Title: Brave New World: Shift

Summary: After a climate shift, the structure of humanity falls apart and the world becomes a vampire free for all. /Completed/

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. Story is produced without profit.

Characters: Leah/Renesmee, other.

Genre: Apocalyptic/Survival

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Apocalyptic themes.

Status: Completed.

Archiving: Please PM me.

Inspirations/Dedications: ~

Author's Notes: This story is part of a series. It is purposely left open with the aim of adding more to it.

Shift: Chapter Two

It's bright out when she wakes. The fire has been reduced to a few flickering flames, struggling to survive and it's almost poetic when she thinks of the handful of people left on this earth. She prays to gods she doesn't even believe in, that her brothers are alive, if not together. She doesn't bother beseeching the gods for her mother's fate. Chances are, she's long gone. Instead, she imagines Sue Clearwater cold in her bed. It's a peaceful way to go, considering the alternatives.

It's surprising how quickly it all happened, but it really shouldn't be. They had enough warning. It started with the same theories and advice. Use low energy light bulbs, always recycle and the world might not explode. Nothing but scare tactics some would claim. They'd be eating their words within the year. The summers disappeared first, not really applicable in Forks but the whole world had watched as Mexico was hit by rapid and random snow storms. Before long, rain in Forks had turned to hail. After a while, the snow came, bit by bit until one day, it didn't stop.

She hears a noise outside and drops to the floor, not daring to so much as breathe. She inhales but her senses are also impeded by the cold and all she can pick up the fresh sting of frozen air. She strains her ears, focusing on the crunch of snow under flat shoes. It's too loud to be an vampire and too soft for her kind. She doesn't relax but she slips her hunting knife from it's sheath. Vampires are only slightly more dangerous than a desperate human.

The door creaks open and the intruder's eyes widen in surprise as she finds a knife at her throat. Her face is flushed with the cold, and her chapped lips hold a blue tinge. Damp, brittle curls fall around her shoulders.

"Don't move." Leah warns, her growl a hollow echo in the empty room. The girl nods and looks at her captor. Her eyes flicker in recognition but she doesn't speak. She seems vaguely familiar and Leah pulls at the edges of her mind, digging through memories long buried.

"I know you. What's your name?" Her words are biting and she can smell fear coming off the girl in waves. It hits her deep in her gut, stirring feelings that she's tried to push down. The wolf knows what it wants but she'll be damned if she'll let it have it. Maybe it is all about survival but a girl has to have some limits.

"Nessie Cullen." The girl whispers, swallowing hard and wincing as the blade nicks her throat. Leah watches a drop of blood trickle down the blade and she feels that familiar stirring once again. She studies the girl carefully. The Nessie she knew was a child. The girl before her is a young woman. She doesn't bother with the math. Everybody is older than they should be now. If it doesn't show on their face, it shows in their eyes. Time has lost all meaning.

"What are you doing here?"

The girl eyes the blade, still at her throat. "I was travelling with my family two months ago when we got attacked by Hunters. We got separated. I've been looking for them."

She can remember her own brush with the vampire packs and a chill runs up her spine. Leah nods and lowers the blade. She doesn't put it away. She's made that mistake before. It's no fun waking up with a knife in your stomach and a man gnawing at your arm. The wounds heal, of course...but the memories don't. She drops onto her makeshift bed and pokes at the dying fire with a baseball bat. Nessie takes this as an invitation to stay and drops to the floor opposite her, despite the werewolf's glare. She sighs slightly as she holds her hands over the fire.

"How long have you been here?" She asks, looking around.

Leah glares once again before she answers. She doesn't want this kid getting any cute ideas about tagging along with her. "Since last night. I found it just before the wave hit."

She swirls the bat around again, her face blazing orange as the fire sparks up. "How did you make it through the wave?" She asks, eyebrow raised, an accusation in her voice as she remembers that Nessie has a beating heart and warm blood in her veins.

"I found a cave, a few miles away from here. I hid there."

Once upon a time, Nessie had been the Cullen's angel. They had taken it for granted that she would grow up to be the most beautiful girl in the world. Now Leah studies her brittle hair and cracked skin and wonders if Bella was disappointed when her baby started to break in front of her. There are dark circles under her eyes and her skin sags slightly at the mouth, as though she has lost a lot of weight in a hurry.

"Do you have anything to eat?" Nessie asks and her face drops as Leah shakes her head.

"I thought human food was beneath you?"

Nessie looks upset at the bitterness and truth in Leah's comment and there's a hint of shame. "I've come to appreciate it a lot more," she whispers. Leah nods in reply and turns her attention back to the fire. There's silence between them for a while and, though it isn't comfortable, it isn't awkward either. Nessie is the first to speak and the sound of her voice shocks Leah slightly. She had forgotten she was there.

"I haven't fed off humans you know. Not once. I know you must be wondering about that."

She hadn't. There's no place for altruism anymore and while she won't be encouraging the girl to feast on humans, she wouldn't really blame her for it if she did. "Me either,"she replies, bitterly. Sometimes she curses the little compassion she has left. It makes things so much harder.

"It's hard to resist sometimes." Nessie says, wistfully, and Leah remembers her own attempts to beat down the instinctive hunger.

"Yeah, it is," she agrees and neither of them speak for the rest of the night.

...