C1 Ruins and Memories ( Part 1 )
The two went downstairs down to the first floor. On their way down, Nathalia looked around the place and noticed that this place seems to be a European styled villa that is three floors high, with the previous room where she woke up being in the third floor.
"...by the way, Julienne."
"Hmm? What is it?" Julienne asked her with a curious tone.
"What were those rock fragments that... fell from me? Did I somehow got petrified Medusa-style or something?" Nathalia asked jokingly.
But she wouldn't expect that her answer would be exactly that.
"Yep, you were petrified. And not just you but the whole Earth's human populace was petrified and turned into stone statues."
Hearing her answer her question nonchalantly as if it was common sense, Nathalia just stared at Julienne looking dumbfounded. Although she expected something similar to have happened to her, she didn't expect that the whole humanity would be petrified too. She thought that at worst it could have been the whole American continent's people petrified... it was really unexpected.
"Then how did I—? And you?"
"You're asking how you got out? Well... I discovered the cure to that. As for me, it was purely by sheer luck and after I got out I came to know the cure to the petrification."
Nathalia's eyes widened and she looked at Julienne in shock, "What bullshit luck is that..."
"Yes, go on and take a seat. Let's discuss these over breakfast," Julienne smiled faintly as she motioned her hand to the table strewn with a variety of foods, but mostly canned goods.
Looking at this, Nathalia chuckled to herself deprecatingly. Just from the food Julienne presented her, she can already deduce the petrification of the whole Earth's human population was not a joke at all.
Nathalia sat down while Julienne sat across opposite her. As soon as Julienne sat down she motioned for her to eat before hungrily devouring her meal, which made Nathalia a bit speechless.
Noticing her gaze, Julienne looked at her for a second before tilting her head and asked, "What are you looking confused for? You expect I'll pray before eating or what? I don't pray, I go work for it... praying can give courage but taking the initiative to work is the most important. Besides..."
Although it seemed she had more opinions, Julienne didn't continue and proceeded to devour her meal like there's no tomorrow... she can't really blame her with their current situation of them being literal stragglers in this former prosperous New York City.
"...since when did I ask if you'll pray or not." Nathalia just smiled wryly and shook her head at her friend's antics.
Julienne's long absence and her life here in America for years changed her, she didn't expect that her beloved friend would be such a glutton now. Time really changes everything, just like how—
"Wait... How long was I petrified for?"
"Mfgh? Yof pfepwiphied phow ah fweek!" Julienne said without stopping from eating her food.
Nathalia looked at her with blank eyes, "Really? Chew your food before speaking, I can't understand you one bit."
Julienne chewed her food before swallowing it and saying, "I said that you've been petrified for a little over a week now."
Nathalia, who was just about to take a spoonful of the canned pork and beans, froze when she heard that. She turned to Julienne and she immediately understood what Nathalia meant to say.
"I woke up the next day after the night of that petrification... I think, cause all I remember before that was being kidnapped by an obsessed lover..." Julienne glanced at her and she saw Nathalia blush red, either from shame or anger.
She just chuckled seeing her reaction and continued, "After breaking out of the petrification, I saw that I was accidentally splashed with a vial of Nital due to a car crashing right above us making the house shake. But it was a shame, only I was near enough to be splashed by Nital or the cure to the petrification. I saw two other statues there which I assumed were your friends, they weren't as lucky as me—"
"What happened to them?" Nathalia stood up and gripped her shoulders anxiously.
"Don't worry," Julienne held her hands and assured her, "They are fine. Those two are currently at the basement. I only managed to make one revival fluid enough for you, almost everywhere are too chaotic and either on fire or ruins. It's extremely hard to find undamaged places."
Nathalia sighed in relief and sat down on her seat after hearing her. She then looked at Julienne solemnly.
"Julienne, how long exactly has passed since that petrification event?" She asked with a stoic face.
"Hmm... about a week? Yes, I think about a week has passed. Some emergency generators on the other buildings began shutting down yesterday. This building is one of the few that still has electricity."
Hearing her words, Nathalia's face darkened and grew solemn.
"This is the worst case scenario..."
"Wait, why? We still have electricity for two to three days and we can just repair the generators if it ever broke. I also saw a gas station about two blocks away so gas would not be a problem."
Nathalia shook her head, "You don't understand. Any time now, either today or the next two days, a nuclear power plant can go boom..."
Realizing what she was implying, Julienne's face grew increasingly solemn. She didn't realize this problem earlier and this didn't bode well for her.
"We're fucked... really fucked..."
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A/N: Hello guys, sorry for the two weeks unscheduled hiatus. Just real busy cause school started again. Though I'm back to writing chapters now and I will still continue writing. For the past two weeks, I thought and solidified where this story would go. Because at the start I only had a vague general story for Volume 2, I didn't have confidence if y'all would like it. So I just really brushed up on my research for a bit while doing my school works (which is really bothersome but you need to do it xD).
Anyways guys, Author-san is now back and I hope you all liked this chapter.