Neo Haven

Aftermath

"Seriously, it's been three months. I hate to say it Rory, but he's dead, and he ain't ever coming back"

Just hearing her old nickname reminded her of him, and it sickened her that Jesse would even have the nerve to say any of this.

"Listen to me, you fucking dick. Firstly, I refuse to give up hope just because YOU think I should. I'll make my own damn decisions, alright? Secondly, my name is AURORA! Not Rora, not Ora and certainly not RORY!.........at least not to you, now let's just get back to the camp and tell them what we found."

Jesse was stunned, he had nothing to say or do except feel guilty in the realisation of the harshness of his words. He simply nodded and began to head back to camp.

It's been three months since the New Haven tragedy. Three long months since everything Aurora thought she knew had changed. Scarce electricity, entire buildings and bridges collapsed, people giving up hope. Once upstanding citizens crossing every moral line imaginable to survive, others banding together to survive and rebuild, to give people shelter, food, warmth and hope. Aurora was one of those people, striving to help people. Yet the presence of the behemoth was felt everywhere through The Tortured (the remaining demons that consumed New Haven) This was life now, and Aurora was getting used to it.

Wandering through the city, seeing every familiar landmark ruined, the pair finally returned to their camp, a bitter reminder of Dan. The group was living out of the warehouse on the drydock that Dan had taken Aurora to. She remembered the day fondly, and would give anything to live that day again.

"Rory, Jesse, I'm glad you two are safe, what did you find?"

The group leader, Michael, was a kind hearted man, always helping in any way he can. He was 41 years old and lost one of his twin children in the incident, the other twin was standing right in front of him.

"Eh, a few bags of food and some medicine, that's all we could gather before the tortured swarmed us. I'm sorry dad." Jesse said with a frown

"Don't apologise, you did the best you could, how could we use the food and medicine if you had been killed?" Michael responded.

"It's dark, we should all get some sleep and have another search tomorrow, see if we can get lucky for once" Michael stated.

The group all yawned in agreement and hunkered down for the night.
Although a feeling of hope kept Aurora awake, she smiled and shed a tear before closing her eyes and drifting off into a deep, well-earned sleep.