Afterwards.

Chapter; The First

'Damnit.'

Atlas paced back and forth, her mind switching in overdrive. You could practically see the gears turning through her eyes. Lying in her bed, Lillith gazed up at Atlas with concerned brown eyes, growling softly.

'It's fine, Lilli, this is just messing with my head a bit.' 

It was clear that there was absolutely no one in her area, for one reason or another. She wouldn't be able to ask for assistance if something went wrong. So she'd have to begin preparing for the worst as soon as possible.

'I should check my phone.' She murmured, mostly to herself. Picking it up, she scrolled through the few online servers she had decided to participate in, as well as the many social media platforms she had downloaded only weeks prior. Dead silence. No new posts from anyone. Very worrying. 

'Check with everyone you know personally.' Atlas said absent-mindedly under her breath.

She went through her contacts, messaging each of them. If there was even one person she knew that still existed, it would be enough. She gave her phone a few moments to receive any messages, but when nothing happened, she lay the phone back down. She'd have to check it later.

For the next two hours, Atlas worked through removing every meat and dairy product found in her fridge. While these nutrients would be extremely important, she'd have to find another source. If the electricity was going to run out, as she predicted it to, these ingredients wouldn't last more than two hours. And she definitely wasn't up to cleaning out spoiled milk in around three days. Atlas would not only have to figure out how to live without power for an indeterminable amount of time, but she'd also need to start growing a larger amount food in her garden, as most of the food in her cupboards and fridge would go off without the proper conditions.

Water. How could she have forgotten? To grow such a large amount of food, Atlas would need an overwhelming amount of water, and she wasn't sure how long it would take before it stopped running. She'd need to travel to her local shopping centre and take as many bottles of water as possible.

'I'll take the car.'

Atlas had a very strange childhood. It was rather normal until about four years ago, when she had turned eleven. She was enrolled in a military course that not only taught her the importance of being a battle-hardened warrior, but also how to use weapons, how to survive in the wild for months on end, and, most importantly, how to drive cars, fly planes and sail boats. She was deposited in said course by her parents, and stayed in it for the next three years. At that point, her emotions had been trained out of her, and she was taught to think only with her brain. She was given her pilot, boat and driving licenses, as well as a firearm license, which had seemed rather useless at the time. Atlas had later found out the course was entirely illegal. The only reason she had been sent there was because her parents thought it was a government-run program. Typical.

They didn't even think to check on her once during the three hellish years she spent there.

Atlas shook her head. Wallowing about in a puddle of self pity wasn't going to save her, let alone anyone else. She carried the pile of food outside the house, staggering slightly under its weight. She tossed the dairy products into the nearby brush. She didn't see the point in keeping any of it around. Luckily, there was only a handful of eggs and a small carton of yoghurt. Next was the meat. Atlas had never been a fan of meat, although she was aware is was necessary for a balanced diet. Instead, she decided to cook it and feed some of it to her dog.  

Along with feeding Lillith,  Atlas also fed the neighbouring dogs, although she was aware they would die sooner or later from starvation. Letting them roam the streets would be a terrible idea. She'd just be attacked by rabid dogs in a week. Even though starving them was far more cruel, Atlas wasn't at all eager to shoot innocent creatures. 

After tossing the last piece of meat over a garden wall (she was already aware of which homes had dogs within their walls), she caught the eye of two larger canines. A German Shepherd. A Dobermann Pinscher. Both a year or two old.

Their eyes got the better of Atlas, and she unlocked the gate, letting herself in. These two dogs had shown no signs of aggression, so she trusted in their stoic silences. Walking slowly over, she took their collars in her hands and examined their names. The Shepherd was called 'Ocean', while the Dobermann was named 'Confetti'.

Uncreative. Especially for such regal dogs. Although, Atlas found it rather amusing that such large dogs would have such soft names. So Ocean and Confetti they stayed.

She lead the two of them back home. They were surprisingly loyal and well-behaved, considering their young age. The two immediately went to greet Lillith, all three of their tails wagging happily.

Atlas would need three times as much dog food at this point. She didn't regret it, though.

Suddenly, she heard her phone ping. Without losing another second, she jumped towards it, almost falling to the tile floor in the process. 

Atlas gazed at her lock screen. A notification gazed back at her.

'Thank god someone's alive, I thought I was the only one.' It read.

Atlas wasn't entirely alone in this world.