1x1 // satakkraxias & dxisyy

[ethereal .]

private onexone between sat and i.
please don't post unless you are one of us.

[ethereal .]

This was it. The end of times. The day that everyone had talked about, but was never truly prepared for. The day everyone, or thing, was stripped of their humanity with each passing second. All it had taken was day, hours, seconds. There were so many of them. It was hard to keep track at this point. Blink and half your neighborhood are a walking disease with no cure. Your family is no longer your family.

It didn't take Ophelia long to realize this. At least, that's what she kept telling herself as she roamed the isles of the ransacked supermarket. She didn't know why she was even bothering. It was every man for himself now. She had lost count of the amount of times that she had been shoved out of the way for the last can of green beans or a gallon of water. At least she managed to snag one of the few boxes of poptarts.

She had just started to rummage through through another shelf when she heard it. That ear piercing screech that made your stomach drop. Then came the screams. Everyone running for the doors, including her. It could be a really bad idea that costed her her life, but it's better to be in the middle of a miniature stampede than out in the open, right? Let's hope so.

Ophelia sucked in an irritated breath, feeling multiple people step on her feet and attempt to shove right past her. Man, if they didn't quit she was gonna start throwing elbows. Only a few more feet to the exit. Only a few more feet to freedom. She whimpered softly, becoming impatient once she felt the cool breeze hit her face. The second she saw an opening she darted into the parking lot. Surely someone was stupid enough to leave a door unlocked.

Another screech caught her attention, causing her to whip her head around searching for the source. Bad idea. Her body collided with someone else's, partially knocking the air from her lungs as she fell to the ground. "Oh my, son of a-," She inhaled deeply, and coughed, trying to regain her composure. Lifting her gaze, she met the eyes of another girl. Maybe around her age. Kinda cute. Wait. That's not important right now. Ophelia quickly pushed herself off of the ground and to her feet, eyes darting around frantically. She wasn't sure if the girl was alone or not, but she couldn't just leave her there. Could she?

[sataraxias]

Claire was thoroughly annoyed. Somehow she’d ended up with a white toaster still in its original packaging, but the last few times she’d tried to reach for something edible or useful somebody else had managed to jostle her aside, managed to snag what she’d wanted. She was about to start using this stupid toaster packaging to whack others aside. No mo mister nice guy. The streets were chaos, and she had to get prepared. It just sucked that everyone else had the same idea as she had. Seriously, hadn’t the broadcasts advised everybody to remain inside? Why were there so many people out and about, stealing the stuff she wanted to steal?

“Outta here, buddy,” she told some lurking teenager with his eyes on the same prize she’d decided on, a packet of cosmic brownies, raising her toaster box threateningly. “Yeah, that’s right, back off or cop the hard edge of my box.” She meant business. He realised it. She was satisfied as the dude chose not to pick a fight, leaving her prize alone. She lowered the toaster box to rest on the shelf, shifty blue gaze looking around her for others approaching but she seemed fine for the moment. She slung the blue backpack off her shoulders and hastily unzipped it to let herself stuff the colourful packaging into already crammed depths. Okay, so maybe her raiding haul hadn’t been so bad after all.

Then the screams started. Somewhere behind her, a horde of those… things had burst through the stocking entrance into the store. Not good, so not good. She struggled to zip the bag up completely and failed as a stumbling infected passed her isle in pursuit of some other poor soul. Oh no, there was going to have to be a cleanup on Aisle Seven. It was only luck that it had missed her. She had to go. Now. She threw the pack over her shoulder, hoping it’d hold its contents, and snatched up her toaster.

Than she was off. Sneakered feet pounding the tiled floor as she too ran for the doors. Just like most of the stampeding horde. Why had she followed them? No way was she going to get out—or maybe not. A small opening. She seized her opportunity and lunged for freedom.

Only to hit the floor as someone else had the same idea and executed it worse than her. Seriously? “Hey, watch it!” The snap was impulsive and furious as she fell backwards, stuff spilling out of her bag as she hit the ground. Not good, not good. She struggled to throw stuff back in, but those screeches of hunger were getting closer and people were stampeding. She really didn't want to get squished. Not to mention if someone stole her pickup... She had to cut her losses. So long as she didn't lose these brownies. And her toaster. Not after everything they'd been through together.

The girl who had run into her had scrambled up. Claire did the same, holding her boxed toaster carefully in her arms. Why was she still standing here, staring? They might have calm now, but there were literally flesh eating people somewhere behind them. "Um, I think we should run??"

[ethereal .]

Ophelia huffed gently, well that was a little rude. It was understandable though. These were tough times, especially for this girl. She tried to help her pick up a few of her things that had spread out around them, but it seemed that they both had the same thought when screams only intensified. "Run. Right. Fabulous idea. I think you might be the next Albert Einstein." Glancing down at her arms wrapped tightly around a box, she raised a brow. Was that a toaster? Alright then. "Come on then hot stuff, move those legs!" She latched onto one of the girls arms and pulled her along as she ran, weaving through the crowd of people darting for their cars.

There was just one little problem; she didn't know where she was running to. She had hitched a ride from one of her neighbors who so graciously agreed to dump her at the store on their way out of town. "Dammit!" She grumbled under her breath before darting behind a parked car, out of sight. If it wasn't gone by now, no doubt the owner had met an expected fate. Ophelia dropped the girls arm to take a breather. Now might not be the best time to for a rest stop, but she needed to think. They needed a plan. Or at least a partial plan, like how the hell they were going to get out the parking lot without being chomped on.

She turned toward the girl hopefully, "Any ideas on how to escape a swarm of hungry zombies? Preferably something easy, but I suppose I'll take what I can get at this point." Zombies. It felt so weird to say that world out loud in a literal sense. That's really what this was. She could call them cannibals, but they weren't even human anymore. They were just another predator that outranked humans on the food chain.

[sataraxias]

"Oh, you know it, honeybun-" her words faded off into a small indignant as the blond decided to grab on to her. "Hey! What the heck, I'm holding a toaster here!" Not to mention the other woman was pulling her in the direction she didn't need to go. As in the one away from her car.

Her toaster box rested on her legs as she gulped in air from behind a car. "Wow, you call them zombies? What are you, a comic book nerd? I call them cheerios, because when you see them you gotta cheerigo. Mine's better." She peeked out from behind the rear hood. "Yeah, I've got a-"

The faded blue pickup truck she'd been about to mention roared out of the parking lot and met its match in a telegram pole nearby. Claire let out a rapid flurry of swear words that decreased gradually in volume as she remembered her bearings. She was having really bad luck. Someone had seriously just stolen her car- then had the audacity to destroy it? The only bonus of this whole situation was this girl was kinda cute, if you factored out that repulsive red, yellow and purple sweater and the fact it was definitely not the right time to notice such things.

"I had a car, but not anymore, so now I've got a plan instead. Run and hope for the best because we've got to cheerigo!" There were a few rambling souls headed directly for them across the burning expanse of a city car park. Geez, the city looked awful. Thick plumes of smoke spiralled up to cloud the sunset, and whoever was screaming wouldn't shut up- though she didn't suppose she could blame them.

She darted out from behind this car, then rethought and darted back to check if the doors were unlocked. No go, and she'd just cost them more time. This sucked.

[ethereal .]

"Well I'm sorry I haven't had time to come up with a cool nickname for something that already has a name." She snickered softly, gaze following the stranger's next to her. "Oh man, that was rough." She winced as she watched the truck collide with a pole. Add that to the list of bad things to happen today.

"Well, I guess that's as good a plan as any?" She was getting ready to run after her when she came running back, almost colliding with Ophelia once again. Her head whipped around, surveying the area. They were slowly being boxed in. Everything else was surrounded meaning this car was their best bet. "To hell with it we're going old school with this one." Without a second thought she pulled her elbow back and slammed it against the window with as much force as she could. One, two, three mores times and it finally gave way, glass shattering and falling around her feet and inside the car.

She pulled her sweater down over her hand before reaching past the shards and unlocking the door. "Alright, get your cute ass in the car we're going for a joy ride." She chuckled, trying to ignore the intense pain in her elbow. Ophelia ran around to the other side and climbed into the driver seat. Maybe she should've asked if what's-her-name wanted drive. Oh well. Technicalities. She tossed her box of poptarts over her shoulder before she started rummaging around in the car. Please dear god, please, have a spare key. There was definitely not enough time for her to hotwire this car.

Just when she thought she had run out of somewhat decent luck, she found it. Of course it had to be all the way at the bottom of the glove box. "Yes! Thank you!" She shoved the key into the ignition and gunned it before she could even process where she was going. She couldn't tell if half the bumps they drove over were "cheerios" or speed bumps. Not much of a difference anyways. "Well that was fun." She said breathlessly, glancing over at the girl to make sure she was alright. "By the way, name's Ophelia. You can call me me Phe."

[sataraxias]

Despite everything, despite the chaos raging around them, her car being stolen and the fact that the dead were literally out to get them, Claire couldn't contain the grin that split her features. She already knew this girl was crazy - who wore a sweater like that to the end of the world, after all? - but damn, she'd just broken the window with her elbow. Now they were the ones stealing a car. This was a first. She'd broken a lot of other laws before- but never the one they broke now. Something to cross off her bucket list.

She swept glass off the leather seat before she climbed in. She had to slam the door shut as a cheerio tumbled towards her with a snarl, but the creature's leg gave out and they were off before it could recover. Streets hurtled past. Claire dropped her toaster to rest beneath her feet, feeling the box press against her jeans. They probably should've used the box to smash the window, now that she thought of it. Next time. If there was a next time. The air billowed in through the broken window, setting her brown hair flying in her face as they whirred around corners and scarcely avoided the cheerios. "Wooooo!"

Her heartbeat beat a rhythm in tune to the adrenaline coursing through her veins, thumping in her ears. It was like a roller-coaster, except with actual life or death stakes. Now there was a thought that threatened to kill the excitement. Claire forced herself to remember to clip her seatbelt in. No way was she going flying out this windscreen, not if she could help it. They'd been lucky to avoid any collisions thus far, and this woman was a startlingly good driver despite her grandpa appearance, but just in case. "I'm Claire," she supplied as she twisted in the seat to look across at the other woman. She supposed she'd have to address some important questions, starting with... "So where are we going?"

[ethereal .]

Ophelia smiled softly at the cheer that left the other girls lips despite the fact that everything was starting to catch up with her. The sharp pain in her elbow. The reality of the situation they were in. "I...I don't know." She sighed softly. Maybe she should slow down a little. She could feel her emotions beginning to rise and she didn't want to end up doing something stupid even if it was on accident.

She quickly glanced over at Claire before returning her eyes to the road. They needed to be careful. Even driving out in the open like they were was dangerous now. "Do you have anywhere you need to go? If not I'm stopping by home for a few things." Her voiced cracked a little at the word. Home. At least it used to be home. It used to be a place where she felt safe and comfortable. Not anymore. "I'm not staying in this town." She mumbled and gripped the wheel tightly.

"You don't have to come with me." She added on quickly. She hadn't even realized that Claire might feel like she was in a bad situation. If she was in her shoes she'd more than likely feel the same way. She was a stranger to Claire, and even before the world went to crap your parents told you to steer clear of strangers. "If you want to go off on your own...I can give you some stuff too." She offered, considering the poor girl had drop most of her things when they ran into each other. "It's probably mostly my fault anyways.."

[sataraxias]

The wind pulling her hair to obscure her vision was getting super annoying. She rolled the hair elastic resting on her wrist up, pulling her hair back into something that was a bit more manageable in the current circumstances. Good old ponytails never failed.

Her throat tightened at the other woman’s words, recognising the melancholy undertones of her words. She could sort of understand the pain there- but for her, it was more dulled. More irrelevant. The end of the world hadn’t cost her a home, because nowhere she’d been had really been deserving of such a sentimental term for a while. But that was a long story, and Claire wasn’t about to delve into her tragic-backstory-trademark with a stranger. End of the world didn’t really mean the end of privacy, after all. Not yet. Maybe never. Who knew how life would turn out at this point? They were going minute by minute, second by second. Picking up pieces and toasters.

“I’ll come with you, for however long I feel like,” she decided, gathering her toaster up on to her lap. She ran a finger over the smooth packaging as her thoughts drifted slightly off track. Should she open it and wield the toaster like a wild pair of nunchucks? Swing the cord and whack the zom? It wasn’t like there was electricity to make actual toast. A shame, but she could live without it.

Thoughts returned to the girl beside her. Phe had offered her supplies. She was never one to turn down free stuff. Never look a gift horse in the mouth and all that. “Great! I’ve literally got basically nothing. Most of my crap was in my car, to be honest, and this stupid backpack just had to spill... How long till we get to yours?”

[ethereal .]

Ophelia's grip loosened against the steering wheel, her knuckles had started to turn white and she hadn't even realized. She sucked in a deep breath when they rounded a corner and everything became familiar again. Even through all the destruction little details of her rundown neighborhood stuck out. The stop sign on the corner where all the little kids met up in the morning before heading off to school. The tall basketball hoop that she used to play at with her brothers before it became more of a hang out spot. Memories that lingered in the back of her mind. The good times.

She nodded slowly as Claire talked, taking in what she was saying but not really listening. Everything she was saying was registering in slow motion, blurring together. "Yea...alright." She finally mumbled after Claire had finished talking. Her foot eased off the gas as she maneuvered her way in and out of the abandoned cars scattered throughout the street. "No time at all, we're here." She said breathlessly as she pulled up to a little one story house at the very end of the cul de sac.

At first glance it surely wasn't much. One of the windows was boarded up and their screen was hanging on by a thread. Anyone else would probably make assumptions about the living situation, but all Ophelia saw were memories. Her parents boarded up the window after an intense game of hide and seek between her an her brothers when she was little. She ended up with a broken arm but it was all in good fun. The screen door was never fixed after her older brother basically ripped it off the hinges after pretending he was a monkey from planet of the apes. A soft chuckle slipped out as she pushed open the car door, "Come on in, we should hurry in case we caught anyone's attention." She gestured towards the house with a jerk of her head.