Aftermath

Chapter One - Emory

Special Thanks:

The Electric State by Simon Stalenhag

Things From The Flood by Simon Stalenhag

Marxist Hatsune Miku

HZD

My Editor (FAQ YEA WE BACK!!! !!Also when text is italicized aka all slanty like this, it's the Editor! Yay!)

SENTRE (Ty for giving me money <3<3<3)

I know it doesn't make sense for Haiti and Belize to be in a union with a bunch of Spanish speaking countries but I don't want to redo the map so just suck it up

SPANISH OR VANISH

Also I know this is pretty short but I had to set up stuff

Anyway lets fucking star

Chapter One - Emory

I stare out at the building, or at least what's left of it. There's a massive smoking hole in one side of it, and the roof has fallen in.

"Well shit." Char says from behind me. I nod in agreement. What the fuck are we 'sposed to do now?

"Where do you think we should go?" I sigh and ask, looking back. They drop down to tie their shoes. And I take a few steps forward to see the destroyed building from a different angle.

"I'm not sure. We certainly can't stay here though." Charley calls, running to catch up to me.

"Cmonnn, Charley! Can't you think of anything?" I groan, uggggh I hated not knowing what to do.

"Well I suppose... no never mind." Emory mumbles, walking up to me.

"What?" I say, desperate for a plan. They look away guilty but also considerate of whatever plan was swirling in their brain. I grab her shoulders and try to shake the words out of them. "Whaaaaaat tell me whaaaaaaaaat!" I groan, shaking her till she laughs.

"Well I'm sure my friend Darcie would be fine with us staying with her but..." Charley hesitantly starts.

"But what?" I peer.
"She lives in Cancún." They admit. I suck a breath in through my teeth.

"Yowch."

"We'll have to find a car."

"We can do that, right?" I ask, looking at the streets below, then back to the smoking building.

"What other option do we have?" Char asks, elbowing me. I sigh and elbow her back. They were right.

"True." I say.

"Well I've got an idea of how to get one!" Charley grins, putting her hands on her hips.

"Lead the way then!" I say, hitting them in the back of the head and running off laughing. I follow her and we weave through buildings to an underground parking lot. I kick a can in a fit of rage after tripping on my shoelaces for the fifth time and it hits the back of Charley's ankle.

"Sorry." I mutter, not meaning it. Well I didn't mean to hit them with a can either.

My previous teasing mood turned sour.

"There's no way we're finding something here, Charley." I mutter.

"Shut up, Emory, I know I saw something here." Charley says back. I can tell they're trying to keep their positive mood, but I'm definitely no help.

"Finneee." I say, continuing walking. Sure enough we come across a car.

"Do you think it still works?" I ask, kicking a tire to see if it has air. It looked beat up, but no idea if it was still working. I pull on a door handle but the door won't budge.

"Only one way to find out." Charley calls. I look back to see that they've picked up a brick. She runs towards the car and throws it through the window. I wriggle through the broken window and climb up to the driver's seat.

"Look, the keys are still there!" I exclaim, pushing open the door for Emory.

"Great. You wanna drive or should I?" Charley asks, pointing to the wheel.

"You can." I say, moving to the passenger's seat. I remove the glass from the window out of my hair.
"Alright. You sure about this? Cancún's a long way away." They ask, settling into the seat

"What other choice do we have?" I say, looking out ahead. They nod and I check the glove compartment.
"Charley I think there's something in here."

"What is it?" They ask, fiddling with their broken seat belt.

"Well it's the glove compartment so big surprise when I tell you there are gloves, but there's... also a handgun."

I pull the pistol from the glove compartment and look it over. Char also looks at it. After a moment they speak.

"Keep it. Y'never know if we might run into a Kes'." She says, finally securing their seatbelt by bunching it to the cup-holder. I cringe at the word.
"I hope not!" I try to tease.

"Let's get going." Char says.

"We should probably wait till night. I've got the feeling that whoever owns this car won't be too happy about us stealing it."

"Fuck. Yea, you're probably right." She agrees, awkwardly chuckling at the realization. We wait for what feels like an eternity, but eventually the sun sets. With no troubles, Charley hits the gas and we glide through the city under the cover of the darkness. We don't say anything until Springfield is long behind us.

"What do you think we'll find in the south?"

"To be honest, Emory," Charley says, glancing at me for a brief moment, "I have no idea."

End of Chapter One.