No. [ The answer comes too fast and she winces a little. ] At least... not if I had to go back to the time I left from. If I could pick a different time, and I knew that things would be different, then...
[ She trails off again and sighs. They don't talk about it often, she and Nadine. There's nothing good to say or think about, not really. It's just death and trauma and misery, and things are hard enough without bringing that baggage along all the time. But Wanda has shared, Wanda has seen. She didn't see the true extent of it, but she saw what happened.
Julie takes a drink that should theoretically drain her cup, but it's still full when she swallows. ]
My world, it doesn't really exist anymore. I mean, the planet itself does, but... there was a plague. We call it Captain Trips, or just the superflu. The military made it in secret, as a weapon, but it got out. It was the most infectious disease ever, and the deadliest. More than 99 percent of people got sick, and they all died. Usually within a few days. It only took about a month, maybe six weeks, to wipe out nearly everyone in America. Probably the whole world. Not just people, but animals too. Dogs, cats, horses, livestock. But some of us, we were just... immune. No one knows why. We were all that was left. Society just kinda collapsed a few weeks into the whole thing. First the internet went down -- that was the government, tryin' to cover it up, so we couldn't communicate. Then the water, the power. There was no gas to drive very far. The stores were all looted for food.
[ It takes her another moment to continue, her forehead knit and her voice quiet. ]
I was the only survivor for hundreds of miles, in my town. I lived in the middle of nowhere. It was about a month that I didn't see any other livin' person. I really thought I was the last person on earth, but I was lucky 'cause at least there was a store I could stay in. A big box store, it shut down before things got really bad, so there weren't any bodies in there, and it still had food and everythin' else I needed. When I left, I had to walk from Kansas to Vegas. It took two months. My shoes filled up with blood, I almost ran outta food. But Vegas, people were comin' together there. They got the power back up, 'cause the dam was still goin'. There was years and years' worth of food frozen in the hotels. Lots of empty rooms and homes. And other people. But even then, there were maybe only two thousand total? A little less? Basically just mankind's dyin' gasp.
[ She has to take a long drag off her joint, and she almost manifests a few xanax for herself, but lets that urge pass. ]
So no, I wouldn't go back. It would be goin' back to nothin'. Maybe it would be nice to have a few more years with my family, but even then, I'd know it was comin'. And I'd lose my magic.
no subject
[ She trails off again and sighs. They don't talk about it often, she and Nadine. There's nothing good to say or think about, not really. It's just death and trauma and misery, and things are hard enough without bringing that baggage along all the time. But Wanda has shared, Wanda has seen. She didn't see the true extent of it, but she saw what happened.
Julie takes a drink that should theoretically drain her cup, but it's still full when she swallows. ]
My world, it doesn't really exist anymore. I mean, the planet itself does, but... there was a plague. We call it Captain Trips, or just the superflu. The military made it in secret, as a weapon, but it got out. It was the most infectious disease ever, and the deadliest. More than 99 percent of people got sick, and they all died. Usually within a few days. It only took about a month, maybe six weeks, to wipe out nearly everyone in America. Probably the whole world. Not just people, but animals too. Dogs, cats, horses, livestock. But some of us, we were just... immune. No one knows why. We were all that was left. Society just kinda collapsed a few weeks into the whole thing. First the internet went down -- that was the government, tryin' to cover it up, so we couldn't communicate. Then the water, the power. There was no gas to drive very far. The stores were all looted for food.
[ It takes her another moment to continue, her forehead knit and her voice quiet. ]
I was the only survivor for hundreds of miles, in my town. I lived in the middle of nowhere. It was about a month that I didn't see any other livin' person. I really thought I was the last person on earth, but I was lucky 'cause at least there was a store I could stay in. A big box store, it shut down before things got really bad, so there weren't any bodies in there, and it still had food and everythin' else I needed. When I left, I had to walk from Kansas to Vegas. It took two months. My shoes filled up with blood, I almost ran outta food. But Vegas, people were comin' together there. They got the power back up, 'cause the dam was still goin'. There was years and years' worth of food frozen in the hotels. Lots of empty rooms and homes. And other people. But even then, there were maybe only two thousand total? A little less? Basically just mankind's dyin' gasp.
[ She has to take a long drag off her joint, and she almost manifests a few xanax for herself, but lets that urge pass. ]
So no, I wouldn't go back. It would be goin' back to nothin'. Maybe it would be nice to have a few more years with my family, but even then, I'd know it was comin'. And I'd lose my magic.