[spoiler]<o1 21 Days>
Hard to say what made Kade uneasy the first night away from the settlement. Maybe it was just how the shadows fell around the campfire, dancing and strange like demons on the jet background. The sounds may have had something to do with it as well, because there was never a more quiet moment then the one that followed a strange twig snap somewhere in the dark. Her eyes had grown accustomed to peering away from firelight, and seemed to constantly roam the desolate ash waste of the forest floor. This had been a wonderful place to explore years prior, but after the fallout, all that remained was the towering trunks of dead wood and ankle deep ash. At least such things made a fire easy to hide when it was time to go, to keep the trackers off your trail, and the cannibals from gathering skin. Kade had heard stories, humors from frightened villagers, and took them as seriously as one might have taken a story on the evening news.
Once upon a time, life was a distant thing viewed through a television screen.
But they didn't have the luxury of such things at this point in history, because once powerful nations all had a bone to pick with one another. How giants fall, not gracefully, but with a mighty thud. So down came empires and governments and churches and knowledge, followed by decency, morality and God. Things that had no place in this new world were cast off like the bindings of once freed slaves - giving everyone more a reason to fight, but less a reason to live. If there was a God left in all of this Hell, they sure had one hell of a sense of humor. Each night Kade was on the move, her trek had lead her farther from what small world she had known and deeper into the bowels of the wastelands. Every fire side pit stop was a fearful one, and all her traveling was done at a slugs pace, slowly creeping through whatever seemingly lived in areas she found. Hardly could she trust these established gangs of fools and cretins; she didn't know them well enough to borrow a cup of sugar, let alone put her neck on the line to meet and greet them.
But there was hope in the form of one hint, a scribbled sign on aged plywood that read in bold letters: Settlers Pass. A name could mean everything, or nothing at all, so Kade could only hope what she remembered about the locale was true at this point. If it hadn't been raided, or pillaged or even burned down, there was hope she could stop in and take a few days off. So within a few days travel, she was greeted with gate guards in gaudy flannel and hunters caps, a gun slung over each of their shoulders, even as their attention seemed without regard for Kade. Her eyes narrowed and her hands moved to brush away stray locks of strangely dyed hair tufts, making herself seem a bit more presentable before she emerged from the bushes. Slow steps towards them signaled she wasn't a threat, as did her seeming lack of weapon, because she knew one small show of arms was liable to get you shot by anyone with the gun to do so. No one liked a tough guy, and even less did they like a mouthy teen.
"Wait!" And there was a pause as Kade came to a slow, all wide eyed and confused like a rabbit after catching sight of a sneaking predator. No motions could frighten her more than the guns being pointed in her direction, and for one bitter moment, she tasted blood and bile at the tip of her tongue; only the sharp crack of a shot whizzed past her, and a small pounding noise hit the ground at her back. So she swiveled to catch what the men had been shooting at, and felt herself sigh in relief at what had been the target. Squirrel. Just a plain grey Squirrel, now bleeding into the dirt path where she remained, and the two guards were now back to squabbling over who should get it.
"...And I shot it, so it's only fair."
"Seriously? I spotted it, told you it was there, and you're gonna shaft me over it? What a dick."
"Not even. Look, I have a family to feed. You have just one fat whore with a mouth that never shuts, so I think I deserv-"
"She's pregnant, you bastard!"
And on the two continued as an oblivious Kade seemed to slip stealthily through the gate behind the pair. And so she was in town, and the look of it hinted at two things for the girl; One being how walled off and neat the settlement seemed, but the second was a tad less obvious. No one was around. People seemed to be elsewhere for the time, far from the small shops and makeshift homes that lined the visible path. Kade assumed this was a road, though really it resembled a simplistically managed dirt walkway, with stones lining each side in attempts to give it a more upkept look about it. Not that she cared what sort of decorations the town had decided on, but the idea they had time to do this meant they were far more at ease then she. So she followed the available directions on markers periodically placed along this solo road - assuming this was indeed the only way through town, save the tight 'alleys' between tiny homes.
Eventually the most common word in the new English language showed its ugly face in the form of a rather large and tacky adornment over the doorway of an old theater. TAVERN. Crudely painted images of topless women accompanied the word, but Kade knew better then to assume she could get a drink without some poor girl on a stage with her tits out. That was the only way some people could make money, or in most cases, earn food; and being helpless in this time period really limited your options. You better be really good looking, really influential or just fucking desperate, because without a skill to rely on, you were as good as useless and probably candidate to being booted from a colony. She'd seen it happen a time or two with the rambling vagrants of her home town, ones that would have been ignored under normal circumstances - but were now considered a liability. So off they were sent, into the wilds to fend for themselves.
Kade was sure they had been eaten.
The doors swung lazily on their hinges as the girl pushed through, dressed in her filthy attire with her hair stuck up in weird directions, colorful in the obvious disarray. Attractive, but obviously in need of a bath, she kept the lower half of her face behind a grubby scarf while her piercing storm grey eyes bounced over the various patrons of the bar. All normal in the sense they were much as she was: dirty, timid and quiet. Really, these were the huddled masses for her, and she felt better knowing the people of this settlement were just like the ones she had grown used to in her time. So she made her slow steps count, taking it all in before she came to a stop at the bar, where a seat was taken and her eyes took to settling on the working bar tender. Probably the only overweight man in the place, it was obvious he had made a good bit of profit off brewing booze. Seemed a lost art now, hence each town only seemed to have one Tavern, and it was always the most populated venue around.
"What'll ya have, Kid?" Asked the male, a bushy mustache moving in a wave over hidden lips as it directed the question to Kade.
"Just water, if you have it. Clean water." Taking out her canteen, she pushed it forward then reached into her front pocket and retrieved a cigarette, which was added to the exchange. "Whatever a smoke gets me."
"I'll fill the canteen for it. Hard to find smokes in this season." With a nod to the female, the bartender vanished back, towards behind the liquor display, where his form slipped through a small door labeled 'Storage'. As this building had once been a theater of some sort, it seemed rather odd in its set up, with various chairs still randomly placed about the room, though most were gone with only rivet holes and discolored spots left in the concrete. Still, it was near silent and the people didn't once try and stare her down, so this was just the place to start looking for recruits. So far, no one promising stuck out, but it was early and she had the time to spare. At least she hoped so.
[/spoiler]
Hard to say what made Kade uneasy the first night away from the settlement. Maybe it was just how the shadows fell around the campfire, dancing and strange like demons on the jet background. The sounds may have had something to do with it as well, because there was never a more quiet moment then the one that followed a strange twig snap somewhere in the dark. Her eyes had grown accustomed to peering away from firelight, and seemed to constantly roam the desolate ash waste of the forest floor. This had been a wonderful place to explore years prior, but after the fallout, all that remained was the towering trunks of dead wood and ankle deep ash. At least such things made a fire easy to hide when it was time to go, to keep the trackers off your trail, and the cannibals from gathering skin. Kade had heard stories, humors from frightened villagers, and took them as seriously as one might have taken a story on the evening news.
Once upon a time, life was a distant thing viewed through a television screen.
But they didn't have the luxury of such things at this point in history, because once powerful nations all had a bone to pick with one another. How giants fall, not gracefully, but with a mighty thud. So down came empires and governments and churches and knowledge, followed by decency, morality and God. Things that had no place in this new world were cast off like the bindings of once freed slaves - giving everyone more a reason to fight, but less a reason to live. If there was a God left in all of this Hell, they sure had one hell of a sense of humor. Each night Kade was on the move, her trek had lead her farther from what small world she had known and deeper into the bowels of the wastelands. Every fire side pit stop was a fearful one, and all her traveling was done at a slugs pace, slowly creeping through whatever seemingly lived in areas she found. Hardly could she trust these established gangs of fools and cretins; she didn't know them well enough to borrow a cup of sugar, let alone put her neck on the line to meet and greet them.
But there was hope in the form of one hint, a scribbled sign on aged plywood that read in bold letters: Settlers Pass. A name could mean everything, or nothing at all, so Kade could only hope what she remembered about the locale was true at this point. If it hadn't been raided, or pillaged or even burned down, there was hope she could stop in and take a few days off. So within a few days travel, she was greeted with gate guards in gaudy flannel and hunters caps, a gun slung over each of their shoulders, even as their attention seemed without regard for Kade. Her eyes narrowed and her hands moved to brush away stray locks of strangely dyed hair tufts, making herself seem a bit more presentable before she emerged from the bushes. Slow steps towards them signaled she wasn't a threat, as did her seeming lack of weapon, because she knew one small show of arms was liable to get you shot by anyone with the gun to do so. No one liked a tough guy, and even less did they like a mouthy teen.
"Wait!" And there was a pause as Kade came to a slow, all wide eyed and confused like a rabbit after catching sight of a sneaking predator. No motions could frighten her more than the guns being pointed in her direction, and for one bitter moment, she tasted blood and bile at the tip of her tongue; only the sharp crack of a shot whizzed past her, and a small pounding noise hit the ground at her back. So she swiveled to catch what the men had been shooting at, and felt herself sigh in relief at what had been the target. Squirrel. Just a plain grey Squirrel, now bleeding into the dirt path where she remained, and the two guards were now back to squabbling over who should get it.
"...And I shot it, so it's only fair."
"Seriously? I spotted it, told you it was there, and you're gonna shaft me over it? What a dick."
"Not even. Look, I have a family to feed. You have just one fat whore with a mouth that never shuts, so I think I deserv-"
"She's pregnant, you bastard!"
And on the two continued as an oblivious Kade seemed to slip stealthily through the gate behind the pair. And so she was in town, and the look of it hinted at two things for the girl; One being how walled off and neat the settlement seemed, but the second was a tad less obvious. No one was around. People seemed to be elsewhere for the time, far from the small shops and makeshift homes that lined the visible path. Kade assumed this was a road, though really it resembled a simplistically managed dirt walkway, with stones lining each side in attempts to give it a more upkept look about it. Not that she cared what sort of decorations the town had decided on, but the idea they had time to do this meant they were far more at ease then she. So she followed the available directions on markers periodically placed along this solo road - assuming this was indeed the only way through town, save the tight 'alleys' between tiny homes.
Eventually the most common word in the new English language showed its ugly face in the form of a rather large and tacky adornment over the doorway of an old theater. TAVERN. Crudely painted images of topless women accompanied the word, but Kade knew better then to assume she could get a drink without some poor girl on a stage with her tits out. That was the only way some people could make money, or in most cases, earn food; and being helpless in this time period really limited your options. You better be really good looking, really influential or just fucking desperate, because without a skill to rely on, you were as good as useless and probably candidate to being booted from a colony. She'd seen it happen a time or two with the rambling vagrants of her home town, ones that would have been ignored under normal circumstances - but were now considered a liability. So off they were sent, into the wilds to fend for themselves.
Kade was sure they had been eaten.
The doors swung lazily on their hinges as the girl pushed through, dressed in her filthy attire with her hair stuck up in weird directions, colorful in the obvious disarray. Attractive, but obviously in need of a bath, she kept the lower half of her face behind a grubby scarf while her piercing storm grey eyes bounced over the various patrons of the bar. All normal in the sense they were much as she was: dirty, timid and quiet. Really, these were the huddled masses for her, and she felt better knowing the people of this settlement were just like the ones she had grown used to in her time. So she made her slow steps count, taking it all in before she came to a stop at the bar, where a seat was taken and her eyes took to settling on the working bar tender. Probably the only overweight man in the place, it was obvious he had made a good bit of profit off brewing booze. Seemed a lost art now, hence each town only seemed to have one Tavern, and it was always the most populated venue around.
"What'll ya have, Kid?" Asked the male, a bushy mustache moving in a wave over hidden lips as it directed the question to Kade.
"Just water, if you have it. Clean water." Taking out her canteen, she pushed it forward then reached into her front pocket and retrieved a cigarette, which was added to the exchange. "Whatever a smoke gets me."
"I'll fill the canteen for it. Hard to find smokes in this season." With a nod to the female, the bartender vanished back, towards behind the liquor display, where his form slipped through a small door labeled 'Storage'. As this building had once been a theater of some sort, it seemed rather odd in its set up, with various chairs still randomly placed about the room, though most were gone with only rivet holes and discolored spots left in the concrete. Still, it was near silent and the people didn't once try and stare her down, so this was just the place to start looking for recruits. So far, no one promising stuck out, but it was early and she had the time to spare. At least she hoped so.
[/spoiler]
BDRP Admin. Writer. Villain. Personal Blog.
I tried running from the memory and the mourning.
I tried running from the memory and the mourning.