The World has Died

I looked at the door, and nodded when Chomps moved to position. It wouldn't make much sense that people had just left the horses there in retrospect, and the possibility of ambush was not something to be completely ruled out, even if the disaster only occurred yesterday. Stores were likely already out of food and essential goods, and criminals didn't need to be desperate to prey on people. I knocked on the door cautiously, to see if there would be an answer. "we know there's someone in there. We don't want a fight, but we will if we need to. We're armed, with knives, not guns..." I mentioned, remembering the other night when a shoot-out nearly, but was unable to, happened. "If you mean no harm than neither do we. Just come out."
 
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Jasmine only flinched a little bit when she heard the voice on the other side of the door. She hadn't heard any other voices but her own for a such a long time that she was sure she was going mad...if she hadn't already. The dark of the closet seemed, if at all possible, even darker than before. Her brown eyes looked to the bottom of the door at the tiny sliver of light that poked through. In the middle of the light were two blobs of shadows that she knew were feet. Another knock and she grasped her book of locks tightly to her chest, careful not to move at all. There was another shuffling sound that she assumed was another person, but still, Jasmine remained still. Better to be locked in or to keep others out?

"I don't know how to fight,"she whispered, not sure if they could hear her or not. "I don't know how to shoot a gun. I know how to, but I have never. Too many dangers come with guns. They shoot. They kill. They shoot to kill. Guns do, but not knives. Knives are better than guns. Just as dangerous, but better..."

The voice got closer as she assumed he was moving closer to the door. Jasmine got defensive again, holding her book tightly in her arms and closing her eyes, trying to use her own voice to block out his.

"Danger. Dangerous...No...Not danger. No danger..."

"If you mean no harm than neither do we. Just come out." Jasmine cracked one of her eyes open slowly, biting on her lip to look at the door quizzically. Anyone else would have bashed the door in and scared her half to death, automatically putting her on the defensive. The voice behind the door said he would do no harm and he sounded sincere about it. Jasmine looked down at her book and back to the door, coming to a conclusion. She blinked once and stood, stepping over her fortress of textbooks before crooking the door towards her. She jumped at the sight of Chomps, Stephen and the others, closing her eyes and yelling loudly.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"
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As Stephen took lead, Chomps wondered who was behind the door. Hopefully they would see that we weren't a threat to them and wanted to only increase our numbers for a better chance of survival. Chomps drew closer to the door, putting his ear up to hear soft whispers, but barely. He looked up to Stephen who was going to decide if we should progress further. By the way this girl sounded she was a bit out of it and probably was all alone in the world now. "Stephen, we should approach her carefully..She seems a bit shook up." When she yelled loudly, Chomps jumped back dropping whatever he had in his hands.
 
I stumbled back as the woman shouted only inches away from us. She was...out of it, shook up as Chomps had put it seconds before. She wasn't armed, But she seemed to be clutching a book tightly enough, which would hurt just as much as a stone if she chose to hurl it at one of us. "We mean no harm...we just feel safer in numbers you understand..." I say, confused and looking around to make sure the others did nothing to spook her. I returned to my feet, and kept the knife at the least threatening angle possible. "So...how long have you been in the closet?" I said, trying to get as much information as possible without saying anything that would seem like I was prying too much.
 
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Jasmine flinched at the words 'no harm'. Again, the guy sounded sincere about what he said, even though he looked like he had been through hell and back. Jasmine assumed she didn't look any better. Her maroon hair stuck in many places by what she could tell from looking into her peripheral. The book of locks was still bound tightly to her chest, her cocoa eyes darting from Stephen to Chomps and back to Stephen. Why were they here and how did they know she was in the closet? Her mouth opened to say something, but when she saw the glint of the knife fall from Chomps's hand...she took action.

And by 'action', I mean, she swung her book directly across Chomps's head.

"No! No, I won't let you kill me! Get away! AWAY!"she screamed, gripping her book and bringing it hard across his head again. Ignoring Stephen's question, she swung her eyes on him, wary that he too may have been carrying a weapon. Jasmine had nothing to protect, really, except for herself and her books.

"No. I can survive for more than 3 days. Get away..."she growled, holding the book to her head level as if to threaten him to try her. If he so much as leaned toward her, the book would be imprinted in his skull as well.
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Chomps took the blow to the head. Damn that hurt..But it was a piece of cake as compared to steel chairs. The blow to the head caused him to fall back to the floor again, despite trying to get up before, perhaps he should just crawl the rest of the way. "Man..What is your problem?! I didn't do anything!" Only to get whacked again! What the hell?! Chomps was beginning to get angered, but he needed to keep his calm..This was a girl locked up in a closet for 3 days, of course she's gonna jump to conclusions about this sorta shit. Chomps looked to Stephen, then back to the girl. "Look..I know you're just gonna beat the hell outta me some more..But, we're only trying to help you!"
 
Three days. This woman had secluded herself for three days, and that meant she had no idea what happened to the world. "So you've been in there for a little while...did the light go off last night? For no real reason? Phone stop working? Flashlights go out?" I asked, describing all kinds of unusual technological issues that could be found in a closet. I looked at the rest of the group, then back to the girl, who was still threatening us with a book. I dropped my knife, and slowly held up my hands. "We're not here to cause conflict. We're not here to fight. Somethings happened, and nothing electronic is working. Hell, guns aren't working, and that's way too strange." I said, and pointed to the carriage and the stomping horses. "We're just here to get this carriage to load up supplies, then we're going to find our other friend, then we're getting out of this city. It's going to be really dangerous in the next few days, so we're going to get the "hell outa dodge", as it were..." I said, remembering the phrase my mother often used. I was quiet for a moment, thinking that it's possible for them to survive, remembering her attitude toward disasters, but I quickly snapped back to reality. "Anyway...the more people in a group, the more eyes, the more hands, and the more brains. You're more than welcome to come with us, we're heading south, to where we don't know yet."
 
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And then, suddenly, she stopped.

"No electricity? You mean like...no where? Anywhere? Sorry, should have said 'anywhere' first. 'Nowhere' really doesn't makes sense in that sentence,"she muttered, momentarily getting lost in her thoughts over proper English before Stephen spoke up again. Jasmine held tight to her book in one hand, casually leaning on her hip as if she hadn't just tried to knock Chomps out unconscious. Her eyes were no longer glassed and dazed, as they were minutes before. Now there was a definite brown spark behind them. She chanced a look around her and was surprised to find it completely dark. According to her timing, and she was sure it wasn't off, it couldn't have been passed 4 in the afternoon on...whatever day that was. She wouldn't know. She had been stuck in there for 3 days, or for what felt like a week.

Jasmine stood for a second or two, listening to Chomps's groaning while she tilted her head, tapping the side of it. "So, let me get this straight. None of the electronics are working and you think leaving the city is gonna help that? Well, that makes as much sense as a monkey playing chess with a barracuda, which I hope you know is impossible,"she said, leaning towards Stephen with a squint in her eyes as if she weren't so sure he knew that. A second or two passed before Stephen's true reason for dragging her out of the closet became clear. They needed help escaping. She picked up Chomps's fallen knife and twisted it once.

"...I suppose you won't let me bring my books, would you?" Their expressions answered her question and she heaved an annoying sign. "Fine. Lead the way,"she said to Stephen, handing the knife back to Chomps's without so much as a sideways glance. That guy was way too big to be friendly.
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"Y-Yeah..Nothing is working. I almost hit myself last night while working out when the electricity all of a sudden. Poof!" Chomps slowly rose up to his feet, rubbing his head as he finally shrugged off the beating Jasmine gave him and looked back to Stephen. "She brings up a good point, Stephen..When we do leave the city..What is our plan then? Or should we just focus on the task at hand first and go from there?..You also have to remember there are tons of crazies runnin amuck..Since there's nothing here." Chomps looked to Jasmine again after he stated his own thoughts. She seemed like a looney toon alright, but she carried around books so she probably can contribute to the group in someway. He watched as she twisted the knife, folding his arms over his chest and giving a swift grunt. He took the knife back from her, giving her a look of thanks but didn't say it. Chomps waited for Stephen to lead the way back.
 
"Leaving the city is more along the lines of getting out of a population center...I didn't expect anything to work outside the city, I just think we have a better chance in a less populated area." I looked back at the carriage, and then at the sky. It was noon now, and it would be best to get out of here before nightfall. The scant wispy clouds did nothing to save us from the heat of August, that couldn't be helped. I looked around at our supplies, and took a mental note. I motioned to the others to load everything out of the bookbags and into the carriage, so we could take note of what we had. "Since we have the carriage, You can bring a few books...Ms...?" I said and asked, grasping for her name. "In all, we have a weeks worth of water, and two weeks worth of food. Also, we have a few knives and basic tools, as well as a few spare sets of clothing." I said, then went to hook the horses up to the carriage, one mare and one gelding. Unfortunately, there were no stallions, but that was thinking a bit too far ahead. "You guys know how to ride horses? Time to learn if you don't. hook up the saddles, we need to find Kale....God knows where she is by now..."
 
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She nodded at Stephen, figuring he was the head of the entire mission. He looked the part, scanning every corner around him for something along the lines of supplies or information. Chomps just looked as if he wanted to burst through walls and strangle everything in sight. Jasmine made a face and faced Stephen, saluting as if he were some general. Okay, so maybe not all of the insanity was out of her yet.

"The name's Jasmine Bishop, but you can call me Jazz if you don't wanna say the whole name. I guess it's a pleasure to meet you too, Stephen, seeing as though I might have been locked in that closet with nothing but books! Speaking of which..." Jasmine scrunched her nose and went back into the closet, opening the door fully so that she could get a good glimpse at the titles of the books written on each of their spines. She took a second, biting on her bottom lip, before grabbing a book on botany, astronomy, kung fu, and a decade old cook book. A whinny from behind her stopped her from gathering anymore of her precious books which she hated leaving behind. It wasn't like the place was going to be engulfed in flames, destroying them, but leaving them to gather dust was just as bad.

"Sorry guys,"she said, whispering to the books before shutting the door and facing Chomps. She scowled, huffed, and stuck her nose in the air before Stephen's voice broke across the air. Jasmine trotted beside him, looking up at a plump, candy brown horse with large black eyes. The saddle wrapped on the horse was a worn leather, meaning that this horse had seen some days. Jasmine patted it's hose, chancing a glance at Stephen.

"Who's Kale and will he or she pull a knife out on me?"she asked innocently, shooting a look towards Chomps.
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Kale spotted a backpack that was half wedged under a rock and pulled it free, dusting it off before pulling it open. Binders, notebooks, an algebra textbook. Useless crap now. She dumped it on the ground and stuffed the things she had taken inside instead. Food, clothing, random other supplies. What wouldn't fit she kept in a shopping bag tied to the bottom firmly. She nodded to herself, satisfied. It would work until she got out of this damned subway at least. When she was done, she turned to Desmond and flicked a lock of hair out of her eyes.


"Alright. Supplies are secured. Let's get out of this hole while we can," she said, moving over to him with the lantern that they had found. The flame flickered and made him look more pale than before, but she supposed that it did the same thing to her.


He seemed like he was about to say something, but then they both looked up. It was that telltale rumbling again. She gasped and ran for it down the tracks, the lantern swaying in her hand as she went as fast as she could. Thunderous crashes followed at her heels, with small rocks occasionally hitting her. She ignored all of it and ran until she thought she was going to pass out. Something hit the back of her heels from behind and she tumbled forward, sprawling out on the tracks in a daze. She had hit the back of her head off the rail, and for several moments all she saw were stars. It wasn't until her right arm started feeling uncomfortably warm that she really registered she had dropped the lantern and spilled the oil everywhere. The fire was spreading - very, very close.


She jumped up and scrambled away from it, looking back. It was nothing but blackness and a pile of rubble. Desmond was nowhere to be seen. She frowned and shook her head, but now wasn't the time for a search party. He hadn't made it, end of story. She had been gone far too long already. When she looked around more, she realized she had run to the next station. She climbed off the tracks and walked through the deserted platform, then climbed the stairs. After scrambling over a few cars, she was back on the street and she realized what had happened. The entire road was caved in like a deep 'u'. No wonder the subway collapsed.


"Oh great.. Now to find my way back home.." she said, shaking her head and walking down the chaotic street in hopes of finding somebody that she knew.
 
"Guess you're right..We would have a better chance. Let's keep going then." The logic made sense, but Chomps concern was would they be able to live after that month? Hopefully the electricity would come back on, and if not..They would have to learn to live. Chomps was used to not having electricity anyway, very rarely did he use it other than to shower and other important daily tasks. But most things could be done without electric. Chomps looked over to Jazz. She seemed to have tension towards him, he felt the same..She hit him over the head with a damn book twice for no reason! Squinting back at her, he grunted once again, then turned his attention to Stephen.

"Kale has been gone for a long time..Think she's still alive?"

When Jazz asked about Kale, he chuckled, looking to her in the corner of his eyes.

"No, she won't pull a knife. Just don't throw books at her."
 
"Don't worry Jasmine, Kale's the one who gave us all these supplies, she's not...too violent...tough I honestly have no idea whether she is or is not still alive, but it would make sense to poke around for a few supplies first and look for her, right? I don't think everything's quite gone to hell in a single night." I said, but I didn't entirely believe it. People looted the city with a day without power, and then, cars and portable electronics still worked, now...none of those things did. I nodded when the two had mounted their horses, and I whipped the horses to a trot through the gate that had been swung open before I heard Jasmine in the closet. We got a few odd looks from the people on the sidewalks, but no one really said anything, they simply moved out of our way, the streets were clogged with cars that wouldn't start, so we certainly couldn't maneuver around them. I directed the carriage toward the entrance of the nearest subway, and heard what could only be described as a collapse of a parking garage. I whipped the reigns to get the horses trotting a bit faster, and when we turned the corner, I saw Kale, and behind her, a road that have caved in on the subway. "...What in the world did you do Kale?"
 
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"...Ummm....Okay."

That was all she had to say and that was all she was going to say. If the boys didn't believe her, Jasmine pressed her lips together in a thin line and brought her eyes above her and above her only, even when they continued to talk. The ear of her horse flickered and she grinned quickly, grabbing the tip of it in her fingers and rubbing. She remembered quickly about how horses liked to be rubbed on the tips of their ears. Everyone thought it was down the neck or the mane, but no one really read up on it. Jasmine silently congratulated herself when the horse let out a satisfactory whinny. As if on cue, Jasmine directed her gaze to Stephen, giving him a far off and glazed grin.

"Lead the way." That he did. Jasmine tossed one more look behind her at the closet she had made her home in three days. She was going to miss that dark room. No food. Little air. Crawling bugs. Yeah, she was going to miss it. The second the three of their horses successfully tore out of the stable, Jasmine was hit with quite the sight. It started with the people on the street. There were too many. All of them were walking and not one car was moving. Giving the three of them upturned frowns, the people turned away from them and continued to walk around aimlessly. There was the occasional shout of pain and fear, but the people continued to stroll down the streets without a care in the world.

"...Oh man..."she whispered, giving both Chomps and Stephen a raised brow. "This is what happens to society when there's no electronics? Sad." That was about it. She didn't burst out in tears or even ask 101 questions. She just shrugged and followed the back of Stephen's horse silently. The sky was darker than usual without the headlights from cars lighting up the road. She had no idea what time of day it was and didn't care to know. What mattered anymore? What was important and what could be thrown in the bin named 'Insignificant'?

"...What in the world did you do Kale?" Bubble of thought popped, Jasmine turned her gaze downwards. Looking back up at her was another female, her expression both lost and in thought. Jasmine leaned on her side, bending down over the neck of her horse and giving Kale a closer look.

"This is Kale? Man, she's pretty. What's a pretty girl like you doing walking arou...ohhhh yeah. Forgot,"she said, closing her mouth into her pursed lip formation again, looking at the subway behind Kale with a whistle.
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Kale trudged down the street for less than a minute before she heard an odd clopping noise. Horses? Downtown? Well, nothing made sense anymore. She looked up and realized Stephen was looking down at her. At his accusation, she looked back at the caved-in road, then turned back to him with a grin.


"I got really angry and decided to stomp around a little bit. Fear me," she joked, then nodded to Chomps and blinked at the girl who called her pretty. "Who are you? And where's that other guy, the one who was passed out on the floor?" she asked in confusion, looking at the other two and shifting around a bit as the full-to-nearly-bursting backpack weighed her down.

[Deal with my shortness!]
 
Chomps looked over to see Kale, alive and well. Definitely needed her on this quest to get out of the city alive. Even though she was pretty short about what she did, Chomps had the idea Kale was pretty busy while they were getting the horses and meeting up with Jazz who seemed to think Kale was a man. It made Chomps laugh a bit as he felt himself grumbling. When the was the last time he actually ate something? And not something small either, like a legit course meal..There wouldn't be any of those for a while.

"Seems like you robbed a store, Kale."

Darting his attention back to Stephen.

"Alright, so we have Kale, Jazz, You, and I...These horses and some supplies...What next?"
 
I gave Kale a small smile, and shook my head. So far, she seemed like trouble followed her, but I'm sure that was nothing more than coincidence. Hopefully. At Chomps's question, I looked up at the sky to judge the time. It was about...five? Six maybe? There was no longer any way to tell for sure. "The goal now is to get the hell out of New York as quickly as possible. Preferably before nightfall...but I really don't know how much time we have left." I leaned over and handed Jasmine my knife, since she was on the horse and more mobile. I then turned and offered a hand to Kale to help her up onto the carriage. "I think he darted off when Jasmine hit Chomps with the book...not a very brave fellow..."
 
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"Bibliophobia. Fear of books. Which...I don't see how anyone could have,"she mused to herself, thrusting her short and stubby fingers in the matted mass of maroon hair. Kale and the others were all wondering on the next move while all being oddly casual about the entire thing. That was weird. Unexpected actually. All electronics hit the dust and they were just looking towards their next motive? How can people, teens at that, look so calm about the entire thing? Jasmine scanned over the three, looking down to her own horse while she unconsciously gripped the knife in her wrist, nicking the skin slightly.

"We're all crazy, aren't we?"she asked to not one of them in particular. She wasn't seeking an answer, but when she got one, she just pushed aside and guided the horse's head behind her to gaze down the trail they had just taken from the stables. Sure enough, there was no other person running behind them and trying to flag them down.

"I guess so. Poor guy. Rest In Peace?"she asked. The horse didn't like that joke, prodding it's hooves across the asphalt in impatience "Joking! I was joking!" Jazz's eyes soon landed on the food Kale had managed to get and nearly died on the inside. She hadn't eaten in 3 days. Well, not entirely. She did manage to get some protein out of eating a book covering...but that wasn't food. Besides, Kale didn't know her from a whole in her own ass, so it wouldn't have been a problem if Jazz suddenly tackled her and yanked her hair, scrambling for the food, right? The entire scene played out in her head before she heard Stephen's voice again, snapping her out of it. Unfortunately. She was still starving.

"Late shmate. It's not like werewolves are gonna pop out of subway stairs and maul us, right?"she asked, chuckling before her eyes landed on Chomps. Who was not chuckling. "....Right?"
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