Watching Her Go
#22 of Only Crystal
The plague spread across Sinnoh and wiped out a majority of its population in less than a year. A teenager who has yet to contract the virus, along with his espeon, must survive in an increasingly dangerous region. With only his pokémon to keep him company, he soon can't help but feel differently about her.
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Existing; complete stories: 'Midnight.' (Male umbreon x fem trainer.) 'A Night She Couldn't Resist.' (Male midnight lycanroc x fem trainer.) 'Cassidy's Journey.' (Male braixen x fem trainer.) 'All They Knew.' (Male alolan ninetales x fem trainer.)
^ Excluding 'Midnight,' all three existing works take place in the same universe.
Abby watched Jenna grow farther, walking a valley of bodies. "She's making a mistake..." she said to herself, lowering her rifle after Jenna cleared the mile.
"Why didn't you stop her then?" the male defender on her right asked.
"Mind it." Abby peered at him. She didn't know Lee well and couldn't relate to someone snarky and almost a decade older, but she worked daily with him. Abby released her rifle and let it rest against her side by its strap. "No one's changing her mind. She's no longer the same person."
Lee shrugged. "It looks to me like she's gone off the deep end. She's been up to no good recently and now makes some grand dramatic exit."
He had to be joking. "You've no idea what you're talking about. She was desperate to help Chris and finally acted on her emotions. Why don't you imagine being in her situation?"
"I don't have to." Lee looked at her. "Most of us have lost loved ones in horrible ways to this virus, but unlike Jenna, I wouldn't go into an unexplored city after dark. Blood is on her hands because someone decided to risk their life chasing her, and she goes right back out. Disgrace to Amy, don't you think?"
Abby took a breath to refrain from snapping. "...I'm going on break." She stepped away and climbed down the platform, retiring her rifle. She couldn't listen to that. Lee didn't know Jenna the way she did, and he didn't know the details. He was being insensitive.
Abby walked a few buildings down and sat against a wall while watching the population. She nearly considered going after Jenna, but that would only be to join her. She certainly wouldn't be able to bring her back. "Why'd you have to go?" Abby hoped more than anything that Jenna would survive, but a sense of deep trepidation filled her. She wanted to see her face and hear her voice again.
Abby would have to find someone else to talk to in the meantime. She knew many defenders, but they weren't personal relationships and didn't feel the same.
A lot of people's natures were broken by the pandemic. Abby, however, never had far to fall. She'd raised herself from a young teen since her parents abandoned her during childhood. They couldn't afford to care for their daughter, and Abby refused to be raised by foster parents, so she usually ran away after a while, which she repeated multiple times. She knew how it felt to be without access to food and water and without love or friendship.
She'd latched on to Jenna days after they met, though. Abby had followed a group heading to the base and stumbled upon it while it was being built and taking people in from every town and city as long as they didn't have the virus. Abby didn't have a home and hadn't eaten in days. She'd have stolen something from a mart if most store shelves weren't bare or kept under tight security.
She was sitting against a wall alone in the base that day with no energy in her but was grateful not to have to watch her back at every moment.
As if it were divine intervention, Jenna noticed her, and Abby was taken care of and cleaned up before the hundreds of others that flooded in. She told Jenna her story while they ate, and Jenna listened thoroughly. It was more care than anyone had shown Abby in her life.
She grinned while revisiting that day. Abby hoped Jenna's spirit wasn't doused for good, but she wouldn't blame her. Jenna had to do what was best for herself, and maybe someone like Lee viewed her departure as more mindless behavior, but Abby knew she cared. Dying on the journey was a risk that Jenna was livid enough to take.
She stood and looked at her post, knowing she had to return to her shift, but there was no way she'd be able to stand in Lee's presence. She'd ask Harrison to station her at another.