Astrid stood behind Diana, arms crossed. They were to be in charge of addressing the most pressing issue in the FAYZ other than lack of nutrition and murder: looting. Diana stood at the center of a small platform that rested in front of the town hall.
Her face was contorted in anger as she shouted at the crowd of teens and children. "If I find out about one more person trying to steal from the McDonalds, whether it be with a spiked bat or powers or whatever you have on you, I swear to God I will place you in whatever prison we decide. I'll throw you in next to Drake if I have to. Got it?" Diana waited for the nervous crowd to murmur a tentative response.
Astrid stepped forward and patted Diana on the back. Diana visibly calmed down, her breathing slowed, her eyes appeared calmed. "We will also be placing a few moofs on guard duty for a few nights a week. If we need to, we can get Sam to stand guard and shoot laser beams at whoever tries this first." She looked around at the crowd of now nervous children. That's all they were, really. Children. Lonely and afraid and away from their parents for the first time.
Diana and Astrid left the platform together, walking off towards the house they chose together. There's safety in numbers in the FAYZ, and they had bonded so well so quickly they figured they might as well live together. They were opposite sides of the same coin: Diana was a firecracker, but fiercely loyal. Astrid was known for her calm demeanor but would use her wits and hurting whoever she needed to protect the people she loved.
Sam, Dekka, and Dahra were waiting inside the kitchen, which was a bit of a surprise. Diana had wanted to come back and take a nap. They sat around a foldout poker table on metal foldout chairs. A makeshift, foldout meeting space.
"What's going on?" Astrid asked, sitting down at one of the six chairs that surrounded the table. She showed no surprise, like people setting up shop in her kitchen was a normal, everyday thing. Astrid scooted her chair in, the legs squeaking against the floor like nails on a chalkboard. She leaned her elbows against the table. There were 2 seats empty. Diana stood against the doorframe that led into the kitchen, hoping to escape the meeting and relax upstairs. "Are we expecting more people?" Astrid asked.
Dahra was the first to respond. "We wanted to have Albert stop by but he's missing as usual, and Lana was supposed to come, but I assume she's taking a nap. We've had an extremely busy past few days."
Diana was annoyed that Lana got to take a nap, and she was about to sneak upstairs to the bedroom when she realized that this meeting could hold interesting, secretive information. "Was there a fight?" she asked, leaning into the room.
"If you're going to be asking questions you might as well sit at the table instead of lurking in the corner." Diana sat down and Dahra continued. "Kids are starting to get really sick. It's some kind of upper respiratory infection."
"So hand out some cough drops." Diana shrugged.
"We're a little past that point, Diana. This infection has kids coughing up blood, bits of lung, and throat tissue."
"Oh my God." Astrid whispered.
"There's no God in this stupid bubble." Dahra said. "We've had six deaths so far. There were a few girls in their house and then a few of my people. It's spreading fast. Must be highly contagious."
"What can we do?" Dekka asked.
Dahra ran her fingers through her hair. Her eyes were rimmed red, skin pasty. Sleep depravation. "We need help with quarantine. Blocking off wards in the hospital and blocking off roads."
"Roads?" Sam interjected.
"Yes. If this virus starts to spread it'll go by contact. The people that live closest to those who are ill will be the next to catch it."
The group discussed logistics for another hour or so, until the sun stretched out and disappeared below the horizon out over the shore. Dekka was the first to leave. She excused herself from the table and swung open the front door not with her hands but with the force that radiated out from her palm. Diana felt a tingle in her chest. Sometimes her power manifested like this, alerting her to the presence of a power in the room. It caught her by surprise, and she could see a sort of sign floating behind Dekka: 3 bars hovering delicately in the air.
Diana let her mind wander as soon as the door closed behind Dekka. She didn't really see a purpose in sitting around a table stuck with Dahra and Sam. The only person she cared about there was Astrid. Diana kicked Astrid playfully under the table. Astrid kicked back. They played this game back and forth while the group chatted and Sammy Suns hovered attentively in every corner of the room.
Diana wondered if Astrid felt it too. No, she thought. They were friends, just close friends. They slept beside each other every night, never touching, just side by side for security. Diana knew they were just friends but she felt something, something itching at her heart. A never-ending tug on her heart that pulled her towards Astrid. Certainly not a feeling that is usually shared between close friends. The only contact they ever had was in public, a casual pat on the back or hand on the shoulder. Very business casual, very Astrid. Diana craved to feel more, she wasn't sure what it was but she needed more…
"Hey! Diana!"
"Fuck off!" Diana yelled on reflex at whoever distracted her from her thoughts. She noticed it was Sam. "I'm sorry, Sam" she apologized, "you scared me and I thought you were Dahra so my first reaction was to yell." Dahra rolled her eyes.
Sam laughed. "It's no problem, but we wanted to let you know that we're going. Stay safe, you two," he said, looking to Diana and Astrid. "Breeze stopped in here before and said people were really mad about what you guys said."
Diana shook her head. "They won't try anything. They respect you and Dahra and Lana way too much to get on your bad sides."
Sam got up from his seat at the table and began to leave. Dahra followed, giving a goodbye to the two girls now alone in the large house. The Sammy Suns slowly grew dim as Sam grew further away.
Astrid and Diana walked around the house, lighting candles where needed. Diana thought it was cool to be surrounded by fire. Not contained electricity but raw, open flames.
"Dinner?" Astrid said, and Diana nodded. Together they prepared a simple meal Astrid had found in a cookbook that sat open on the table. It was made with beans and other canned vegetables. Diana would open the cans and drain the vegetables while Astrid mixed together spices. The shimmied around each other around the kitchen like seasoned chefs. Once the meal was together in one big bowl, Astrid grabbed plates and Diana grabbed utensils. They set the table as professionally as two teenagers could manage. It was Astrid's idea. Pretending things were better than they were made the FAYZ easier to handle. They sat facing across one another. Diana sprinkled her meal with their dwindling ration of salt and pepper.
They ate together in good spirits. Astrid talked about some new theory on the mutations and Diana joked that Dahra's new haircut made her look like a mutant. Astrid scolded her. Sometimes, like in this moment, Diana could feel a spark coming off of Astrid. It was a strong but fleeting signal that struck Diana in the gut. She wondered if it was powers forming or perhaps something different, like powers suppressed. Diana said nothing, too distracted by the other feeling that struck her heart and made it hard to breathe.
After dinner they moved into the family room and sat side by side on the cracked leather couch. Astrid read up on the theory of evolution and Diana read a thriller by Stephen King. Astrid sometimes took breaks from her work and let Diana read out loud to her. Astrid loved the melodic tone of Diana's voice, loved the way her name sounded when it rolled off of Diana's tongue…
Diana decided to take a break from her book. The population in this novel was trapped under a dome, and it was beginning to feel a little too much like real life to feel like an escape. Diana had only begun reading once the FAYZ walls went up. Before she had just listened to music, or watched TV, but without technology she had to find new ways to be distracted. She closed her book, dog-earring the page she was on, and leaned against Astrid. She was staring at the pages of Astrid's book but all she could think about was how close they were, how close Astrid was letting her in. The warmth of her body… how soft… how soft her lips must be…
Diana looked up to Astrid's face, almost reluctantly, knowing the response she would probably get and yet turning her head to Astrid's anyway. She locked brown eyes to blue eyes.
"Yes?" Astrid asked.
"I…" What was there to say? Diana never usually hesitated, but she didn't want to say too much, didn't know how much would make Astrid back away in fear, or confusion, or disgust. Diana closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It would kill her to remain silent any longer. This stupid crush was eating her alive. It was now or never. Diana didn't answer Astrid's question with words but with actions. She cradled Astrid's delicate jawbone in her hand and gently, gently leaned in. Astrid, strong, clearheaded Astrid did not back away.
Diana moved her hand behind Astrid's head as she leaned in closer, her fingers now intertwined with Astrid's long, blonde hair. She felt Astrid shaking nervously beneath her fingertips. Diana was nervous too. Their lips met, a soft first kiss. And then a second kiss. Astrid closed her eyes. She leaned into Diana, her mind was confused but her heart, her typically quiet heart screamed, "kiss her again!" Astrid this time placed a shaky hand on Diana's neck, her thumb strumming along her jawline.
And they kissed again and again. Astrid's lips parted and Diana smiled and they were kissing and kissing. Diana's hands moved over Astrid's body, over her muscular but too skinny body. Astrid's hands mirrored Diana's, and she followed along the curves of Diana's body. There was no algorithm she could follow to make sense of this. Astrid let her body take control of what her mind could make no sense of.
The candles burned, the wax melted, and yet Astrid and Diana remained intertwined on the couch. Their couch. It was too quiet out, too dark out, no cars and no streetlights and nothing to distract them but their own beating hearts. Soft hands on soft skin, sensitive lips on sensitive skin.
Diana and Astrid got up as their last candle grew dangerously low. They walked to their bedroom, hand in hand. They did not sleep side by side that night. They slept together.