All that's left...

[Celest]

Haven was now 22 and had been dating Krasus for about a year now. They met before the virus and terror of nature tore the View attachment 8673world apart. It was simpler times back then. Cars still worked, buildings were still strong, and the environment wasn't still dull.

She remembers meeting Krasus like it was yesterday. It was a simple spring day, and Haven was stuck at work. Well, she wasn't really stuck since she she really did enjoy working at the small cafe that seemed to play the weirdest music it could find. Since business was slow that day, Haven was just chilling behind the counter, picking at her nails. The bells above the door dinged, and he was there.

Butterflies came to life in her stomach, heart threatening to break out of her chest as he approached the counter. This was the point where she needed to think fast. All of her memorized scripts for serving customers disappeared, mind was completely blank, but she forced herself off the stool.

"Hey, welcome to The Drowsy Poet," her voice is gravelly, some would call it sensual.

Those were the first words she had said to Krasus, and they were choked out, but she hoped that they came across smoother than they sounded. Nervously, she chewed the inside of her lip and kept thinking about the fact that she normally doesn't act like this around attractive men. He ordered and then took a seat; she thought that was the last time she'd ever talk to him, but lo and behold, before he left he asked for her number; the rest was history.

Her dad didn't like the looks of Krasus at the beginning of their relationship; he was hard to win over, but he eventually softened to the idea that someone else could take of his 'angel'.

Then came the day where Krasus really had to take care of her; that's when the virus broke out. The symptoms just seem to be an advanced strain of the flu. First, her dad had it, but his personality started to change. All of his hair fell out, and his eyes lost color. No longer was he the sweet man who cared for her; he was some demon that was to kill whatever entered his home. Soon, more and more people were like that.

Everyone thought that was the end; that nothing else would happen.... they were wrong. Not long after a majority of humans began getting sicks, nature began to run rampage over the Earth. Cracks in the ground spewed fire, rain would fall for days, and the temperature would drop to the point where rain turned into snow. The integrity of buildings began to increase. Cars were left on the highway, and if the cars were in the country, vines would be growing through them.

How does Krasus and Haven fit into all this? Well, they seem to be the only ones left in their area. A few passersby shared stories of an untouched colony welcoming anyone who was clean of disease; that was their mission, to get to the colony. All they had was each other and the backpacks with provisions. The rest was up to them.

 

[Vinylscratch]

"So what now?" Krasus was staring across the dead city as they stood on a rooftop that had seemingly been untouched by anything just yet. "The colony sounds like a great start, but it's quite a while away and we already have a safehouse here." As Krasus walks to the edge, he sighs. "All of this came at such an odd time, but we're still together so something must be going right for us. We are, after all, still alive."

Scanning the city, as he usually does at the same time every day, 2:30 pm, he obviously was looking for more signs of life. "I don't understand still, how this happened. We went from having a great life, full of love, and other people. Now we're alone." Krasus turns to look at Haven. "I'm happy I'm here with you, I really am, but doesn't it feel empty here? Where do we go from here?"

 

[Celest]

Haven sat comfortably on the roof, knees up, arms laying across them as she watched Krasus pace and look over the city. She knew he was right; he always seemed to be right. They did have a safehoue, and the city basically never gets visitors.

"We are still alive, and we do still have each other. We could stay here as long as you wanted, but we may have more of a life in the colony, Krasus."

The only reason Haven kept pushing the matter was because she wanted to see if any of her family was still alive. He was important to her, but she couldn't help but feel like there were still people she lived, and the best way to find them was at the colony. When he turned to look at her she stood up and walked towards him, wrapping her arms around his waist, and resting her forehead against his chest.

"It is empty here, so I say we go to the colony," Haven said softly.

 

[Vinylscratch]

Putting his arms around Haven, and kissing the top of her head, he spoke softly. "Then we'll leave in the morning. There's no reason to start off this late in the day." By this time, a few hours had already passed as they stood there, looking at the dead city. It has been far too long since this city was bustling like it used to. They had even forgotten the name of it, though if you were to remove the overgrowth from signs, you'd know.

"We still have that truck we found sitting in the safehouse right? It'll be useful, since we siphoned all of that gas, in case we decided to leave one day." What do you say, should we head back across the city to the safehouse? It's still a few hours til dark, so we have some time."

 

[Celest]

"We most definitely should," she said brightly.

In a quick, but gently motion, she pushed away from him and darted back down the stairwell where they came. Making a game of getting back to the safehouse had become a kind of routine for them, and it also made light of situations which was always a good thing. Haven was now down in the streets running around objects and climbing over cars. Every so often she would check back over her shoulder to see where he was. When she looked back in front of her, she came to instant stop and fell on some loose gravel.

A tall black man stood before her, dressed in a long black trench coach, a pistol point down at her. Haven's chest heaved from fright as well from the running she just did.

"It wouldn't be wise to move right now miss," his voice was deep but eyes his eyes were kind. "I don't want to kill you. Who else is here?"

Haven couldn't speak. Normally Krasus was always around, and she could rely on him, but at this moment, her throat went dry and green eyes widened as she stared up at the man. She knew what she needed to say but couldn't get it out.

"Oh, fuck it. You're no danger." He put his gun away and just looked down at her. "How long have you been here?"

 

[Vinylscratch]

"If she isn't in any danger, what the hell are you doing pointing a gun at her?" Krasus wasn't far behind when he caught up to Haven. He went where he always would in order to protect her. Between the strange man and Haven. "We've been here for a while. That doesn't matter though. Why were you pointing a gun at her?"

Krasus helped Haven to her feet. "Are you alright? You know I wouldn't want anything to happen to you." Krasus hugged her. "It's a damn good thing we're getting out first thing in the morning."

Krasus eyed the man with the gun. "Where'd you get your piece? Why would you even bother? We've survived so far without one, so why can't you?"

 

[Celest]

"I didn't know if she would be a danger to me. You can't be too careful these days," the man said gruffly. "I have this because I tend to travel at night. That's when the real fun begins." A sick smile crossed his face as if he enjoyed being hunted by the diseased ones.

Haven just nodded when Krasus asked if she was okay and leaned against him, her head resting down on his shoulder.

"Don't get too mad at him, Krasus. He isn't really hurting anything. Maybe he can help us?"

She looked up at her boyfriend hopefully. Yeah, it was pleasant having a gun pointed at her, but if she was in the man's situation she might have done the same thing. For all she knows she may have even shot whoever was running towards her. At least he had enough control not to do that. Finally, Haven smiled a bit at the stranger then reached her hand out.

"I'm Haven and this is Krasus." She couldn't help but smile brighter when she said his name.

"Jonah," he grumbled. Jonah quickly shook her hand. "You mentioned leaving? Are you heading for the colony?"

 

[Vinylscratch]

"Yeah, we plan on it at some point. We were going to leave tomorrow morning." Krasus stared down Jonah pretty harshly. "I don't know who you are, and I'm really not comfortable with you having a weapon around us, seeing as you pointed it at Haven. You of all people should know, you don't point a weapon without the intent to kill."

Krasus, obviously disturbed by this man's interference with their quick journey back to their safehouse, wanted the man to just move along, but it looked as though he was intent on staying a while.

"Haven, you alright to get back? I'm sure this.....man will be around the city for a while. I have a feeling we'll be seeing him again real soon." Krasus looked at Haven, intently. It was clear he just wanted to get back to the safehouse, and be well....safe.

 

[Celest]

She slipped her hand into his and pulled him away from Jonah and towards the safehouse. Haven knew that Krasus wasn't too happy with this man, and she wanted to get him away from the stranger before anything else could happen. Today wasn't the day that she wanted anyone to get hurt.

"You know I'm okay. What do you want to do when we get back to the safehouse?" Haven asked, trying to get his mind off of what just happened.

After she asked that question, she began to wonder what they could do. They could read or just talk... play a game maybe? Orr other things... Haven smiled at that thought and looked up at him, a slight blush on her cheeks. Even though they had been together intimately, the thought still made her blush. Without another word she stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek softly before trotting ahead of him and opening the door to their home.