In The Darkest of Times (Rowan Douglas & LustLove)

[LustLove]

It was a plain afternoon, as plain as it could with the way the Earth had turned upside down. Civilization and life as most people knew it, was far gone and there was no chance of it possibly coming back. The arrival of the contagion soon overpowered the majority of the population faster than the blink of an eye. The people slowly dwindled down to a small minimum without any interruption. The symptoms became trademark within months; a rash begins that blisters the surface area of the skin, next constant bleeding from any opening of the body begins and within just a few hours, or even a couple of days if lucky enough, the victim is dead. The origin of the disease is unknown and there is currently no cure. However, it is highly contagious and no one seems to be immune to the killer pathogen.

Despite warnings from the very beginning of this pandemic, very few precautions were taken and many began to suffer all at once. The greatest disappearance first occurred throughout smalls town, cities, and then eventually the entire state. Everyone was at risk from the disease and anyone could be taken hostage at any given moment. There was no stopping the spread until there was barely anything left. Some people did manage to make it away from overly populated areas and distanced themselves from other individuals entirely which helped to keep them mostly healthy. As expected, supplies happened to disappear as well. Medicine, food, and shelter all became scarce and little by little, the world's resources depleted, appearing almost as a wasteland.

Regardless of the devastating conditions human kind were forced into, people didn't unite as one force to fix the problems. The opposite seemed to occur. Groups of individuals formed together instead to wreak havoc against the small population of survivors. Pillaging, raping, and murdering innocents that were only attempting to make best of their situation. Along with having to remain conscious of the surroundings to avoid contacting someone with the disease, you now had to be aware of who could be hiding around the corner.

Kristen was one of the ever-so-lucky ones to have managed to not contract the disease. She believed there was barely any hope left, though she tried to keep a smiling expression in front of her husband and any other kind people she has encountered since this hell began. She hadn't always been a pessimist but in the last few years, her eyes were open wider to the destruction and terrorism surrounding the very world that she lived in. She grew up in a small town, sheltered most of her life from anything her parents viewed inappropriate. And it wasn't until she had began to live life on her own did she realize just how horrible this planet she called home was. Before the apocalypse, there were starving children in every country, the homeless, the different, and the less fortunate were ignored and even treated cruelly. A world she rather not live in.

But then she met the man that turned her own world around. Things seemed brighter, she was personally happier, and she couldn't have wished for a better life. They met in college at a party neither of them wanted to attend. They chatted with one another for several hours and from there a blossoming relationship began. Within a year they decided to elope, which may have seem rushed at the time, but the two were in love and Kristen thought she had been pregnant at the time. Although it happened to be a false reading, it didn't change the fact that they were married and loved each other. So they stayed together and when all this shit went down, they stuck by each others side. She knew it would be absolutely devastating if anything were to happen to him and she could only assume that he felt the same.

An abandoned house in the middle of the suburbs were where they called home throughout the harsh winters. Though it was still freezing inside of the house, it was far better than staying out in the cold. They had gathered enough food and other necessary supplies to last them throughout that period but now, the supplies were scarce and it wouldn't last them much longer. The option to finally leave their safe haven had to be recognized because they couldn't stay here forever. For some reason, the need to keep moving remained their objective especially when it meant finding the necessary tools to keep them alive. At the moment, he wasn't at the house which worried Kristen terribly but it wouldn't do any good for her to rock back and forth until his arrival back to the house.
Her long midnight, black hair remained tied securely in the back to keep it out of her face. She stood at a height of 5'7, with a small and slim frame considering she couldn't eat as much as she normally had in the past. Her startling bright blue eyes stood out against her pale complexion and darker hair; an odd combination. Kristen attempted keeping herself occupied and tried organizing the remaining supplies and rationing them to make it all last as long as possible.

 

[Rowan Douglas]

RE: In The Darkest of Times

Empty cars dotted the cement road, many missing parts and drained of fuel by passing looters. They were merely husks, now. Useless metal boxes, remnants of what humanity once was only a few years ago. It was surreal, how fast everything went to hell. Empty buildings rose up from one side of the road, cluttered housing complexes built to deal with the sheer density of people that used to live here. The young man walking down the road had long since searched through all of them. He wore a dark blue jacket with patterns of lighter blue that looked well worn, and a pair of warm, dark pants. A cloth shopping bag, the kind the stores used to sell for cheap so people wouldn't use plastic bags, hung around each shoulder, within each a variety of knickknacks and supplies, but each were only filled maybe around half-way.

A revolver was strapped to his left hip, and he wore a dark green backpack beneath the bags, with a little bit of food, water, and other supplies inside, just in case. His face was young and handsome, if a little tired looking, slight bags under each of his amber eyes. He had longish blonde hair that covered his ears, with messy bangs that occasionally fell into his eyes and needed to be swept off to the side. It was probably due for a trim, actually, now that he thinks about it. He was around six feet tall, and though he had once been athletic, he was skinnier than he used to be due to a pragmatic and usually poor diet. His name was Rowan, and before all of this he had been studying to become a doctor. He was rather glad he had chosen that particular vocation, due to the predicament that the human race was now in. There wasn't much use for lawyers, bankers, or politicians anymore, but doctors would always be important, even if he hadn't actually earned a medical license.

Off to his left was a strip mall. The glass windows on nearly all of the buildings within had been shattered, glass still littering the cement, and several were burnt out completely. He sighs softly to himself, and pines for the headphones that he used to wear around his neck, wanting some cheerful music to keep his mind off his depressing, empty surroundings. He tries to cheer himself up with thoughts of his beautiful wife, which work to some degree, although those thoughts lead to what he had been thinking of lately, and dreaded to speak about to her. They had to move on. There just wasn't enough supplies around anymore. His bags were evidence of this.

He makes a turn at an up coming intersection, and heads into the maze of suburban houses, one of which he and his wife Kristen had been hiding away in. This area wasn't quite so bad, seeming relatively normal, and there were plenty of trees around too. Nature had survived this apocalypse pretty darn well, and within the next century, probably reclaim the land humanity had once taken from it. If it wasn't for Kristen, Rowan wouldn't see much of a reason to keep on living, honestly...But not only was he one of the lucky ones, he was one of the extra lucky ones who still had someone who loved him. That was reason enough to survive. He soon reaches the door to their house, and gives it a firm knock, four times in quick succession, so she would know that it was him.

 

[LustLove]

Kristen's heart pumped wildly and took a deep breath once she recognized the four familiar knocks on the door. For just a moment, she had imagined that someone else would come busting through the doors and ending her life right there. She walked over to the door, wiping her hands on the front of her worn denim jeans and wrapped the thin, dark jacket tighter around her figure before turning the handle and creating an opening. A small grin tugged the corners of her lips up as she looked at Rowan. He was the only other thing that could make her remotely happy at the moment. She glanced down at the bags he held and started to take some of the load off. From the weight of the bags, he hadn't collected much but what else could one expect. She figured he had done plenty enough by going out and searching.

She closed the door after he was inside, after briefly checking to make sure no one had followed him. Not that Kristen didn't think her husband was smart enough to be completely oblivious to someone watching him, but it just made her feel better. "Are you okay? You didn't see anyone sick, right?" She asked him, a question she constantly brought up again to reassure herself. Just knowing that he'd come nowhere near an infected person helped her to sleep with the fact that her significant other wouldn't be dead by the morning. Settling the bags on the floor next to the small piles of the other supplies, she made her way over to him then placed her thin arms around his body.

Embracing him for just a few seconds brought comfort to Kristen and it made her feel much better than she had before when he was out. She rested her head on top if his shoulder until she decided to pull back and take a look at him. With her hand, she brushed the stray pieces of hair hanging down in his face and running her hand gently over his cheek. Sometimes Kristen imagined what her life would be like if she had never met Rowan, especially with everything that's happened in the past year. She probably would have killed herself or could have even gotten sick and would have died eventually. Her number one priority was to keep herself alive for him since there wasn't any other reason to stay as strong.

 

[Rowan Douglas]

Rowan waits at the door, occasionally glancing over his shoulder, just in case. It doesn't take long for Kristen to come down and open it, though. He sees her pretty face grinning at him, and he grins back, stepping inside. He murmurs a 'thank you' when she helps with his bags, and he takes off his backpack and revolver holster, leaving them by the door on a small table. He then takes off his shoes and jacket, wearing a frayed red t-shirt beneath. Letting out a soft sigh at the load being taken off his shoulders, he rolls them slightly, and then stretches his arms above his head.

"Nope. I didn't see a soul. If there are people living here at all, they've been very quiet, and probably want to be left alone." Rowan replies, smiling reassuringly at his wife, glad to have something pretty to look at after the depressing job of searching through this abandoned town. When she hugs him, he returns it with gusto, holding her tightly against him and pressing his forehead to the top of her head. "Mmm...I missed you. Sorry I took so long. I wanted to come back with at least some stuff that was worthwhile. There isn't that much out there, anymore..." He murmurs, until she pulls back.

Rowan smiles lovingly at her as she reaches to brush the hair out of his face and caress his cheek, and he leans in to give her a passionate kiss, relishing the feeling of her warm, soft lips against his own. He then lets her go, reaching to pick up one of the bags. "What time is it?" He asks, curiously, as he walks into the kitchen to begin putting away the foodstuffs. The other bag was filled with other, mostly quality of life things. A pack of condoms, a few rolls of toilet paper, a tube of toothpaste, et cetera.

 

[LustLove]

Kristen glanced down at the watch she wore on her wrist, a graduation present she received a few years ago from her grandfather. It may have been a little dirty but it worked perfectly and she's never taken it off. It reminded her just a bit of her family that she wasn't fortunate enough to speak with before everything was turned upside down. She wasn't sure if they had died, though she refused to keep any hope alive for something unpredictable. And while Kristen didn't like to think of then being dead or terribly ill, she wanted to keep the memories of them intact and so she kept the watch even if time was mostly irrelevant. She was grateful to have Rowan but the rest of her family meant just as much and she never wanted to forget about them.

"It's almost 5." She told him, following behind him into the kitchen. Her eyes followed the few items of food he placed away before diverting her gaze. He hadn't been able to get nearly enough to last them an entire week. She wasn't mocking his efforts either, she only realized he'd have to go out once again to go searching for the things they needed with the little supplies he collected this time around. She attempted to cheer herself up while covering up how upset she appeared in front of Rowan. "What do you want to eat tonight? I'll start cooking." She told him.

Cooking, washing, and any other necessary actions were best to do while there was still some daylight. They had sufficient light for when it was dark but nobody should want to cast bright lights in the dead of the night. That's what they looked for. Any single sign of life so they could intrude and attack just about anybody they pleased. Kristen preferred if herself and Rowan stayed safe from the potential looters. There had only been one other time they'd encountered one of those groups and it was something she never wanted to experience again. He understood and should be just as cautious as she was.

 

[Rowan Douglas]

Unlike Kristen, Rowan and his brother Erik had lived in the same general area before everything went to hell. His original plan when the chaos hit was for Erik to come over and hole up with him and Kristen, but he had gotten a phone call instead at around the time Erik's car was supposed to be pulling up in their drive way, and was told by a shaky-voiced Erik that he wouldn't be able to come over, as he had gotten sick. They had only lived a short distance away, but Rowan wasn't even able to go be with his dying brother for fear that he would catch it too.

Also unlike Kristen, he didn't really have any proper mementos from anyone in his family, and all of his pictures of them were on his phone, which he still kept with him, in hope of one day being able to gain access to something he could use to print them out. Keeping pictures digital had seemed like such a good idea at the time...But now anything electronic was basically useless. They had practically gone back into the dark ages, but with the memories of better days.

Rowan notices the expression on Kristen's face when she sees how little food he had brought back, and he sticks his hands in his pockets, looking apologetic. "There isn't much out there anymore, I'm afraid..." When asked what he wanted to eat, he reaches for a can of chicken noodle soup that he had picked up on today's hunt. "How bout this?" He suggests, walking over to set it down on the counter. "Thank goodness for preservatives. I dunno what we're going to do when it gets to the point where these are all going to start to expire."

 

[LustLove]

Kristen grabbed the can of soup, examining the sides before she pulled a knife out of her side pocket. It was a handy little tool that she used for practically everything and she was thankful from the first moment she had found it. She punctured a hole through the top then dragged it along the edge as best as she could to get the can open. Once part of the top was open, she shook her arm to allow the sleeve if her jacket to fall past her hand then bent the metal backwards for easier access to the food inside. She searched for a pot through the cabinet to pour the contents into before finally dumping it all out. The only place they could heat up any of their food was through the fireplace towards the front of the house. It was a risk to light a fire while the chimney sent smoke above the house, but they only used it when necessary. Kristen began walking into the front area with the pot then knelt down to search through their belongings.

"We could still eat the food." She called to Rowan. "It'll still be good for a few weeks and depending on what it is, maybe even a few months as well. It would immediately kill us." She explained while dropping down next to the fireplace after having found some matches. There was already some wood in there, a small amount they gathered before, and lit a match. Before the fire could burn out, she added some paper to keep it steady while hovering the pot overtop the flame.

 

[Rowan Douglas]

While Kristen works on opening the can and getting out a pot, Rowan searches opens a cupboard and withdraws two bowls, and walks over to set them down on the table. He then opens up a drawer and grabs two spoons, which he places next to the bowls, setting the table for later, when the soup had been cooked. When Kristen walks into the front room, Rowan follows after her so she didn't have to talk loudly, sitting down on the couch in front of the fireplace.

"Well, yeah. Shelf life is different from expiration date, nstuff. But I mean, even further than that. Past those few months. We'll probably have to end up going to the country, to hunt and grow our own food, right? Though I'm not sure where we'd find the seeds...And you or me would have to learn how to use a bow and arrow, or something." He muses, leaning back and gazing towards the ceiling. "It's funny...All those people that were worried about the world ending back in 2012, and bought all that survival stuff, are probably feeling super smug right now. Heck, there are loads of things we could have bought on the internet that would make life a lot easier..." He then catches himself, and shuts up. "Sorry, I know I shouldn't dwell on 'what ifs'." Rowan says apologetically, leaning forward in his seat. "It's tough, not to think about that sorta stuff, though."

 

[LustLove]

Kristen ignored half of what Rowan was saying at the moment. She tried her best not to think of the hardship they were currently facing. Regardless of how difficult it was nearly impossible to forget about all they've been through. But if she constantly focused on the negative, she wouldn't be able to wake up in the morning. Even with her husband by her side, the weight of their predicament would be much too difficult to handle. She just barely listened to him before. The flames heated the bottom of the pot, cooking the contents inside. When it finally began boiling, Kristen closely watched the food for the next couple of minutes before she figured it was thoroughly cook through. She stood carefully and poured the food into the two bowls Rowan had set out before she placed the pot in the kitchen.

She came back to the table and sat down, blowing on the food gently before taking her first bite. She realized that ignoring him might upset him and she didn't want him to feel bad for the rest of the night, but she shuts down every time this conversation is brought up. Kristen couldn't handle it sadly, so she became quiet and a little distant towards her husband until she could sleep through the night and forget their troubles temporarily.

 

[Rowan Douglas]

Rowan shut himself up once Kristen didn't reply, sitting there on the couch and feeling a little awkward. He probably shouldn't have said anything about life prior to all this, that was for sure...But he did wish that she would listen to him about moving on. It was an important discussion, but he supposed she just wasn't ready yet, which he had been afraid of. He understood why, the thought of having to venture out and find another safe place was really scary. But they would have to do it eventually.

Rowan is roused from his thoughts when the soup apparently finished cooking, and he followed his wife back into the kitchen, swallowing a spoonful from his bowl of soup. It was decent, perhaps a little too salty, but certainly edible. "Kristen, I'm sorry for bringing that stuff up, but I really do think we need to leave here soon. The farm idea sounds good, don't you think? Humans have been growing their own food for thousands of years, it can't be that hard! Plus, I think it'd be safer out in the country. There'd be more visibility."