The Day After (pt. 1)

First, I want to apologize for my absence- for anyone reading this in real-time. My first trimester has been kicking my ass and the Playwright isn't exactly someone I can just text to ask it to make a post. In any case, I checked my drafts and saw this long ass post so I'm dividing it in two. For those interested in my story, thank you. It... it feels good to be seen by someone, even if they're a stranger. If you want to talk to me I made a Tumblr account. There's not going to be any story there, it's just a personal account for me to ask questions or share things with whoever's listening.  Without further ado, here's the next installment in my story. 

---

Harmonia and Claire had fallen asleep together on the couch. Harmonia was curled up in the fetal position as Claire held her, leaning her head on her girlfriend's. As Harmonia slowly awoke, she noticed it was much chillier than the previous day, almost freezing, which was very odd for August. Though Claire was doing a good job keeping her warm so, naturally, she didn't want to get up. That was when the doorknob began jiggling and the homeowner knew she had to check... another loss for her. Harmonia regretfully peeled herself away from Claire, shivering as she went to the door, carefully looking through the curtain to see who or what was there.

Upon peering through the cloth that shielded them from onlookers, she immediately noticed the large amount of snow that had fallen and was still falling. It was much lighter now, but there was at least a foot and a half of snow coating her neighborhood for the foreseeable distance. As for what was at her door, it was Roxy, shivering and trying to get in.

Harmonia quickly opened the door for her, moving aside to let her in. "Fuck- it's snowing?" She shivered, heading over to the thermostat to turn on the heat. "I hope the electricity still works..."

"It's fucking freezing dude, it's been snowing since like yesterday-" Roxy stumbled inside, brushing the snow off of her hoodie and promptly taking it off as Harmonia turned the heat on. 

"It should work," she said, muffled as she removed her hoodie, "At least for a little while longer." Roxy set her hoodie down on the arm of the recliner. She wore an almost formal-looking, form-complimenting white button-up with a smiley face pin on it. She promptly took off the pin and shoved it into the hoodie.

"Sleepy as usual," Roxy sighed, looking towards Claire.

"So how did it go? Did she have any information?" Harmonia asked, looking at Claire and wrapping her in a blanket, before putting one over herself.

"Oh man, okay, uhhh." Roxy messed with her bangs for a second, setting them straight. "It went... probably better than it could've gone! Um. So, right, the church on the other end of town was full of people and she's actively welcoming them in, as the person running the church, so that's a little concerning all things considered, but uhhh... I did manage to talk to her for a bit!" She smiled awkwardly, sitting down in the recliner. "Uh, okay, so, she seemed very happy about this turn of events, for better or worse, and ummm... I dunno, she was talking about some demon talking to her through radio frequencies or something?" Roxy put a hand to her chin. "Something about the reawakening of an ancient god?" She looked to Claire for a second, before turning back to Harmonia. "I dunno. I dunno! It's weird. She was weird about it." Roxy sighed, leaning back in the recliner.

"I see... um... why is that concerning all things considered?" Harmonia asked, tilting her head. "And what did the demon say? What god?" She seemed to have more questions than answers now, sitting on the edge of her seat as she stared intently at the younger woman.

"So, like, she's lowkey a manipulative cult leader who's probably gonna drug the fuck out of everyone there. So." Roxy shrugged uncomfortably. "If I could help there I would. I have a gun but she's like... a dreamwalker so it kinda wouldn't be too effective. As for the demon, I dunno she didn't tell me. As for the god... if I had to give a guess, it'd be something similar to L'tradactil'lin."

Harmonia had heard of dreamwalkers, or "dromen", which were one of the more common types of monsters. And the name Roxy said seemed familiar, but she couldn't place where she'd heard it before. Maybe some rumors from back when she was in school? She really couldn't recall. 

"Oh... that's not good.." Harmonia stated, though she was suddenly glad that Claire ensured Harmonia didn't meet this "Lucy". "L'tradactil'lin? What's that? I... I've heard the name but I can't place it..." She admitted, fidgeting nervously. Jello had jumped onto Claire's lap in Harmonia's absence, taking advantage of her heat. 

"It's this fucked up godthing that's really only worshipped by small cults nowadays. And it's like... real. There's government documents on it and stuff. Vatican documents, mostly..." Roxy looked up, "I sound like a crazy conspiracy theorist right now but I promise I'm kind of normal." 

"I see... No- no- I'll take anything right now..." Harmonia hummed softly. "Um....so you didn't learn a lot then..." Her tone was a bit sheepish, clearly worried about offending Roxy.

"Not really, no, but I'm gonna have to talk to Claire about Lucy's little drug cult when she wakes up," Roxy sighed, sinking into the recliner. 

"I see... um... can I listen?" Harmonia asked, tilting her head a bit to the side curiously. 

"Yeah, better to know than to not. It's good to know who's dangerous and should be avoided, I think.." Roxy took off her shoes and curled up, reclining the recliner. 

Harmonia nodded. "Yeah, I think so too." She pauses. "Are you hungry?"

"Not very. Lucy's... a good baker, kinda. I ate good." Roxy chuckled nervously.

"Gotcha... I'll make Claire and me food then- utilize the oven while we can."

"That's a good idea... If you need help just let me know!" Roxy smiled. "Should probably make enough for at least a week, just in case."

"Yeah... good idea." Harmonia sighed, heading to the kitchen to try and prepare as much perishable food as she could.

---

At some point, Claire woke up and started cleaning the living room. Roxy had fallen asleep in the recliner, presumably from a long night of partying at the church, but Claire shook her awake.

"Hey."

"Bwaah!!!" Roxy yawned. "Oh, yeah, I need to like.. tell you stuff.." she stirred. "Harmonia wanted to listen I think. Harmonia!!" Roxy called.

Harmonia rushed into the living room, eyes wide and holding a kitchen knife. "Is something wrong? Are we under attack?"

"N,, No you wanted to listen to us talk about, uhh..." Roxy leaned forward as Claire sat down on the couch. "The... church stuff, yeah."

"Oh right- yeah." She nodded, calming down. "One moment, I have to turn the stove off." Harmonia glanced at the knife. "And put this away. " She then headed to the kitchen, finishing her immediate task and returning, sitting next to Claire.

Claire folded her hands in her lap as Harmonia sat beside her, awaiting Roxy's words.

"Okay, so, uh. Lucy's got a fuckload of survivors in her church and she's totally gonna R053 'em! So. That's not very good." Roxy shrugs.

"What do you think we should do?" Claire asked simply. 

"...???? I dunno??? Nothing??? Maybe???"

"What's uh... R053?" Harmonia asked, tilting her head.

"Umm..! It's, uhhh-" Roxy was quickly interrupted by Claire.

"It's a drug that heavily damages the user's psyche permanently." Claire sighed. "The effects have never been shown to wear off."

"Oh god..." Harmonia's eyes widened. "We- we have to try and stop her, right???"

"That's... dangerous!" Roxy said as Claire nodded in reply.

"I'd rather not put us in the direct line of fire." Claire looked to Harmonia, rapping her fingers on the arm of the couch.

"I... I can't just... let her hurt people?? I mean- are we just supposed to stand to the side?" Harmonia asked incredulously, fidgeting with her sweater, resting the urge to pull at a loose thread. 

"She will literally kill us, dude." Roxy said, her eyes wide as she shrugged, "If you wanna deal with that, be my guest."

Harmonia shrunk at that. "I... that's... um... that's a good point... I don't want to die..."

Claire nodded. "Yeah... so, like... I dunno. We have guns, but she has numbers." Roxy said as she leaned back with a sigh.

"Yeah... that's fair..." Harmonia said softly. "Fuck... I just... is there any way to warn them?"

"Don't think so. Even if we did, they'd just give in due to desperation.." Roxy explained with a frown.

"Fair enough..." Harmonia said softly.

"So what do you think we should do?" Claire asked, looking back to Roxy, who just shrugged and looked to Harmonia.

"Um... well... maybe get supplies? Weapons especially... all I have are kitchen knives..." Harmonia answered softly.

"That's true. Any hardware stores around?" Roxy asked, looking specifically at Harmonia.

Harmonia nodded. "Yeah, there's a Home Depot and Lowes I think."

"Do those have guns?..."

"...no... I don't know where to get guns actually.." Harmonia admitted nervously.

"Well. We have all the guns we need anyways, ammunition is an issue though." Roxy sighed.

"How many guns do you have?" Harmonia asked, a confused and concerned expression on her face. "I thought you only had a hunting rifle?"

"You mean the one I gave you?" Roxy raised an eyebrow. "I also haaaave..." She picked up her bag and started pulling out various handguns. Around 3 or 4. "These. Dunno what make or model any of them are but I know how to use them! Claire's also got a knack for guns but I know she prefers much more personal, romantic combat."

Claire's face turned slightly red at that comment.

"Jesus..." Harmonia glanced from the guns to Roxy, to Claire. "What does that mean exactly?"

"Are you two still just talking or have you like kissed before. Relevant question." Roxy asked as Claire hid her face in Harmonia's shoulder.

Harmonia blushed, patting Claire's head. "...we've kissed..."

"Have you felt her fangs when you're touching tongues?" Roxy chuckled softly. "Seriously though, those things can bite hard and she knows how to utilize it. Y'know the human bite can be lethal, even without fangs like hers?"

Harmonia stared at Roxy in disbelief. "What are you saying? She just as sharp canines-"

Roxy smirked. "Yeah. And they can kill a bitch if needed."

"I don't like doing it though it tastes gross..." Claire whined softly, muffled by Harmonia's shoulder.

"Says the girlie who'll drink a pint of blood if offered." Roxy teased.

"OKAY." Claire removed herself from Harmonia's shoulder, blushing profusely and pointing at Roxy. "That was ONE time, and blood itself, CLEAN OF GUTS AND STUFF, tastes FINE and I LIKE IT and it TASTES LIKE OLIVES SOMETIMES AND I LIKE THAT IS THAT SUCH A CRIME!!!"

She didn't yell or anything, but Harmonia could tell she was speaking in all caps.

Harmonia's eyes widened as she stared at Claire, her pupils metaphorically turning into hearts. "Fuck... you're hot.." She murmured, staring at her lover. 

"..you think so...?" Claire whined, pushing her face back into Harmonia's shoulder, yet somehow keeping her eyes locked with Harmonia's.

"Shoulda known anyone who falls for this dweeb likes vampires," Roxy giggled.

Harmonia giggled, nodding. "Yeah, you're adorable." She said softly, kissing her forehead.

"Back on topic. We have all the weapons we need for now, I'd say. Food'll definitely end up being an issue, though." Roxy sighed, "Even with all the stuff we're cooking, we'll probably be out of it in a month or two, and then what?"

"Yeah..." Harmonia scrunched up her face in thought. "Maybe we should try and find some other survivors?"

"That'd definitely be beneficial," Roxy looked up for a moment, before turning her attention back to the guns. "My main thing is that we don't know who we're gonna be meeting. People are gonna get desperate to eat. Desperate to survive. People become dangerous when their survival and hunger are threatened."

"Yeah... true... but it's only been a day- I'm sure they'll be reasonable!" Harmonia reasoned, giving the younger woman a smile. 

"You'd be surprised," Claire sighed, taking a gun and ensuring it was loaded.

Harmonia fidgeted a bit nervously. "Fair enough... um... do we wanna look anyways?"

"Ummm... Do you want to?" Claire asked. Roxy looked at Harmonia as well, awaiting her answer.

Harmonia nodded. "I think it could be good... I want to save people if we can..."

"The van's still outside. We'll have to drive through a fuckton of snow but we'll manage." Roxy sighed, getting up and picking up her bag.

"Is driving the best idea? Won't it be harder to hide? Plus there's bodies..." Harmonia said softly, horror on her face.

"Would you rather be completely exposed from all angles or in a machine that can speed up and hit things?" Roxy asked.

".... okay fair point." Harmonia sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Um... let me get changed." She left the room, heading back to her own and changing into a warmer outfit that would work better for the weather, equipping herself with a baton and mace. She'd had those before the apocalypse, just in case she needed them... and well, now seemed to be the time. She tied her hair into a ponytail and returned to the living room, putting on a hat, fingerless gloves, and a scarf. She had a backpack on her which she had put a first aid kit in, but was empty to hold the rest of their supplies. 

"I'm ready. If we go by the mall I could possibly retrieve my car as well... since I left it there when everything started." 

"We probably should, just in case." Claire stood up, taking her keys out of her pocket. "Shall we be on our way, then?" Roxy was already out the door and heading into the van. 

 "Yeah." Harmonia put on a brave smile, giving Jello a kiss before heading out as well, getting into the passenger seat.  "So... supplies, other survivors, and my car." She takes a deep breath. "We can do this."

Claire sat in the driver's seat and started the van. Some of the trinkets on the dashboard wiggled or bounced, little bobbleheads and whatnot. The van smelled floral, nice. It was definitely a good change of pace from the smell of rot in the air. Soon, they started driving towards the mall.

Harmonia was tense in her seat, gripping her baton as they drove, keeping an eye out for any moving figures, trying not to explode from fear.  "So um... this... this is the apocalypse, huh?"

"Not as graceful as I imagined it, but yeah." Claire sighed, looking out at the snowy highway. At a certain point, the snow started to get scarcely placed, and there were more plants. Lots of roots and flowers grew through the roads, making it nearly impossible to tell where the roads used to be. They eventually arrived at the mall, parking in front of the Kohl's. "Think we could hitch your car up to the van? Is that a thing we can do?"

Harmonia shrugged. "Maybe? We can try? I don't have any supplies to do that though..." She admitted softly, tilting her head a bit.

"I don't either... I mean, there's other stores around here, so we can probably get some supplies." Claire suggested, unbuckling her seat belt. "...Any stores around here good for that?"

"Um... there's a Home Depot on Franklin?" Harmonia offered, unbuckling as well.  "There's also a Walmart close by, we could head there?" She clearly wasn't sure of herself, her hands shaking as she reached for the door handle. "So... um...do you think demons will be here?"

Claire smiled softly. "Probably! I doubt there'll be many, though. First come first serve and all. Probably not enough food for them now." 

Harmonia shivered, clearly disturbed by the idea of humans being food for them. "Oh... so... do they need to eat humans?"

"They don't need to." Claire opened the door and hopped out of the van, inspecting the scene.

"So they just... did it for fun?" Harmonia asked, exiting the van and glancing around, trying to see if the corpses were visible... corpses of her coworkers. She saw multiple strewn about the parking lot, most barren of flesh or petrified into solid stone.

"Ah-huh!" Claire walked over to Harmonia's car, checking to see how she could hitch it to the van.

Harmonia was caught, staring at the corpses of those she considered friends. Why did she survive when they didn't? What would happen now? How could she live in a world where she was only food for demons? She didn't even realize she was crying until she felt her tears begin to freeze, causing her to quickly wipe them away. She looked to Claire, recalling the task at hand. "Oh um- I can just go get my keys from inside? My car should work to just drive..."

"I mean... I'd want to come with you. I'm not sure how much I trust Roxy with driving my van, though.." Claire sighed, looking up at Harmonia. "It's up to you."

"I can just drive behind you- but yeah, please come into the store with me..." Harmonia asked, giving Claire a sheepish smile and extending her hand.

"I'd want to be in the car with you though, I dunno, uhh. Yeah, let's go inside." Claire took Harmonia's hand gently, meeting her gaze, and started walking. 

---

The two made it into Kohl's swiftly and found it mostly untouched, surprisingly.

"Should be able to find some stuff we need here," Claire commented. 

"Hopefully..." Harmonia glanced at the corpses, carefully moving past them as she journeyed to the back room, collecting her bag and keys, and taking a deep breath. 

"There's not going to be much supplies here other than clothes and shoes. Anything you want to grab or should we just try and head to a Wal-Mart or something?" She asked, her hands still shaking despite it all. They needed to stock up on everything... but it all felt so overwhelming.

"I might wanna see some clothes... good sales these days," Claire said in a strangely non-joking tone as she left the back room and headed out to analyze the clothing.

Harmonia chuckled a little but... it was more of a nervous laugh than a genuine one. "I um... okay.."

As Harmonia looked out at the store she could see Claire practically clearing the hangers of pretty dresses, turtlenecks, and mom jeans. She seemed to be muttering something incoherent as she did so. This is the woman you love, Harmonia? I mean, I can't judge, I get it, but...

Harmonia's gaze drifted from Claire to the corpse of the woman she watched die. It felt so wrong to leave them here to rot but... if they tried to bury them all, how long would that take? What if it caused them to be killed in the process? Still... She went to where she knew were some bed sheets, gathered them, and started to place them on the corpses and wrap them around them if she could. It wasn't much but... it was something.

As Harmonia wrapped the bodies, some were mildly disturbed in their "slumber". Harmonia accidentally brushed loose skin aside, revealing rough gemstones underneath. Sometimes she'd even break a rock or two. It was odd how these people died, all seemingly having their insides petrified and undergoing centuries of compression and development in just a few seconds...

Harmonia didn't want to think about it. She couldn't think about it. If she did then she was afraid she'd throw up... it was just too much. Once that was done she looked back to Claire. 

"Are you ready to leave?"

Claire seemed to be holding an absolutely absurd amount of clothes. She was still grabbing stuff off the hangers when she heard Harmonia's voice and turned,

"Oh, yeah, gimme a sec..." She grabbed three more pairs of jeans before she waddled up to Harmonia with an eager grin.

"Ready!"

Harmonia smiled warmly, taking some of the clothes for her. "I don't know how you're still in such high spirits..."

"Good sales these days!" Claire said with sincerity, starting to head for the door.