It is late at night when Shokichi stretched out next to the older boy — or maybe young man — known as Cherry. Cherry who took them in and gave them some water despite his own chapped lips and dried skin. He had pink hair that went down to his lower back, but he kept it tied up. He had piercings along his ears and one in his lip from the before times.
"Peachy," Cherry grumbled and looked up into the sky.
Their camp is a van that ran on gas they had siphoned from vehicles since the pumps didn't work anymore. It allowed their two youngest members, Reki and Langa — each nine years old, to sleep with the seats folded down in the back as Cherry and Shokichi sat in the front.
"I know you are never going to be 'good' but you have been in a shit mood lately. Care to share?" Shokichi asked as he used the handle to roll down the window so he could pull out a smoke and soon handed one off to Cherry.
"Not really," Cherry said although when Shokichi withheld the lighter he glared at the other before snatching it away and lighting his cigarette. He took a drag and rolled down his window, "I had friends before this mess and I'm worried about them. I miss them."
"Well we can find them, if they are anything like you then they are probably alive," Shokichi mentioned.
"Probably," Cherry agreed, "You got anyone you want to find while we are on the 'let's be hopeful' train?"
Shokichi scoffed and used his thumb to flick the ashes off the cigarettes, "There was a boy—"
"There always is one."
"Shut it! We were in the same class. He is a lot like you actually so you would probably hate him."
"Good point."
"But I liked him. I think it would just be nice to see a familiar face though," Shokichi whispered and leaned against the edge of the window as Cherry started the van.
"Are we leaving?" A small voice comes from the back of the van.
"Just doing a little driving before daybreak so we aren't sitting in a hot van, is that okay Reki?" Cherry hummed in an overly friendly tone that he had started using for the boys.
"Mhm," a small hum before they both seemed to settle.
🍵•👻
Kojiro let out an agrivated sigh as the boy continued to follow him. Not really a boy, more like a young man given how he looked like he had been in highschool before this.
"Can you stop following me?" He called. This is what he got for giving hand-me-outs. Now the orange haired male, with a newly emptied bottle, followed Kojiro around like a lost puppy. He hoped Kaoru and Adam were fairing better then he was.
"But I don’t know what to do!" He called.
"Of course you don't, but that isn't my problem!"
"Please! Let me come with you!"
Kojiro sighed softly and stopped walking before turning to look at him, "do you have any clue where I'm going?"
"No, but I don't have anywhere to go anyway," he replied with a shrug, seemingly unaware of how pathetic that sounded. "Where are you going?"
"I'm looking for my friends," He stated simply even if he knew that sounded equally pathetic. He wondered if they would have left Okinawa without him. It felt like it would be impossible to find them, but Kojiro knew nothing about Adam and he hadn't been able to find Kaoru... so he just had to hope that they were also looking for him.
"Finding your friends means more people that need water though," the orange haired male mentioned.
"So take a hike and then we will have one less mouth. Ungrateful carrot topped brat," Kojiro hissed before realizing how frustrated he was getting. He took a deep breath and exhaled, "What is your name kid?"
"Hiromi. Higa Hiromi," he piped up and hurried to walk beside Kojiro.
"Nanjo Kojiro. If you are sticking with me then you are listening to me. Got it?" Kojiro gave him a stern look.
"Got it!" Hiromi replied happily.
🌹•🐍
The sun was just rising when Tadashi woke up. He felt gross but at least he was getting used to that. The car had long sense ran out of gas so they were traveling on foot now. He went through their supplies as he did every morning and pulled out a map so he could decide where they should go for today. Usually they didn't make it as far as he would like, but he honestly had no clue where they were going so it didn't really matter. He hadn't thought far enough ahead to what they would do once places were cleared out of water, he could only hope that the world got a grip on the situation by then.
"Tadashi?"
He looked over to see Ainosuke crack his eyes open. They had camped out on a porch after having looted a house, they had founded bags of ice that had long sense melted so it wasn't a complete waste of time.
"Yes, Ainosuke?"
"We are getting too far away from everything. We still need to find Kaoru and Kojiro."
"I know sir, but we don't have the resources to sustain everyone yet so it wouldn't do us any good to find them. We would just be fighting," Tadashi tried to explain.
Of course Ainosuke won't have it, "Tadashi! We need to find them. Please. I need to know they are okay. If I know them then I know they are still alive."
"Of course sir," Tadashi said and began to rethink their route for the day so they could at least try and find Ainosuke’s friends.
"It is the end of the world and you still call me sir, you really are a loyal dog," a small laugh is pulled from his lips.
"Would you like me to call you something else?" Tadashi asked.
"Just Ainosuke is okay."
Tadashi nodded and opened his mouth to speak but then he heard Ainosuke snoring once more. They had a few hours before they had to leave and honestly sleeping through the hotter parts of the day might be a smart move.
I'm thinking about apocalypse au and not really in the sense that other people might. I read a book where an apocalypse was started due to a severe water shortage.
Basically those who are wealthy don't have much to worry about initially because they were able to cope with spiking water prices up until the taps ran dry. This means Ainosuke and Kaoru were doing just fine until reality finally hit and the taps went dry.
Tadashi still works for Ainosuke but the two do run off due to the servants working there revolting because Ainosuke’s aunts intended to let them all die.
Hiromi and Kojiro were hit with the reality of the situation quickly when both of their businesses were effected by the situation.
When things begin to shut down and people start to do crazy they run into the kids. Reki got separated from his family early on and he isn't quite sure what happened to them although he assumes the worst. Miya ran away from home because his parents wanted them to stay locked inside and Miya refused to sit and watch while they run out of water. Langa lost his mother in the crowds.
Hiromi and Kojiro end up in a scuffle with the kids when the three try to rob them, this ends up with the two taking the kids in and explaining that they are looking for their friends. There isn't much trust between the five of them but Hiromi and Kojiro make for decent protection as of right now even if there is no way they can keep up their muscle mass.
While Cherry was fully aware of the dwindling water supply he took advantage to stock up and also made a plan of where he was going even if getting off Japan was going to be a pain. He meant to get in touch with Joe but things started shutting down and they weren't able to find one another.
He is trying to find Joe when he runs into Adam and Tadashi who initially try and steal from him but Cherry won't give up his things and Tadashi and Adam aren't willing to kill him. So they head with him even if Cherry doesn't trust them.
What is the difference between Oka and Kaoru? While they both know how to siphon gas Kaoru made Oka do it 😎
Speaking of which, I have only watched someone siphon gas once and I dont remember how to do it so I'll add that to the list of bullshit I need to research.
More Dry AU Connie. I was going to draw Steven after the first sketches, but I ended up practicing Connie some more. #conniemaheswaran #stevenuniverse #stevenuniverseAU
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_7Blt2lsqL/?igshid=4npd1wwziak9
