Summer had reached its peak, the few days when the air was so hot and still, it felt as if the whole world stopped turning. Bra slowly wiped a drop of sweat from her forehead, the movement almost too exhausting. She knew she should go back inside, where it was so much cooler, everyone else was slumped on some flat surface there, but the warmth of the sun made her feel… alive. And rarely anything did. It even made the inevitable sunburn worth it.
“You´re red as a lobster, Bra.”
She opened her eyes, just enough to squint through her lashes. Goten was looking sleepily at her, trudging past the bench she lay on towards the toilet.
“I`m in the shadow, idiot.”
“Or maybe it´s just the freckles.”
He shrugged and was out of sight a few seconds later. There had been a time when Bra had tried her best to hide every trace of them, hated them for the blemish they were, but now… she had better things to do than worry about something that insignificant. The heat would only last a few days more, if at all, and they would all go back to being busy again, so she wanted to enjoy it. The time dripping like honey, the soft buzzing of the insects… Goten walked past her again, slapping her knee on his way.
“You gonna take care of dinner?”
She tried to kick him, but she was too slow. Grumbling, she rolled off the bank, blinking rapidly against the bright sun. “Yeah asshole, I was just feeling cozy.” He hadn´t heard her. He was already back inside. Bra pressed her lips together and got up. Mount Paozu had a lot of giant wildlife, but it was too hot to hunt. So it would be fish. With a sigh, Bra grabbed her sunhat. She could fly the distance, but then again… flying was too exhausting anyway.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It always astounded her, how loud it was. For as long as she could remember she always heard of people claiming it was so calm and silent in nature, completely different from the city, and they were all wrong. Every step she took through the dense forest made a loud crunching sound, she heard myriads of insects and birds, an occasional roar in the distance… it was different, but not quiet. Not as quiet as she had learned it could be. Following a sudden urge, she started hopping, making sure the crunching was as loud as possible and giggled when a few deer ran away from her. When she arrived at the lake, she stripped off her damp clothes and jumped right into the lake, making sure the cold water didn´t get too much time to shock her. Something else she hadn´t thought she would ever do, skinny dipping in the mountains.
It didn´t take long for her to spot the first of the huge fish that were common in the lakes around Mount Paozu. She swam a bit faster, making sure he noticed her and when he opened his mouth to catch her she punched a hole into his skull. The hardest part was always getting a hold on the fish so she could haul him to the surface. She would need another one though… Would be enough for two days at least.
When she got up with the second fish, she immediately smelled someone approaching. She wasn´t good enough to identify the person, but it had to be someone from the house. No one else came up here.
“You forgot the knife.”
Videl handed her the huge knife Bra usually took with her when she went hunting. Grunting, Bra took it, still panting from the deep dive. She stuck it in the fish and powered up shortly to get dry. She wouldn´t have bothered, but with Videl watching her she felt… uncomfortable.
“Could´ve scaled them over at the house”, Bra said.
Videl shrugged, looking over the immense lake. The mountain tops on the far side started showing some white. It wasn´t long until summer would be over. “Was bored and thought a little walk would be nice.” She looked back when Bra had pulled her T-shirt over her head, eyeing her thoughtfully. “We have to start preparing for winter.”
“I know.”
Videl smiled softly, turning her head away again. She sat down on one of the rocks surrounding the shore, obviously content in waiting for Bra. “I´m gonna fly back, y´know.”
“Have you thought this would be our life? Going back to the roots, I guess.” She shrugged again. Bra stayed silent, and when she was done scaling she quickly gutted the fish as well. “Hey Videl, I´m gonna fly over, grab a bag. That one had some eggs.” Videl nodded, still not looking at her. Bra waited for a reply but when none came she decided it was fine leaving her here. They all were gone too far sometimes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The nights were the worst. The nights were the time all of them struggled to sleep, struggled to forget and vowed to work harder the next day to be too exhausted to think. Sometimes it worked. Often, Bra lay awake, listening to the insects outside, thinking about how carefree she had been, just a few years ago, when everything seemed possible and everyone was still alive. Sometimes she wanted to get up and punch Goten and ask him why his mum and sister-in-law were still alive when everyone Bra had held dear were dead. But it didn´t make them alive again. None of them.
She turned around, staring at the dark room. They had so much work the next day. She should try to get some sleep.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Bra slumped down on the bench in front of the house, soaked and exhausted from hunting all day. It would be her third winter on Mount Paozu, she knew how much they needed to be prepared. It was still tedious work. Though… she smiled slightly when she thought about the tantrum she had thrown, back in that first year. She hadn´t had to work for anything in her life ever, and every time Chichi delegated some task to Bra she had started an argument over it. Mostly it had consisted of how all of them should take some fucking consideration to Bra´s delicate state after having lost her whole family. She could only snort over being such an awful hypocrite. She had deserved every slap she had gotten in that time. There had been a time she had thought Chichi was a little stern but a genuinely good person. Now, Bra knew better. Chichi was a survivor and without her, the last few of them would be dead also. Or… not-dead. Half-dead.
“You wanna spar?”
Bra opened her eyes a fraction to see Videl standing in front of her. She was wearing some sweatpants, a loose T-shirt and her hair was pulled back from her face in a tight bun. Practical. Necessary.
“Not really.”
“We should”, Videl said. She sounded so exhausted.
“What difference does it make? I´m capable of everything I need.”
Videl didn´t respond to that. She just walked off, maybe sparring with Goten, maybe drifting away again. She did it a lot lately. It was… mildly worrying. But Bra had so much on her own plate, she couldn´t think too much about Videl´s problems.
“Bra! I´m busting my butt off and you´re relaxing in the sun! Get up and help me.”
Bra sighed and followed Chichi behind the house. She should´ve gone sparring with Videl… For some time, Bra worked quietly next to Chichi, cutting up meat and handing it over, again and again. Most tasks didn´t require her to pay much attention anymore, which… wasn´t always welcome. She couldn´t get Videl out of her head, how she looked more hollow with every day. This wasn´t good.
“Chichi… Videl is behaving oddly.”
Chichi didn´t even bother to look up. “What about it?”
“Shouldn´t we do something?” Bra eyed Chichi from the corner of her eye. She had a hard look on her face, but then again she always had that more or less.
“Don´t think there´s much we can.”
And that was the end of that discussion. Sighing, Bra tried to get her head clear for a few minutes. It didn´t work particularly well. “Hey, I thought I´d fly over to Kami´s palace tomorrow. Is that okay with you?”
Chichi stopped, exhaling loudly. “Do you really think now´s the time? We´ve got better things to do!”
“I won´t take long. Half a day. I think you can all handle half a day.” Bra bit her tongue, finally getting that one word out she hated the most. “Please.” It was almost begging. And Chichi knew that. Her gaze softened a tiny fraction, and she nodded. Thank god she nodded.
“Fine. But don´t dawdle!” She hesitated for a moment, before she added: “And say hello to Piccolo from me.”
Bra smiled, a genuine one. “Of course I will.”
They worked quietly after that.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The nights were the worst. She hated it when her nerves were on edge for no reason and she listened to every damn creak the house made and just couldn´t relax enough to fall asleep. Sleeping was good, everything was gone for a few hours. But it was so hard to reach that state. With a sigh, she got up and walked upstairs, to Goten´s room. Chichi slept in her bedroom, Videl had occupied Gohan´s old room and Goten of course his own. That left Bra with the living room. But some nights… some nights she couldn´t stand being all alone. She wouldn´t bother Chichi and Videl was too distant, but Goten was her big brother in some way. It helped a little.
She opened the door carefully and tried to lay down her futon without making a sound. But before she had everything settled, Goten shifted in his bed and she knew he was watching her.
“Can I hold you?” He whispered so softly she barely heard it. Nodding, she walked over to his bed where he immediately made room for her. It wasn´t a new request. She knew she was just a poor replacement for her brother, his best friend that was no longer here. But it didn´t matter. Goten was just a poor replacement for Trunks as well. She lay with her back against his chest and he immediately got his arms around her. It was too hot and sticky, but he was alive. It made it bearable.
“Goten…”
“Hm.”
He sounded sleepy. She shouldn´t disturb him. But…
“Sometimes, I wonder… you know, I asked dad once if Saiyans got older than humans. Since he always looked the same and mum didn´t. He didn´t know, if he could expect to live as long as a human while looking young or if it meant he was just aging slower.”
Goten didn´t respond for a while. She thought he had fallen asleep when he finally said softly: “So?”
“I´m afraid we´ll live on and on and one day, we´re the last two people on the planet.” Her voice broke a little at the end and she swallowed dryly. Goten´s arms pressed her closer for a moment. She felt his nose in her hair, his heart beat just a little faster than before.
“It will be fine.”
Yeah. She wished he was right.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The next day, Bra got up with the sunrise. Despite her best efforts she had only managed a light sleep for a few hours and woken up with a horrendous headache. There was no point in waiting and she was actually eager to get away for a little while. She had wanted to ask Goten to come with her, but she knew Chichi wouldn´t be happy if both of them left. She shrugged to herself. He hadn´t begged for it. He could go some other time.
It took some time to fly to the palace. Bra hadn´t learned ki control until… until it was necessary and she still didn´t feel too comfortable to fly for longer distances. They could´ve stayed at the palace, of course, but Chichi had been very adamant to stay at Mount Paozu. Goten of course had been with his mother and Videl hadn´t had much of an opinion. Sometimes she wondered why Piccolo hadn´t come down to stay with them. He said he had an obligation. Bra thought he simply wanted to torture himself. Well. Everyone was free to choose their own pain.
When she landed, out of breath and shivering from the high altitude, Piccolo was already sitting outside, waiting for her.
“Nice to see you.”
“Nice to see you, too,” she replied and smiled brightly.
“How are the others?” He stood up, waiting for her to catch her breath before they started walking to one of the benches.
“Good. I mean…”
“Considering the circumstances.” He grinned. It was better than the alternative. “So, what brings you here?”
Bra eyed him, which was hard considering that she had to look really far up. “Same as usual. Needed to see someone else and… an update.”
Piccolo patted her shoulder and they sat down. So nothing had changed.
“They won´t die. West City is still a hot zone. In most areas, they dispersed though. If you want to raid a shop or whatever.”
“I´m good.” The apocalypse had cured her of her nicotine addiction. Everything else was luxury. “So dad and Trunks…”
Piccolo only looked at her. She didn´t have to hear it. She didn´t want to hear it.
“There´s plenty alcohol in those shops.”
She stared at him incredulously. “If I start with that, I´m pretty sure I won´t stop. That´s no help to anyone.”
“Just saying.”
They sat quietly for a while before Piccolo started showing her what he had done with the greenery. He didn´t need to prepare for winter, but he had to get his mind off things. And if she was honest… it wasn´t the worst way to do so.
When it was time to leave, she hesitated for a moment. Piccolo noticed, of course, but he couldn´t know why.
“Videl is acting weird,” Bra said. “I mean… she´s drifting off. A lot.”
Piccolo eyed her for a while. “I saw some humans do that.”
“Are any left? At all?” Bra asked, not sure if she wanted an answer to that.
“No. Not anymore. What are you going to do about Videl?”
That was the big question, wasn´t it? She couldn´t let Videl get lost in her own mind. She couldn´t… they were the last five, weren´t they? They couldn´t lose another one.
“There´s still one thing left.”
There was no response. Bra knew that Piccolo didn´t think much of her plan. Hell, she didn´t think much of it. But… five is a tiny number.
“Bring Goten next time. We´ll figure it out.”
Without thinking, she hugged him and he let her. At least for three seconds. Then he shoved her away, but it was fine. She was feeling better already.
“I´ll try to make it soon.”
“Doesn´t matter, does it?”
She hopped of the edge and let herself fall for a bit before she powered up. It did matter. It mattered for Videl.
It had been hard, accepting that the world had changed in a horrible way and that Bra had to change with it. She had fought teeth and nail against it, but in the end she had had to accept that reality. Videl had been the one to teach her how to fight. Bra hadn’t been a fighter, she had never found any pleasure in it. But she had practiced gymnastics all her life, which had eased the physical side. And of course her natural affinity towards Ki control. She couldn’t pretend to like it, but she knew that should it come to it… she would like to be able to defend herself.
Four years later, Videl was still wiping the floor with her. Bra didn’t mind too much. It meant that there was still the old Videl somewhere in there, the fierce one who didn’t give up, not the one who went into the woods and didn’t talk for days on end.
It was a silent spar, only interrupted by their grunts and the sound of punches that connected too hard. Videl was relentless, giving Bra not a second to catch her breath and hitting her almost too fast for her to react. When the final kick landed solidly on Bra’s temple and made her see stars for a moment, Videl stopped, panting hard. “You ok?”
Bra nodded and regretted it instantly, hissing when her head started throbbing harder.
“Good.”
She started to walk away and Bra knew she had to stop her. She had talked to her, Bra didn’t want that to go to waste!
“Videl, wait! Let’s go get cleaned up, right?”
Videl shrugged but waited for Bra before she started hovering to fly over to the lake. When they landed, Videl started unceremoniously taking off her clothes. Bra followed, a little slower. She tried frantically to think of something to talk about, something that didn’t trigger Videl to think about… about bad stuff.
“Have you seen the goats?”
Videl stopped at her pants, staring blankly at Bra.
“I’ve never seen goats in nature, when I noticed them I think I watched them for hours. Should’ve probably hunted or something.”
Videl shrugged and took of her pants and underwear in one go.
“They are insane climbers! I mean, I have good balance, but not like that.” She laughed, awkwardly, while Videl went over to the water. “What do you think?” Bra quickly discarded the rest of the clothes and followed Videl. She gasped when she entered the cold water and powered up a little to stop freezing.
“Hard to hunt. But…” Videl eyed the water, her hand running over her sweaty arm. “They are fun to watch.” There was a tiny smile. Bra almost cried out of relief. Though her self-restraint was admirable; she only smiled brightly and went back to washing up.
“Hey, we’re almost out of soap and some other things are running low. You wanna go on a little shopping trip?” She had to ask. She had to do something, she couldn’t just watch Videl slowly descend into a hollow shell!
Videl was quiet for so long that Bra was sure she wouldn’t get an answer. It had been worth a try and she had planned on going with Goten anyway.
“No. I don’t think I…” Videl looked up, with so much pain in her eyes that Bra almost went over to hug her. “I don’t think I can. I’m sorry.” She looked away, slowly moving out of the water.
“Don’t be. Goten and I will go, no problem. You can always count on me. You know that, do you?”
Videl stopped, her shoulders tense. Bra could see her breathe hard before she left the water without turning around. It was better than nothing. Videl hadn’t given up yet. Bra smiled. A tiny, tiny smile.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
They had decided to go to one of the towns a little farther away, for a little alone time during the flight. Sometimes, the mood on the mountain was suffocating. They were barely past the mountain range when Goten turned around in mid-flight with his back to the ground and stared at Bra. She knew they had to talk but maybe not right now.
“What are you not telling? No one’s around, you can spit it out now.”
Bra eyed him shortly. He understood the wink and they stopped on a wide, open plain. No one in sight as far as the eye could see, and their eyes could see damn far. Bra crossed her arms, trying to find a way to start. It was one thing knowing it herself, but the moment she told Goten… that moment it would become the bitter truth.
“What did Piccolo tell you? Bra? Come on!”
Goten came a step closer, staring at her furiously. She took a step back, hesitantly. “They are all gone. All humans,” she added quickly when she saw the surprise in his eyes. Not those, those are still there. “We are the last ones left, Goten.”
“Damn.” He rubbed his hands over his face. His beard was getting long. “I thought…”
“I did, too. Do you… need a moment?”
Goten grimaced and shook his head. “I suspected it. Didn’t feel any kis, but I`m not all that good at it anyway.”
She eyed him a moment longer, trying to assess if it was a good time to mention her plan, but decided against it. Not now. Now they should focus on the task at hand.
“Come on then. Let’s get this over with.” She started hovering and Goten followed without another word. After a moment she looked down in mid-flight. “Hey, Goten? Those goats, they are crazy climbers.”
He frowned before he started laughing and she eventually joined in, feeling it bubbling up her chest and bursting out almost painfully. It was… nice.
It didn’t take them long to reach a small town and they dropped out of the sky right in front of a supermarket. The streets were empty and it was so quiet… it was one of the most disconcerting things about the apocalypse, the horrible silence where there used to be so much life. Pressing her lips together, they entered the store. The windows had been smashed in and a thick layer of dust had settled over the mess inside. Not the best one to stop at, but since they were here already they could just as well check if anything useful was still left. She eyes Goten and he nodded, quickly. “Should be fine.”
“Think so, too”, she said. It had been… uncomfortable, in the beginning. The others didn’t have any ki they could sense, but they smelled. They smelled so bad that the thought alone made Bra almost gag. They all knew their senses were better than the humans, but it was still completely different to rely on those enhanced senses to survive. To stop what they had all been doing all their lives, trying to blend in. Trying to be human, human enough. Their dad’s would’ve been good at it. Bra huffed, taking another deep breath. It smelled stale, dusty, old. That was good.
Goten finally found the isles with the hygiene products. Toothpaste, shower gel, soap… when the people started panicking and hoarding they left those alone. Didn’t think how bad it would be if they couldn’t brush their teeth. Well. Not that it mattered now.
“What do you say, Mango Fresh or A dash of Lavender?” Goten held out two bottles with a smirk before he dropped them both in his bag.
“I’m gonna check the shoes. You need some clothes?”
He grunted something noncommittally which Bra took as a yes. Better get clothes for all of them, since they’re here anyway.
Half an hour later, Bra had figured out that most of the stuff was unusable thanks to dust and insects, except for the plastic wrapped pieces. She was about to inspect another pack of T-shirts when Goten came strolling through an aisle, his bag full. “You know why the goats climb those steep rocks?”
Bra looked up from the dark blue polo shirt with a frown before she threw it away. Not even the apocalypse justified wearing that… “What?”
“The goats. It’s the flying dinosaurs. They aren’t very good flyers and if they try to get a climbing goat, they’ll crash against the mountain.”
Bra raised an eyebrow. Look at that.
“Are you done?” Goten asked after a few seconds. He was chewing something. Bastard had found some gum. Holding out her hand, she grabbed her equally stuffed bag. “I think so.”
Rolling his eyes, Goten handed her one wrapped up little gum from his pocket. “There weren’t many left. I’m not sharing.”
Strawberry flavoured. But it was gum. She hadn’t tried getting cigarettes, in none of their raids, so she should be allowed to get at least a little luxury.
When they left the store, it hit them. The agonizing smell that was wafting through the overgrown street. Two houses down they spotted her, a little girl slowly crawling towards them. Her legs were broken, they were shaped in an odd angle and kept her from moving faster. It was the reason she was still here.
“We should leave…” Goten grabbed Bra’s shoulder, pulling her away from the girl. She looked so normal… her eyes were bloodshot and her skin grey and sunken in, but besides that she was completely fine. In the beginning, they had expected them to rot, to eventually fall apart and die, but they didn’t. They just stayed like that, unfeeling, unthinking but still functioning. And they were all attracted to ki. Bra raised her arm and shot an energy blast at her, cleanly blowing the girl’s head off. Her body fell to the side, spasming and Bra shot another blast at it to disintegrate the rest. They had never figured out if they could kill them with a headshot or if they could die at all. If the left over body parts would just try to go on, go somewhere, anywhere.
“Bra! Come on!”
There were pieces thrown across the cracked sidewalk, still blistering with energy. It stank so bad Bra felt the bile in her throat. She turned around and started floating, quickly following Goten. It had been necessary. He simply didn’t know that yet.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Chichi was a fighter. She had been the one to hold them all together, back when it had started. Bra had never seen her cry or zone out, she knew what had to be done and did it. Of course Bra didn’t know what she did when she was alone in her room, but she doubted Chichi afforded herself a moment of weakness. For some, that would be too much. There were still days when Chichi didn’t feel well and stayed in bed. On those days, they were all reminded that Chichi was in her eighties, they all knew she only even acknowledged feeling sick when she was unable to function anymore and on those days Bra tried not to think what they would do if Chichi died. She was the one who didn’t let them rest, who pushed and pushed because there was nothing else left to do.
Instead, Bra sat quietly in front of the house and prepared dinner, focusing on the task at hand. It was easier that way.
When Goten came out of the house, Bra felt her pulse speed up until she smelled him. He wasn’t anxious, so it wasn’t too bad.
“How’s she feeling?” Bra asked, not even looking up from her carrots.
“Weak. Exhausted. I don’t think it’s bad, she’ll probably be up tomorrow. I told her to sleep and we’ll get her something to eat later.” He sat down and Bra handed him some vegetables to peel and dice.
“That’s good.” Another day. Another week. If you didn’t expect too much you wouldn’t get disappointed.
“Where’s Videl?”
“In the woods,” Bra said, gesturing with her knife. “Like always.”
Goten hummed and said: “She’s there a lot lately. Not helping out. Do you think…”
“No! She has a hard time right now so we have to make sure she knows she can count on us to not leave her. Ok?”
He didn’t answer and kept peeling. After a while, Bra became so caught up in her monotonous work, that she barely understood what Goten was saying.
“What were you planning, before it happened?”
She had peeled so many carrots, this one even had two tips. They grew right next to the house. Bra had helped harvest them. It had been an awful work, bowing down all day. It did taste better, though. Eating your own food, knowing with every bite how much work it had been. If she had learned to appreciate these things earlier…
“You don’t have to answer.”
Bra huffed, a tiny smile tugging on her lips. They were chaffed. They should’ve looked for chapstick. Licking them absentmindedly, Bra laid down the carrot. “It’s fine. We just don’t…”
Goten shrugged. “I know. They don’t like to talk. But they’re not here, so…” He looked up, his eyes a little wrinkled, a little tense. He was right, though. Goten and she, they could handle it. For whatever reason, they weren’t bothered by talking about all they had lost. Maybe their grieving process had been better. Whatever.
She smiled, a genuine smile and got back to her carrots. “I was studying. I was in the middle of writing my Master’s thesis in data analysis. It was about…” She looked up, waving her knife around. “…the growing criminal rates in urban southern cities.”
“That sounds important.” He raised his eyebrows, nodding softly.
“Maybe,” she said. “And you?”
“Ah, I had just finished my book series. You know, crime novels. And there were plans for a podcast I wanted to take part in and I thought I’d take a break of a month or two, since it had been quite an accomplishment. My editor wasn’t that happy about it, I can tell you. Got my break, I guess.”
“Longer than expected.”
He handed her the vegetables and she started putting it all in the huge wok. She had prepared some meat already and handed him the pieces that had to be cut up.
“I always thought I’d have a serious relationship. Someday. But there was so much time, and I was so busy, so I figured I could leave that be and have some flings.” He sounded neutral but Bra knew better.
“I did, too.” Her voice was so tiny and fragile. Clearing her throat, she started again. “I was so busy with university and I thought I can enjoy my life and do all those amazing things when I’m done with my Master. I already had a job, I was working there as an intern and I knew everything would turn out great so that I could focus on the things right in front of me. I guess… I guess we’re off that train now.”
“We still have each other!” He giggled again, softly pushing his elbow against her shoulder. That had never been an option, not even the end of the world would change that. Didn’t mean she wasn’t glad she had him. He… was the last of her family.
“You know… there is one thing I never told you, since… since it didn’t seem like I had any right to tell, back then. It wasn’t important enough, I guess. But…”
“What is it?” He sounded concerned, but he kept his distance. Someday she would tell him how much it meant to her. Not today, though.
“I… I had two cats, you know? I always loved cats, I mean my parents have like a million of them. Had.” She swallowed. “When I was little, my dad used to take me to my gymnastics training, and one day I heard a dog whine and we found that huge, black dog that had been left on a chain, half starved but still putting up a fight!” She laughed, it almost choked her. “My dad kept him. That dog didn’t let anyone touch him except for daddy.”
Goten smiled, softly. “I remember that one. He was a mean asshole.”
“Yeah. We… we rescued animals regularly after that and I had two rescue organizations. I couldn’t help too much while I was at uni, but at least they got money from me. And I got my two little darlings. Peter had only three legs and Clara had been burned by some kids and didn’t have much fur left. They were the sweetest. And… well, they had brought it in the news, that it was escalating all over the city and that you should take shelter if possible, so I decided to get my shit and go to my parents. Nowhere safer than there, right?” Her throat was tight. It was hard to talk, but she wanted… she wanted someone to know. She wanted to get rid of some of her guilt. A little piece at least.
“I took everything I thought I needed. Some clothes, of course, but mostly my laptop, my data for my thesis, my phone, my headphones.” She laughed. Those had been expensive. It was so ridiculous. “My… my favourite plant, even. I was feeling bad about leaving the rest behind, but I thought I’d be gone for a few days, hopefully, a few weeks at most. Most of them would survive that. And of course my cats. Their favourite beds, their favourite toys, all the cat food I had at home. I put them in their boxes, they hated them so much so I gave Peter his comfy blanket and Clara… Clara liked a little toy monkey she could snuggle, so that they weren’t too afraid.” She started sobbing, but she ignored it and simply rubbed the snot away that was running down her lips.
“When I arrived, West City was a mess. There was smoke everywhere, I could barely navigate. I landed right in front of the house. Mum didn’t like that, it ruined the lawn, but I didn’t care. I… I didn’t even make it inside, he came out. He came out and I could barely get away, I just ran, I ran out on the street, trying to get away and…” The tears were running down her face, her eyes burning from it. Goten slowly took the spoon from her hand and stirred the vegetables to keep them from burning.
“I left them. I left my two babies, to die. I killed them. It was… it was my fault.” She felt a warm arm, a warm body pressed against her.
“If you hadn’t ran away, you would be one of them now. There was nothing else to do.”
He was right, of course. But it was good to hear it. She rubbed her head against his shoulder, trying to hold on to the feeling of comfort before she got up and took the spoon again.
“Thank you.”
One day, she would tell him how she got away from West City. One day, he would tell her how he survived. But right now… right now she had to add the meat before the vegetables got mushy.
Half an hour later they were done and Goten was preparing a plate for his mum when they heard a rustling from the woods. They both tensed, ready to fight if necessary. A moment later, Videl came out, a little dirty and a little tired.
“I found something.”
And behind her… a huge, brown dog.
“Where did you find it?” Bra said.
Goten had brought his mother something to eat and now they were sitting there, in front of the house and watch the scraggy, dirty dog Videl had picked up dig in.
“Heard a weird noise in the woods. I thought it was a dinosaur or a bear or something. I was about to kill it but it was just that dog.”
“Could’ve had rabies,” Goten said.
Videl shrugged. “It growled but then started wagging his tail. That seemed safe enough.”
She was right, of course. Bra eyed Goten shortly. It was still not a good sign.
“I’m keeping him.” Videl didn’t even look up. As if they would say no in the current situation.
“You better hunt some food for him, then.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“That’s bad for your eyes, you know?”
Goten looked up from the book he was reading. She could barely make out his face in the pale moonlight.
“Doesn’t matter, does it? What’s up?”
Another thing they lost with the apocalypse. Electricity. In the beginning, it had been fine. They had always had a generator on Mount Paozu, it was too far away from civilization for power lines. But that had needed gas and one day, the gas was gone. Then they used candles but candles burnt down fast, too fast for them to get new ones when they had to get more important stuff during their raids. But it was a bright night with the moon high in the sky. He would still get a headache, though.
“What are you reading?”
He held it up but of course Bra couldn’t see. She shrugged and went over to him. “We need to talk.”
He huffed. “Talk, then.”
“Not here.”
When he looked up, the moonlight caught in his eyes. He looked like a ghost. She didn’t like it.
A few minutes later, they were strolling through the woods, on one of the few halfway trampled down paths. Bra swallowed, trying to find the right words. She needed to convince him, she couldn’t… do it on her own.
“That dog shouldn’t be here.”
He looked down at her, long, before he nodded. “I know. He must’ve wandered up here from one of the villages. And if he makes it up here…”
“They will come as well.”
“So what’s your plan, Bra?” Goten said. She smiled. That made it so much easier.
“There is no point in staying here any longer.”
“Where do you want to go, then? God’s palace?”
That had been an idea. Chichi didn’t want to leave, though and Goten didn’t want to leave his mother and Videl didn’t want to leave Goten and… at least they had been better company than Piccolo. She… owed his life to him, but his way of grieving wasn’t doing her any favours. She couldn’t watch him meditate day in, day out without going crazy.
“For now. But that isn’t the solution, and you know it. It makes no sense for us to hide. The only thing we accomplish that way is waiting to die.”
His steps got slower until he stopped completely. “What are you saying, then?”
She didn’t turn around. She didn’t want to see his face if his reaction was negative. “We have to leave the planet if we want to have anything left worth living for.” The pause that followed was nearly suffocating her. “And the only place with spaceships is my parents’.”
“You can’t be serious.”
Oh but she was. It was the only way. Earth was doomed, there was nothing left for them here. Chichi was as good as dead and Videl wasn’t far behind. What would they do, the last two people on Earth? Three, maybe? There was… nothing. Nothing.
“I thought about it, Goten. What’s the alternative? Sitting here with no hope and nowhere left to go? Waiting for them to come get us? And they will, they love ki.”
“But that’s why they are all in West City!” He stormed over to her, grabbed her arm and turned her around. “And your dad is in the epicenter, right where we need to go! I know you don’t want to hear it, but that’s the fact, we can’t go there! Your dad is one of them and he’s still strong. That hasn’t changed only because he’s undead.”
“Stop it.” She felt weak.
“They want ki and they got it, all of them flocked to the two biggest sources on the planet. Your dad… and mine. How do you think we get past him?”
“I have a few ideas. We’ll have to talk them through with Piccolo.”
Goten let her go, with a strange expression. “So that was his stupid idea?”
“No! It is mine and I know all the risks, but if you just think about it you’ll see that we don’t have any other choice!”
He shook his head, denial written plainly over his face. “How… there are millions and we don’t even know how they infected everyone…”
“By biting. Piccolo paid attention. We won’t get bitten, we don’t die.”
He still shook his head.
“Goten, listen. If you don’t help me, I’ll go on my own. I’ll have a small chance of succeeding. But if I don’t go… I have a one hundred percent chance of dying hopeless on this damn mountain.”
She turned around and went back to the house. She heard him behind her. There was nothing left to discuss. He would either come around, or she would leave him here. He had his chance.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Good boy!” Videl almost smiled while she ruffled the dog’s head. After a bath it turned out that the dog was more grey than brown and more skin than bones. He got better though, especially since Videl actually did go hunting for dog food. Bra wondered if he was part wolf. She also wondered what they would do with him when the time came. Her best case scenario was to leave Chichi and Videl at the palace and pick them up with a ship later. If that worked out… they could take the dog as well, why not.
“Sit.” He sat down, tilting his head a little. “Shake.” He gave his paw, tilting it to the other side. “Here you go.” Videl gave him a little piece of meat, watching him swallow it whole. He seemed to be domesticated. A wild animal would’ve been better. Safer. Goten had to see that!
Three days later Goten picked her up just when she came out of the water from a short bath. She frowned when she saw him. He had been very strict about not seeing her naked and worry immediately occupied her brain.
“What happened?”
“Nothing. I… I thought about it. What you said. And I talked to mum…” Bra’s eyes widened but he silenced her emerging protest with his raised hand. “…that we’ll be off for an afternoon to meet Piccolo. She wasn’t happy but with Videl a bit more lively again she couldn’t really say much against it.”
Bra exhaled. So that was it. They were really going to do it.
“I still think it’s a stupid idea and we will both get killed, but I don’t have a better one either, so…”
“If we die, Chichi and Videl will die.”
Goten smiled, but it wasn’t happy. Not at all. “Mum isn’t going to make it much longer, let’s not kid ourselves here. And Videl… Videl is almost gone. I’d be surprised if she made it through the winter. If she… wouldn’t go into the woods, sit down in the snow and not get up again.”
Bra bit her lip. “I don’t know why she doesn’t fight.”
“For what?” Goten shrugged. “What are we even doing?”
“Do you want to give up?”
He chuckled and held out his arms. “What does it look like?”
That night, Bra was lying awake. She couldn’t get it out of her head, why she was even struggling, why she was so desperately clinging to life if there was nothing left to live for. But… every time she tried to examine if they were better off dead, she realized that she didn’t want to. All of her dreams were crushed, the life she had imagined for herself was irreversibly gone, but still… something inside her said her story wasn’t over. She didn’t want to die like that, not now. Not ever. Not her.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After tossing around for what felt like hours, Goten finally sat up in bed and stared out the window. He had said yes but what was waiting for them was frightening him to his bones. They didn’t know what they were. Zombies? They didn’t call them that, it didn’t fit right. Zombies were rotting corpses who ate people, they were infected by some virus and died when you destroyed their brains! Nothing of that fit here, they didn’t rot, they bit, when what Piccolo said was true, but they didn’t eat each other and Goten definitely didn’t have any idea if a virus was involved. The only thing that was for sure was that they wanted ki. They needed it. They craved it. It was the reason the strongest had fallen first. None of them had ever thought to protect themselves against humans, and… Piccolo had to be wrong, no one could’ve bitten Goku!
Goten got up and started walking around his room. He… he had been here, when it had started. His dad had felt ki’s disappearing fast all over the planet and decided to check it out and his mum had been worried, even if she hadn’t said anything and he had stayed with her. Until Goku’s ki was gone. And didn’t come back. Otherwise, Goten would be one of the patron saints of the undead, and they would flock to him to feast on his ki. Like they did with Trunks… the thought made Goten’s stomach turn. They didn’t talk, not about the dead. Videl had lost her husband and her daughter, Goten didn’t even know how. She had been locked in her house when he had found her. But he had been too late to find Trunks and… and his little daughters. So many people dead…
There was one thing for certain. If their plan should work, if they managed to get past Vegeta, he would blow the planet up. He would blow it up until nothing was left of it than dust.
Sometimes, he thought maybe Beerus had done it. The god of destruction had wanted to eliminate the planet in the past, but he had been stopped by the saiyans. Those were gone now. Maybe they had been too strong. Maybe Beerus needed to keep a balance in the universe. Maybe… he closed his eyes. Speculation. He should stop it.
He sighed and went back to bed.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
What a beautiful night… sometimes, Piccolo thought that the air looked cleaner, now that the humans are gone. It was of course not true. There were still fires burning in their factories, smudging up the sky. Even in their last breath they had ruined the planet a little more. He wondered when Bra was coming back. She wouldn’t disappoint him, he was sure. She would come back. She knew she had to keep her promise. He hadn’t rescued Dende, he had picked her up first and then… it had been too late. She was better worth it.
Sometimes he thought that they didn’t rot because they had Dende. Sometimes he wondered if he should go down there and find him. Join him. Other times, he wondered if they ever made it to Namek or just into space, if they could find the Dragonballs, the big ones, and reverse it all. But… if Beerus did it, he wouldn’t let them.
He hadn’t saved any of the humans. There were other Nameks inside him, the voice in the back of his mind telling him he was the worst of them all. Maybe he was. He didn’t care anymore. He had stopped caring four years ago.
