The Plague {One Direction AU}

14. Artie

Pasadena, CA
December 24

The irony that the end of the world brought more people into Artie's solitary life was not lost on her. But while the peaceful isolation to which she was accustomed had been positive in her mind, Artie still wouldn't go back to the way it was before, even if she could. Because before, she didn't have a beautiful green-eyed boy who looked at her like she alone made the world revolve around the sun.

But of course that's illogical. The earth revolved around the sun because of its gravitational pull.

Still, since she met Harry, Artie had not stopped smiling. There was something about him, something she couldn't quite define. Maybe it was the way his eyes followed her every movement, soaking her in. Maybe it was the terrible jokes he told, which made her laugh like nothing ever had. Maybe it was his tender yet eager touch, his slender fingers exploring her body at every chance. (Like, at every chance. But Artie was not complaining.) There was definitely something about Harry. She'd never felt anything quite like this before. It was beyond affection or respect, though those were encompassed in this enigmatic emotion. It was something more than the love she'd felt for her parents. It was certainly more than she had felt for the lovers of her past. He was like a drug, and she was addicted. She couldn't get enough. She was giddy. And Artemisia didn't do giddy.

Artie shook her head and made her way to the basement with Loki at her side, hoping to figure out the electrical and heating system for the building. Cal-tech wasn't actually where she'd wanted to stay the night, but this new group looked pretty bedraggled and probably needed the rest. She found the electrical panel fairly easily, and determined that there was indeed a solar source of power. It was merely supplemental, though, and she would need to reroute some connections to get enough power to the kitchen, hot water heaters, and heating system. After less than an hour of recircuiting the wires, she jogged up the stairs to see if her efforts paid off.

On her way, she ran into two of the new people her group had collected at the bookstore earlier. Louis, the one Harry had recognized as some star athlete, and Ash, the other man in their group. Ash looked as if he was dying. He had vomit down the front of his shirt, he was pale and sweating, and his eyes were rolled back in his head.

"Hey," Artie said. "Need some help?"

Louis grunted and grumbled, "yeah," hoisting the man up against his side. Artie grabbed his other arm and between them, they crutched him up to the third floor and into a room, with Loki following in tow. She grabbed a bottle of water from the supplies that the group had carried up earlier and brought it into him. "Thanks," Louis said, his eyes cast to the floor.

"Yeah, no problem. Do you need anything else?"

"No. Thanks," he said, tipping the bottle against Ash's mouth. Artie turned to leave. "Wait!" She paused at the door, glancing back at them. "Um, well, we didn't get any food, actually." Louis blushed and looked down again.

"Oh. Okay. I'll go. Take care of him," she gestured at the man laid out on the small bed.

"Ash," Louis finished for her, as if she didn't know. He handed her the keys to Liam's truck.

She flicked the light switch and smiled at the illumination. "The water should be hot in thirty minutes or so." Louis looked surprised. "You can get him cleaned up."

"Thanks, po--Um, Artie. Thanks."

"No problem."

Louis called out as she exited, "We were going to try and get into this culinary school nearby. Ash said they have cold storage and the fresh food might still be good."

Artie frowned. Most fresh food spoiled within a couple weeks anyway, and it had already been two weeks since most of the world died off, so she doubted any fresh food would still be viable. But they may have large containers of canned goods they could use. "All right. I'll check it out." She went down the hall to the common room, where Liam sat with Kyle, Alysha, and the new girls, Sam and Serenity. Sam was holding the baby, whose name Artie still didn't know. "We've got limited electric from the solar panels. I routed it to the main electric and hot water heaters on the west side of this floor." The girls looked at each other in excitement.