[ONGOING]Crimson Heroes (Ikarishipping)

CHAPTER 20

Chapter 20

It's been two weeks since Dawn was discharged from the hospital and a week since she went back to work behind the counter of Hearthome Generic Pharmacy. With a total of a month and a half of under quarantine, she still couldn't get used to the city's state of emergency.

Being the second largest city in Sinnoh, only second to Jubilife City, Hearthome has always been the heart of commerce in Sinnoh with amenities such as contest halls, trading centers and the famous Amity Square. Hearthome is the only city in Sinnoh that catered to people of a variety of culture and background, even to citizens both old and the young.

Due to the Hearthome Academy incident that preceded the lockdown, the once friendly and bustling city now seemed like a ghost town with only just a few people mainly outside running for basic necessities and GAS personnel patrolling the city every now and then in groups in their signature grey overcoats. Most of the shops and stalls were closed, except for a few businesses like pharmacies and a few stalls. Even restaurants were only offering take outs.

Dawn calmly trudged through the side walk. She zipped up her yellow stripped sweater and dug her hands in its pockets, the wintry weather brewing up packets of frigid air. The December chill making her shiver. She passed by a few people cycling and walking through the emptiness of the city road. She made sure her work ID was hanging properly outside her sweater so she wouldn't have to be questioned by a patrolling GAS personnel like what had happened a few days ago.

She huffed, the news had said it was going to snow tonight. She felt her backpack trying to reassure herself that she had not forgotten to bring her umbrella. Feeling the thing inside her bag, she sighed in relief.

A lot of things went through her mind the past few days. Needless to say, nothing has gone normal, or at least what she herself considered to be normal.

For one thing, after Solidad visited her last week and the mention of Maylene, she immediately went back to work the Monday that followed. Maylene was indeed there, and she was just fine aside from a few bandages she saw on her fingers and wrists. Maylene had mentioned that it was just cuts from practicing cooking, so Dawn hadn't bothered prodding for more inquiries. She tried remembering back to the days she spent in the hospital and honestly never once did Maylene pop in her head. After knowing that Zoey and Paul died, Dawn didn't bother looking up Volkner's notes about who else survived. She no longer cared about anything else. Initially she guessed that Maylene was one of the few survivors of that incident. So when Dawn talked about it to her, Maylene said that she wasn't at school at that time because she got sick with her illness.

'That's a relief Maylene!' Dawn remembered replying to her. The memory made her guilt snake up her body again.

Now that Dawn has gone back to work, Maylene has been acting strangely. Maylene's been seeing her more often, even bothering to walk Dawn home together with Kenny. Dawn thought that maybe the reason why Maylene was acting like this is because of Zoey's death. Dawn has never confronted nor talked to her about it, but she guessed that maybe Maylene was also devastated with what happened to Zoey. Dawn remembered Maylene talking about her little crush with Zoey way back two months ago. And as expected, Dawn was scared of talking about Zoey with Maylene. Maybe soon when she can be strong enough for her, maybe even for the both of them. For now she was more than just scared, she was also not ready.

When Dawn introduced Kenny to her, Maylene immediately assumed that Kenny was her boyfriend to which she quickly dismissed remembering her failed confession attempt back at the Ferris wheel in Amity Square. But of course this didn't stop her from teasing them, much to Dawn's dismay. Thinking back, Dawn was honestly surprised that Kenny turned her down. He has yet to give her a proper explanation as to why they can't be together. And as for now, Dawn was just thankful they still stayed friends. Asking for more seemed not worth considering.