#naochi

  Everything is crumbling to dust around her. Buildings are falling, people are screaming and running, and the sky is pitch black even though it’s supposed to be mid-afternoon. The only thing Kim can hear is the sound of blood rushing in her ears, and she is helpless to the chaos around her. 

  “KIM!” she hears Trixie cry out, a bloodcurdling scream that never fails to strike terror through the very core of her being. 

  Kim runs to where Trixie’s voice is coming from, narrowly avoiding chunks of buildings falling from the sky, but it seems no matter how fast she runs or which corners she turns she cannot find her. 

  “TRIXIE?!” she screams, her heart beating faster and faster the longer it takes to find her friend, “TRIXIE!” 

  “HELP ME! HELP!” Trixie’s wails ring out.

  But Kim can’t find her, because the debris hitting the streets and the screams of all the other people drowns out Trixie’s voice. The sun disappeared, their world crumbles and falls around her, debris crashing into the roads threatens to take her with it, bombs go off like thunder, the smell of smoke overwhelms her, people drop like flies around her with a cacophony of screams and- 

  And she can’t find her best friend. 

  Kim turns another corner in this maze of rubble and bodies. Trixie’s screams start to get louder, so she follows the sound and runs down the nearest path. She runs and she runs and she fucking runs and she-

  She finds Pearl. Her body is mangled and bloodied, impaled on metal beams, skin gray and her eyes are glazed over-

  Present Day, New York City, N.Y.

Kim shoots up in bed, panting heavily and covered in a cold sweat, images still burned into her eyes. She can’t breathe. 

  But there is sunlight streaming in through the window, the bird’s song can be heard, her blanket is big and soft, and Naomi’s light snores fill the room. Kim closes her eyes, making sure not to screw them up too tight, and inhales deeply. She allows the breath to relax every muscle in her body. When she opens her eyes, she can no longer see the destruction of her city, only the tiny bedroom she’s been sharing with Naomi for the last week. 

  She swings her legs over the side of the bed, relishing the feeling of hard linoleum beneath her toes, the chill refreshing her panicked mind. Her dark hair naturally spills over her shoulders in a way that it hasn’t since before Chicago was destroyed, and it has a sheen to it that she hadn’t realized she missed. 

  Kim, careful to not wake Naomi, walks over to the window and leans against it. People are walking around on the sidewalks, children are playing in yards, cars are speeding past each other, and Kim’s heart aches watching it all. All of them are so oblivious to the Outside, they are all living in a bubble, hidden away from the horrors of fallen cities and catching trains that don’t want them. 

  “Again?” Naomi asks gently, startling Kim out of her thoughts.

  Kim looks at Naomi and is immediately taken by how gorgeous she is, even just awoken from sleep. There’s a pensive look on her face, her bonnet is tied neatly, and her tank top is lopsided on her shoulders, but somehow she is the most beautiful person Kim has ever seen. 

  Kim sighs, “…You weren’t there.”

  “I know,” Naomi says sympathetically, “But that doesn’t mean you have to suffer alone, Kim.”

  Kim looks back outside the window, thinking of how just a week ago Naomi, Bob, and herself were climbing a fucking mountain to get here. She can still feel the hot sun on her skin and the strain the climb had on her muscles, it’s something she would rather not redo.

  “I didn’t mean to wake you up,” Kim says instead. She’s not ashamed of the obvious topic change. 

  “I was going to be up soon anyways,” Naomi says, getting out of the bed as she does, “Been a really long fucking time since I could have an uninterrupted eight hours of sleep, my body still isn’t used to being here.”

  Kim hums thoughtfully, watching as a kid trips and falls playing hopscotch, “We’ve only been here a week, I’m pretty sure it’ll take way longer than that before you get used to… this.”

  Naomi giggles softly, her voice music to Kim’s ears, and she comes up behind her to place her chin on Kim’s shoulder, hugging her tight from behind. Kim melts into Naomi’s touch, she’s never felt connected to someone like she has to this girl. Not even Trixie or Pearl, as much as she doesn’t want to admit it. 

  “I guess that makes sense,” Naomi says, her breath tickling Kim’s ear.

  Kim rolls her eyes, “You guess?” 

  “I wish things could move quicker, ever since we got here I’ve felt constantly exhausted,” Naomi complains, “That never used to happen before.”

  Kim just smiles and shakes her head fondly, she could never get tired of listening to this woman speak. They stay like that for several minutes, just holding each other and people watching. Kim wishes they could stay like this forever, fuck everything else. 

  There’s a knock on the bedroom door, and they both jump at the sudden sound. Awkwardly, Kim pulls away from Naomi, unable to keep a blush off her cheeks.

  “Who is it?” Naomi asks, pointedly not looking Kim in her eyes. 

  “It’s Bob,” the woman calls from the other side of the door, voice full of annoyance.

  Naomi lets out a sigh of relief, “Come in.”

  Bob opens the door and slips inside the small room, making sure to close it behind her. 

  “We need to talk,” Bob says, stress painted on her face. 

  It seems ever since the three of them made it to New York, all they’ve done is talk. Kim is starting to get tired of it, reliving the last two months every single day has been draining her completely. She wishes they could’ve pretended nothing happened when they got here, but people are missing, good people who want to help change the way things are, just like she does. 

  Kim shares a worried look with Naomi, who seems to be equally as stressed, “About…?”

  Bob inhales deeply, “Chicago.”

  Kim tenses up, flashes of dust and debris flashing across her vision, “What about it?” 

  “We’ve managed to track down Sasha and Peppermint to the Chicago area, and… we don’t know how much of it is left, Kim,” Bob explains, her mental exhaustion evident, “But you do.”

                                                                     ~*~

  9 Weeks, 2 Days Earlier Chicago, I.L.

“Hey, hey! Wake up!”

  Kim was roused from unconsciousness, hands violently shaking her shoulders. Blearily, Kim peeled her eyes open, despite her eyelids feeling like they weighed a million pounds. Pearl was kneeling down in front of her, and even in total darkness, Kim could see her blonde hair was covered in dirt and she had tear tracks streaming down her face. The city alarms whirring in the distance made Kim wince, but she held eye contact with Pearl, unsure of what else to do. 

  Kims spoke despite the fact her mouth felt as dry as a desert, “Wha… What’s happening?

  “Don’t panic, okay?” Pearl said, then she grabbed Kim’s arms to help her friend sit up. 

  Kim looked around them with horror as realization slowly seeped in. They were in a tiny cavern- Except that wasn’t right, because there were no cave systems in Chicago. She was just out on the street with Pearl, Trixie, and Shea, right? Now they were somewhere dark, cold, and cramped. She was sitting on dirt, and rubble was surrounding them. 

  Memories flooded into her mind. They had been out on the town for their usual dinner and a show, a Friday night tradition that began a year ago after the four friends had a particularly rough week. None of them had been expecting this, although maybe they should have.

  First came the alarms, loud and dizzying, they effectively froze the four girls in their spots. The bombs began going off just minutes later. She only knew they were bombs because she had heard the sound in video games before. Then buildings started to crumble, and chunks of the city fell down onto the people it was supposed to support and protect. At that point, people around them started screaming and started running. Finally, she was able to start moving too, her friends on her heels. Every step she took she could feel the earth quaking beneath her, and that was when Kim knew that they were well and truly fucked. 

  “Why would I?” Kim asked, tone dripping with sarcasm, “Can’t see a reason for that.” 

  Shea, who was roughly a yard away from her turned to give Kim a sour look, “Now is not the fucking time.”

  Kim didn’t hear her though, instead, all she saw was Shea cradling Trixie’s limp body. Without a second thought, Kim attempted to move from her spot. She was stopped by an excruciating pain shooting up her leg, which resulted in an uncontrollable scream. Kim fell backward, panting heavily from the agony and tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. 

  “Shit- I thought you fucking knew about that!” Pearl said. She wrapped her arms around Kim’s shoulders to bring her to a sitting position again, her grip was almost too tight but Kim welcomed the distraction from the pain in her leg. 

  “No idea,” Kim gasped out, eyes screwed up tightly.

  She pressed her face into Pearl’s chest, crying silently and confused as all fuck about what happened to all of them. The pain was unbearable, and she knew that if she looked at her friends she would just see pity, which was somehow worse. Instead, Kim raised her head and looked down at her leg, and it became incredibly obvious what was wrong with her. 

  Blood was running down her shin and all down her foot, and when she tilted her head she could see the gash it poured from. Kim pushed down the dread building in her stomach, she looked away from her injury and opted to look at Shea instead. The woman wore an ill expression, her eyes stuck on Kim’s injury, but Kim knew Shea was the only one who could do what needed to be done. 

  “Shea- Shea,” Kim demanded until her friend looked her in her eyes, “You have to-to listen to me closely, okay?”

  Shea nodded shakily, “What do you need?”

  “I need to know if Trixie is alive, Shea,” Kim said.

  “She’s alive, she has to be alive,” Shea choked out, pulling their friend closer. 

  Kim blinked back tears, “You don’t know for sure?” 

  “I- I don’t-”

  “Shea.”

  Finally, the woman nodded and laid Trixie down on the soft dirt. Kim and Pearl watched with bated breath as Shea felt Trixie’s neck for a pulse. All Kim could think at the moment was that Trixie had better fucking be alive, or she would bring the blonde bitch back just to kill her again for doing that to her. 

  Then Shea looked up at the other two with bright, excited eyes, “I feel something! She has a pulse, she’s definitely alive!” 

  “Holy fucking shit,” Pearl sobbed out.

  Kim closed her eyes and counted her blessings, “Okay, okay. Is she hurt?”

  Shea quickly gave Trixie a once over and shook her head, “She’s just out cold.”

  “Wish that were me, lucky bitch,” Pearl muttered.

  Kim ignored Pearl, though she understood the sentiment, “Alright, are you hurt?”

  “I’m fine- Well, as fine as I can be,” Shea said, sitting back on her heels.

  Kim nodded, “Okay, and Pearl? What about you?” 

  “My arms are all scraped up,” Pearl said, then after a pause she added, “My sides hurt really bad, too.” 

  Kim frowned, that was two injuries, one unconscious friend, and three people pumped full of adrenaline that would wear off sooner than any of them would have liked. She was scared. She wanted to lay down and sleep, and pray that when she woke up her city would be saved, Trixie would be awake, and all of this could just be a bad dream. But she knew that if they didn’t get out of here soon things would be ten times more difficult. 

  “What supplies do we have?” Kim asked.

  Shea rubbed her face roughly with her hands, obviously stressed, “I don’t know! Whatever we fell down here with?” 

  “That includes our bags, right?”

  Pearl sighed, defeated, “So a bunch of credit cards, lipstick, and hand sanitizer. Perfect.” 

  Shea gasped, “Hand sanitizer! Of course!”

  “What?” Pearl asked, unconsciously pulling Kim closer.

  “We have to clean out her leg,” Shea said, getting up to go look for their scattered items. 

  “And what about bandages? We clean it and then what?” Pearl said, gently helping Kim lean against the wall of dirt so she could help Shea look around. 

  Kim grimaced, “We can tear some of the fabric off my skirt.”

  Shea and Pearl shared a look of surprise. Both seemed nervous at the suggestion, they knew how excited she was when she first found the skirt, but all Kim cared about was getting the four of them out of… wherever they were. Clothes could be replaced, their lives couldn’t.

  “You sure?” Shea asked as she bent down to grab one of their purses. 

  It was Trixie’s, Kim could recognize that hot pink monstrosity anywhere, even when it was covered in dirt. At least the zipper was closed. Hopefully, that meant all the hand sanitizer Trixie was obsessed with carrying around with her was still in there. 

  “Of course I’m sure,” Kim bit back, the pain getting worse by the second. 

  Shea knelt down beside Kim and opened the purse, grinning victoriously when she found what she was looking for. Pearl meanwhile was sorting through Kim’s handbag, a much larger purse that Pearl liked to refer to as the “mom bag,” and she pulled out the small pair of thread scissors Kim kept in case of emergencies. She never expected this to be the kind of emergency she would need those scissors for. 

  Pearl looked at Kim as she shakily grabbed the hem of her skirt, “An inch in width, right?”

  “Right, if we need more we can just cut more,” Kim said with a firm nod.

  Shea helped Kim stand up so that Pearl could cut all the way around the skirt, which was probably more painful than the injury itself. Once she was standing, Pearl made quick work of the garment, despite shaking like a leaf. Kim leaned heavily on Shea the whole time and kept her gaze fixated on Trixie, who was still passed out. She wished Trixie was awake, if only to have comfort from her best friend.

  After Kim was sitting back down again with her back propped up against the wall of compacted debris, Pearl soaked the strip of fabric in sanitizer and wrapped it tightly around the cut, which apparently went all the way down to the bottom of Kim’s foot. The alcohol burned against the open wound, but it was better than nothing. At least her chances of dying from infection were lowered significantly. She would still be of use to her friends. 

  Then Trixie started moving. Slowly she sat up, eyes wide and wild with confusion as she took in their surroundings. 

  “Trix,” Kim breathed out.

  Trixie locked eyes with her and screamed.

                                                                      ~*~

  Present Day, New York City, N.Y.

  “There’s nothing left of Chicago, I already told both of you that,” Kim says, frustration prominent in her tone.

  Bob sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose, “I saw the outskirts, I know it’s not totally flattened.”

  “It may as well be,” Kim argues, sitting down on the edge of the bed. 

  Naomi glances at Bob with a terrified expression, “Are you sure they’re in Chicago?”

  “It’s our only lead,” Bob says quietly, “I’m going to have to go back for them.”

  Kim snaps her head up to look at her friend, “What?!”

  “I can’t let them die out there thinking they are looking for me-”

  “I don’t care! You will die this time!”

  “How? How do you know that, Kim? Because so far you have a lot of warnings without a lot of reason!” 

  “I know because my friends are dead, Bob,” Kim finally says, tears welling up in her eyes. 

  She looks down at her hands, and for a second she sees dirt, ash, and blood on them, then blinks rapidly to snap herself out of it.

  Naomi gasps softly, “Kim…”

  The tension in the air, once palpable, melts away at her admission of guilt. There’s a new quiet between the three women, and Kim hangs her head, refusing to look the other two in the eyes. She never wanted them to know, but she didn’t have a choice. She needs them to understand her. 

  “...Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Bob asks, sitting down beside Kim and placing her hand on her shoulder. 

  Kim stares at her hands, “Well, like most people, I don’t really like talking about my dead friends or that they’re dead because of me.”

  Naomi scoffs and sits down on Kim’s other side, “You know what she means.”

  “Yeah, I do,” Kim agrees softly.

  They’re all silent for a few, long moments, simply relishing each other’s company. When Kim first found them all those weeks ago, she never expected to wind up being so fucking attached to them. She wouldn’t be alive without them, that much is certain. She would still be at that train station, waiting on a savior that would never arrive. 

  Bob finally speaks up again, “I’m not asking either of you to come with me, you know.”

  Naomi smiles at her, “You’re crazy if you think I’m letting you go alone.”

  As much as Kim doesn’t want to go back, it would kill her if something happened to them out there and she wasn’t there to stop it. She’s lost so much already, she cannot lose Naomi and Bob, too. She won’t allow it. 

  “I’ve already saved both your asses twice, what’s one more?” Kim says, smiling when Naomi leans her head on her shoulder.