Everyone wakes up to Adriana’s panicked screams. Irritated, Cornelia wakes up with a grunt, asking her what’s the matter. She points to the place where they left Thomas last night. Turning to see what happened, she widened her eyes in horror as her mouth dried up and her body started to tremble at the grotesque sight: the small spots that were only around his arm before now grew to sharply-edged shapes ripping through his flesh and clothing, his agonizing expression was completely petrified. The gaping holes that were left where the fungus initially grew covered his entire body gushing out puss and blood, when they tried holding him down in an effort to help him, he shook everyone off with incredible force, only to follow it up with even more violent convulsions that ended up in a small yelp as his body collapsed with his eyes having gone completely blank.
Staring at the situation in disbelief, Cornelia starts asking everyone:
“What happened?! What’s all that stuff on his skin? Didn’t we cure him last night?!”
Titus runs up to Cornelia, striking her hand away as she was about to touch him while saying:
“Cornelia! You have to understand that the infection may have been in such an advanced state that we couldn’t have done anything else. This fungus grows and takes over its host, whatever it becomes after that, isn’t human anymore… I’m sorry.”
Tears ran down Cornelia’s cheeks as Adriana placed her hand on her shoulder trying to comfort her:
“Don’t worry, my dear… He’s going to a better place now, Dios knows why he does the thing He does. He always has a plan for each and every one of us.”
Anger replaced Cornelia’s sadness as she saw Adriana’s empty smile, with a swift motion she slapped her as hard as she could, followed by her statement:
“JUST SHUT UP! How dare you try to justify everything with some rambling of a god? Wake up, you crazy bitch! Everyone is important! What gives you the right to walk around feeling all high and mighty just because you spew out your fanatical nonsense?!”
Holding her cheek baffled by Cornelia’s reaction, Adriana reacts with the same angry frustration:
“How can you question His Existence? He’s the reason why we’re all still alive!”
“If that Dios of yours is so powerful, then why didn’t he stop this disaster that we’re living through? Are you gonna tell me that all those people that have died or are living in misery is all part of His Plan? Please, don’t make me laugh.”
“How can you just sit there saying such atrocities? People that have found His Light have been guided to a better life, helping many people along the way! I wouldn’t expect that a little girl like you would understand all that His Message entails.”
“Coño, what message, you insane girl?! The one that left all of those families destroyed? Or was it the one that left every city in ruins? Look at how we’re living! Everyone who has ever preached those words only seeks their own benefit, handing out blessings in exchange for political favors or economic gain!”
“There will always be wicked people in the world, willing to go to any lengths in order to have their way… There are also those that turned a new leaf thanks to believing in something, Dios helped them pave the way to redemption and to rebuild their lives, to find a new purpose in helping others.”
“That’s not enough to justify someone’s death!”
“Nothing is ever enough for humanity! People always want more than what they’ve got, as long as they’re willing to get it, no price is too high even if they are trying to buy their way to physical or spiritual happiness.”
Lindbergh sighs and gets in the middle of the two about to butt heads in a furious rage:
“Look, you’re both right to a certain extent… Now we do have a more pressing matter to deal with. What to do with the body of the lad…”
Both girls fall into a saddened silence as their gazes fall onto the sight of his body. After a short debate whether to bury, burn or improvise a makeshift tomb of sorts. They decide on the latter, Cornelia gathered and placed the rocks weighing down a large blanket which they used to cover his body, tears falling onto the worn white cloth as Cornelia placed the final stones.
They held a small funeral, with Lindbergh and Cornelia saying a few final words before they left:
“Thanks for everything that you did for us… For all the time that you spent with us, helping us, being with us, never turning us down every time we needed you… I’m truly sorry having been such a jerk to you… I hope that wherever you’re off to is better than what you had to go through with us…”
“Hey, squirt. I’m gonna miss you, loco. I really hope you saved me a spot wherever you are so we can pick up where we left off with all them jokes and nonsense we were always doing. Remember me when I get up there, eh?”
After a moment of silence, Adriana brings an important issue to everyone’s attention:
“So, guys… Now what? Where you headed somewhere before all this? Did you have a plan?”
“True, I never did ask you what you guys were up to. We all got caught up in the emergency.” said Titus.
“Well I’ve really just been tagging along with chicuela here. The plan was to get to Tigre, according to her the military checkpoint is still working up there. It’s supposed to be a safe zone, maybe even safe enough to try and cross the pond.”
“You mean going to Uruguay?” Adriana asked, surprised.
“Not necessarily, I intend to go as far North as I can. I wanna see if everything is truly as messed up as it is here…” Cornelia explained with tears still in her eyes.
“Well Tigre was all flooded last time I passed through there, so there’s a good chance that they haven’t been attacked. Those checkpoints around here were all overrun by bandits or just left abandoned without a trace.” said Adriana contemplating their options.
“I think we should go for it. We’ve already been wandering around exposed for too long, besides I don’t think going back into the city is such a good idea for now.” Titus exclaimed as he pointed to Adriana. “Adriana’s father had a boat up there, she knows how to drive it, I think there’s not much to it though.”
“Not a bad start. I do wonder how it is that you know so much about her life, Titus.” said Cornelia in a slightly interrogatory tone.
“It’s not really that complicated. We met after all this disaster, so if you thought I was her pet or something, you’re sadly mistaken. I’ve never been anyone’s pet, nor do I intend to be.” Titus explained with a serious tone.
He started to explain how he managed to escape captivity when the scientists at OptoGenica were getting ready to dispose of him and his kin. They were beginning the trials to specialize and train all the decommissioned project animals for espionage missions using their enhanced intelligence and learning skills.
Noticing that they couldn’t maintain control on the test subjects or shape their personalities to suit their interests, they began trying to sell them to the highest bidder in the military, then the private business sector, ultimately advertised for wealthy eccentrics that wanted unconventional pets.
Those that weren’t sold off or terminated were kept in high security confinement, the only means of escape being the front gate of the cage which was controlled by a manually activated button on the main console of the facility. The day that the bombs fell all the cages inexplicably opened, letting all the test subjects roam free. A few days after his escape, he saw Adriana wandering aimlessly around the barren fields, using his enhanced knowledge he helped her survive, benefitting him as well in finding new sources of food and shelter as they took refuge in her country house.
The chilly breeze that came with the oncoming dusk started to make everyone’s breath visible, Titus found temporary refuge between Adriana’s huge breasts, which she seemed accustomed to.
Lindbergh suggested that they should begin picking up camp and heading toward the main road, Tigre being just a few hours away.
“I think we need to find some walled shelter tonight, the temperature is dropping pretty quickly.”
Everyone nods in agreement as they hastily pick up camp, being done in no time they begin walking into the urban horizon as the sun slowly begins its descent into the night. Cornelia turned back one last time toward Thomas’s grave saying:
“Goodbye, Thomas…”
On the road to Tigre, Lindbergh noticed that it’s been a few hours since Cornelia last said anything, she didn’t touch her food, and didn’t even react to old burned down ruins that were littered with destroyed technology and cooking supplies.
Cornelia hung her head with a nostalgic expression in her face as she looked at her wrist, whispering a shaky voice:
“I’m sorry, Abby… If you were here none of this would’ve happened… You would’ve given me some advice on what to do… I really could use your advice right now.”
Titus’s ears perked up as he looked over to Cornelia asking:
“Who’s Abby?”
“She was… All I had after the war…”
Cornelia explained that she’d been with her since she was 10. Being the only remnant of her old life, of her lost family and friends she treasured her above everything else in this wasteland. On the day she was assaulted after she went out of town to help out her employers, she was beaten so badly that Abby was badly damaged, after that she started having little malfunctions here and there. Some time after that she was escaping some bandits that were trying to capture her when she fell down the edge of a cliff, hitting a rock with her wrist. The last memory she had of her was that of her flickering lights turning off as one last message projected in front of her:
“You’ll always be my friend. Remember that I’ll always be with you.”
Being on the verge of crying, Adriana approaches Cornelia laying a hand on her shoulder telling her as she held back her tears:
“I know it can be hard… Sometimes I have a rough time accepting everything that has happened, if it weren’t for Dios and His Word, I think I wouldn’t have made it. Faith helped me survive, but I know most people aren’t like me. I-I just want to apologize for before… I want you to know you can count with me from now on as well.”
“With me too…” Titus added with a furry smile.
Sneaking up on them, Lindbergh grabs both girls by the shoulders as he grinned:
“Yo, you guys! I know things are a bit gloomy now, but lookie here what I just found.”
Cornelia’s eyes widened in surprise as she saw that Lindbergh pulled out a small sack of corn flour to make arepas.
“W-where d-did you find t-that?” Cornelia mumbled in disbelief.
“I found it when we walked past one of those old cooking shops, it was sort of hidden, but I managed to pull it out. I always wanted to try making some, if you’ll teach me of course.” Lindbergh said with a satisfied smile across his face.
“You got it... Hey, Lin… Thanks for this. Really.”
Excited by the opportunity to try something new, Adriana also chimed in:
“Hey! I wanna see what those arepas are too! I’ve always heard about them around town, but I never got the chance to try them. They all sounded tasty though.”
“Chicuela cooks a pretty mean meal. This time around we don’t have much to work with, but I think these couple of tune cans and a bit of imagination will do just fine, eh.”
“Well let’s make them after we cross this stretch of houses, ‘cause this place is giving me the creeps. It’s too quiet, it looks like we’re the only ones that have been through here in a long time.”
The old houses were covered in more than just mold, thick layers of dust and char. A mist of ash seemed to permeate the entire area, making it hard to see more than a few meters away, filling their lungs up with an asphyxiating sensation that kept building up the further they stepped in.
Loud creaking noises coming from the withered wood and concrete of the ruined neighborhood, combined with the rustling of faint erratic movements against rusty metal structures caused the feeling they were being observed on all angles, with something lying in wait, calculating when the perfect moment to attack will be.
All of a sudden a thunderous metal clank resounds throughout the entire place, turning toward the origin of the sound, everyone sees that it was Adriana after she accidentally kicked a can that in turn displaced old rusty stretchers that were next to wrecked ambulance and plethora of destroyed cars, causing a terrible racket, dirty looks at her still happened on account of scaring everybody half to death.
Against all odds, they managed to cross the apparent ghost town without incident. Noting a more familiar path in front of them, Adriana rushes forward at the sight of a slightly overgrown row of trees that went along a winding road toward the docks of Tigre.
Everyone’s faces lit up when they realized how close they were to their goal, as they drew closer Cornelia sighed with a smile as she looked to the sky:
“Despite Thomas not being here, I’m sure he’s happy we made it. He’ll be even happier if we get to see the Parque de La Costa again. He really wanted to go there.”
“I’m sure he is, besides. Can you imagine taking over an entire amusement park? Free rides, candy, and treats. It’s the paradise anyone could wish for. On top of that, imagine if we struck a deal with the army then we’d be set being able to barter and trade for goods.” Lindbergh stated with a wide smile.
“Say, did you guys hear about those last few attacks by those people that claimed they were taking those food and supplies back to the people? People say they still have a base upriver hidden somewhere.” Adriana said as she pointed at the river.
“Adri, don’t go around believing everything you hear out there. Those insane communist fanatics were taken out way before the bombs dropped. There’s only mud and water on those isles.” Titus explained as she sniffed around Cornelia’s backpack.
“Hey, what’re you sniffing back there? I don’t have any food on me, besides, we’re making dinner in a little bit.”
“It’s not that… I think you sat on something.”
“Eek! What? What is it? Was it a bug or something?” she said as she stood up, trying to look over her back.
“Come here, let me have a look.” said Adriana as she pulled Cornelia closer inspecting her backside. “Oh wow! I think you sat on a quail egg or something!” she exclaimed as she was also baffled at Cornelia’s plump behind. “You really have a gift back here, don’t you? I mean, you could achieve world peace with each cheek, The Lord definitely smiled upon you there, same thing happened to me with these things.” she stated as she grabbed her own breasts, showed them to Cornelia.
Lindbergh was starting to eat an apple when he saw the unbelievable scene, not being able to turn his gaze away as Cornelia arched her back trying to humbly play down her generous bottom, and Adriana exhibited her enormous death rays trying to accentuate them over her already tight sweater.
“Hey, Lin… I think your eyes are about to pop out there…” Cornelia snickered with a mischievous grin somewhat blushed herself.
“Nah, I’m just a humble student of gravity and all its wonders. Basking in the marvels of inertia and dynamic movement just helps me better understand its scientific purpose.” Lindbergh explained as he looked away from Adriana’s still ongoing show.
In the meantime, Titus was still eating the leftover egg that was splattered all over the floor, only to then jump on Cornelia’s behind to finish off what was left on her pants. Licking and eating all over her voluptuous curves, leaving Cornelia frozen in place as she clenched her thighs together, trying to not make eye contact with anyone as she stammered:
“T-Titus… C.-could you p-please s-stop doing t-that? It makes u-uncomfortable… And I-it t-tickles…”
Titus stopped and climbed up to her shoulder, saying sorry he got carried away on account of the unexpected meal, explaining that those eggs used to be his favorite meal.
“Well, since you already ate so much, I guess you won’t want the arepa I was gonna make you, huh?” said Cornelia with a blushed grin.
“Hey! I still want to try those arepas and whatnot. I at least want a little one…” Titus protested.
As they set up everything to make dinner. Placing the white cornmeal into a makeshift bowl, mixing it with a bit of water and salt that they had until it was made into a easily shaped soft dough, smoothing out any roughness making it into a smooth ball so that they could be flattened by turning motions from the palm of their hands, sort of like uneven clapping switching your hands from one side to another as they slowly flattened the cornmeal until it was shaped like a circle. As they placed it on a metal portable wire grill over the fire until toasted on both sides.
Leaving the arepas cooking, they decided to prepare the tuna filling, noticing that it wouldn’t be enough for everyone, they started to look around for something else to improvise with. They started seeing small identical oval pebbles surrounding them on all sides, picking them up they saw that they were even more quail eggs, excited by their discovery they began preparing another scrambled egg filling. Being done with cooking everyone sat around the fire eating their hearty delicious meals, Cornelia told everyone that usually each person is to eat two or more arepas whenever people made them.
“I think this is the best thing I’ve ever had in a long time, combine it with some matecito in the morning and I’m set for the day!” Lindbergh exclaimed as he wolfed down his meal.
“It’s delicious, Cornie… You’re gonna have to teach me how to make them too, I wanna surprise you by making them one day.” Adrian said with a tender smile as she ate.
“I think I found my new favorite meal, this thing combined with the quail eggs make for a delicious feast anytime. Thank you so much for the food.” Titus declared as she munched the arepas down with a passion.
“You guys! I’m glad you’re enjoying them but they’re far from perfect. I think they need a bit more salt, and a few different ingredients so we can make even more tasty fillings. Thanks for giving my arepas a shot though.” Cornelia added as a huge smile took over her seeing how everyone ate with such happiness and enthusiasm.
That night before she fell asleep, Cornelia tossed and turned in her sleeping back. Lying on her back she lets out a huge sigh in frustration. Not being to shake the thoughts that invaded her mind reminding her of everything she had to live through and survive in order to get to where she was now, surrounded by people that didn’t abandon her at a moment’s notice even after having their clear cut differences, people that genuinely seemed to care for her. For once she felt like she was part of something, that she had a shot in gaining what she felt was a new family in this broken New World.
Sleep finally started to come to her as she felt something furry wiggling through her breasts, widening her eyes in shock. She saw that it was Titus half asleep nestling himself in, falling fast asleep before she could say anything. The warmth of his fur slowly helped her close her eyes, drifting away into a blissful rest.
On the next morning they decided to pack everything up early and get a head start in order to get to the docks in time. As they approached the winding road among the overgrown row of trees on both sides, the air thickened with the sensation of something burning. Looking up they see numerous strips of smoke rising from the other side of the small woods.
Rushing to see what it was about, they found that a huge ferry boat was set ablaze, still burning as the metal loudly contracted and bent. Around the dense clouds of smoke that spread onto the riverside warehouses and offices, they saw what appeared to be shadows of people that dragged their feet slouching.
Unable to clearly see these figures, they dragged along without suffering from the suffocating fumes. Observing their surroundings they spotted the wooden stairs that led down to the civilian jetty where a lot of boats were still moored.
Adriana became enticed by the image of rising flames from the rusted cars and charred structures that enveloped them, losing her grip on reality she turned to a blank expression as she grabbed a long pipe from the ground, starting to swing it while mumbling small chants:
“The Lord will take us all… Judgement is near… This New World fills us with fear… Horror will come to us all, be it far or near.”
Having been out of town when everything began, she was forced to face the horrors of the end of the world by herself. She was returning home from a trip where she visited her uncles and cousins, all of whom were involved with the emerging bandit gangs and local crime syndicates when the disaster struck. Her family beat and kidnapped her as they tried to sell her off to the highest bidder in exchange for money and supplies. She managed to escape, taking a military refugee bus back to Buenos Aires, when the bus suddenly crashed bursting into flames shortly after as she limped away. On the way she met Titus, spending a few days together as she made her way back home. Arriving at her house she found it to be ransacked by looters which had also murdered her parents for resisting, seeing the butchered bodies of her mother and father as they set fire to her home, she seemed to lose the will to live and collapsed on the spot. The bandits took her to the barn storehouse, keeping her locked up in the basement as they set up operations in the area, trying to abuse and destroy her further. Before they could, the entire place was set ablaze due to a mutiny among the ranks of the gang, as everyone left in a panic, they left Adriana to die in that sealed inferno. Being unconscious she thought she heard the voice of her Dios guiding her out of there, when in reality it was Titus, when she finally emerged she felt reborn from the flames as she encountered Cornelia and Lindbergh for the first time.
Scanning the area for potential survivors, they come across torn down signs and abandoned military crates. Realizing the military safe zone was overrun, Cornelia fell to her knees as an overwhelming sensation of hopelessness overcame her.
“No… What… What are we going to do now?” she murmured.
“Remember that we still have Adri’s boat…” said Titus as he tried to calm her by stroking her hair.
As the flames enveloped the entire place, they heard a loud metal clang against the pavement. Looking back to see that Adriana dropped the metal pipe she was swinging around as she mindlessly chanted.
Without being able to utter a word, a bloodcurdling screech resonated through the entire boatyard. Still stunned by the loud growl they looked up to see a couple of those shadowy figures closing in on them, the sound of dragging feet and disembodied grunts slowly approaching them.
“W-what are these guys up to?” Lindbergh nervously said as his eyes watched in horror when a swift breeze cleared the smoke just enough for them to see a huge crowd of these strange beings huddled together spread throughout the docks.