Bickering Prosperity

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C

Calico

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After a nuclear war between three countries, only a handful of survivors can be found. Some are in pockets and others are lost. It is only a matter of time before these people who are not in the pockets must find a group to survive. Two have found that they are in need of someone else to find one of these pockets. They only problem is that they cannot stand each other. What will happen on this forced journey?
 
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Naomi stood in front of the remains of what was once her antique shop. It was now just ruins and wreckage. Nothing had survived the bombs. Well, she had survived and maybe a few others had. Nothing was all she could see though. What was once Seattle was now ruins and devoid of people. There was nothing that could have been saved in the sudden attack and nothing that she could get back. She had still tried despite that small fact. The attack had been two months ago and yet it felt as if only yesterday the bombs had dropped and she had abandoned her homely store. She had nothing now and she didn't know where she thought she could find anything. The ground was littered with bricks, steel supports and other carnage. Nothing could stop the memory of the attack from coming to mind. She had thought she had lost that a person could lose and this proved that she hadn't. There was nothing, but she felt as if there should be.
She knelt down beside the ruins and began to stack brick upon brick in a odd trance that if she could just fix that one thing, then everything would be fine. Everything would go back to normal. Her store could live on and she wouldn't have to scour for food. She could do it. She could bring her store back to life. She frowned as a brick slipped of the top of a pile. She set it back on top and stared at the bricks, trying to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. She couldn't and she screamed. She couldn't do it and she didn't know what went wrong. She tried to hold back the tears that threatened to consume her. She didn't know what to do.
She stood and looked around. Everything that had happened, it was too much. She couldn't figure out anything anymore. She looked at her limp hand. She closed her eyes. If only she could use it again, maybe everything would be fine. She opened her eyes and knew that everything was never going to be the same. What use was it to wish for it to be? She looked down and was silent. "What now?" she whispered to herself.
 
Kass watched intently as the woman desperately and continuously piled brick after brick on top of each other in a hopeless attempt to rebuild what had been destroyed. He knew that deep down she knew there was no way to rebuild the place she had no doubt put so much time and effort into. As he watched her, he noticed that her right hand was wrapped in a makeshift brace. If she was in that building when the bombs hit, then she was very lucky to get out with little more than a shattered hand. Fate had a funny way of deciding who was worthy of being saved, and he knew he was not much worthier than her, so fate indeed was a strange thing.

Kass had been wandering the surrounding area searching for survivors. Armed with only a small hunting rifle and the clothes on his back, he didn't have much that would be helpful. The survivor's guilt seemed to kick in every once in a while when he saw the nearby areas littered with lifeless, radioactive corpses. Why him? Out of all the fleshless people scattered about, why was he the one that managed to escape without a scratch? He was positive he had done nothing different from anyone else. So why him? Whatever the reason, it wasn't worth dwelling over.

He began walking in the direction he was originally headed but a little voice in his head told him that it was not right to leave that woman to fumble around in rubble thinking she was the only one left. And he knew that little voice was right, but he did things on his own. Not only that, but he wasn't sure he was capable of protecting her from whatever was out there. He had no idea what was out there or if he could handle it, and damn him to hell if he put another innocent life in the path of danger. But how would she handle herself alone? He couldn't take that risk either.

Slowly he walked over to the woman that was still digging through the rubble with her one good hand. "Everything okay over here, ma'am?" He asked. "Of course, the better question would be 'can I help you?' as it seems nothing is okay right now."
 
Naomi stared at the man who had walked up to her, she looked back to the ruins of her antique shop and was silent. She couldn't respond. She didn't know how to begin to explain that she had thought that maybe by some miracle she could rebuild her store. She knew it was a foolish thought and now as she thought about it, she couldn't believe that she had thought it. She hadn't believed that anything like this could happen either though. She just...she couldn't. What could she think about that was a positive about this whole thing? That she was alive? That was bittersweet. She stared at one of the dead bodies. She knew that she could have been one of them, but she hadn't been. Why? Was this some cruel joke that the world was playing on her? She was annoyed at the thought that the world was toying with her for it's own amusement. She knew that the world wasn't toying with her though. She didn't know what to believe.

She shuffled her feet and stared at her right hand. If it hadn't been shattered by the brick, she would at least be able to fight off any possible threats. She then looked to her left hand. She could still throw a harsh punch with it, but it was her weaker hand and it would only end with her wishing that she was able to use both hands in a fight. Was anything fair in this new world that was created by the devastation of this war? Most likely not. She would have to learn to deal with it. She couldn't even begin to imagine what the rest of the world was like. She only knew what Seattle was like. She hadn't thought about the rest of the world. At the moment of the attack, all that seemed to matter was getting out of the antique shop as quickly as possible. She hadn't thought it through, she hadn't the time to think through a plan. She had been out of the door and watching her world fall apart before her eyes. She knew she had been lucky that it was only her right hand that had been injured.

She pursed her lips and looked at the injured hand. She usually used it to stand, but she hadn't been able to do that in a while. Everything seemed more difficult now that she had lost the function of this hand. She couldn't write and she couldn't use it to support herself to stand. Finally, as all these realizations had come to her...the tears began to fall down her cheeks. She wasn't about to admit that she needed help. She stared at the ground, contemplating a way to show that she didn't need help. That she could do this on her own. That she was strong enough to move on. She attempted to stand without the support of her hand, but stumbled and nearly fell. Was everything as impossible as standing now?

She looked at the ruins that had once been the shop. She could remember the way it looked before the attack and how people came and went. They had always been looking for something and she had been able to find it. The memories overpowered her so much that she had to clutch at her chest as a sob raked her body. She felt like she was falling apart for the third time. There was no evidence that her customers had survived and her bets were that they hadn't.

She couldn't bare to think of it and turned to face the man. She cast her eyes down and shook her head. "You're right, nothing is okay. No, there is nothing you can do to help." she said, in a voice so soft that it would have been missed had the city been it's usual. She flinched as the thought came to her and the tears unwillingly would not stop flowing.
 
Kass was at a loss for words. Watching her imagine the 'before-and-after' of everything so vividly, and being torn apart by the reality of something that was never thought possible, was almost too much for him to handle. But what could he do? What could anyone do in such a situation but move forward. In such absolute devastation, there was nothing to go back to. No home. No family. No authority figures to reassure you that everything is going to be okay. As much as he, and likely her as well, wanted to shove the topic aside, there was no escaping the fact that the two of them were likely the only living beings in the area. They were the fortunate and unfortunate survivors of a nuclear apocalypse. And how can any survivor be mentally, physically, and emotionally prepared for such an immediate event.

Kass wished he didn't look so nonchalant about everything, but he couldn't just sit here and tear himself up inside because of something that was probably inevitable. That wasn't going to get him anywhere. So the emotions could wait. Survival was more important. And since the air was so radioactively poisoned, even the survivors would have very little time before their insides began to shrivel up. It was a miracle they had survived such a poison for two months already.

"I understand you feel like you're falling apart. I'm sure everyone who's still miraculously alive out there is feeling the same way. But there's nothing we can do here. Rebuilding your shop with only the two of us would take years, not to mention the extreme radioactivity that is no doubt everywhere. If we don't find gas masks soon, we won't be survivors for much longer." He said, trying to speak as calmly as possible. "There's not many places we can find a gas mask. If there's any military base or military/navy retail store nearby that would be great, but I don't know of any. That might be quite a distance away. In that case we'll need to either find a hospital and get surgical masks, which would probably be very little help anyways, or book it in any direction and get as far away from this area as possible."
 
Naomi knew that he was right. She wouldn't admit to it though. She did however agree that they needed to get away from the city, but where would they go? She had thought that there was only one way to survive. To rebuild her shop. Her whole way of life had to change. She would never be able to go back to it. She knew that it was time to move forwards. To not look backwards. She couldn't let the bombings stop her. She couldn't let the past hold her back. She had to move on, to get over all the tragedy. There was only one thing she could do at that moment and she had to reach out and take a hold of it. There was no other choice. If she was to live to see what happened next, she would have to press on. She had to find the will to survive. Where did that will to survive come from though? She had no clue. She did know that she could press on, that she could make it through whatever was thrown at her. Not even a small injury such as a shattered hand could stop her. She wouldn't let it.

She thought of what he had said. She did falling like she was falling apart, but she had to push that aside. She thought of what he said about the hospital. Odd memories came to her of the hospital she had been to frequently. They would have to go there. She knew that she could lead the way if need be. She didn't know how far it was though. She shuddered to think of what would happen on the way there. She didn't think about it, more out a desire to try to think about just getting there. What they should do is to get out of the city and quickly.

Eventually she lifted her eyes to his own and nodded. "It would take to long to get the surgical masks. We shouldn't stay here for longer than we need to. We should head north though. Canada. Wasn't as heavily bombed as it was here, different reasons for that. There is plenty of other reasons." she said. She shrugged and looked towards the north. It would be a long, hard and treacherous journey and already she felt worn.
 
Kass nodded in agreement. "My name is Kasius by the way. But you can just call me Kass." He said, putting his hand out politely to shake hers.

"Do you know of any town nearby that wasn't hit by the bombs? We'll need to stock up for our journey and radioactive food probably won't be very sustaining or satisfying."
 
Naomi stared at his hand for a moment, unsure if she should shake it or not. She hesitantly took it and shook it gently. " Naomi, although most call me Omi."

She thought for a moment. What was one of the nearby towns. It had to be a small one to not have been bombed. Only one came to mind. She looked at him and nodded. "I know one, but...distance wise? I'm not so sure. Cherry Grove. About 126 miles from here."
 
"Then I suppose that's where we're headed. While we walk, keep an eye out for working vehicles. The sooner we get out of here the better." Kass said. "As well as non-consumables that might be helpful, like blankets, weapons, ammo. And shelter that isn't bothered by radioactive gas."
 
"Right. We'll have to get out of this...ruination before we get any of those things. We should start heading out now. " Naomi said, nodding. She looked around one final time before looking at Kass. "It's going to be hard to leave something you've known your whole life, but it has to happen. "
 
"Yeah. The realization is there for sure but for me it just hasn't completely sunk in yet." He thought out loud as he started walking. That was the thing he dreaded the most was getting to that point where all of a sudden it dawns on him how serious the whole situation really is. He already knew the situation was serious but he had a feeling there was more to it than that.

But the one thing he dreaded even more was finding out exactly what happened to his father and sister. They had left town for Sera's dance competition a few days before the bombs hit. He wanted to go but there was no one to watch the pets while they were gone so Kass stayed behind, and look what it brought him. Total annihilation and separation from his family. It could have been worse, though. If he had died, it would have been a hell of a way to go down and what it would have done to his family. Although being on the receiving end of that situation made his nerves knot up to the point of torture. He might never know their fate. And that irked him in so many ways it was unbelievable.

He desperately shook the thoughts from his head and payed attention to the problem at hand. They were still a long ways away from safety and he was probably slowing them both down because he was too preoccupied by his worries. He picked up pace a little and was debating on whether he should make small talk or not. But there was a time and place for everything, and right now didn't seem like the time for chitchat. So he kept quiet, ushering their journey on in silence.
 
Naomi was silent, not knowing what to say and not wanting to interrupt the silence that the two had been engulfed in. She couldn't help but wonder if her brothers were alright. She couldn't think of them at the moment though. If they didn't make it out, there would be no way for her to know if they were or not. She could only hope that they were alive. At the moment, there were more important things. If she wanted to see them, she would have to be alive. What she didn't know was if there was anything for her to look for. She couldn't let that get in the way. She had to push on, that is what they would have wanted her to do. She couldn't worry about if they were alright or not.

Each step she took seemed more difficult then the last. She was leaving behind..her whole life. She wasn't sure how to deal with that yet, so she pushed it to the side and did her best not to think of it. She couldn't think of anything else at the moment though. She looked back thoughtfully. It was as if the city was calling her back. She had to ignore it. Nothing good could come from her going back. She turned back around and walked.

What she hadn't noticed yet, was that some of the bodies on the street looked familiar. It was unreal to think that her friends and her customers had died. She looked past them, not wanting to see them or the memories that came with them. She had to move, she had to get out of there. Her feet picked up and went faster, towards the edge of the city. Soon she was running and she wouldn't stop until she got out of the city. She knew that she would be exhausted, but to her...anything was better than looking at the bodies of your friends and knowing they were dead while you had survived. She couldn't bare the thought.
 
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