“When we were cleaning the house, did you find any masks?”

“Hmm…? Ah, no… I don’t think so…”

“That’s a shame. Well, it looks like we’ll have to make due with the spare clothing. I would say we could go without covering our faces, but since we’ll be out all day, wearing nothing is just asking for trouble… Though, with how thick the fog is, I have to wonder if even a mask would help.”

As he speaks, Eli carries his bowl to the sink, picking up Audrey’s dirty dishes while passing by. Having apparently not noticed, Audrey blankly stares into the distance, answering Eli’s questions as if on autopilot. He doesn’t seem to mind as he goes over the plan for the day with a serious expression while scrubbing the dishes in cold water, completely different from his usual despondent appearance. Not much time passes until he’s finished with his chore and is already walking towards his bedroom. Suddenly, he glances over his shoulder wearing an expectant expression.

“What are you doing Audrey? You’re not expecting me to go out there alone, are you? I don’t know how to play guitar.”

“Huh? Ah! R-Right! Yeah, I’ll go get my stuff, there’s no time to waste!”

A bright flame of life surges in the deepest recesses of Audrey’s eyes and a tide of determination floods her body. She stands with intensity, rushing to the spare room she’s been staying in to gather her things. Eli watches her rush past him, his bearing relaxing as her long hair brushes past his face like a breeze. That’s it. That’s the Audrey I know. With a resolute nod he hastily follows after her, going through his own wardrobe and finding a thick scarf with fraying edges to use to cover his nose and mouth. With a look of suspicion directed at the old and torn fabric, Eli can only shake his head and accept that he’s not going to find anything better, immediately leaving the room after.

Seeing Audrey waiting at the door with her case in hand, her face covered by a couple of shirts tied in a disorderly manner, Eli hurries to the entrance of the house, giving her a look of confirmation before opening the door to the outside world. Beyond the barrier is a sea of yellow, a dirty abyss of toxin and disease. A mix of dust and chemicals, dirt and remnant fossil fuels. A smog with the stench of death. Looking at the yellow fog, Eli can only shake his head, feeling a sense of urgency that pushes his foot beyond the threshold. He doesn’t know how long it will take until the fog clears, such a thing is entirely dependent on factors he has no knowledge of. It is difficult to predict to say the least.

As they step into the yellow sea of foulness, the two immediately experience the sensation of both deafness and blindness. The yellow cloud obscures their view, burning their eyes and causing them to squint. Absolute silence reigns in this world, the only occasional sound being that of the crunching of loose rubble underneath their boots and the occasional cough from depths of the smog, most likely produced by either a hollowed eyed homeless person, or a careless salary worker forced to trek to their office despite the bad weather. A tide of people gropes blindly through the mustard-colored world. Their hunched figures are compact and hesitant, fearing the strangeness that lurks in the distant depths. Though they’d rather not risk their health and lives, every person continues on, braving the darkness, shackled by an individual feeling of responsibility or necessity.

A thought suddenly springs to Eli’s mind, a fear that brings out tremors and goosebumps. Almost impulsively, Eli whispers to the girl that should be behind him, his words thick with worry and restraint.

“Audrey… are you still there…?”

Almost immediately after, a voice gives a response from his left, making him shiver as he’s taken from surprise.

“Eli? What are you doing over there?”

Though she’s whispering, her surprise is obvious. It seems it’s only just occurring to the two of them that they could have gotten lost, and very nearly did. Happy that he had such a realization before it was too late and he was trapped in a dangerous city alone and unprotected, Eli speaks up, moving closer to where he heard his friend's voice.

“Audrey, hold my hand, that way we don’t get lost.”

“Alright.”

Playing the role of a blind man, Eli reaches towards Audrey, his eyes unseeing. He berates himself for his stupidity. Seriously, what was I thinking? This isn’t the way home, I don’t know this place like the back of my hand. Audrey probably does, but it was foolish of me to not even think of bringing a light source. There might have been some flashlights, or maybe an old lantern. Literally anything would have been better than nothing. While feeling increasingly ashamed, Eli’s hand eventually brushes against fabric. Hesitantly, fearing that he’s unknowingly encountered a stranger, he calls out, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Audrey?"

He instantly receives a reply.

“Yep.”

The two let out a heavy breath of relief, which is immediately followed with heavy coughing as they inhale the toxic fog. While coughing, Eli reaches his hand out, eventually finding Audrey’s similarly flailing hand. The two interlace fingers, clutching for dear life, like a drawing man grasping at straws. Finally reunited, they resume their adventure, Eli following a half step behind his companion, who he realizes does seem to know the way purely by memory. Taking his shallow breaths, he feels the urge to question where such experience came from. When exactly did she have time to memorize the narrow streets? Hearing his abruptly whispered question, Audrey lets out a light chuckle, a breathless thing without any weight or impact, almost entirely lacking in emotion.

“Heh heh, after I ran away from the orphanage, I ended up wandering around this area, keeping an eye on the house. I never went inside out of fear, but I stayed around, expecting my dad to somehow return. I was worried that I’d miss him and he would abandon the place, leaving me behind. Over time I came to learn these streets pretty intimately.”

“...”

Though she doesn’t receive a response, Audrey feels how Eli’s grip tightens, causing a cascade of bubbling emotions to erupt within her. With that, the journey continues in silence. It’s only when they reach the edge of the district, closer to the inner city than the midlands, does the pair notice the fog abating. The air thins, the thickness gradually reducing until, finally, the two can draw in even breaths without nearly suffocating to death.

“Haah, haah, took long enough…”

“You’re right about that… Hey Eli, you don’t need to hold my hand anymore, do you?”

“Hm? Ah, um, I guess you’re right.”

While fumbling over his words, he carefully extracts his hands from Audrey’s feeling a bit of a pinch in his heart. With an embarrassed grimace, he looks away, facing the long barren streets with helpless eyes. The empty streets, covered in shadows and discarded trash, are reflected within his dark pupils.

“Hey Audrey, not everyone would have gone out in this weather, how are we supposed to make anything without anybody around?”

“Ah, um, well you see… They’ll come on their own! That’s right, the music will draw them here!”

Though Eli’s eyes were obviously filled with doubt, and a bit of regret that he was too hasty with his actions, he decides to place his trust in Audrey’s obviously forced words. There’s nothing wrong with hoping for a miracle. If anything, the potential to make money is better than the absolute reality of not making anything should we have stayed home. Yeah, there’s a chance of getting sick since we walked through that mess, but the house isn’t very protected, so it’s possible that we would have inhaled the fog either way. At least this way we’ll have made some progress.

“Alright! Let’s hope some kind folks pass by! And if nothing happens, well at least we didn’t sit around doing nothing all day!”

Audrey glances out of the corner of her eye. Her gaze is drawn to the expectant face of her partner. Looking at such an expression, a pleasant warmth radiates through her chest. Her body shivers. Unconsciously she begins to recall his face back when they first met. It had been haggard, soulless, wavering on the brink of madness and mania. Seeing his current face, she can’t help but wonder how such a change occurred so quickly, in such a short time frame. Thinking back, she can’t really place the change to a single moment, rather, she feels that he’s been subtly altering himself, slowly adjusting his viewpoint until finally, he can show her such an expression. Audrey’s lips begin to curl and her hand twitches, suddenly cold, yearning for the heat it had previously clutched.