Light was just starting to peek through the clouds when Kaia and Charlie stepped outside. The human, who was armed with her gun, stared up at the taller vampire, who was wielding a wooden baseball bat.

"Are you sure Chris will be okay?" Kaia asked.

Charlie rolled her eyes. "He'll be fine, Molly I'll take care of him. But we need to take care of that girl."

Kaia had relented earlier because the vampire was right, they desperately needed to find Julia before she could cause more damage. It wasn't that killing the cats was sick - though it was - it was that Julia was right. The cats helped keep the magic of the witches alive. Really, the small house pets were their protectors. And if all the cats in the city were killed... Kaia shuddered at the thought. A plan that she would have thought as brilliant just weeks before now put a pit in her stomach.

Charlie walked ahead, causally swinging the bat around. She smiled to herself, and seemed content instead of cold and judgmental as she had earlier.

"I feel like a Beyoncé song," she joked to herself.

"Which one?" Kaia asked.

Charlie gave her a look for a moment, but relaxed quickly, resting the bat on her shoulder. "You ever see the video for Hold Up?"

"No," Kaia said. "Most music videos have been lost in time, actually..."

Charlie pursed her lips. "Well, in that video Beyoncé was walking around fucking shit up with her bat in this cute yellow dress. It was amazing."

Kaia nodded. "I can imagine her doing that..."

Not that she had ever seen a picture of the pop singer. She thought for a moment. While she knew a lot of music from back before the war stated, most of the once recognizable artists were enigmas to her. She'd never really seen a picture of any of them. Hell, she wondered if those people were even still alive.

"... Do you think Beyoncé's still alive?"

Charlie lifted an eyebrow. "Bold of you to assume that Beyoncé Carter-Knowles is mortal."

She continued to walk ahead, humming to herself as Kaia struggled to keep up. The vampire had the physique of a model, with the legs to match, her long strides challenging kaia's strong but short legs. The pair turned a corner where an old abandoned car sat on the street, right next to an expired parking meter. Charlie looked around as if to check to see if anyone important was watching, before slamming her bat into the windshield. The long dead car stayed silent, but the shattering of the glass sent shockwaves through the air.

"Charlie!" Kaia hissed. "Something's gonna hear us!"

"That's the point," Charlie said. "I have a plan. If we drive a bunch of zombies out, Julia's gonna have to come out too - either to run or to fight. Probably to fight, based on the shit she's done so far."

Kaia sighed. She didn't exactly feel like being in a desolated road full of zombies, nor did she want to risk wasting more bullets, but she supposed it was the best plan they had. They were basically looking for a needle in a haystack.

"Otherwise," Charlie continued. "I wanna go to the brothel. It's a long way without the car but we need to warn them what's going on."

"Well, I guess we definitely can't use the one you just smashed up."

"Hey, that shit already had its battery stolen and gas siphoned long before we got here."

"When did you come here?"

Charlie blew through her lips at the question, but answered regardless. "2025, about."

"No, I mean... you. To the place where Chris lived... so like, out there, I guess?"

Charlie turned around, managing to keep her graceful stride even while walking backwards. "Oh, you're trying to unlock my backstory. I see."

She tossed Kaia the bat, which was clumsily caught. It took Kaia a moment to realize exactly what was expected of her. She walked over to another car, which had been stripped of it's radio and all it's tires. She hesitated for a moment before raising the bat to it and making a large dent in the hood.

Charlie clapped. "Good job."

"Well?" Kaia asked, handing the weapon back to Charlie.

The vampire didn't say a word for a moment, causally twirling her bat as she walked ahead once again. "Well... I was born in Bono's backyard, where I was raised by feral dogs. I then moved to Nantucket where I got a bachelor's degree in computer science-"

"You can stop right there," Kaia sighed.

"Aw man, but I was about to get to the part where I get all the Infinity Stones and destroy my enemies!"

"Very funny," Kaia said.

Charlie laughed. "I'll level with you - I've never even told Molly, Chris and Ziggy where I'm from or how long I've been around. Do you really think I'd tell you, a perfect stranger, that?"

"I guess not," Kaia said. She inadvertently grimaced as Charlie slammed the bat into a miraculously unbroken window, sending glass flying everywhere.

There was a scream, but it wasn't human. All the hairs in kaia's neck stood up straight. Even Charlie looked a little ashen as she stared at the attention they'd attracted. It was the last thing Kaia wanted to see - something ling associated with the frozen northern wilderness, but had moved everywhere as desperate times plagued the nation.

A Wendigo.

She couldn't help but stare, all the images of skeletal beings in her head not even coming close to equating to what stood before her. The beast was taller than her and Charlie combined, skin pulled so tightly over its distorted skeleton that it had started to tear like paper. It had a massive underbite that showed off a row of jagged but potently sharp teeth, and sunken in eyes. It would have been better if it's eyes were black, or even non-existent, but the one feature Wendigos managed to keep in their monstrous form was the eyes they had when they were human.

She felt fingers wrap tightly around her wrist as she was pulled away by Charlie. The wind stung her skin as the vampire rushed her to safety, throwing her through the odorless entrance of a random shop. Kaia landed on the floor with a grunt.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" She exclaimed quietly. "You were gonna let that fucker tear you to shreds!"

"I... I've just..."

Charlie lifted her head up, looking down at Kaia with a new understanding. "You've never seen one in person?"

Kaia shook her head. "I never really saw anything in person... not until I got to the prison. We... mainly trained on dummies."

"Huh. Other places we've sneaked into over the years train on real vampires and werewolves. They're basically making child soldiers over in Vermont."

Kaia shivered. Vermont - not the state, but the compound named after it - was notorious for being brutal. She had never visited, but she knew well enough that it's reputation preceded it. Behind the glamour and wealth of its citizens, it held darkness. She just didn't know how dark it truly was.

"You had the guts to go in there?"

"Well..." Charlie licked her lips, sitting down on an old table. A long abandoned rubber shark stared at her from it's fake preservation jar full of fake formaldehyde. "Chris and I decided to brave it once while we were trying to find the best places to find supplies. The mall there kicks absolute ass. Which, I mean, makes sense because it was an actual mall before shit hit the fan. I got a makeover, Chris got some fast food, it was all smooth sailing at first. But we got fucked up halfway through when we saw these hoity-toity bitches walking around, and right behind them was a straight-up vampire. In the flesh. Chris and I nearly lost our damn minds. He had some sort of chip in his head - You could tell cause it was glowing - and was just staring ahead blankly, holding shopping bags for the bitches."

Kaia felt a new sense of horror and dread fill her. "Holy shit..."

"Holy shit is an understatement. We got out of there FAST. But we figured out why they were able to use real monsters while keeping things under control... they're basically slaves over there. It's a fate worse than prison. Hell, it's a fate worse than death. At least in other places you get beheaded like 'Agent Orange' before us. You have your autonomy. Your brain. That's the real scary thought - not being you anymore."

Kaia noticed how tightly she had crossed her arms over herself, as if she was trying to hug the dread away. She relaxed herself physically, but mentally her mind was racing.

"That's... the most fucked up thing I've ever heard."

"You'd better believe it. Now come on, we need to keep moving. I'd run the rest of the way there but I don't wanna rip your skin up."

Kaia nodded. Moving that fast without anything to protect her skin from the debris in the air could definitely injure her. But despite agreeing with Charlie and watching her get up and move, she couldn't bring herself to lift her feet up. She looked over her shoulder, noticing a room close behind the table Charlie had been perched on. She squinted at it, just barely able to make out the dusty labels lining rotten cardboard bins. Ring Pops - 99€. Handmade Fudge - $4. Saltwater Taffy - $5 for 10 pieces. She moved over to the room, which had been completely stripped of most of the food within it. Save for one piece of Taffy that was just barely noticeable inside the bin. She picked it up. It was hard as a Rick, hard enough that it could be used as a pretty serious weapon if it were to be thrown by a vampire, but had maintained its shape. It looked like it was cotton candy flavored, the blue and pink swirls peeking through the faded white wrapper.

Kaia pocketed the candy just in time to hear Charlie calling out for her. She pulled herself away from the shop, continuing down the desolate stretch of road. After hours of bashing, yelling, and attracting the attention of random creatures (none as dangerous as the Wendigo, thankfully), the two women finally made it to the brothel. Kaia only recognized it for the group of women who were obviously witches standing outside of it, all smoking what appeared to be either hand-rolled cigarettes or marijuana. A figure popped up that she immediately recognized as Sappho, who in her panic seemed more owlish than ethereal.

"I knew you would return!" She said. "... There's been a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

"We got raided. A few human's form Kaia's compound managed to figure us out after the cats disappeared. Our magic was completely decloaked. It's taken all our powers to hide it again... we really need more cats, but there's only one left that we've seen. All the rest are known to be dead. Even... even Sir Bartholo-mew."

She got choked up for a moment, and Kaia put a hand on her shoulder. "Its okay, Sappho. We'll help you."

A large woman with almond toned skin approached, handing over two of what the witches had been smoking. "Here. Take the edge off."

Charlie took one without question, but Kaia stared at the witch's hand a moment, skeptical.

"Is this tobacco?"

"No, it's a mix of herbs... and CBD. It should help you relax. And have crazy was dreams tonight."

Kaia reluctantly plucked the other joint, which immediately lit in her hand. She didn't smoke it right away, though.

"Come in," Sappho said. "We have someone you're looking for. I had them keep her because I knew she was important."

"Julia!" Kaia exclaimed.

"Right on," Charlie said, already seeming to have relaxed with the CBD in her system.

The two of them walked in with the group of witches. The atmosphere of the brothel was completely different than the last time Kaia had been there. No more sultry music, no more dim lighting, no more smoke in the air. The from was brightly lit, vampires and witches rushing around trying to maintain order. Handcuffed to a radiator was Julia, who looked more annoyed than fearful. Kaia approached her, not being able to help the smile creeping across her face.

"Well, well, well, looks like you couldn't manage to stay free for long."

Julia rolled her eyes. "Go suck a dick, Hall."

Charlie approached both of them, squatting to Julia's level taking a long inhale of her joint before speaking. "You're dead meat, little girl."

The smoke blew into Julia's face, making her squint. She refused to back down, however.

"Go ahead, vampire bitch. Slot my throat. Bash my face in with that bat. Make my day."

Charlie simply slid her hand onto Julia's neck, maintaining eye contact. She then pinched it, causing the woman's eyes to widen before she passed out. Kaia's eyebrows furrowed.

"Damn, where'd you learn to do that?"

"Old movies."

She stood up, moving out of the way as Sappho freed Julia, a few other witches observing her carefully. The woman slumped to the floor, and Sappho stared down at her, an unreadable emotion in her large brown eyes.

"You can wheel her off," said a witch with a thick Albanian accent. "We have a wagon in the back."

Charlie smiled. "Thanks, that'd be helpful."

The witch nodded and walked away to retrieve the wagon, but it didn't take long for a another to approach them. Kaia felt a presence behind her and turned to see a vampire, though with the amount of body hair he had, he seemed more like a half-shaved werewolf. His forest green eyes focused on Kaia for a moment, but then moved to Charlie, who had a look of pure contempt in her eyes.

"Hey, Charlotte. How have things been for ya?"

"Go shove a shoe up your ass, Jupiter."

"Yep, just as feisty as always. Who's your friend?"

"None of your business."

"How's Margaret?"

"Still doesn't want to fuck you."

"How's Christian?"

"I think he dreams about murdering you."

"Ah, yep. Same old same old." He smiled widely, scratching an itch above his thick mustache. "Hey, anytime Margaret changes her mind, I'm right here."

The Albanian witch returned with a wagon just large enough to fit Julia in tow. She looked over at Jupiter, and then at Charlie.

"Jupiter has a plan of how to restore our power. We don't need to use cats to hold our magic... that's mainly for aesthetic. We can use any sentient creature. And there's a large pet store in the Mall of Vermont."

Charlie's head whipped around, her dark eyes practically bulging. "You want us to rob a store in Vermont?!"

"That's the plan," Jupiter said. "And with you and Christian by my side, I figure I could do it pretty easy. Sappho over here's on board, too."

Charlie turned her attention to Sappho, the small girl seemed to shrink even more under the vampire's gaze.

"... It's our only option," Sappho said. "If we don't so this, we'll be fucked."

Jupiter nodded. "She's right. Fucked harder than a porn star. Especially your little group since you're harboring a fugitive."

Charlie took a deep breath and held it for a moment before expiring it loudly. "... Fine. We'll do it your way. But if we get killed, I'm gonna torture you worse than what the Devil will when we get to Hell."

"Sounds like a plan," Jupiter said. "Let's go, gang."

"Nu-uh, you're not the fucking leader of this suicide mission," Charlie said. "You may have come up with the plan but if you don't let Chris take the wheel you're cutting our chances of survival in half."

Jupiter got annoyed for the first time Kaia's witnessed. "What the fuck does Chris know about Vermont? Nothing, that's what. He probably just remembers where the Dairy Queen was before the war, that's what he knows. Me? I go there all the fucking time. I know my shit. So you'd better sit down and shut up before things get ugly."

The two vampires stared each other down, making Kaia not a her lip. She looked over at Sappho, who had grabbed the handle of the wagon and had starting to pull it. Kaia helped her, and they went outside, waiting for only a minute before the two vampires followed. They had blood on their faces from wounds that had already healed.

It seemed that they had worked out the issue of who was in charge.

It was dusk when the group made it back to the furniture store. Charlie knocked on the door and Molly opened it, her eye's widening the moment she saw who was in front of her.

"Margaret! You look just as lovely as ever. Have you changed your hair?"

"...I've had the same haircut since 2018."

"Ah, you're cute. Why don't you give me a hug?"

Molly seemed tempted to just pull Charlie and Kaia in and shut the door, but she resisted the urge. "... No. Here, Kaia, help me get Julia restrained."

They dragged the unconscious woman into the store. They'd had a few moments where she'd started waking up, but Charlie kept her subdued, and she was limp as Kaia held her up. Molly tied intricate knots around Julia before standing up straight, acknowledging the presence that had been staring at her the whole time.

"What are you doing here, anyway, Jupiter?" She asked. "... You too Sappho, though you're always welcome here."

Sappho opened her mouth to answer, but Jupiter cut her off.

"We have a plan. A dangerous and deadly one. We need to get more animals of the witches, so we're gonna get an form Vermont. And by we, I mean these people here, plus Christian... wherever the fuck he's at. You and your son should stay here though, wouldn't want ya to get hurt."

Molly's expression switched back and forth between shocked and offended. Kaia had placed her gun on the table by the doors, though she was half tempted to go grab it before Molly had the chance to waste a bullet.

"... Anyway, we have no other choice," said Sappho. "So you can stay or go, but we need all the help we can get. I have a pendant that has a lot of residual magic in it from my mother and Tia, but I don't know how long it will last. We can get away with disguises and blinding the people around us but that's it. It'll be a risky mission."

Footsteps approached and Ziggy walked into the room, immediately disgusted by the presence of Jupiter. Kaia wondered what the hell this guy had done to piss them off so much. Yes, he was an asshole who clearly had a thing for Molly, by that didn't seem evil enough for them to shun him.

"Ziggy Stardust!" Jupiter exclaimed. "How are you doing, little buddy?"

Ziggy stood there, his eyes wide and mouth hanging open slightly. "...Please go die."

"Okay, I've had enough of this shit," Charlie said. "Jupiter and I have worked things out. We're gonna get his van from its hiding place, go to Vermont, steal the pets, and zip around town for a few hours to throw anyone who follows us off. There will be no leader, but we'll all have designated roles. If anyone argues with this, I will happily throw down with you too."

"...Alright," Molly said. "I'm on board if you are."

"Ditto," Ziggy said.

Molly turned to look at him, and was about to say no, when Jupiter interrupted again.

"I don't think so, young man," Jupiter said. A thick southern accent came out, making him sound sleazier than he had before. "You should stay here. This mission is way too dangerous for a young guy like you. What would your mamma think if something happened to you?"

Ziggy was speechless, and simply looked up at the ceiling, blinking a few times. Julia thankfully woke up, diverting everyone's attention.

"Ugh... fuck..." She looked around, immediately growing annoyed. "Great. This place again."

"This time you're gonna answer for what you've done," Molly said. "We're not letting you get away with this."

Julia smirked. "Oh, please. Everyone already knows where you are. It's only a matter of time before they hunt you down and capture you all."

"And use us in awful experiments, yeah."

Kaia's interruption startled everybody. She stepped forward, only an inch of space between her and her former classmate.

"You know what they do to people I our compound, Julia? Chop them up. Replace their parts with those of a different species. Inject them with blood that doesn't belong to them. If you'd seen the shit I saw, you would have run away too. That place is fucked up. I'm not a traitor, I'm trying my best to be a hero. And these people around me have done nothing to deserve what you and the rest of them have done. They're innocent. We're not. We're the bad guys, Julia."

Julia stared for a moment, processing the information. She then burst out laughing, her eyes nearly rolling into the back of her head.

"Nice story, Kaia! Is that what your little vampire boyfriend told you?! Really, wake the fuck up! One hot guy and you lose track of the bigger picture! We have done everything we can to survive, to protect humanity! You're just like me, Kaia Hall! And you're throwing it away because you're weak minded, naive, and spineless! The only reason you passed training is because your dad was one of the best guards we've ever fucking had! Your nothing like him, though. I bet the poor bastard is rolling in his grave."

Kaia raised her fist to punch Julia, but was stopped by Sappho. Her delicate hand grabbed onto Kaia's calloused knuckles, the palm of her opposite hand pressing into Julia's forehead. The other woman cringed away, but paused, freezing for a moment.

"Here," Sappho said. "See what she saw. She isn't lying about the experiments."

"This... this is bullshit..."

Sappho retracted her hand, backing away. Julia looked between them, then up at Kaia.

"Kaia... I..."

A gunshot rang out, nearly making Kaia jump out of her skin. She could only stand to look at the image of Julia with a hole blown in her head for a second. The tear that had formed in her eye dropped down postmortem due to gravity. She half expected Jupiter to be the culprit, but instead she turned to see Chris had entered the room. He walked into the group, staring down at the girl he'd just shot before handing the gun back to kaia.

"She can kiss off."