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Vi opened her eyes to the blinding light of the sun, blinking profusely as she struggled to get a solid look at the ceiling above her. Eventually, the brown stains from presumably a broken waterline shifted into focus. These stains were still growing familiar to her.
She missed waking up to Caitlyn instead. Her blue eyes were always fixed, waiting for the love of her life to start her day. Eager to start it with her.
Saltwater assaulted her senses as Vi inhaled sharply. She had left the window open again last night. Sitting up, the young woman turned on her side and shut it… Remembering all of the times Caitlyn used to chastise her for being so careless. “It ruins the walls,” she’d say. Always claimed it either made them stink or ruined the paint. Vi laughed scornfully. Property value didn’t matter much now, did it?
With pained and probably reddened eyes, Vi looked over to her nightstand and grabbed at her phone- a daily ritual. She pressed the power button and watched as the Apple logo flicked onscreen, and at the speed of light Vi typed in her passcode- all 0’s. The screen changed, and before she could catch a glimpse of her wallpaper (a two-year-old selfie of her and Caitlyn on the beach), a 10% Battery warning popped up. Her eyes moved to the top right corner of the screen as she hit “Low Power Mode”... 2% Battery Left. With a gulp and hopeful shake of her hands, Vi tapped on the iMessage icon, then Caitlyn’s name, and then flicked her eyes to the bottom of the screen where the messages were the same as they’d always been.
March 18th 11:06 AM
VI
Hey, I’m sorry. I won’t forget again.
Cait
You’re not going to forget again because I’m not giving you the chance to forget again. You left me alone and stranded for 9 hours, asshole
VI
Call me back
Pick up.
Please?
Cait
Leave me alone.
March 20th 2:56 PM
Cait
Something’s wrong
Did something happen? People are leaving their cars and running
I can’t see anything
March 20th 3:15 PM
VI
I was in the shower, are you okay?
Caitlyn
If you’re seeing these I need you to pick up
After that, the texts went silent. All of them. The cellphone towers went down, the internet infrastructure went down, it all went down and it hasn’t been back up.
Rumors in her town circulated that it was an Alien attack. Some people said that nanobots took out all of humanity's methods of communication. Some people said zombies were to blame. Vi wasn’t sure who or what to believe, all she knew was that she had been broken up with days prior and the love of her life had vanished.
She kept hope though. She stayed at their little condo on the beach, waiting for Caitlyn to return. She anticipated the day where she’d open the door and Caitlyn would be there, hand poised to knock, hair disheveled, a slight “o” on her lips… And then she’d leap into Vi’s arms, all forgiven, just happy to be home.
But that day hasn’t come yet, and at this point, Vi was starting to accept reality… By five months, Caitlyn should have found her way back by now.
Clad in only a sports bra and boxers, Vi turned off the phone (still holding out hope that a final text will come in up until the screen turned dark) and started to prepare for the day ahead. Here’s the thing about the apocalypse- life resumed. She still had a job in town to make money to live, she still got her morning coffee, she still was saving up to buy that one book Caitlyn always talked about… Vi sighed and opened the front door.
Birds chirped above her, greeting her into the world. The sun was warm, the sky was blue, all was calm- but she still felt like complete shit. She felt her eyes get all prickly again, and she knew she was due for her second tear of the week. Fuck the apocalypse. She just wanted her life back.
With that being the last thought in her head, Vi started her journey to work. A butcher shop, just at the edge of the town. Forester used to be a nice little town, complete with shops, salons, bars, even a Yoga studio. But now it was just the essentials. Abandoned buildings had been cleared and repurposed to grow plants or house livestock. The local grocery store was “remodeled” to reflect this new lifestyle and had since become more of an old-fashioned market. That’s where she worked, cutting up whatever meat people could find. Work always went by quickly, thank god. It was always plenty busy, and today was no different.
In no time at all Vi found herself traversing back home, walking a short distance of 2 miles. She looked off into the setting sun, eyes skimming over the multitude of fires in the distance. The fires used to give her chills, but with time she grew used to them… admired them, even. It was proof people were still out there. Sure, they might be the product of burning and looting… but they were human.
Now at her door, Vi placed her key in the lock and turned but found no resistance. Her face paled, her blood went cold. Was there someone in there? Was she getting robbed? Did she forget to lock the door? No, she never forgot to lock the door. She gulped, unsure of what to do, so she just stood there, poised to knock, starting to think it’d be best if she just gave the thief a “heads up” that she was home. It was stupid, sure-
And then the door opened. Her breath hitched, her mouth dropped, and her heart stopped.
“Vi?”
She was there. She was right there, six feet away, and Vi couldn’t move a muscle. She was too stunned. All she could manage was a short and forceful inhale. Soon, strong arms wrapped around her neck, pulling her close. Vi finally got the gears in her head to start turning and reciprocated the hug, pulling Caitlyn as close as she possibly could. She buried her face in her neck, letting the dark hair tickle the hell out of her nose. She didn’t care one bit. Her heart resumed beating, and the blood rushed back into her ears. Vi bit back tears as she finally managed a pained, “you came back.”
“It took me a while, but yes.” Caitlyn pulled away and placed her forehead on Vi’s. “I’m home.”