No Matter What (English version)

Chapter 1

Girl: Hi... Hum... I found this Dictaphone in the house I visited today. And the only thing on it was a guy singing badly.

So, I guess I'm gonna use it to record my stories. And probably my music covers too. I hope the next person to find it won't think I sing badly too.

Chuckling.

Well, I should probably introduce myself. My name is Mae. I'm eighteen and I will probably keep a picture of me and my friends, in the box with all the memory cards for whoever you are, listening to this.

I'm the smallest girl in the picture, with brown hair and different colored eyes.

What could I tell you? Oh probably what happened to this earth...

Footsteps.

Girl: Mae, are you talking with someone?

Mae: No, I'm just doing this thing...  hum...  what do you want?

Girl: Okay weirdo, lunch is ready. Wanna eat with Newt and I, or are you going to stay here talking to yourself?

Mae: I wasn't talking to myself! I'm coming.

The other girl is leaving.

And this my friend... was my best friend or the girl I'm stuck with since diapers...  aka the girl I've been in love with for years and her name is Abigail, but we call her Abby.

She's the tall blond girl in the picture.

Bye.

End of the first recording.

Mae: Hey, I'm back. I had to eat in front of Abby and her perfect boyfriend, Newt, making out... ew.

Newt is the man with black hair and brown eyes.

So basically, what happened was lots of natural disasters, all over the world. From what I could read in the old newspapers I found, they thought it was due to pollution.

It started with some unknown diseases, that we dont really have anymore though. Then it got worse. There were tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and other disasters.

I think it first started in 2019 and now we are around 2038.

We still have natural disasters but not as many as there were in the beginning. We dont really have those weird diseases. But we do get sick because we dont have vaccines or a lot of medicine anymore but we use gas masks to protect ourselves.

I don't really know anything from the old world. But now cities don't exist anymore, we live in little towns or farms as far from water as possible to avoid tsunamis. The cities, or what is left of them, are engulfed in trees, lakes and just nature in general.

And I find it actually fascinating, how those big skyscrapers are covered by nature.

A lot of people died during the first years and it still happens to this day, we have to find our food and weapons to protect ourselves from the different animals that could try to attack us, or even other humans.

So now there are different groups of people all around the world. Abby and I lived in Wyoming with our parents. But now we are living in the state of Washington, with a group of thirty to forty people. Were installed on a farm in Warwick.

Flashback (POV Mae)

Abby and I have been walking for weeks now. We're trying to find a safe place to live in, but it's not an easy task.

We're tired, we haven't found a place to sleep last night. And the night before was spent with me trying to calm Abby. She has lots of nightmares about her parents deaths and some natural disasters.

She was three years old when it all started and she lived close to the beach so she sometimes has little memories of what happened.

I feel tired and hungry. We found this little town. It seems clear but I have a weird feeling. Abby says it's alright, that nobody's here.

We search the houses for food, munitions and whatever could be useful. Someone was definitely here, there was a campfire.

We continued on our journey, until I felt a pain in my shoulder that made me scream. There's an arrow in it, I'm bleeding a lot.

Abby and I fought them. It was a small group, there were maybe five of them.

My shoulder is still bleeding and it hurts a lot. I fell. I can hear someone coming, I feel dizzy, I think I'm gonna pass out. My vision is blurry, I only see a tall figure getting closer to me. Then I heard her calling my name. I can recognize her panicked voice. It's Abby.

Later

I finally open my eyes again, I have no idea of how long I've been out. My shoulder is bandaged, it still hurts but it will get better. There's a fire next to me.

I sit down in silence and notice Abby is here too. She's looking at the fire, not paying any attention to me. I can't help but think how beautiful she looks. Her deep green eyes looking at the flames. Her dirty blond hair in a messy ponytail.

Mae: Hey

She jumped a little.

Abby: Oh god I didn't know you were awake, you scared me. How are you?

Her green eyes looked into my brown and green ones, as if she was searching for any signs of pain.

Mae: my shoulder hurts, but I'm fine.

Then I noticed we weren't in any of the houses we visited before we got attacked. The walls aren't cracked, there's a clean floor and the roof is still complete.

Mae: Where are we?

Abby: After the attack, I felt like we weren't safe there. So I carried you until I could find a better place. And I met these people they're nice, they took care of your shoulder and gave us food. They told us to stay with them for now.

End of flashback