Gloria lay awake. She found it hard to sleep on nights like this. Rain pounded on the roof so hard she waited to feel drops on her forehead or the back of her neck. They wouldn't come no matter how much she wanted them to. She felt it was the corruption's chance to say sorry. Of course, it never would but, unlike the charlatans, she gave it more chances than a brokenhearted girl could think to give.
Someone cares, she thought and began thinking of a poem she heard a long time ago
Sing us the Song of the Century
That's louder than bombs and eternity
Era of static and contraband
Leading us into the Promised Land
Tell me a story that's by candlelight
Waging a war and losing the fight
She couldn't remember the rest. But it was true to the Underground, they were waging a war against the corruption and constantly losing the fight.
----
Christian found his way to an alley. The pouring rain was spilling chills down his back. He couldn't sleep in fear he would wake up without shoes, a coat, and an extra pair of jeans (which he stole from the salvation army).
He remembered the second half to a song that he heard some guy singing.
They're singing the Song of the Century
Panic an promise and prosperity
Tell me a story into that goodnight
Sing us a song for me
Christian knew just how full of shit that song was for people like him. People who ran away from nothing so that they could find something (though in the end they just got more nothing). There sure as hell was panic but no promise or prosperity if you lived on the streets. And nobody in their right fucking mind would tell you a goodnight story or sing you a lullaby.
Nobody cares, Christian decided. Nobody!