Mojave Rain at the End of the World

They had met on a supply run. He had thought there would be no one in abandoned Californian grocery store. It looked like it had already been raided with its boarded up windows shattered, the wood splintered down the middle where people had previously ripped it open. Perhaps all the good that was once inside would be gone but Quentin wanted to check anyway.

Apparently he had not been the only one.

The year 2020 had kicked off with a bang. First in early January and February there had been reports of some mysterious sickness, then by March everyone was quarantined and state of emergencies were broadcasted. It seemed the virus was in the very air everyone was breathing. Most died before measures were put in place for the pandemic to be staunched.

The lack of usefulness from the government led to riots all around the world. That led to the virus spreading faster. They had lost contact with the world around May and since then Quentin had known this would be the end of the world he had known. There were some measures, some attempts to keep people safe, but by the end of the year they were all left on their own to figure out how to live on.

Calm as he was about it now he'd been a wreck then.

He'd never been a survivalist. He was the type of guy that excelled in trivia nights since his mind was full of obscure nerdy facts. He had never played any sports, he knew nothing about how to fish or hunt, and he certainly had never watched one episode of any of those disaster end-of-the-world shows. He had preferred high fantasy to dystopian dramas. In the beginning there had been groups of people huddled together trying to survive. Now it had been months since he had seen another person alive.

A storm was rolling in so he knew he had to be quick. Whistling a tune as he stepped through the overgrown grass outside the grocery store he looked through a spot in the dirty glass window where the newspaper pressed upon it had given away. No electricity, no movement.

"It's as safe as it is ever going to be, Grumpkin." He looked down at the mangey dog by his side who looked up at him expectantly with his head turned a bit to the side. He had picked up the dog halfway through the year. Mostly it was nice to have something else alive around him. Whatever it was that had affected humans had also affected all life on Earth. Perhaps it would be just the two of them alive in this world. He knew one thing, he would take care of Grumpkin for as long as he could.

Kicking at some of the sharp glass that was still in the way, he squished in through an opening, his little mutt dog hot on his heels. His flashlight had long ago used up its battery so he searched through the store by the flame of a lighter. The shelves were empty except for the occasional can of beans or piece of debris left behind. He grabbed at the cans he could find.

As he reached out for a can of tuna Grumpkin began to growl. There was movement at the end of the aisle. Quentin gasped as he heard some the scuff of sneakers running towards him. Someone else's hand grabbed at the tuna can and he recoiled back. In the small ambience of the lighter's glow he could see a woman standing before him. She was slightly shorter than him with glaring blue eyes and jet straight blonde hair peaking out from under her beanie hat.

"I'm sorry, I need it." She spoke with desperation in her voice as well as commandment.

He hadn't seen another person in so long, had not heard another person's voice, that he stared at her dumbly with wide brown eyes. Lighter tucked to his thumb he held his hands palm out towards her, "...I, well, yeah, of course, I...wow."

Her glare gave way to a frown in her eyebrows. Even in this lowlight he couldn't see the shape of them for they were as icy blonde as her hair was but he could see where the skin of her face bent to form frown lines. "You aren't going to fight me for it?" she asked.

His mouth dropped open and his brown eyes widened further with panic, "Fight you?! No, why...why would I do that? I want you to have it. Don't fight me...please, look I um," He dug into his bag, taking out the can of beans he had grabbed before, "You can take it. I'm not trying to fight you or anyone."

She looked him up and down, possibly assessing him before taking a step back from him, "...You are the first other person I have seen in months. Is that a dog?" she asked, blue eyes flicking down to Grumpkin who sat and watched her quite calmly. Before he had thought her a threat but it seemed to Quentin that the dog had reconsidered.

"That's Grumpkin...well, I call him Grumpkin. He wasn't mine I just found him." He mumbled as she crouched down and put a hand out for the dog. Grumpkin moved towards her and after some sniffing allowed her to pet his little head.

She seemed to relax a bit as she pet the dog. Without looking up at Quentin she spoke, "You can put your hands down and keep your beans. I was not trying to rob you I just...I'm just hungry."

He did as she said and crouched down to scratch at Grumpkin's back. "We could always eat them together?" His voice was unsure as he spoke. It was not wise to bring a stranger into the little home he and Grumpkin shared but this very well could have been the only other person alive in the city.

She looked at him, icy blue eyes again trying to find some unknown tell, "You have a place to ride out the storm? I was just going to wait it out in my car."

"You have a car? With gas in it?" he asked. He had not seen any type of machinery running for quite some time now.

"Well, not a lot of gas, no. I looked for some around here but-"

"Everything's gone." He concluded for her. Perhaps in any other person's mouth those words would have come off ominous but Quentin spoke with the sadness he felt. She met his vulnerable gaze with her own.

He offered her a kind smile, "Well, not everything. I bet it has been a long time since you've been drunk."

He was surprised that she agreed to ride out the storm with him. He supposed she could hold her own, must have to still be alive in this end of the world. He had no doubt that if Alice wanted to she could take whatever she wanted from him. She must have realized it too for she grew more comfortable around Quentin.

It had been a long time since either of them had a conversation out loud with another human being. It was incredibly awkward at first but they spoke of their lives before and what they had been through since. As they came upon the spiral staircase he took a few steps down, rambling about how he was dying to find a pair of scissors so he could give Grumpkin a hair cut, when he noticed she had stopped at the top.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"...You expect me to go down the creepy spiral staircase towards...what exactly?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, I told you it was a cellar," he said, laughing at the look on her face. "Where else would you keep wine?" She conceded though Quentin noticed she walked a few steps behind him as if she expected him to do something unexpected. He couldn't blame her for her caution. It was a dangerous world and though he was just happy to have company he did not doubt others had proven themselves untrustworthy in this time and age.

The generator hummed softly as they came to where the cellar was. He'd attached lights to the electric current so the place was not reliant on sunlight to be lit.

"It's actually a solar generator if you can believe it. It gets the light from that window there and runs itself." he said as he took off his supplies bag and dug out the can of beans from before.

She stopped to observe her surroundings, a look of wonder in her eyes as she took in the rows and rows of wines in wooden crates stacked up on top of each other.

"How did you find this place?" she asked as she stepped into the room.

"I actually used to work here. I was a sommelier," he admitted rather sheepishly. It was her turn to laugh as she looked at him and he nodded and shrugged in confirmation. He liked the way her laugh echoed off the cellar walls.

"I was a librarian," she admitted as they both settled over the little cook top he had attached to the generator. There they cooked their meal of tuna and beans, which was by no means anything appetizing before the apocalypse but felt like a king's feast to Quentin right about now.

"Well, what pairs well with a hearty meal, mister sommelier?" she asked, a small teasing tone to her voice.

"That would be a merlot," he said, reaching over to get the exact bottle he had in mind. He offered it to her to look at as he went to go fetch them some glasses.

"Mojave Rain," she said as she read the bottle, "2019 Merlot, California. Ah, so right before everything went to shit. Are you getting glasses?"

They were a bit dusty but he blew out the grime before handing her one and taking the wine back. "Of course I am. We are not animals, no offense, Grumpkin." The dog's ears perked up at the sound of his name but he was too busy enjoying his portion of the tuna and beans to look up. "If we are going to drink we are going to do this right." He poured them both out a healthy glass of merlot.

Settling down with their backs to the wine cellar crates and their legs splayed out in front of them this almost felt normal again to Quentin.

"What should we toast to?" she asked.

"Finding a friend at the end of the world?" he offered before clinking his glass with hers. She took a sip and he watched as her face relaxed to one of unbridled peace and enjoyment.

"Is there chocolate in this!? Quentin!" she said, eyes closed in delight. He chuckled as he took his own sip, enjoying velvety taste.

"A hint of chocolate mixed with plum, raspberry and black cherry." For once his knowledge of wines was coming in handy.

"I can't believe you have had wine all of this time. No wonder you are so chill, Quentin." He had to concede the point. He was sure if he had not had this place to come back to he would have lost his mind in the chaos of the world.

"Well, I won't lie, it has been the only decent part of my days. No one to share it with though...before now." He felt a blush pass over the tops of his cheeks and he drank more of the wine to try to hide it. "I'm sorry, I don't wish to make you uncomfortable-" he began, feeling like a creep for even saying something like that.

"No, it's okay," she said, stopping him on his tracks. "...I understand." they were simple words but the warmth in her eyes spoke volumes. Out of all the terrible things they had both experienced being alone throughout them had been the worst. He missed people, he missed talking to them, missed sharing ideas, missed sharing in general.

She leaned against him and laid her head on his shoulder. It felt weird to have another person's warmth against him again but he laid his head on top of hers.

"As far as first dates go, Quentin, this one is pretty good."

He was glad she could not see his face because he lit up like a Christmas tree as he blushed. "T-This is a d-date, Alice?" he asked, stumbling over his words.

Her laugh was deep in her chest and vibrated them both, "If you want it to be." He reached out to take her hand in his. The feeling sent a shiver down the nerves of his skin but it was a pleasant and soft thing.