The smelliest house in northeastern Forest Park (and that's saying a lot, given that most of them had dead rotting people inside), Forest Park, Clayton County, Georgia. Friday, October 25th, 2019. 07:30.

No matter how much she scrubbed her body, Sara couldn't feel clean. That was impossible, given the stench that took over the whole building. She resorted to sprinkling a whole bottle of perfume over herself and going outside.

It would take a long time before she had the guts to eat chocolate again. Just the thought made her sick.

The sky was completely overcast and it seemed the rain wouldn't stop anytime soon.

The girl found Kelly on the porch, crouched over a bench to avoid the spray from the rain.

"God, you smell," the musician retched and pinched her nose.

"Sorry, I didn't think it would be this bad."

"Go walk in the rain," Kelly whined.

"Sounds like as good an idea as any other," Sara shrugged and walked out.

"I didn't mean to..." Kelly stood up on the bench, "You'll catch a cold! I'm sorry, come back!"

Too late. "I'm fine," Sara shouted back as she became completely drenched in seconds. The rain was almost freezing. "I'll be fine, right?"

Sara closed her eyes and focused on the rain striking her. "Give me an update on my Status," she asked Abby. "And highlight the major changes, please.

Name:

Sara

Species:

Human (+2 Skill Slots)

Skill Slots:

10 / 12

Magic Type:

Mage - Enhancer (Exclusive)

Special trait:

See through the Veil (Able to see into the ethereal)

Special trait:

Personal Core (Treat Core Strength as levels in a main Class).

Main Class:

N/A

Secondary Class:

N/A

Development

System Core Strength (SCS)

17

The System Core becomes stronger and better at generating its own energy.

1 - You can have a maximum of 10 skill points per level of Core Strength.

2 - Currently, the System Core generates more Mana than necessary for its upkeep, considering ambient mana levels.

3 - Set to use surplus energy to increase the System Core Strength. Extra mana may instead be used to refill your MP pool faster.

Mana Conductivity (MC)

52%

(77%)

A measure of how clear the body's meridian system is. Mana conductivity impacts environmental energy absorption and channeling directly. Cleansed body systems are stronger and tougher.

Purity of Body

Digestive,

Skin,

Bones,

Muscle,

Circulatory.

1 - Increase the efficiency of all cleansed body systems efficiency by this value.

2 - Synergy between Skin, Muscle, and Bone: Increase damage resistance by an additional half of MC

3 - Synergy between Muscle and Bone: Increase physical strength by an additional half of MC.

4 - Synergy between Digestive and Circulatory systems increase immunity and resistance to external pathogens and toxins by half of MC.

5 - Cleansed body improves MP pool and body recovery rate by half of MC

Mage - Enhancer (Exclusive)

25%

Your mana channels greatly enhance internal circulation but aren't that good at projecting and controlling ambient mana.

1 - Add a linear 25% to your mana conductivity for internal manipulation purposes.

2 - Multiply the effect of all Physical Skills and internal mana manipulation Skills by [25+Mana Conductivity]%

3 - Divide the effect of all External Mana Manipulation by 10.

4 - Exclusive-type mages cannot cultivate or actively use Qi.

MP Pool

41.4

Available Energy for Active Skills. MP is equal to Core Strength, with a bonus equal to Mana Conductivity (77%). You recover 4 (1.7+MC bonus) MP per day.

Skills: Physical (54)

Adroitness

15 40%

The Skill of moving one's body with grace and precision. Increases speed and coordination and reduces reflex delay by Rank%.

Composure

12 64%

Staying calm under pressure or pain. When under duress, reduces penalties to mental stability, logical reasoning, and self-control by 2*Rank%.

Prowess

4 10%

Making the most of one physique during stressful situations. Lower reflex delay, increases combat damage and physical power by Rank%.

Brawn

15 40%

Muscular toughness and endurance. Reduces stamina consumption and damage taken, increases lifting and carrying capacity by Rank%.

Rapid Healing

9 48%

Accelerates and optimizes body recovery. Increases healing rate, reduces the odds of permanent damage, including scars, by 2*Rank%.

Skills: Tool (4)

Handguns

2

6%

The ability to correctly operate small firearms. Increase accuracy and reduce the chance of mishap by 2*Rank%.

Lockpicking

2

6%

Proficiency with lock picks and related tools. Increase dexterity when tampering with locks by 2*Rank%.

Skills: Social(12)

Flattery

6

18%

Making graceful compliments and answering them appropriately. Increases reactions during and after intimate interactions by 2*Rank%.

Presence

6

18%

Motivating people with the power of your personality. Increases reactions during and after social interactions by

2*Rank%.

Skills: Mystical(9)

Mana Infusion

10

53%

Infuse Mana into tools and melee weapons. Adds 2*Rank%. effectiveness and damage. Infused objects can interact with incorporeal entities. This is considered an internal manipulation Skill.

Active Skill: Activation time: instantaneous. Cost: 1 MP/minute or attack.

Total Skill Points: 79 / 170

She noticed the changes. Her Skills had improved all across the board and she was well beneath the limit.

"Why my MP pool has a fractional portion now?"

"Decimal places are bad. Here's what we'll do, multiply everything by ten or a hundred, so long it becomes an integer. It's easier this way, and people will feel stronger. Change all costs to reflect that. Instead of 10 MP per minute, say it's 1 MP per six seconds. It's just numbered on a sheet of paper, right?"

"Should I get new Skills now? You mentioned I could get more active Skills now, right?"

During the last few days, Sara had pondered over her Skills. Two of them stuck out like sore thumbs, those under the "Tools" category. She felt fortunate for not needing to use a firearm and had strong feelings that she wouldn't need it in the future for anything.

She believed the fact she hadn't needed to hurt or kill another human was a small blessing. Or a huge one.

"Perhaps we should drop the Skills in the tool category," Sara suggested.

"Show me."

> Skill Boost (Mystical, Active Skill): Specialized supplemental Mana flow to a Skill. Boosts effects of a Skill by 2*Rank%. This is considered in the same category as the affected Skill. Activation time, 1 minute. Cost, 10 MP/minute.

> Hyperesthesia (Physical Skill): Sharpened senses. Increase all sensory input detail and sensory processing speed by 2*Rank%. Decrease sensory overload by Rank%.

> Thermostasis (Physical Skill): Widened temperature comfort range. Increase temperature tolerance by 1F per rank. Reduce damage from heat exchange by Rank%.

> Shrewdness (Physical Skill): Improved cerebral processes and synaptic response. Increase thought process speed and capacity by 2*Rank%.

> Wariness (Physical Skill): Enhanced attention to possible threats. Increase motion and danger perception by 2*Rank%. Decrease reflex delay by Rank%.

> Hardened Body (Mystical, Active Skill): Infuse extra Mana to toughen a section of your body. You must be aware of the attack. Increases tensile strength and hardness by 2*Rank%. Activation time: Reflex Delay. Cost: 10 MP/minute/cubic foot.

> Deftness (Physical Skill): Enhanced coordination and grace of movement. Increase fine motor movements, aim, and evasion rate by 2*Rank%.

"Damn, I want it all." Sara bemoaned. "On second thought, Shrewdness is bad. We shouldn't offer any Skills that improve intellect."

"Humans are smart enough as they are," she proclaimed. "Besides, do you want evil geniuses bent on world domination? Because that's how you get evil geniuses bent on world domination. No System-sponsored intellect-boosting effects. We can discuss this again later, but add it to our notes."

She thought about it for a while. "But it is okay for me to have it."

"Not really, but as you said, the Skills work on the baseline traits of the person. I'm by far not the smartest tool in the shed."

"I hate it that you learned how to use sarcasm. Well played, regardless," Sara giggled.

"Winter is coming. Thermostasis is great. And Skill Boost."

Sara waited.

MP Pool

414

Available Energy for Active Skills. MP is equal to SCS, with a bonus equal to Mana Conductivity (77%). You recover 42 (SCS+MC bonus) MP per day.

"Much Better, see?"

> You gained 1 point in Thermostasis.

> You gained 1 point in Skill Boost.

Thermostasis

1

2F/2%

Widened temperature comfort range. Increase temperature tolerance by 1F per rank. Reduce damage from heat exchange by Rank%.

Skill Boost

1

5%/3%

Specialized supplemental Mana flow to a Skill. Boosts effects of a Skill by 2*Rank%. This is considered in the same category as the affected Skill. Activation time, 1 minute. Cost, 10 MP/minute.

She felt the effect of Thermostasis almost immediately. The rain wasn't so cold anymore, if only by just two degrees.

Abby suggested.

"Just a moment. Is Skill Boost a multiplicative or additive bonus?"

She wouldn't waste MP on Skill Boost, then. Better get a few levels on that. "Make it a priority to improve these two skills, then." Satisfied, she went back indoors.

*

"Are you crazy?" Kelly shouted at the drenched girl. "Come inside, you need to get dry and warm."

Sara quickly disrobed on the porch and took a step inside, wearing only her panties. She jumped back out. "No way I'm getting inside!"

Kelly took off and threw her own jacket over the girl's shoulders. "What are you doing? What if there's someone watching you?"

The girl glanced down at her flat torso, "One, there's nothing to be seen. Two, there's nobody to see. I checked."

"How can you be sure in this downpour? I can't see the house on the other side of the street!"

"Exactly."

"I should've taken my gas mask," the musician let out an exasperated sigh.

"I'll go get them," Sara held her breath and ran inside.

*

Sara put on dry clothes.

"I can still smell it," Kelly bemoaned from inside her gas mask.

They were staring at the grossest human-sized eclair of black goop Earth had ever seen.

"It's worse than before. I bet Keynes would've let me alone if it smelled this bad back then."

"No shit," Kelly cursed a rare occurrence. "What's that stuff anyway?"

"Didn't I tell you before? That's all the gunk I had inside me, including the chocolate I ate."

"That disgusting pudding is twice your size."

"I'm bigger on the inside," Sara joked. "And I told you my candy stomach was in another dimension."

The woman made a dying noise that cannot be put into words, then went back to the master bedroom. "Get your things, we are leaving this house!" She shouted.

They tossed their luggage into the back of the U-haul, finishing with all the remaining firewood from the living room. Sara drove to the Appleby residence down the street.

*

*

Appleby Residence, Forest Park, Clayton County, Georgia. Friday, October 25th, 2019. 10:00.

They set the truck as snugly against the garage door as possible and entered the house. Then they had breakfast. That was an hour ago. Right now, the women sat on the Appleby's comfortable couch, relishing the warmth of the fireplace.

"You have an amazing collection up there," Kelly remarked.

"I was a fool at the start. I was too afraid to leave my home, to leave my building. I should've looted half of Forest Park by now."

"You would've been caught by the Necropolis King," Kelly somberly remarked.

"There's that," Sara shook her head. "I don't blame Mrs. Wilson and the others for committing suicide."

"I still don't know why Hainsworth would cover it up. It doesn't make sense. It wasn't the first suicide among the survivors."

"Beware of him. He has a hidden agenda."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Woman's intuition," Sara proclaimed smugly.

"Bullshit."

"These government guys, they always have a hidden agenda. It's second nature to them. No way he's just trying to get everyone alive to the other side of... this bullshit Armageddon."

"There are talks of reinstating the county government, gathering all survivors, and holding an election. We have the procedures and documents from the Archives next to the dorms."

"More power to them. I'm not going to be a part of it. I'm moving to DeKalb next door, to Stonecrest Lake."

Kelly shook her head, "You can't go there. You literally can't go there."

"Why not?"

"They say there's some weird anomaly on the east side of Conley. Stuff gets frozen mid-air. Hainsworth and Keynes forbade everyone from even going there to see it."

"Frozen in ice?"

"No. Frozen in time."

Sara would've laughed, but Kelly sounded deadly serious. Instead, she inquired about a more reliable source. "Abby?"

"Who's Abby?"

Sara met Kelly's eyes. "My helper fairy. She lives inside me and was the one responsible for making all the chocolate fit in my tummy."

Kelly's face was the textbook definition of disbelief.

"What?" Sara challenged. "You believe stuff gets frozen in time in Eastern Conley, but not that I can see the dead and have a fairy living inside me?"

Kelly apologetically shrugged, "To be fair, I don't believe in either claim."

"That's it. After the rain, we're going to load the truck, then go there to see it."

The rain would go on for the whole day and most of the night. The two spent all this time chatting so much that it seemed the world had ended.

*

*

Appleby Residence, Forest Park, Clayton County, Georgia. Saturday, October 26th, 2019. 8:00.

Ten minutes ago, the sun rose, right on schedule. On the Appleby's damp roof, Sara broke her fast with some pickled baby carrots.

"I hate to admit but Amanda was right. We should start a farm," she mused. "Otherwise, food won't grow out of thin air."

"Eat military MREs for the rest of my life? Eww. Make a note, Abby. We should promote some Classes that are necessary in each community and in the world in general. The first one right at launch will be Farmer."

"They get a twenty percent discount on all Skill purchases. Paid by the System account. You can see what people are talking about on the System chat and decide what they need, then set a Class as promoted. This special status lasts for a year."

The girl stood up and stretched. She climbed down and went to wake Kelly up. After that, they spent the rest of the morning loading the truck with all the loot Sara accumulated.

"Ready to see the time anomaly?" She asked Kelly as they climbed into the cabin. Sara's backpack with all her valuable stuff was strapped to the middle seat.

"Sure, let's see if it is not a hoax."

Abby commented.

"The problem, as I see, is that people are not forthcoming with information," Sara said to the fairy but masked it as a random comment.

"What about you?" Kelly challenged.

"Me? I showed you a ghost up front and you didn't believe me. If I started talking about how I saw Heaven and Hell go to war, break down, fall down on Earth, and who I met at the world's end, people would lock me in a straitjacket."

Kelly turned sideways on her seat, staring at Sara as she drove off. "Oh, a fateful meeting? With whom?"

"Not telling. See, that teasing tone of yours, you are not ready to believe me. So, tell me more about this frozen region. You surely know about it."

"No, not really. I just overheard the guys who went to check on the solar plant comment about it."

"No, not you. Sorry. I was talking to Abby."

"Your fairy," Kelly remarked in a neutral tone.

"My fairy. Which decided to be mysterious and suspicious just now."

Sara drove the truck North on Hendrix Drive, then turned right on Conley Road.

"How did you get the fairy?" Kelly asked, letting a bit of suspicion leak into her voice.

"When the world ended, I met someone. They gifted Abby to me. To help me survive and complete a mission."

"Which mission? This 'God's Work' you say you are doing?"

"Yes, that's part of it. I need to gather the energy the ghosts leave behind to strengthen myself. I need to do something a week or so from now, and then it will help all of humanity."

"Really? You said you ran eighteen miles per hour on the treadmill. Is this because of the ghosts?"

"Yeah. I'm also tougher, stronger, and heal faster than normal. That's why I survived the blast with only minor cuts."

"Can you bounce bullets off your chest?"

"Why, plotting to eliminate me?" Sara asked, trying to be playful but her suspicion was genuine. She wasn't used to people being nice to her and Kelly could be in cahoots with Hainsworth and co.

"No!" The musician protested. "Why would anyone?" She paused, then gasped. "Nobody told me to stick to you and learn your secrets if that's your worry."

"Abby, can I shrug bullets?"

"Abby said I don't."

"That's too bad," Kelly teased.

"What? Are you plotting to shoot me?"

"Why would I?" She purred.

"That didn't sound too reassuring," Sara leaked a bit of worry. "Oh, there's Jonesboro."

"There's Trevor," Kelly pointed at a tanker truck in the gas station by the intersection. "They're pumping gas out of the tanks to fuel the generators."

Sara honked as she crossed. Trevor and his two assistants waved at them. "Do you want to stop?"

"No, it's fine. On second thought, would you mind?"

"Not at all."

Still on Conley Road, Sara pulled over on the other side. Kelly got out of the truck saying she just wanted to send a message back to the University that they were fine. After she came back, Sara kept going. They eventually reached Moreland Avenue and found something amazing on the other side.

*

*

Moreland Avenue [1], Conley, DeKalb County, Georgia. Saturday, October 26th, 2019. 9:45.

[1]: MDW: Remember that because of the lake, some features changed. Moreland Avenue, in the fiction world, is more to the east than in our real world.

"So, still skeptical?" Sara challenged as she parked the truck right before the avenue.

Before the two, a massive cylinder of water stood, an impossible sight because nothing seemed to be holding the water in place and it was impressively tall, reaching hundreds of yards up.

"Wait, how didn't we see that from the road behind us?" Kelly asked.

Abby explained and Sara relayed the information.

"Magic?"

"Magic. How do you think bloody corpses can walk?"

"Dunno. A virus or some disease that makes them look like corpses but aren't?"

"That's a rational explanation. It still fails, because the ghouls have no blood. They don't breathe and are cold too."

"I wouldn't know. People don't talk very often about what happened at the intersection that day."

"Well, let's check it out."

They got out of the truck and crossed the dead avenue. On the other side, a few dozen meters in, the cylinder stood.

Abby warned.

"Yeah, not sticking my hand in there," Sara chuckled. "Time for some explanation. What happened here? Why it's a water cylinder? How wide is this damn thing?"

The wall of water seemed to extend all the way to both sides. They could barely see its curvature, hinting that this thing was massive.

"Be more forthcoming, Abby. I really don't want to pry every morsel of information out of you. Is this one of those 'you need to ask the right questions' kind of things?"

"Why would he need a backup plan?" Sara interrupted. By her side, Kelly seemed interested in letting her talk.

"In case I failed to turn the damn crystal on, right?"

Abby admitted like the kid who stole the cookies and the wheel of cheese but got caught only on an empty cookie jar.

"That's sensible but also not the whole truth. C'mon, spill the beans. Let's start with an easy one. Why is the water standing upright?"

"The lake is miles away!" Sara exclaimed. "Are you telling me he can just freeze two counties in time?"

"The restrictions again?"

"How the fuck am I supposed to reach the lake with this on the way?"

"The feather."

Sara pondered over the wall of water, and what it would mean to restart the clock. "If I turn it off, what's happening to the water?"

"What about the people inside?"

That startled Kelly. "Is this happening all around the lake?" She asked with a trembling voice.

The woman seemed worried and almost reached for the water. Sara held her arm. "What's wrong?"

Kelly had tears in her eyes, "I told you. My parents live near the lake. Are they inside?"

"I'm afraid they are," Sara remarked bitterly. "Look, Kelly. The reason people cooked was that Mana seeped into their bodies. Most humans couldn't cope with the energy and died. Everyone else was knocked unconscious from a few days to a week."

"But you remained awake," she accused. "The chosen one."

Kelly stared at the girl like she'd murdered her parents. Gone was her cheerful demeanor, replaced by a worried daughter willing to run into a burning building to save her loved ones.

"It's unfair to accuse me. I had no say in what happened. And I'm trying, Kelly!" Sara whined. "I'm going to get the key to this wall on the truck, and then we're going to see your parents. They... I'm sorry."

"They might be dead, just like most people," She faced away and sobbed. "How, why do you have the key?"

"The same person who gave me Abby handed the key over to me. Abby, what happens if someone tries to enter the barrier?"

She tried to tug Kelly but the woman wouldn't move. "I need to go to the truck."

"Then go!" Kelly shouted, making Sara flinch. "I'll be here."

The girl jogged back. It was a one in a thousand chance that one of her parents had survived, one in a million that both did. Those weren't odds she would tell Kelly. Sara reached for her backpack and produced the feather from within. She locked the truck and ran back.

Kelly was touching the wall of water. Sara grabbed her arm and forced it away. An imprint of Kelly's open hand was left behind. She looked at the woman's palm and saw tender skin as she'd exfoliated it.

"I can't get through," Kelly whined.

Sara hugged her. "What I can promise you is that I'll be by your side when we find out. And I'm not leaving unless you ask me to."

Kelly hugged back and wept on Sara's shoulder.

*

*

Cedar Grove Road, Conley, DeKalb County, Georgia. Saturday, October 26th, 2019. 10:10.

"Do you have the key?" Kelly asked after a long while.

Sara showed her the feather. "It's this."

The musician's eyes went wide. "What bird is it from? Is this paint?" She asked, touching the golden barbs.

"It's a feather of the weirdest winged being I've ever met. And no, this is not painted. This feather is, as far as I can tell, indestructible. What should I do here, Abby?"

"What did he do this?" Sara asked. "Why the contingency, and how freezing this place in time would help it?"

"Are you sure we should do this?"

"Not very reassuring, buddy. You're part of me now."

A small part of Sara chided her for trusting the fairy so much. Nevertheless, she wouldn't reach the main System Core with the time barrier in place. She approached the wall of water and pushed the feather into it.

Her ears popped just like she'd suddenly shifted elevations. A blast of damp hot afternoon air blew out from the boundary, causing the two women to flail and brace. A huge influx of mana assaulted them. Kelly screamed in pain while Sara felt the cold mana enter her body from every pore.

> You gained 4 points of Core Strength.

> You gained 5 points of Thermostasis.

> You gained 5 points of Skill Boost.

> You gained 4 points of Prowess.

> You gained 3 points of Flattery.

> You gained 3 points of Presence.

> You gained 2 points of Rapid Healing.

Sara's mind spun as she became tipsy from so much Mana. Kelly fell to her knees and retched. She then vomited a spout of black stuff. As she recovered her senses, she found a thin layer of frost on the hairs of her arm.

"What's this? No, never mind. Kelly!" The girl crouched next to the woman and massaged her back. "Talk to me, Kelly!"

Kelly coughed and spat a mix of phlegm and impurities. She gagged and dry heaved. Then she whimpered and sobbed.

"Kelly, are you okay?"

"No!" The musician protested. "Oh, dear Lord, what a foul taste." She heaved and retched a bit more but nothing came out.

Sara helped Kelly back on her knees. "I went through that too. You just cleansed one of your meridians."

"It's in me too? The black stuff?"

"It's inside everyone."

"Will I have to go through this too?"

"Only if you want to. Abby, can you sense Kelly's body?"

"Excuse me," Sara pressed a hand between Kelly's breasts and her back. "This may tickle a little."

She felt Mana circulating from one hand into the other, going through Kelly.

Sara relayed the information, and Kelly pulled in the air for the better part of a minute. The girl attributed that enhanced pulmonary capacity to her singing ability.

"I feel dizzy. Also, just as if I just chugged three Red Bulls and five espressos," Kelly said.

"That's mana flowing inside your body. You took the first step to become magical."

"I don't want to become a black stuff éclair too," Kelly whined.

"You don't have to. Anyway, that'll happen years in the future if ever. I'm using some extreme methods."

"What happens now?" Kelly asked.

Sara walked past the water wall's previous location. Even the dust and the weeds were clearly different on both sides of the street and on the walls of the nearby buildings.

"Now, we get the truck and drive onward. Do you still know the way home?"

*

*

I-20 overpass, Gresham Park, DeKalb County, Georgia. Saturday, October 26th, 2019. 12:40

What should be a five-minute drive even under moderate traffic became more than an hour dodging the crashed and still-burning cars. Everything in the time bubble remained the same since the seventh, and the two women had a front-row seat to the horror. Crossing the I-20 was particularly slow. But none of the dead had become ghouls and they could see the gaps in the road. Whatever Christine Appleby's "Bad-Stuff" was, it hadn't reached into the time bubble.

"Are you sure these people are all dead?" Crouching on the passenger seat, Kelly tittered.

Sara nodded. "Yes. Abby will let me know if she senses any person, living or otherwise."

"Ghosts. Do you think my parents..." Kelly sobbed.

"Shh," Sara soothed. "Don't overthink it. We'll cross that bridge when we reach it."

"There, turn left on Boulderville. It's a quarter-mile from here." Sara drove down the street, and Kelly pointed at a yellow house, "There!"

The girl barely had the time to stop the truck before Kelly jumped out and ran.

"Later," she barked and ran after the musician.

Kelly struggled with the door, then remembered and went to the corner of the house, fishing inside the drain pipe. She took the spare key and unlocked the door, running inside.

*

*

Kelly's home, Gresham Park, DeKalb County, Georgia. Saturday, October 26th, 2019. 13:10

"MOM, DAD!" She shouted.

Sara found her in the living room, hugging the bodies.

"Are they?"

"They're hot!" Kelly replied, then asked all hopeful. "This means they're alive, right?"

Sara's jaw dropped. "Wait, BOTH of them?"

Sara cackled and shouted, "Kelly, you lucky bastard!" The girl fell to her knees and hugged her friend,

The two cried until their eyes refused to make more tears. Then they laughed and Kelly even kissed Sara's forehead.

One in a billion. That was the odds of three people in the same family surviving Armageddon anywhere else. They would later learn that Verachiel's time bubble had a huge impact on these odds.

After they vented their emotions through tears and snot, Sara suggested they move Kelly's parents to their bed. The girl then took Kelly back to the living room. They sat on the couch side-by-side.

Kelly hugged Sara and leaned on her shoulder. "I owe you more than I can ever repay," she whispered with a hoarse voice.

Sara ruffled the musician's hair. "You owe me nothing."

"I didn't believe you. I really thought you were either crazy or stoned."

"Don't trust me, I might be the former."

"No. You're an amazing person, Sara. Who could know God could pack so much mettle into a single girl? I understand why you look at the survivors loitering at the campus the way you do. While everyone was sulking and lamenting their loss, you filled a truck with loot. And you said you have a plan to help everyone in the world? I believe you. A hundred percent. Whatever you need, even if it's my firstborn child, you have it," Kelly rambled.

"That's awful. I pity your children," Sara chuckled.

Kelly sighed and made a noise between a whine, a moan, and a laugh. Sara laughed again, causing Kelly to sigh again. "I'll even marry you." The woman whispered.

Sara sidled to the edge of the couch, pulling Kelly with her. "Lie down. here," She offered her lap. "I don't think I am ready for such commitments, Kelly. Sorry."

Kelly sobbed and hiccuped, an involuntary spasm. "I didn't mean it."

"Yeah, I mean, you hadn't even prepared a ring. Now that we know they're alive, do you want to hear the odds it would happen?"

"I don't think so. I know how lucky I am."

Sara sighed, "And people call me insufferable."

Kelly also sighed, "I need a beer." She stood up and went to the fridge. She opened it and took two beers from it. She stared at Sara. "You're underage and driving." With that said, she put one of the beers back. Then she opened it and took a large swig. "Ah, that hits the spot."

Sara was frozen, turned around on the couch, and stared at Kelly. "Isn't it stale?" She asked.

"What? No, it's on the right... temperature...."

"FUCKING SHIT!" Sara screeched and jumped off the couch. "Your fridge is cold."

"My fridge is indeed cold," Kelly stared at the beer in her hand. "OMG, my fridge IS cold!"

An excited Sara ran to touch Kelly's beer.

"Kelly! The water column. The time bubble. Everything in here is as it was on the seventh. The fridges are still cold. The food isn't spoiled. We have miles upon miles of homes with good food."

"What about the survivors?"

"The survivors will be out for a whole week. In their homes. Oh, goodness! The pets! The pets are still alive and they hadn't eaten people yet! Kelly, we need to go!"

Sara grabbed Kelly's wrist and pulled her toward the door. The woman resisted.

"What about my parents?"

"They'll be fine. You remained unconscious for a week and nothing happened to you. We'll come back. But we're burning sunlight. We need to go and get the pets. Dogs, birds, and cats are trapped in their homes with their dead people. They'll starve if we do nothing. And fridges with food. Meat. Burgers. Bacon. Hotdogs. Cheese."

Kelly licked her lips. "You had me at burgers. Let's go."