Chapter Text
Sara sat up, her head feeling like it was trapped in the stratosphere.
“What the…”
The woman by her bed smiled kindly at her, though it seemed fake. She had white blonde hair (emphasis on the white) and icy cold eyes. It made Sara feel homesick for her mother.
“Who are you?” she demanded. “Where am I?!”
The woman’s eyes flashed dangerously, but her smile remained. “My name is Astra.”
Sara scowled. “Well, Astra, it was nice meeting you. I think I’m gonna go–”
Astra shook her head. “Not until you see what we have to offer and learn the rules.”
“What rules?” Sara asked, her voice softening.
Astra smiled and stood up, her silky skirt flowing around her ankles. “Follow me.”
“Ah, our lovely newest member!”
Sara crossed her arms over her chest. “You kidnapped me.”
Henry nodded. “And I’m very sorry for that, my fine lady, but rules are rules.”
“I said I didn’t want to go!”
“Details.”
“I–”
“The important thing is that you’re here now!” Henry said, cutting her off.
Sara looked around the room. They were in what looked like a museum that had been gutted for whatever Henry was using it for. The signs were painted over. Instead of “medieval relics” they were “dungeons”. The only sign that remained un-vandalized was the one reading “cafeteria”. Sara heard the clanks of silverware and plates.
And the distinct sound of human voices. Regular people. People who had lives there.
Sara looked back at Henry, her eyes wide.
Henry smiled. “Welcome to my humble home.”
She didn’t mind the serving sizes. At least it was more than she’d been eating.
Much more.
A group of seven slid next to her. A redheaded girl in a green sweater was the first to speak. She was wearing huge wire-framed glasses and her eyes, like her flowery pants, were bright green. “Hi! I’m Margot!”
Sara smiled and held out her hand. “My name’s Sara!”
A Hispanic girl in yellow leaned over the table towards her. She had about five layers on, even though the room was extremely warm. Her eyes looked sunken, though she didn’t seem tired. Sara decided not to ask. She seemed like a very sweet girl.
As if to prove the point, she smiled brightly and waved to her. “I am Valentina! It is nice to meet you!”
A very attractive-looking man dressed in a purple crop top put his hand on her wrist. “Calm down, Val.” He had long black hair down to his waist. It was surprisingly well-kempt. He had deep brown eyes. Sara blushed and looked away, realizing she was staring.
The person beside him snorted a laugh. “Look, Cassie! You’ve got another simp!” Their skin was a light chocolate-y color with light splotches everywhere. Their short curly hair was dyed bubblegum pink and put into a small bun on the top of their head. Sara couldn’t tell exactly what their gender was and she assumed that was the point.
“Be nice, Kim!” Valentina snapped.
Kim just sighed and started fidgeting with their fingerless fishnet gloves. The light blue crop top was slightly too transparent for Sara’s taste.
The girl next to Sara finally spoke up. “I’m not… the best person for this job, but… since no one else is going to…” She offered her hand. “Welcome to the New Republic. My name’s Rosaline. It’s very nice to meet you, Sara.” Rosaline had incredibly dark skin. Her eyes were sky blue. She was wearing a red skin-tight leather top underneath a black rayon cloak. Her hair was in a low ponytail. Everything about the way she held herself screamed “I’m not worthy”.
She reminded Sara of herself.
The man next to her took her hand in his. “You are more than qualified, Rose. You’ve been here longer than any of us!”
Rosaline blushed. “Thanks, Griffin.”
He smiled and kissed her knuckle. He had dirty blond hair and wore a bright orange Hawaiian t-shirt. His eyes were dark green and he had a perpetual smile on his face, showing off his dimples.
Sara awkwardly watched the exchange.
Kim cleared their throat extremely loud. “Alright, lovebirds. You can stop now.”
Rosaline’s blush got darker and Griffin dropped her hand.
Cassie cleared his throat and motioned across the table. “And our final member, Zechariah!”
He waved back at her. His eyes were dark gray and he looked like he hadn’t gotten a full night’s sleep in years. His clothes were extremely baggy, like he wanted to be ready to sleep as soon as he climbed into bed. His brown hair had streaks of gray in it, despite the fact that he couldn’t have been older than thirty. His sweatshirt was light pink and had the words “Don’t fuck with me, I’m a perfectionist” on it.
Sara thought that it was unnecessary, looking at him.
“He does a lot of our chores for us,” Margot explained. “We keep telling him not to but he never listens.”
“I’ve drugged him before,” Kim announced proudly. “Got him to sleep for a few more hours.”
“I can hear you,” Zechariah said.
“Sorry, man,” Cassie answered.
Zechariah just shrugged and returned his attention to his food.
Sara turned back to Margot. “So… when do you get your chores?”
“They go up in the morning. We have an extra spot in our room. You can crash there if you like.”
“What?”
Kim sighed. “Each room gets chores for the day depending on the amount of people inside. You’re not assigned a room. You could choose to stay with us.” They glanced over at Griffin and Rosaline, who were back to ogling each other. “Not that I can see why.”
Sara laughed. “I’m fine with couples. They don’t bother me.”
Kim smirked. “Alright, whatever. Come with me. We’ll get you signed in.”
“You can take that bed,” Cassie told her, pointing to the empty hammock against the wall. The room was small, especially with eight people using it as a living space. It reminded Sara of a one-bedroom apartment.
Specifically the bathroom.
“Comfy,” she muttered.
Margot snorted. “It’s for sleeping, not for leisure. That’s for the cafeteria and the garden.”
“There’s a garden?”
Rosaline nodded. “It’s a butterfly garden. I go there a lot to get away.”
“From us? Rosaline!” Kim chided.
“Probably to get away from everyone else,” Valentina interjected.
Cassie nodded. “Yeah, there are some… characters here.”
Sara laid down in her hammock. “Like who?”
Valentina groaned. “I do not even know her name, but she circles like a hawk. She hates all of us, but we’re in Henry’s good graces so she cannot touch us.”
“Astra?”
All of them were silent.
“You know her name?” Rosaline asked quietly.
“She told me… after they dragged me here.”
Griffin shrugged. “Ah well! I didn’t care anyways!” He rolled over and immediately started snoring.
Sara stared up at the ceiling.
Or… the bottom of Cassie’s cot.
The room was quickly filled with the sounds of other snoring adults.
“You still awake?”
Sara startled at the sound of Cassie’s voice. “Oh! Yeah!”
She could’ve sworn she heard him smile. “What’s your story, Sara?”
She laughed slightly. “Why do you care?”
He shifted slightly above her before dangling his head over the edge. “You’re different, like us.” He pointed to the sleeping form across from him. “Rosaline’s the youngest one here. She was orphaned before all this when her mom died from cancer.” He pointed to the cot across from Sara. “Zechariah’s girlfriend died when this whole thing started. He had to care for her father before their camp got destroyed and he was forced here.” He jabbed his thumb at Kim. “They’re father was an abusive son of a bitch. He kicked them out the second they said the word ‘genderqueer’. They ended up on the streets.” He pointed at Valentina. “She used to go to beauty pageants every year since she was born. Told she was gonna be ‘Ms. Puerto Rico’ when she got the money to move back. She started starving herself to fit the damn clothes, got the money to move, and got stuck in the apocalypse.” He pointed to Griffin. “His brother used to put him through a fight ring. He ended up giving the greedy bastard all his earnings. Now he refuses to fight.” He glanced over at Margot. “Her mom had these dreams for her that she’d be this great scientist or a lawyer. She wanted to write music. Her mom cut her off, so she moved in with her girlfriend who stole all her songs and published them under her name.” He laughed. “The bitch got nothing for all the trouble, but the damage was done.”
Sara looked up at him. “And what about you?”
He climbed off his cot and took off his shirt, showing twin scars on his chest.
Surgery scars.
“My family kicked me out too. I used Daddy’s money for something he didn’t approve of. Met Kim on the streets and then… Henry found us.”
Sara nodded. “So he just… takes in people who are desperate?”
“Desperate, needy, resourceful. He’s trying to rebuild the world.”
Sara stared at her hands. “I didn’t want to come here. I have a family. I have friends.”
“You have us, now,” Cassie reassured her.
She nodded. “I wasn’t forced out of anything. I’ve… never been through anything like you people have, I was just… alone.” She thought of Rael’s face, how he’d turned her away, no matter how hard she tried. Then, she looked back at Cassie’s.
“Tell you what,” he said. “Tomorrow, after we’re done working, I’ll take you to the butterfly garden. We can talk about anything you want. We can miss your family together.”
Sara smiled brightly at him. “I’d really like that.”
Cassie smiled back and climbed back into his cot before tossing his shirt on the ground and falling asleep.
Chores
Cassie - Scrub the bathrooms
Griffin - Help cook lunch
Kim - Wash the dishes for all three meals
Margot - Reorganize the dorms
Rosaline - Work in the nursery
Sara - Scrub the bathrooms
Valentina - Wash the dishes for all three meals
Zechariah - Laundry duty
Sara tried to hide her blush as she looked at her job assignment.
All alone with Cassie.
He nudged her from behind.
Kim groaned. “I hate washing dishes!”
Valentina nodded in assent and led her friend away.
Griffin put his finger over the list where his name was. “If only I were a worse cook,” he groaned.
“Are you bragging or complaining, Griff?” Margot teased.
“Can I say both?”
She pulled him away from the list by the scruff of his neck. “Move it, moron!” Her eyes landed on her job assignment and she silently cheered. “I love this job!”
She sprinted off.
Zechariah stared at his name for a few seconds before shrugging and wandering off to wherever the laundry was.
“You should go to your job, Griff,” Cassie said.
Griffin nodded happily, kissed Rosaline on the cheek, and left.
Rosaline smiled as she saw the directions by her name and skipped off.
“So… How about we go… scrub some toilets together?” Cassie asked slowly.
Sara smiled back at him. “Yeah! Let’s go!”
“So, what’s your family like?”
Sara sighed. “Well, my mom is super chill about everything until it’s ‘dangerous’ or it’s me doing it.”
Cassie laughed softly. “I can relate to that!”
Sara smiled, scrubbing the bathroom floor with a very wet sponge. “My ammi is sweet all the time but she’s just… She’s perfect. It’s a lot to live up to.”
Cassie nodded. “It’s hard to live in someone’s shadow I guess.” He paused. “What’s an ‘ammi’?”
“Oh! She’s my other mom!”
“Oh!” Cassie laughed to himself, an absolutely gorgeous sound. “That makes sense.” He smiled at her. “Well, you don’t have to live in her shadow here.”
Sara frowned. “I don’t hate my ammi!”
Cassie stared at the ground. “No, of course you don’t. I was just…” He looked upset with himself. “I’m trying to make you feel welcome, you know? You don’t have to miss the old world, Sara.”
She shrugged. “I don’t want to stay forever, you know. I have… my moms and my younger sisters to get back to! I have friends and–”
Cassie put his hands over hers. “Can’t we be your family?”
“Why me?!”
“Because you’re not an adult yet young lady!”
“I’m seventeen, Mom!”
“You live under my roof!”
Sara smiled at him. “Yeah, you can.”
Cassie smiled and stared into her face for a few seconds longer before turning away. “This is the uh… Last one. We can grab some food and head to the garden once we’re done.”
Sara nodded. “Yeah, sounds good!”
“Do you have siblings?”
Cassie laughed. “I wish! Nah, my parents had me and they were like ‘Cool! A daughter! Moving on!’” He sighed. “Yeah, turns out they didn’t have a daughter after all.”
Sara laughed. “Surprise!”
“Surprise.” His voice was incredibly shaky, like he was trying hard to bury his emotions.
Sara crossed her arms over her chest. “Yeah, everyone knew when I told them. I was… kinda obvious.”
“And they all accepted it?”
She shrugged. “My family’s just… weird. What’s one trans girl gonna do?”
Cassie smiled and held out his hand as a red admiral butterfly landed on it. Sara gasped, taking in the black and orange of its wings. It reminded her of the monarch butterflies that she, Jordan and Dylan used to catch when they were really young. She smiled and held out her hand as well. A mothy white butterfly landed on her outstretched finger.
Cassie smirked at it, though it seemed like he hadn’t meant to. His butterfly flew away.
“That looks like a moth!”
Sara frowned. “I think it’s gorgeous!”
Cassie threw his hands up as a surrender. “Alright, girl! You do you!”
Sara let her butterfly go.
They were silent for several long moments before Cassie sighed and took Sara’s hand. “Did I offend you?”
Sara shook her head. “No! Nothing like that! Really! No!”
Cassie breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh! Thank God!”
Sara smiled back at him. “It’s just… I don’t know.”
Cassie groaned and used his free hand to run through his long hair.
Sara blushed.
He smirked. “Do you… think I’m hot?”
“No!... I mean… Yes but… Not… I–” she groaned.
Cassie chuckled and pulled her into a kiss.
She hadn’t believed people when they said “the world stopped moving”. They must have been joking about all of your senses going on hyperdrive.
Her head spun, her legs forgot how to stand, she couldn’t breathe.
She loved it.
Cassie pulled away and ran his thumb across her cheek. “You’re not a half bad kisser.”
Sara let out a breathy laugh. “Thanks!”
Cassie smiled and kept walking, not taking his hand out of hers.
“Hey, Sara! Can I… talk to you?”
Sara spun on Valentina, a smile breaking across her face. “Sure! What do you need?”
Valentina looked around frantically before motioning to a room off the hallway.
Sara frowned but followed her.
“What do you–”
“Please tell me you did not do anything with Cassie!”
“What? Why?”
She looked down at her hands. “I do not know, but there’s something he’s hiding from the rest of us…”
“What?”
“Someone like him does not give up being rich for nothing!”
Sara thought back to the top surgery scars, to the conversation she’d had with him in the garden. She thought of her own family.
Would she give up her parent’s money to be able to live as herself?
She smiled at Valentina, though it was clearly fake. “He had his reasons.”
“But–”
Sara left the room and Valentina’s worries behind.