“In The City of The Dead”, a serialized story/album by Digits.
Chapter 9: Stasis
“The fire beginning to die low, J sits with a small group of unaffiliated people in the middle of the disused intersection. Tapping on the Casiotone he recently found, he sings a song about their weariness, a hymn to the lost lives they used to lead. A secure existence, often boring, rarely catastrophic. They are all moved by the simple chords and wistful melody.
They do not speak of his relationship with the Mona Lisas. Perhaps some of them judge J for his collaboration with their oppressors. Perhaps others understand his actions, even sympathize with his weakness. But J’s guilt consumes him. He sees only accusation in their eyes.”
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The previous eight installments of Alt Altman’s synth-pop saga, each having unfolded over a different site, can be entered through its Table of Contents. The project follows J, a journalist and former musician stranded in a government quarantined, gang-run, zombie-infested city. And the warm, contemplative “Stasis” finds him in a rare and fleeting respite from the chaos, calm but not without concern, looking up to the ash-filled sky for any place better than this. Whether that lies ahead…we’ll have to wait and see.