Moira woke up to an empty spot beside her in the bed. The covers were thrown back from the spot in the sheets, which was still warm when she stretched her arms out toward it. After spending days wandering around in the sticky humidity, sweating her ass off and feeling miserable, it was almost funny to snuggle under the blankets. But the hospital had been cold, and Juan kept the garage and loft apartment freezing cold as well.
A sliver of light splashed in from the cracked-open bathroom door. Steam billowed through the light, and the whole room smelled of shampoo and warmth. Moira scrubbed at her eyes and sat up just as the shower shut off. In the absence of the water running, the quiet felt oppressive. So, she focused on the soft sounds of Derek moving around in the bathroom. Getting dressed, trimming his beard, and things like that.
It was all so normal that it almost felt surreal. Like something out of a Twilight Zone episode. One little detail that is off and gives the situation an eerie feel.
Derek pushed through the door and glanced at her. “Morning.”
“You didn’t invite me to shower with you.” She complained.
Derek smirked at her and came over to kiss the top of her head. “You were asleep. I’m going to make breakfast. What do you want?”
She wanted to know what they were going to do next. It was hard to imagine life marching on now that the initial apocalyptic wave of the world falling apart was over. At least for her. She’d never really imagined what she was going to do beyond finding Derek. Certainly, she did not plan on going back to school for a little while at least. Until things calmed down.
Dealing with the council seemed like an unnecessary headache, but one that Derek was dead-set on following through with. They were probably going to head for wherever Sean and Leon planned to take her before the fiasco back at Leon’s restaurant. She was not sure if it was such a good idea for them to do that after the fiasco.
“I’ll have eggs benedict.” She told Derek, just to be ridiculous.
“Why, of course, darling.” He kissed her on the top of the head one more time and wandered off to go downstairs. Moira shoved the blankets off and went into the bathroom. It was humid and sticky from Derek’s shower. Condensation still fogged the mirror, and water dripped from the showerhead every so often. She decided against taking a shower, mostly because she already had one last night to clean off the sterile hospital smells, and all her clothes were in the washer. There was nothing clean to change into. She was even wearing borrowed sweats from Juan right now.
Instead, she brushed her teeth, ran her fingers through her hair, and thought about chopping it all off. Hair was annoying during the apocalypse. Derek’s electric razor lay beside the sink. Moira blinked at it. She was eternally grateful not to have to worry about shaving her face. Her legs had gone unshaved for over a week now and she did not plan to do anything about it. If Derek complained, he could go straight to hell. But letting a beard go seemed like a whole other beast that she was glad she did not have to tackle.
The downstairs of the garage housed two cars, both under covers, so Moira could not tell what they were, two motorcycles and the boat Juan had picked them up with. It had the loft overhead with just a bedroom and a bathroom and one little mini fridge. It matched the one down beside the tool bench, which contained beers mostly. Not good breakfast food.
Through a side door was the actual apartment with a kitchen and all that. Moira entered to the smell of bacon and eggs but no hollandaise sauce. Derek stood by the counter, shoveling scrambled eggs out of a pan onto several plates. Juan sat at the table in the center of the kitchen, watching a little TV wedged into the corner of the counter with his hand rubbing absently over his mouth.
“That does not look like eggs benedict.” Moira pulled out a chair and plopped down into it.
“There’s no butter to make the sauce.” Derek set the plates on the table and sat down with them. Moira grumbled a little but munched on a piece of bacon nonetheless. Juan and Derek continued whatever conversation they were having before she came in – something about the news.
“It’s ludicrous that they are focusing on stupid political games at a time like this.” Derek jabbed his fork toward the TV. The reporter was currently covering a story about how the changed day lengths were impacting crops and farmers, so whatever he was talking about must have been in a previous story.
Juan shrugged and finished the bite he was chewing. “If they abandon the government, it would be even worse. They must show the people that they still have the power to make these decisions and follow through with them.”
“What are you talking about?” Moira asked.
“They are going to impeach the president,” Juan told her. “Because of how badly the nuclear strikes are being handled.”
“It went badly?” Moira raised her eyebrows and reached for her phone to look it up, but her train of thought was interrupted by Derek’s laugh of indignation.
“It’s not because of the nuclear strikes,” He guffawed. “That’s what they are saying it is about, but it’s been a long time coming. They’ve been trying to kick him out of office and get the vice president in because she is a better figurehead.”
“Seems stupid to try to do that now,” Juan muttered.
“What are they handling badly about the nuclear strikes?” Moira asked, trying to steer the conversation away from politics. She avoided them at all costs. It was unbelievable that they were still unavoidable during the apocalypse.
“Well, it’s more like how they are handling the disaster zones at each of the gates,” Derek said. “I’ve been reading up on it and talking to a few buddies in the Red Cross who say that there are mass food and water shortages, and they are starting to run into issues with sanitization. Pretty soon, they are going to have disease outbreaks, and people are going to revolt, and they just don’t have enough manpower to deal with any of it.”
“Not to mention they don’t have enough manpower to deal with protecting the camps,” Juan pointed out. “The monsters are not just going away. If anything, they are getting worse over time. A few of the camps are building walls, but people don’t like that at all, even if they are to try to keep the monsters out.”
“I don’t understand why we aren’t trying to teach people how to defend themselves.” Moira crunched on some bacon thoughtfully. “I mean, I know we have the Marines and all now, but this country was founded on militias. You know…like Paul Revere and stuff.”
Stolen story; please report.
“Paul Revere and stuff?” Derek repeated while Juan looked at her dubiously. She felt a blush rising up the back of her neck but drew her shoulders back to look more confident. Last semester, she had to take a history course to meet her general education credits, so she knew that she had the right name.
“Yeah. Why aren’t we trying to teach people to use magic so that they can defend themselves rather than policing them with the National Guard? The council has a bunch of resources, right? They shared information with the hospitals. Then once everyone is equipped to deal with the monsters and magic and whatnot, we can all go back to fucking normal.”
Derek furrowed his brow, “Well…”
Moira held up a hand, “As normal as possible.”
“The council is never going to just give out information to the masses,” Derek said. Juan snorted in agreement. “They are based on the idea of keeping magic elite and secret.”
“Are they even relevant anymore then?” Moira asked. “I mean, anyone can use magic now, and it is not exactly secret. Like, is there anything to keep council members a part of the council anymore?”
“Pride,” Juan said.
“I just don’t think it is a good idea for us to go to them right now.” Moira set down her metaphorical soapbox and stepped onto it. She did not want to deal with any council members again, but she did not want to stay behind if Derek insisted. So, her only option was to convince Derek not to seek the council out. “After all, I did just kill one of the members.”
“She has a point, boss.” Juan set down his fork and pushed his empty plate away. “The director might end up turning her into a scapegoat for this entire situation just to appease the members.”
Derek sat back in his seat and frowned. He’d always been the type of person to take his time deliberating things in silence without talking through any of his thoughts out loud. At least when he took any time to deliberate anything instead of just flying through life on impulses. Moira had never met another person who was able to make so many snap decisions that worked out as beautifully as meticulously laid plans might. He was the epitome of ‘I couldn’t do that again if I tried.’ It was infuriating.
Mora did not know Juan well, but he also seemed aware of Derek’s thought process. Instead of saying something else or asking for his thoughts, he stood up and gathered their plates to put them in the sink. By the time he sat back down, Derek had worked through his thoughts and sat forward to rest his elbows on the table. Moira pursed her lips, preparing for an argument.
“Moira’s safety is not something that I am going to take a risk with,” he said, and all the spit and vinegar drained out of Moira. “I wouldn’t put it past my parents to use this as an excuse…” He gave her a meaningful look, which left Moira flabbergasted. Apparently, murder was just commonplace among these council members. Until her aunt and uncle tried to kill her, she never would have imagined anyone wanting her dead, but now it seems like this is just a part of her life.
“They hate me that much?” She asked.
“They hate not being able to control me,” Derek corrected.
“Oh, like that’s my fault?” Moira scoffed.
Derek shook his head with a smile, then continued. “Anyway. I agree that maybe it is not the best idea to go right to the council. Juan, you can always keep us updated on what they are getting up to, right? I trust you.”
“You probably shouldn’t,” Juan warned him.
“That’s why I trust you.” Derek rapped his knuckles against the table and made his contemplating face. “Plus, I know you.”
Whatever that meant. Juan nodded along like it made perfect sense while Moira looked between them, completely confused. She needed to have a conversation with Derek soon to bring herself into the loop that she had been so frustratingly left out of.
“What are you going to do?” Juan asked.
Moira missed what Derek said next because her phone began buzzing on the table beside her hand. She made a surprised noise while deciding whether or not she should answer because it looked like the number Jeremy had been calling for his parents.
“Who is that?” Derek’s voice broke through her bubble of indecision. She waved him off, then answered the call.
“Hello?”
“Oh,” The voice on the other end of the line belonged to a woman. She did not necessarily sound surprised but perhaps a little taken aback. “Is this Moira?”
“Yes.”
“Hello, sweetie. This is Kate, Jeremy’s mother. It’s nice to finally speak with you.” The voice became warm and genuine. “How have you been doing?”
“Um,” Moira glanced at Derek and Juan, then extracted herself from the table and wandered back over toward the garage. “Jeremy isn’t with me anymore.”
“He’s not?” Now, Kate did sound surprised. “Oh, I was hoping to catch him. He has not called in days, and we just want to make sure everything is okay.”
Moira pushed through the door into the garage. “He and Caleb left a couple of days ago to head out of the city, I guess. Not sure because I haven’t really heard from them either.”
“Well, that’s alright. I’ll try Caleb’s cell next, then.” There was a pause, then, “How have you been, sweetie? Have you gotten in contact with your boyfriend yet?”
“Yeah,” Moira looked back at the door to the apartment, then moved further into the garage to sit on one of the little rolling stools that were scattered about. “We found him. He’s okay. Jeremy wouldn’t have gone off without making sure of that.”
“He did sound as if he felt a little responsible for you when I spoke to him.” His mother mused. Moira wondered exactly how much of what they went through had been imparted to her. She rubbed a palm across her forehead, a little anxious because she did not want to tell her something that Jeremy did not want her to know. Talking to parents was not her forte. Just look at her relationship with her future in-laws.
“Uh…how have you been?” Moira fished. “Jeremy seemed to think that everything was pretty calm and safe where you are.”
“We’re doing fine. A few of the neighbors and I have gotten together with the church down the street to pool our resources and create a stock of food to ration out. Jeremy’s father has been canning like crazy to save absolutely everything from the garden before the frost moves in. Nobody is quite sure when food will end up on the shelves at the store again, so we are settling in for a difficult winter.”
“Right.” Moira grimaced. It seemed like the refugee camps were not the only places facing logistical hurdles when it came to food. If Jeremy’s parents were in a relatively safe suburb somewhere, they certainly were not getting any help from the Red Cross or government at the moment, so it was probably good for them to take matters into their own hands. Hopefully, if they planned well, they would be alright in the long term since the mess did not seem like one that would clear up in the near future.
“Have…” Moira tried to remember what the news reporters said about the changes in day length impacting harvests, “Has there been any impact because of the longer days?”
“Oh my goodness.” There was a huge sigh, “If I have to hear Darren – that’s Jeremy’s father – go on anymore about the day lengths and his garden, he’s going to end up sleeping on the couch.”
“Oh,” Moira raised her eyebrows.
“We haven’t really seen anything short-term, but we are a bit worried about how an entire season will go. Really, right now, the issue is the drought, but now we are able to create water out of thin air, so… Darren is trying to create a spell to make his own raincloud. But I won’t keep you, sweetie.” Kate began to sound a bit distracted. “It was nice talking with you. Make sure you keep safe now.”
“Yeah, you too.” Moira grimaced. “Bye then.”
“Bye-bye, dear.”
Moira lowered the phone and stared down at the recent calls list. She frowned at the frankly ridiculous amount of missed calls from her lawyer. Avoiding him was nothing new, but she felt a little bad, considering things had to be crazy with the board right now. For the millionth time, she wished her dad were still around to deal with the company. And she missed her mom. She sighed.
“Everything alright?” Derek asked from the doorway. He leaned against the frame, arms crossed and head tilted to the side. He still looked like hell, with bags under his eyes and skin a little too pale.
“Yeah, just…” she trailed off and looked back down at her phone. One particular incoming call among the multitude from her lawyer drew her attention. “Hey, do you want to take a road trip?”
Derek raised his eyebrows. “Right now?”
“Yeah, up to Jersey,” Moira said, just to watch Derek’s face twist up with distaste. She chuckled at him. “Rose is still stuck at Princeton. We could go get her.”