Smoldering Blossom (Rough Draft v1.0)

1.4 Two of us (novi)

The girl steps through the door, shaking the black liquid off her umbrella before bringing it inside and placing it in the corner behind the shoe rack, careful not to touch the water. She turns to you and you recognize her face in the dim lighting, she was one of your schoolmates, and your brother was in the same loosely connected friend group as her's before they were conscripted.

"Hey," she said, "thanks for... uhh letting me in."

She looks at the black stains on her jacket, and looks a bit distressed at the sight.

"Yikes, that looks like fallout, you should probably take that off and leave it by the door." You tell her.

She takes off her coat and puts it on the hat rack.

"You're Novi right?" She asks as she turns towards you.

"Yeah, and you're Rune?" You ask in response.

"Yeah," She confirms, "have your parents come home yet... or do they work late?"

You feel a shiver as her question reintroduces something you've anxiously pondered for the last few hours.

"I think they should've been back by now..." you answer her, "they haven't though, so I'm concerned."

"I already know mine are gone, or maybe soon," she says, with a completely apathetic tone, "worst part is the apartment building is gone, thats why I came to your neighborhood, was hoping to see one of my brother's friends."

"Well that's one link we have," you tell her while gesturing her to the stairs, "want a change of clothes? You seem to have some of that black water on your pants too."

She looks down at her grey drawstring pants and sees the stains. She also checks her shirt, but it's seemingly clean.

"Just a clean pair of pants will do." She says.

She follows you upstairs to your room, your flashlight being the only thing illuminating the unlit house. In your closet, you dig through clothing you just barely grew out of, when you find a pair of dark red pajama pants you barely wore.

"You like this pair?" You say as you show it to her. She gently grabs it and examines it briefly.

"Yeah it'll do, thanks." She says as she turns and approaches your bedroom door, then turns around.

"Where's your bathroom?" She asks.

"It's just to the right-" you begin, "wait, the lights are dead."

There is a brief moment of silence.

"Do I... take the flashlight into the bathroom? Or...?" She asks.

"Yeah just take it." You say as you pass her the light, the then heads into the hall into the bathroom.

You are in nearly complete darkness, the only light being from the flashlight escaping into the hallway, you can hear fabric moving from behind the wall as Rune changes. Within a minute, she's back, wearing your pants.

"Might wanna leave your old pair next to your coat, since it's contaminated." You tell her. "Wanna listen to the radio while we wait for my parents to return? If they return that is."

"Sure," she answers. You both head downstairs where she hangs her contaminated pair of pants next to her coat, and you both go into the living room. You turn off your flashlight to save its battery power, leaving only the dim screen of the radio as a source of illumination.

Unfortunately, it seems that you are out of range of every remaining broadcasting station. You shine your light at the clock to see its 7 in the evening, long past when your parents should've returned. You recall the direction of the explosion, and realize it's the same direction as both of their workplaces.

"I have a feeling they won't return," you tell Rune, "We might be alone for a while."

You then remember that your refrigerator doesn't work.