Alone in the Apocalypse: Solitary

Calm before the storm

The next week Mysie spent her time walking around. Sometimes she would find new plants and a few times she would find a mutated animal or plant that was dangerous and so she ended up in a dumpster. She also listened to her radio. It didn’t seem like the rest of the world was doing too great.

Day 1: The mist had started causing plants to mutate and some to become dangerous.

Day 2: Many crops had been infected and so scientists were looking for a new stable food source.

Day 3: The economy had started to fall and many people were starting to become desperate for food causing deaths.

Day 4: Many people could no longer work and so caused a bigger crash and caused the government to have to take action. 

Day 5: Scientists had found a stable food source and it had been distributed to the public equally. And the government decided that jobs should not be attended unless it was needed.

Day 6: Animals had started mutating, luckily many of the animals only ate the mutated. 

Day 7: Society had stabilised for the moment with many people getting their necessities from the government. More homes were made for any refugees from what was now known as the quarantine zone. 

Mysie didn’t quite understand how the world could collapse in such a short time but she guessed that the world wasn’t really expecting an apocalypse so soon.

Mysie stood up and stretched her arms above her. She had stopped in a house to get out of the mist for a little bit. Over the week Mysie had given up on keeping her appearances up. Her ginger hair had been dyed a deep red in places by the mist and whenever she went outside she got covered in the mutation the mist was made from. 

Mysie pulled her shawl hood up and took in a breath before walking outside with Gerold and Jerry following behind. Mysie put her hand out and said “I hope this mist stuff doesn’t have any side effects.” Mysie looked back at Gerold and Jerry, both of which were growing faster than what Mysie believed was normal. “Well I’m not growing a bunch so that's a good sign? I think.” 

Mysie looked back at her hand to see that there was now a puddle of the red liquid. She poured the liquid onto the ground before continuing on her way.

Mysie could no longer tell if it was day or night and didn't care too much anyway as she slept whenever she could and the rest of the time she would be walking. Recently she had found a notebook and was trying her best to draw new things she saw and write about them. 

The mist had created a layer of liquid on the ground which splashed under Mysie’s shoes. After being outside for a few minutes Mysie was soaked with the liquid and her shoes squelched with every step. 

"Stupid mist gets everywhere." Mysie grumbled annoyed and ready for the mist to leave. 

Mysie reached for her radio and turned it on to not hear anything. “And of course my radio stops working. Guess I’m just not going to be able to know if the world is ending a second time for now.” Mysie pulled out her radio to see it covered in the red water-like substance. She shook it for a moment and watched the crimson droplets fall to the ground before dropping the radio to the ground and carrying on with her walk.

After about an hour of walking Mysie started to feel thirsty and so took out her water bottle from her backpack only to find it empty. “And I thought my luck couldn’t get any worse today.” Mysie sighed and looked around. She had left the city a while ago and didn’t feel like going back and so needed to find another source of water.

A puddle of crimson liquid caught her eye. Maybe she could drink the water from the mist. Mysie could feel the looks of disappointment from Gregory and Jerry so she turned to them. “Hey I might as well find out now if it’s safe to drink. Then I will be able to have as much water as I need if it’s safe.” Mysie took one last look at the two poodles seeing them with their heads tilted as their tongues lopped out their mouths, their curly fur flat against them and soaked in the mist. Mysie knew they couldn’t understand her but talking to them helped her to keep at least a bit stable. 

Mysie walked over to the large puddle and scooped up some of the liquid with her bottle.

She watched as the liquid swirled, seeming to be a mix of different shades of red. Mysie had never really seen how the mist looked up close. Mysie took a breath and closed her eyes before drinking the small amount she had put in her bottle. 

Mysie opened her eyes again. “Oh. It just tastes like water. And I have not died yet. So I think it’s safe. But I should probably figure out a better way to drink it rather than from the ground. I might get sick from the dirt or whatever else is in the puddle.” 

Mysie shrugged before sitting on the floor and taking off her backpack. She rummaged through it until she found a packet of crisps. Mysie opened the packet and started to eat the snack. Once she was finished she flattened the packet and washed it off before putting it on her bottle to work as a funnel and collect some of the mist while her bottle was in her bag. 

Mysie stood back up now with mud covering her legs. Mysie had cared about her appearance at first but slowly stopped caring as days went by without having access to a shower and things like hair brushes just took up space. The only thing she kept doing was brushing her teeth and making sure to take a shower whenever she could. The apocalypse wasn’t as Mysie had thought it would be. With all the movies she had watched she thought there would be more fighting. She believed she would hear the sounds of gunfire as the military fought their way through a crowd of garglers. She thought she would see garglers around every corner. But it wasn’t like that.

Mysie stood for a moment looking at the horizon. Silence filled the air and only a few garglers wandered the field. But they weren’t too much of a problem if they weren’t in a horde. The biggest problem was the wildlife and plantlife. It is impossible to tell if they only eat garglers or if they just destroy everything in sight. Mysie watched as a gargler stepped on a flower and a fey rose up from the ground swallowing the gargler whole. 

Gregory let out a bark causing Mysie to come back to reality. She turned around to see the blue eyes of her companions. Mysie smiled and kneeled down to give the two dogs some attention. There would be a while of peace and so Mysie picked up a stick and two eyes watched with anticipation. Mysie stood up and threw the stick and watched as Gerold and Jerry happily ran after the stick. 

Mysie smiled as she continued on her way, throwing the stick whenever one of the dogs brought it back to her. It would be fine to have some fun now and again. They would treasure the peace…

It wouldn’t last for long.