Great Responsibility

Great Responsibility
by C. Wells Parker

There was a girl named Evelyn. Evelyn lived a long, long time ago.
"How long ago?" you ask. Possibly even longer than I have been alive, but near enough that she still had to endure the great cold you and I know today.
Evelyn had some... special abilities. Abilities not even I can comprehend.
What abilities did she have? Well, I'll get to that later. You see, back in the day when the cold started humanity still had quite a bit of power over the earth. They created these... safe havens where people could live normally despite the freezing weather outside. Over time, these safe havens began to run out of resources, and the walls began to wear down after decades of being pelted by the harsh winds. Evelyn's safe haven crumbled. It was devastating, and was an event she would never, ever forget.
Not only were there the piercing groans of the haven's infrastructure, but the screams of horror of the citizens of the haven. Panic erupted in the small hub. Metal beams fell from the sky, blood spattered over the pristine glass dome. It all happened too fast for Evelyn to understand, but after the chaos, only rubble remained.
It took Evelyn a very long time to gather her bearings. Everything she had known, everyone she had loved... it was all gone. Forever. Spinning around and taking in her surroundings, she saw a sea of metal and concrete. Anything organic she saw was dead.
Barren. Lifeless.
All of this soaking in, she began to weep. It was only a few tears streaming down her gentle complexion at first, but became a torrent of sobbing and crying. She wept for what seemed an eternity.
Something stirred.
Startled, Evelyn stumbled back. She was baffled that she was alive, much less anything else. From the area that she spotted movement, she heard a moan, and a grunt. Frozen in fear, Evelyn only watches the thing, whatever it was, rise from the ashes. From the bloodstained snow rose a man: red-haired and with an average build. Not only was Evelyn surprised at the man's survival, but that she should encounter someone so close to where she nearly died that day. The fear and shock began to melt away, and the thoughts of what she had lost were replaced with thoughts of curiosity. Who was this man? How had he survived? How had she survived? Out of the miles of rubble, how had he been left so close to her?
She yelled for the man. For a moment, the man stood, confused. She yelled again. This time the man was able to pinpoint where Evelyn's voice was coming from, and he turned to look in her direction. He was far enough away that she couldn't make out his facial expressions, but close enough that she could see he was as confused as she. Her face still streaked with tears, she began to tread toward the man, and the man began to stumble toward her something was off about his movements, as if he were fatigued.
"Are you okay? I can't believe anyone else is alive!" she said.
The man hesitated a moment, and said "Y-yeah, I think I'm okay. I don't really remember what happened..."
Evelyn could tell the man was disturbed by something. She knew he would not share it.
"Did you see anyone else?" he asked.
"No..." Evelyn replied.
A few moments passed as the two reflected on grim events. They remained silent, until the man broke the silence with an exclamation about how cold it was, now that the dome had been decimated. Evelyn agreed, and they decided they would search what was left of the city for any shelter, and anything to help them keep warm. As they decided this, Evelyn looked to the sky. It was a dull gray, with splotches of darker or lighter gray here and there. It had been a long time since she had seen the sun, and that day was no exception. They began hiking around the totaled remains of the city, and while some skyscrapers stood, a good number of the buildings had been reduced to pebbles.
The quiet was nearly unbearable for Evelyn, who was used to a certain bustle which the city now lacked. The first building the two entered was no skyscraper; no, it was something of a shack. A shanty. However, it was one of the only winter sports stores in the entire city. No one ever needed that kind of clothing, because the dome was always temperature-controlled. The only people who needed warm clothing were those who stupidly decided to leave the dome. Few ever returned, but now Evelyn and this man were stuck where the dome used to be, in the harsh outside environment with nothing to warm them up.
As they reached the store, both of them were freezing. Shivering and chattering, they cleared some of the snow from the door so they could pull it open. Inside was no warmer than out, but at least they didn't have to drag their feet through a half-meter of snow. The snow on Evelyn's pants began to melt as they entered, but the man's legs remained coated.
They searched the store thoroughly, and found some more fitting clothes: a fur coat, a windbreaker, two pairs of snow pants. Unfortunately, they didn't find any gloves, boots, or hats, but what they had had to do.
The man stopped shivering.
"Oh man, this coat helped a lot," he said. "It's... it's getting hard to breathe though..." The man collapsed onto the floor.
Evelyn rushed over to him. His breaths were short and shallow. He mumbled something but it was unintelligible. The man was hypothermic. His skin was freezing to the touch. How Evelyn had not realized this before, she was not sure.
Now here's the part where you find out about her abilities:
She grabbed him. She felt a motherly instinct take her over: a sort of love. She tried anything and everything she could to keep the man from dying.
Then, a certain warmth started to come from her. Subtle at first, it slowly increased in intensity. The snow she and the man were covered in began to melt more rapidly. The man began shivering again, and eventually stopped. His skin no longer felt cold, and he began to regain consciousness.
"What..." he started. "How..."
Catching herself in her stupor, Evelyn fell back off the man and onto the floor.
"What did I do?" she whispered to herself. "Are you okay?" she asked the man.
He didn't answer.
She raised her voice, "Hey! Are you okay?"
The man rolled onto his side, cradling himself. He curled into the fetal position, presumably to warm himself. Evelyn sat for a moment, trying to process what had just happened. She stood up. She needed to think about this. She informed the man that she would be taking a walk, that maybe she could look for some food. The man did not answer. Pushing the door open, Evelyn gave the man a second look. He had not moved from his initial position. With some consideration she stepped outside, once more at the whim of the elements.
She strolled through the the devastation. It was hard for her to see her home utterly destroyed, her family and her friends all slaughtered by the wreckage. She stopped and took a moment to reflect. This was when it really sunk in for her. She wept once again, though not as badly or as long as the previous time. She found a dark corner in one of the abandoned buildings and curled up in it. She did not know what to do. She wanted to just die there and have everything be over with.
"I might even get to see my family again," she thought. But she did not truly believe it. She sat for a good while, miserable thoughts racing through her head like eager children. She had never felt so terrible, so hopeless. To her, this was the penultimate low point in her life. She began to grow cold and hungry, so she left her corner and stepped over the crushed and asphyxiated corpses and left the building in its fetor to find some food for her and the man.
Surveying the landscape, she spotted a restaurant in the distance. Knowing she wouldn't be able to carry everything back, she decided to take what she could, assuming the place hadn't been ransacked already by any other survivors.
The restaurant was warm, and it must have been sweltering before the crumble. A good place to hole up; far better than the winter sports store. Evelyn walked to where the kitchen used to be, finding the building torn open and crushed under concrete. She climbed over it and had to move some out of the way (with much effort). She was pleased to find the storage room mostly in one piece, but the door had been torn asunder, and dust choked the air around it. Pulling her shirt up to cover her mouth and nose, she ventured into the dark room, hoping to find something, anything, to keep her and that man alive.
She noticed how dark the room was as she entered. Even though the rest of the room was pitch black, she noticed a certain... luminescence about herself. She could easily see her hands in the inky blackness, and when she reached for a shelf it illuminated its surroundings.
"What the hell?" she muttered. "First I'm a human heater and now I'm a glow stick?"
She had to admit, it felt good having these abilities, even ones as seemingly insignificant as these. She didn't physically feel much from these, but the idea of her being able to control something like this was... nice, to say the least.
She didn't want to spend too much time dwelling on it, for all she knew, the man could be starving, or worse, becoming hypothermic again. She scraped what canned food was left off of the shelves and stuffed it into her coat pockets. First she was a heater, then a glow stick, and now a pack rat. This was a day to be remembered.
The walk through the ruins seemed especially quiet this time, and although she had a lot to think about, her mind was oddly silent. When she arrived back at the store where the man was housed, she found that he was now awake, leaning against the wall. He noticed her entrance, and seemed startled by it, soon recognizing her and relaxing.
"Hey, you're awake!" Evelyn said. "You feeling alright? I got us some food and a better place to hunker down if you're up for the hike." She smiled warmly; the hopelessness she felt before was all but gone, dissipated into the freezing winds. She was just glad he was okay. She sat next to him and dug into her pockets for the food she took. "Here, you should eat before we go." The man stared at her blankly, and took the canned food. He seemed to have a lot on his mind.
"Oh, uh, thanks." he stuttered.
As they began to eat, Evelyn tried to make conversation.
"Not much of a talker, huh?"
"Hm? Oh, I guess not. I guess it's just that I don't have a lot to say..."
"That's fine. I can understand that."
They sit for a moment.
"So, what was that thing you did earlier? All I remember is being so cold, and then I started to drift off. When I woke up, you were gone. I waited here, hoping you might come back. Luckily I was right." The man sighed. "I had a lot to think about. What we had, where my family might be, if they're still alive."
"It's a lot to take in. Even I'm not entirely sure what I did. I just know I was worried about you and... it just kind of... happened."
They continued to eat for about an hour, and when Evelyn was sure they were both finished, she stood up and headed for the door. The man lagged behind, trying to keep his balance along the way. The walk to the restaurant was fast and easy for Evelyn, as she had walked this path several times now, but for the man it was long and arduous, especially considering he was still groggy and impaired.
By the time they'd reached the restaurant, a noticeable amount of the residual heat from the kitchen had faded, although there was still enough to keep the man from becoming hypothermic once more. The additional warmth was sobering for the man, and had he not thought about the catastrophe while Evelyn was gone, it would have happened then. There, they found another man, one that appeared to be older, with a ghostly white beard and mane. His movements were stiff and pained, and he did not seem to notice Evelyn and the red-haired man. Out from behind a wall came yet another person: a woman this time. She was short-haired and dark-skinned, and appeared to be in her mid-years. She began conversing with the man, and in the middle of a sentence spotted Evelyn and the red-haired man.
The two pairs froze, and for what seemed an eternity were as lifeless as the city around them. The four only stood and stared, no one sure of what to do. Lord only knows what was going through everyone's heads at the time. Eventually Evelyn stepped forward and called out to the pair.
"Hey! Are you friendly? We're survivors of the dome coming down!"
They wait a moment before responding "Yeah, we're friendly. Are you?"
"Yep."
The two groups began pacing toward one another. Despite this interaction, everyone was very tense. Evelyn, being one of the kindest souls on the planet, was naturally unafraid and trusting. She strode toward the other group with confidence. They had said they were friendly, after all. When they met, Evelyn spoke.
"Who are you?"
The old man opened his mouth to speak but the dark-skinned woman interrupted him.
"Names aren't important anymore."
The red-haired man remained silent.
"Suit yourself," said Evelyn. She did not share her name either. "We were thinking about holing up in here; it's still warm. Its got plenty of food, too."
"We had the same idea," the dark-skinned woman said.
"Well considering that, do you wanna form a group? It could really benefit us all."
The dark-skinned woman seemed to consider it for a moment. She crossed her arms.
"Sure."
"Okay, well we might wanna start with scavenging for some food in here; this was a restaurant after all."
"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock."
Evelyn scowled at the woman's remark. She had no reason to be rude. Evelyn cut the woman some slack, though. This was an apocalyptic situation, and she figured people would naturally be in a bad mood. She retained her upbeat demeanor regardless. She was curious, however, of how the two others had remained alive for this period of time without winter clothes. While the old man did have frostbite on his fingers, the two were still remarkably alive. She inquired about this, to which the two responded by explaining that they were initially in a retirement home. The warmth there stayed incredibly long thanks to its insulation, but the building was later torn open by a falling building. They soon after found this restaurant.
They had had enough food to last them for weeks, and they did not plan to abandon their sanctuary anytime soon. There they slept and ate for nearly a month. Evelyn fruitlessly tried to make conversation, for the sake of making everyone comfortable with one another, of course. However, as the days went on, the group's morale became grimmer. Even Evelyn began to succumb to the weight of hopelessness. She and everyone else knew that there was no rescue, that eventually they would run out of supplies and each die a horrible, cold death.
No one spoke, and while the old man was by no means mute, he uttered not a single word for that time. You see, the old man was a gentle and sensitive soul; in the days before the crumble, he'd never hurt a fly. Now, he was considering murder for an extra scrap of food. He was utilitarian in his approach, sizing up each member and judging whether they were or weren't a use to the group.
Evelyn was unable to make her powers work other than a consistent glow, and she could be best described as lukewarm despite her... condition... and the harsh weather outside.
The dark-skinned woman was becoming moodier and angrier by the day. She was resentful of the condition, and sought to put blame on anyone she could. She needed an explanation, a reason for why everything was so terrible.
The red-haired man showed the least emotion out of everyone. He didn't know what to make of the situation. His soft-spoken mannerisms made him an easy target for the dark-skinned woman to throw him under the bus. This turned him into a ticking time bomb, set to explode at any moment. He knew this, that he would snap at some point, yet he did nothing. He simply bottled it up in a special little corner of his mind, where he knew he would not see it for a long time.
They began to bicker and squabble over whose rations where whose, and when they realized they we faced with the threat of either starving or freezing to death the situation only worsened. Evelyn concluded that they needed to move on from the restaurant to find other supplies. The group bitterly complied, and began walking to find a new shelter. Footstep after aching footstep they walked, and walked. They searched building after building, finding a protein bar here and a soda can there, and no matter how many corners they all huddled into, they began to freeze to death. Well, everyone but Evelyn, anyway.
The dark-skinned woman shattered the fragile silence.
"How the hell are you still warm while we're all here freezing?!"
Evelyn stopped walking, remaining noiseless. She opened her mouth to speak but paused. She took a breath and spoke after a moment of pondering.
"My body... there's something weird about it."
"No shit," she said.
Evelyn paused once more, irked by the dark-skinned woman's countenance despite her caring personality.
"I don't know why, but I somehow emit heat and light. I saved that guy's life." She gestured toward the red-haired man.
The dark-skinned woman became angry. "Then why can't you save our lives?"
"I don't know how it works!"
"Bullshit! You don't give a shit about us!"
Evelyn tried hard to retain her calm.
"If anything's bullshit, it's the notion that I don't care," she said through gritted teeth.
"Then why haven't you used your powers to keep us from freezing to death?" She pushed Evelyn, causing her to fall.
Evelyn was growing hot with anger and frustration. First her life was ruined, and now she was being vindicated for not knowing how to control her powers. The dark-skinned woman was stopped mid-rant, noticing the heat emanating from Evelyn. It was searing, yet relieving considering the killing cold that had surrounded them before. Tears streamed down Evelyn's face, which quickly evaporated on her cheeks.
"Jesus!" yelled the old man. "Stop! We're all burning up here!"
Evelyn, unsure what to do, stood and ran, the snow sublimating beneath her feet. The red-haired man chased after her, keeping a safe distance. He followed her through a door whose hinges were just about melted off. He followed the trail of havoc throughout the building; it wasn't hard to miss. Everything was either set on fire or scalding hot and bright red. The trail continued up the stairs, where he found Evelyn, curled up against a wall, a circle of charred flooring and drywall surrounding her. The air radiated heat, though not as intense as before. She was silent. He was silent.
"Are you... okay?" The red-haired man was not used to reaching out to others on his own. Evelyn did not answer.
The red-haired man not only figuratively reached out but physically extended his arm to touch her. He felt warmth radiating from her like a hot stove. She glowed like a fluorescent lightbulb. His hand retreated, he feared getting burned by her if he touched her. He instead sat next to her.
"I... I know what it's like to be misunderstood by everyone."
"...What?"
"I... wasn't exactly the most popular kid when I went to school. I got bullied a lot. I had no friends."
Evelyn was silent.
"Look, all I want to say is I understand and I'm here for you."
They sat for a good while before falling asleep. When they woke up, it was night time, and the dark-skinned woman and the old man were sitting in the corridor, watching them.
"Mornin', sleepyhead," she said.
The red-haired man groaned. "How long have I been asleep?"
"A few hours," the old man replied. "And it's been a real pain in the ass sittin' here waitin' for you, but we figgered it'd be better to let nuclear girl here get some rest. She needs it."
"That's... actually very considerate of you."
"You're welcome."
Evelyn was still sound asleep. After several more hours of waiting they concluded to carry her and keep pressing on.
Bearing Evelyn's weight began to wear upon the red-haired man. He was the only one who could and would do it. He grew saddened at her absence; she brought a certain charm to the group.
The old man froze to death. The red-haired man died of fatigue. Now the only ones left were the dark-skinned woman and the unconscious Evelyn. When Evelyn finally woke, the dark-skinned woman bore the bad news. Evelyn did not weep this time, she was used to losing her loved ones.
In the barren wasteland the two were faced with a predicament. They did not have enough rations for both of them to eat. One or both of them was going to starve to death. The dark-skinned woman, rather heroically, volunteered to let herself die, but Evelyn would not allow it. She was confident they would find food at some point.
They began eating snow for water, and they gradually became weaker and weaker. Morale was low. Every building and every shop they came across was ransacked, picked clean. They had not encountered anyone else in the city, yet somehow someone had gotten to everything before they had. Evelyn became almost as frigid as the wasteland they were in; she was hopeless, miserable. The two became walking skeletons. The dark-skinned woman died after weeks of famine, leaving Evelyn all alone.
A group of kind people found Evelyn lying in the snow, silent, unmoving. They rescued her.
And then I met you.