Empty World Ch. 02

A necessary disclaimer: this is a story about a group of adults, traumatized by their life experiences, trying to survive, stay sane and find love in the post-apocalyptic world. This is a slow burn story, and you won't likely see any lewd activities for quite a while, so if this is not your cup of tea, find something else to read. Also, all characters are 18+ years old.

You've been warned.

Love,

Cy~

Empty World

Chapter 02

Now words like innocence

Don't mean a thing

You hear the music play

But you can't sing

Those pictures in your mind

Keep you locked up inside your past

Lu opened her eyes to the gray light streaming through the blinds, just like the day before. The day before... her chest seized and breath caught up in her lungs as all of yesterday flooded her mind. It wasn't just a nightmare after all. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to breathe through pain and panic, fighting off the existential dread - and it retreated, after several extremely long minutes. Lu rolled on the other side with a groan, wincing from a sudden sharp headache, and opened her eyes again, to be greeted by a tall glass of water and two pills on her nightstand.

"Wh- who put this here?" she hoarsely asked, not really expecting a response.

"Good morning, Lu. Max expedited scanning of painkillers he brought in yesterday, and asked me to make sure you have everything to help you fight your veisalgia."

"My... what?"

"Your hangover. This is a soluble detox medication, it will completely remove all symptoms in approximately 7 minutes after ingestion."

"Oh... right. Thank you, Mother," she sat up gingerly, trying not to move her head too much.

"You're welcome, Lu."

Huh? Nevermind, head hurts, stop thinking. She dumped two pills into the glass and started to undress while they dissolved. God damn, you fucking reek, chica, never missing a shower from now on, no matter how wasted you are. She took off her hoodie and t-shirt, smelling of cigarette smoke, and threw them on the floor. Jeans followed into the heap half a minute later. With a look of disgust on her face, she pulled her still damp panties down, wincing as they were nearly glued to her labia. Ugh... nasty! Panties topped the heap on the floor. Cherry on cake. Nasty smelly cherry. She downed the glass with dissolved medicine and stumbled her way to the bathroom.

"Mildly warm shower and an aspirin is all that a girl needs in the morning," she nearly sang, emerging some ten minutes later, wrapped in a bathrobe and toweling her hair. She stopped by her bed, eyeing the heap of dirty clothes.

"Mother, what Tower-folk is supposed to do with their dirty laundry?"

"Uniforms should be disposed of and replaced. Personal articles of clothing of sentimental value can be cleaned in the Tower's laundry room in service hallway B."

She tilted her head, giving the pile a critical once-over.

"Do you have casual clothes?"

"Not at the moment, I'm afraid."

She sighed, sat on the edge of the bed and tied her dirty stuff into a bundle.

"Laundry it is then. Mother... what's security chief supposed to look like?"

--//--

Dressed in neutral gray security uniform with the markings of the chief, she sauntered into the canteen, where Max was about to finish scanning his loot. He briefly looked at her over his shoulder.

"Hey, Lu. Sleep good? Mother, last batch, please."

Beams slid over the items on the table and he pushed them into the open bag. Medical supplies done, gotta decide on the next scavenging run.

"Hey..." Lu didn't elaborate. "Had your coffee yet?" She walked to the row of replicators.

"Wouldn't mind a breakfast first," he turned, giving her a once-over. "Looks good on you. Decided to take the offer?"

"Somebody has to do this around here, and you ain't security material, Weller, no offense," she smirked and pushed the button. "Continental breakfast, please."

"None taken. That's exactly why I offered you the role," he shrugged and pressed the button on the replicator beside him. "Bacon and eggs, mocca black, two sugars."

They took their food trays out and sat at the table. They ate in silence for a while, avoiding each other's eyes, feeling awkwardness building again.

"Hey, Max," Lu started, spreading jam on her toast.

"Yeah?" he immediately responded, chewing on his bacon.

She paused, then got angry at herself. The fuck, Lu? It's the same Weller, a bit fucked in the head, a bit older, but he's not a threat. Are you scared? You've interrogated much scarier people!

"Listen, about clothes... no, scratch that, that's not important right now. You know what, I want a tour of the place I'm supposed to secure," she took a bite, put her elbows on the table and looked into his face, chewing, trying not to blink.

"Um," he took a sip of his coffee. "The Tower is too damn big. Even a nickel tour will take a day, so we'll focus on the most important parts, and Mother can show you the plans for everything else," he managed to look back.

"I only need to know where the jail cells are," she said with a straight face.

"We don't have... oh, really smart, Lu," he grunted seeing her face breaking into a grin.

"Gotcha, Weller! You bought it!" She laughed and bit a huge piece of her toast, enjoying herself.

He sighed. His fears of his own mental fuckery were unfounded after all. She was still here, chewing on her breakfast and smiling, not a product of his imagination, flesh and blood... soft and warm. He ran his hand over his face and rubbed his eyes, then chuckled - her realness brought in a completely new set of problems.

"I'd say 'like in the good old times', but the old times weren't exactly good," he looked away. "A'ight, find me in security when you're done."

He got up and left the canteen, throwing his tray into disposal on his way out and taking the bags with medical stuff. Lu watched him leave, but he never looked back. So who's scared of whom now? Oh Max, we're the last people on the fucking planet, why'd you go and make it difficult...

--//--

Molly awoke with a start. Something has changed while she slept, and she was sure she wasn't alone in this place anymore. Quietly, she crept to the closed door and put her ear to it, feeling the chill running down her spine as she heard voices.

"People. There are people in there, two at least. Go introduce yourself, be polite. No. Gods, Molly, be a good girl now, you can't survive out there alone, go this instant! No, I said, I'm not going near any more people! Molly Stanton Parker, you will do as I say! No, I won't!"

The latter part of her won this round. She scrambled to get her backpack, stuffing it with random packaged and canned food, pulled on the boots without bothering to tie the laces, and, throwing the jacket on, quietly opened the door just a tiny bit. The hallway was empty, but voices were coming from the room several doors up. She slipped through the half-opened door and tiptoed down the hallway, back to the garage.

Hallway greeted her with darkness, and the garage doors were down. "Like a mouse in the trap. Be thankful you still have your head on your shoulders. There has to be a door switch here, has to be..."

She headed in.

--//--

"In here," Max called from the armory when Lu entered the security room. Two holstered shockguns were laid out on the table before him.

"Pick one," he gestured at the table. "This is..."

"I know my guns, Max," she interrupted him with a smirk. "Boston Dynamics' Thunder XD-7, corporate security favorite. Get kicked by a race horse, receive 10 kilovolts as a bonus," she strapped the holster to her belt.

"Good," he nodded, grabbing the other one. "Rule number one - no lethal force in the building, unless under siege. The rest? I trust you know what you're doing, sheriff, but just in case you're interested, Mother can brief you on our security protocols."

"Why so serious, Max?" She playfully ribbed him. "C'mon, I'm not spending the after-pocalypse with you being all business-like."

He clicked the armory door shut and turned to her, opening his mouth to give her an earful when...

"Unauthorized attempt to open the maintenance garage doors."

Nothing like an adrenaline boost to start your morning off. Lu's hand was on the holster - instantly, Max noted, even faster than himself. He glanced at the wall of displays - no movement outside.

"Mother, how many people are in the Tower?"

"Three."

"...figures. What about the intrusion protocol?" he frowned.

"You dismissed the intruder alert yourself."

"W- wha... fuck it, nevermind. Let's go, Lu, we got a stray," he made a move to the exit.

She blocked the door with her small frame, looking up at him.

"I'm going first," she said, unholstering the gun. "Nuh uh, I'm the security chief here, zip it, gringo," she added quickly, seeing him about to argue, then turned around and walked out, holding the gun in a two-handed cradle grip in front of her chest. Max followed closely.

"Your first job as a chief, are you excited?" He whispered, creeping along the hallway behind her back. "Try not to kill them, please."

Lu didn't grace him with an answer, her eyes peeled to the darkness of the garage ahead. Suddenly, she stopped and raised her fist up, then opened her palm and touched the fingers to her ear.

Max stopped and listened. There was definitely someone in the garage, and they had been making way too much noise for a stealth operation - fumbling with the door, heavy breathing, rustling of garments and equipment, followed by the sound of hitting a tool cabinet, loud bang and several metal clangs - probably tools falling, and a sharp shriek of pain.

"Mother, lights," he whispered, and the garage lit up a second later.

Down by the door, in the pool of scattered wrenches and screwdrivers, pinned to the floor by a tools cabinet, laid a thin tall girl, no older than mid-20s, dressed in blue maintenance crew uniforms. Her hair might have actually been blonde and her features were hard to appraise - the girl was dirty, to put it mildly. Also terrified out of her mind - she pulled an old rusty kitchen knife out of her backpack she clutched to her chest and, shutting her eyes, stuck it out in their general direction in her outstretched arm.

"Don't... don't touch me! Don't... hurt me... please..." Her arm fell down lifelessly, and she broke down in tears, struggling to breathe under the weight trapping her.

Max and Lu exchanged glances and holstered their guns. Max slowly approached the girl, holding his hands up and trying to look as non-threatening as possible. Yeah, nice try, Weller, you got six inches and a hundred pounds on her, Lu thought, that ain't fooling anyone. He lifted the heavy cabinet off the trapped girl and set it back in its place, then took a step closer, but Lu waved him off.

"Let me handle this," she said under her breath and kneeled beside the girl, moving the knife away from her hand. "Hey niña, it's okay, we're not going to hurt you," she softly addressed the girl, who opened her eyes, sobbed and cried louder, shaking and trying to move away.

"Shhh, girl, try not to move, we need to see you don't have any bones broken, okay?" Lu raised her open palms. "What's your name?"

Girl froze, sobbed and winced from apparent pain, but stopped crying, looking at Lu, then Max, then back at Lu with wide eyes.

"M- Molly... Please, don't hurt me..." She sniffed and prepared to cry again.

"Nice to meet you, Molly, I'm Lu, the big guy here is Max. Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you," Lu shifted a bit closer. "I just need to check the damage, okay? Tell me where it hurts."

Molly winced again, weakly pointing with her hand at her chest, then her leg.

"Will you let me look?" Lu asked and, getting an affirmative nod in response, unzipped Molly's jumpsuit. Nasty bruise on her ribs right below the bra was quickly spreading purple. Couple ribs are cracked, most likely. She carefully took off the boot and rolled up the pant leg to discover a swollen ankle, hastily bandaged with strips of cloth.

"Okay, Molly, nothing we can't fix. Will you let us help you?" Lu sounded like a big sister now. Molly bit her lip and looked away. As her gaze drifted to her backpack packed with food she stole, her eyes widened and she inhaled sharply, then whimpered from pain in her chest. Lu didn't miss it and understood everything.

"You'll get your backpack later, let's just leave it here for now, okay? You'll have trouble walking on your own, will you let Max carry you?" Max chuckled. Let the big guy do the grunt work, right.

Molly hesitated, then nodded. Max crouched beside her and carefully slid his hands under her back and knees, lifting her up like a feather. She's seriously underfed for her age and height, he thought, but that's okay, we can fix that too. He nodded a 'follow-me' to Lu and walked out of the garage with Molly in his arms.

Molly still trembled with fear and hugged her own shoulders in an attempt to hide and cover, but couldn't help herself and looked up at the man who carried her. Not the squarest jaw she'd seen in her life, not the chiseled cheekbones - no, what struck her the most was the aura of calm confidence and determination his face exuded. There was something else, something she couldn't quite grasp, but when he briefly looked down and gave her a warm reassuring smile, she saw it - behind his eyes.

"Medical is here," Max stopped in front of the double doors across the hallway from the canteen and pushed them with his shoulder, opening them into the mirrored version of the canteen, with advanced hospital beds instead of tables and benches. He gently lowered the girl onto the bed beside the window and let Lu take over.

"I'll be in security if you need me," he told her, then turned to Molly. "Lu will take care of you now." He gave her another smile and left.

Lu got busy carefully extracting Molly out of the jumpsuit. The more skin she revealed, the darker her face got. Molly, already calm, felt anxious again, but the little woman sighed and gently put her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"You've been through a lot, aren't you?" Her beautiful face was sad yet full of compassion and her voice - of care, something Molly hadn't seen or heard in years, and her heart made a small leap. She closed her eyes and slowly nodded, feeling tears streaking down her face. "Okay, let's fix you up... Mother, medigel applicator and two doses, please."

Molly's eyes flew open. Mother? Is there someone else here? She nearly jumped when an applicator with two capsules materialized on the table beside her bed.

"Shh, chica, don't worry, this house is full of magic and you're going to like it," Lu chuckled, loaded the device and pressed it to Molly's side. "Be still, this won't hurt but you might feel cold."

Soft cool sensation enveloped Molly's bruised ribs and, to much surprise, she felt the pain vanish nearly instantly. She looked at Lu and tried to smile - it came out lopsided, but Lu rewarded her effort with a big smile of her own.

"Told you - magic!" She giggled, finishing covering her ribs. "Now let's take care of your ankle." She loaded the second capsule, unwrapped the bandages and covered the swollen bruise in medigel, then pulled the medical scanner above the bed down and pointed it on Molly's ribcage first, then down at her calf.

"You'll be good as new in a couple of hours," she said, satisfied with the results. "Don't move much, try to get some sleep maybe? I'll check in with Max and be back to keep you company, okay?" She carefully covered Molly with a sheet and stood up.

Molly nodded and turned to her intact side, closing her eyes as Lu left the ward.

"Have you seen their eyes, Mols? Yes. They're as broken as I am. Both of them."

--//--

Max was hovering above the assortment of various electronics laid out on the table when Lu walked in. He raised his head and froze - the look on her face was of an absolute murder.

"That bad?.." He asked cautiously.

She tiredly plopped on the couch and hid her face in her hands.

"They... did stuff to her. Bad stuff," she mumbled. "Scars, burns, bruises... some are so old it will take a month of medigel baths to heal..."

She was on her feet suddenly, glaring daggers, her fists clenched.

"I just wanna fucking tear them limb from limb, Max! Lynch them on the city square!" She shouted.

"Too bad they're already gone, most likely." Max put his hand on her shoulder. "We'll take good care of her, Lu."

"Promise?" She grimaced and looked up at him, tears welling in her eyes.

"Promise." He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and she hid her face in his chest, sniffing. "It's not your fault, Lu... it never was your fault..."

They stayed like this for a minute, then she extracted herself from his arms and wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

"You okay? Somebody has to stay with her most of the time, and I need to make runs."

"Yeah... I'm okay." She exhaled, not looking at him.

"Good. Now pick one," he gestured at the table.

"W- what are these?" She looked at the pile of devices, shaking her head.

"Our comms, same frequency, all of them," he pointed at his earpiece which she didn't notice earlier. "We won't be attached at the hip all the time, and need to keep contact with Mother outside of the Tower."

"A'ight," she pulled a black wristband out of the pile. "Waterproof, I hope. Where are you going today?"

"I was going to hit the mall, lots of things we need in one place. You want something specific?"

"Yes, actually. How about you raid Macy's? Your girls need something nice to wear on their off-time instead of these," she pointed at her uniform.

"My girls?" He chuckled. "Okay, chica, I'll get you your skinnies and some oversized hoodie."

"I hope you still remember my sizes?" She batted her eyelashes innocently at him.

"Some things are pretty hard to forget," he grinned. "Now go, I don't want Molly to be alone, not yet."

"See ya, cowboy," Lu playfully punched him in the arm and returned to the medical, taking post in the chair near Molly's bed. The girl was asleep, it seemed.

Five minutes later Max's buggy zipped behind the window in the direction of the gates.

--//--

Ravenswood Mall was dark, save for some gray light streaming through the skylight - not enough to light the inside of stores, so LED headlight came in handy. Max finished with the cosmetics store when an incoming tone beeped in his earpiece. He tapped the button.

"Max here."

"Hey Weller! How's it going?"

"Heading to Macy's now. Already got some basic hygiene stuff - soaps, gels, shampoos, that kind of thing. If my girls find something's missing, you'll get the rest on your own run."

"You never learned how to properly care for your skin and that beautiful hair of yours? Shame," Lu chuckled. "Okay, just keeping you updated - Molly's awake and her bruises are gone. We're going to have brunch now, I think. You hungry, girl?" Max heard Lu asking. "Okay, Max, I'll keep you posted."

"Take care, Lu."

My girls, he thought, stopping in front of the stand with the map of the mall. Macy's, second floor, escalators are down. Well, shit. He pulled his crowbar out of the cart and took the stairs.