she was little. Maybe she would have thought of it as a dream too. Something too far away, too high up for her to reach. Something entirely unachievable. Now, here she is. She smoothed out the wrinkles in her long floral dress and she shivered under the wind. It had only been recently where she discovered her love for the color yellow. Maybe that’s why she liked this place so much. The colors. She was broken from her momentary trance by the image of her dear friend purifying water near the shoreline. She walked over to her slowly, relishing the feeling of sand shifting under her weight. She stops next to her and turns to face the water. “It does look very nice, even if it’s dirty.”