«We Could Be Legends»

[Rose Quartz]

Freddie had decided to stay awake as long as he could, watching for danger, and also watching the young girl who had healed him. He couldn't see much of her in the dark but the occasional quiet sniffling, told him she was crying. Not that he blamed her. He hadn't had the chance to process all the death he'd seen in the last few days. And he was sure that when if finally did hit him it would be like running into a brick wall.

He caught himself dozing several times before he finally gave in laying down on the ash covered pine needles and falling asleep.

---

He woke shivering, frost clung to the ground and plants, and his breath came in puffy white clouds. It wasn't unheard of for there to be a frost this time of year, but it was unfortunate. Freddie looked over at the crowd of twenty some people. Who had escaped the city with naught but the clothes on their backs and their children. The silence coming from the sleeping bodies was unnerving, especially with the bodies of the dead bathed in frost scattered around them.

He pushed himself to his feet and walked over to them as silently as he could. He didn't want to wake anyone he didn't have to. The healers had fallen asleep at some point during the night, a few still sat upright with their arms stretched over their knees and their heads hanging down.

He made his way to a small girl that was sleeping next to a girl who couldn't be more than thirteen. Her chest rose and fell slowly as she slept. Freddie gently placed his hand on her bare arm. She was a lot colder than he was. He slipped his vest off, laying it over her as best he could as a makeshift blanket. They weren't prepared to deal with this. Of course they weren't who could have imagined something like this ever happening.

"Hopefully he'll get here soon." He whispered, brushing a stray curl of hair away from the little girls cheek. "Hang in there, cause help's coming."

 

[FrankieDoodle]

Toby laid on a section of grass that had the least amount of debris, one knee sticking up as his foot tapped nervously on the ground. His hands covered his ear as he sang softly to himself, quiet enough that you had to be close to him to hear it. His eyes were closed, trying to block everything out. He looked terrible, he had dark circles under his eyes and was paler than normal. Between that and his ripped and bloody clothes, it would’ve been easy to mistake him for another one of the corpses. There were dried tear marks on his face, although from how they were smeared it looked like he had tried to wipe them away.
It was still early in the morning and he was freezing, something he came to terms with many years ago. No matter how much he layered up, Toby was always cold. His clothes being damp and ripped didn’t help anything, either.
He was doing everything in his power to not freak out. He was covered in people’s blood, and there were too many strange sounds. And the bodies were starting to stink.
If he thought it was physically possible for him, he would’ve moved to a more private and smell and sound-free area.
Toby cracked an eye open, watching Alpha as he ate out of a pop-up dog bowl he kept in his backpack. He felt guilty for screwing up the dogs food schedule, but it was better than nothing.
Once Alpha finish, he walked over to Toby, laying down on his lap. Toby coughed as the breath was knocked out of him, giving the dog a quick pat before moving his hands back to his ears and continuing to quietly sing.


Jessi sat a few feet away from Toby, watching him intently, her wings wrapped around herself. She also had dark circles under her eyes, having stayed up all night with Toby. She was relieved he was acting relatively normal, at least for the circumstances, but she was still terrified to even blink in case something happened.

 

[Amer]

Indigo... had just collapsed. She was trying to distribute food and do productive things of that nature, making sure everyone was okay. That everyone was accounted for. So much responsibility. Being a 'natural' leader, she had to do that sort of thing. It was only fair. But then the metal all disintegrated. And the few remaining fibers holding everyone together all sort of just collapsed.
Then a middle-aged lady came up to her, studied the worried lines like folds in the perfect paper-colored skin of her face, and the bruiselike smudges beneath her eyes, smudges that Indigo was too exhausted to hide with the sparkling shimmer that usually masked her face.
She probably was also watching her sanity drain away like the battery on an ancient I-Pod.
And the woman, a matronly African American lady said: "A pretty girl like you oughta' rest. Wouldn't do for those lines to become a permanent thing. I already have that issue. Let me take over." Then she patted Indigo on the shoulder, pointed to the ground, and told her to have some rest.
It wasn't the first time that Indigo's abilities caused people to do that sort of thing for her, but she didn't fight it. No matter whether it was her abilities or that woman's motherly instinct that caused her to take over.
Toby was also sleeping there, on the ground, reaching for Jessi's pink feathers like they were his treasured childhood blanket.
Indigo had drained the last of her reserves, even if she had eaten very recently, she would have been at the point of collapse. So seeing Toby sleeping like a baby... Indigo kinda just fell right there. Definitely not a swoon or anything.

 

[Thing2]

Brisa began to struggle to her feet so they could go see what was happening, but upon reaching a standing position she knew that she wouldn’t be able to walk that far. Never mind, I’ll find out tomorrow. A wave of exhaustion swept over her, and she sank back down to the ground and crawled a few feet away from the quickly disintegrating car, curling up to sleep with her arm under her head.