If everything could ever be this real forever

Chapter 2: If You're Lost in The Darkness, Look for The Light

Chapter Two
When You're Lost in The Darkness, Look for The Light

Twenty Years Later
Boston, Massachuetts
2023

Badger woke up from his long nap, the sound of a rapid knock at his apartment door stirring him awake. Last night, he remembered drowning his sorrows in a bottle, searching far and wide for the only family he had left. Trying to survive in a post apocalyptic world meant you were always haunted by your mistakes and that your past life would give you tough skin. He has suffered nightmares of what he lost and he couldn't forgive himself. He had gotten old and age had weared him down, but he still did what he could to survive. He felt his heart beating heavily against his chest, his fur standing on end. He was too old for this shit.

Badger groans and stumbles to his feet, cursing under his breath. His back was killing him and his ears were ringing. His body was in tatters from all the injuries and trauma his body suffered, he felt like a dead man who kept walking. He approaches the door hurriedly.

"I'm coming!!" Badger yelled annoyingly, he reaches the door and opens it. Sausage is at the door, his smuggling partner. Badger had worked with her for ten years, and yet her seemingly innocent appearance didn't fool anyone. She wasn't scared to say what she felt, she was prone to lose her temper when provoked and could easily start a fight. Spending years in the outbreak had changed Sausage, she wasn't going to take no for an answer without a fight. She had big dreams when she was younger, but they were tossed into flames the moment the outbreak began. She was the brains of their partnership, resourceful and cunning. She was able to get past any tough thug in the city without fail, her trickery keeping her alive. Badger was the muscle of the operation, the one who used his claws rather than his brain. He was able to keep his emotions in check and seal them away. He sought means through violence to protect himself and Sausage. They were bound together like birds on a feather. Every mission, they were inseparable. They had each others' backs every step of the way. Badger wouldn't be the man he was today without Sausage by his side.

"How was your morning?" Sausage asked. She saunters towards a table and fills a cup with liquor. Sausage was one who always enjoyed a good liquor after a smuggling job. Badger closed the door begrudgingly. "Want one?" Sausage asks sharply.

"No, I don't....want one..." Badger groaned. He just had a hangover the previous night, he wasn't going to do it again.

"Where the hell were you Sausage?!! I was getting worried sick." Badger stammered, sitting himself down next to her. Sausage took a sip of her liquor. Once she settled the cup down, he saw that Sausage's face was bruised and cut. A black eye on her right. Badger's heart spiked at the sight, terrified that she got herself hurt like this. He couldn't afford to lose her. He moved forward but Sausage reached her hand out to stop him.

"I got jumped by a couple of guys" Sausage admitted.

"What guys?!" Badger ordered, not taking his eyes off her swollen face.

"Just a couple of teenagers. Said some shit they probably shouldn't have" Sausage said. Badger had his paw caressed around her face, trying to get a closer look at her wounds so he knew the extent of the damage. Badger's touch against her reddish, meaty skin was soft and tender. He had that expression on his face that was filled with anger. He wanted them to pay for this. He got to his feet, not saying a word as he got his first aid kit from the kitchen drawer.

"Come on, you know those guys were born after the outbreak. Never learned how to argue. They just start swingin'! Fuckin nineteen year old piece of shits!!" Sausage did her best to downplay the situation, taking a sip of her liquor to quell the insults inside her. She could see that it was getting to Badger.