A land of death

[Nathchi]

The City of Death

A land of death, as you could call it. Everything gone... life, light, people. All gone. Where are they? What are we? What have we done? What is going to become of us? Is there life in other planets? So many questions yet no one who can answer it. A virus, or so we think it is. Spread throughout the whole city, first started as something small, then got bigger and bigger. More and more ended up dead and no one could stop this, people started to blame each others, hating, loving, betraying till nothing were left to blame and take from. People started to form a closer bond than ever before, people started to hate each others more than before and the feeling of weakness and afraidness were all too big to handle. Yet, some people made through this but what now? What different bonds is going to form? What will be of the city and what about the rest of the world? How are we going to stop the virus from spreading and how are we going to start the planet's life to go on again? Yet, one question is remaining. Did we deserve this?

Spoiler

We, anonymous people. Strugling, fighting, crying and laughing. Are trying to search after a new life in the land of death. In hope that we still can survive. Do you have what it takes to find it? Do you have the strength to keep fighting? And do you have the answer for all the questions? Are we all going to die in the end with nothing in our hand or are we going to see a bright light before us?

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He walked through the city once again, he've done this rather often now yet couldn't stop. It've started to rain now and he had his umbrella ready, actually it was his little sister's but since she was dead now, he had more use of it. The sky was gray as ever and as always, no sign of life. He started to wonder if he was the only one left living here. His blue eyes looked forward while some of his blue hair was in the way of his view but he didn't bother, he could still see after all. He felt that his body started to get weak after not eating for awhile now, he surely have lost weight because he were never this skinny before. No, no! He had many friends, had a healthy strong body and smiled everyday and now... He looked down to see a canned food laying on the ground and kicked it, the sound eoched through the rainy city and kept going and going untill it slowly started to fade away. It really was dead here. What was he going to do? He needed food and soon, he knew he couldn't find much but maybe he could check the stores in center of town again? His stomach started to growl in anger but he tried to ignore it as much as possible. What if he found someone in town? Probably not but... still.

 

[Noodles]

Grace rummaged through the dumpsters behind a food store that had been raided long ago. "Nothing...never anything! Oh god........ I'm talking to myself." She shut her mouth and sunk to the ground. She stared at a rat that was staring right back at her. It had beady little black eyes. "...are you mocking me?" She spat at the rat. "You little bastard. You have a never ending supply of food. What do I have? Nothing!" She hissed at it. The rat squeled and scampered away. "I'm going crazy." She told herself and started walking to the outskirts of town where the smell of death wasn't as strong.

 

[Nathchi]

He kept on walking with his umbrella rised up to the sky even though the rain has already stopped for minutes ago, he looked around and then heard a noise. It was a bit blurry, at first he though it was his imagination but then it got louder. It got clearer and it was obviously not an animal, perhaps a human?! It echoed through the city and he got closer and closer, could it possible be another human being? He got this mixed feelings, both happy and dissapointing ones. What if it was an old TV just running? Yet, to be able to see someone than rats and bugs gets him exited, though he doesn't show much on the surface, his inside are bubbling with feelings. He knocked his umbrella against the wall, checking if the noise would stop or not. He felt like talking but his throat was so dry he could barely speak.

 

[Noodles]

Grace heard heard something... Something banging off something else? Probably just rats, but she couldn't help her curiousity. She ran along a lifeless alley trying to find the source of the sound. A grin spread across her filthy face as she saw a tall slender figure about 15 metres away holding an umbrella. Wait. Was it just her imagination? Will she incredibly disappointed when the hallucination faded? She had nothing to lose. "Hello?" She croaked peeping around the corner waiting for the figure to react. She held a hockey stick in her hands for protection, she had only had to use it to smash windows and barge down doors, but just in case..

 

[Nathchi]

He saw someone a bit away, it was hard to see who it was but it was a person. He just hoped that the hunger isn't mocking him but he heard the person, probably a girl by the voice calling out. He wanted to reply but his dry voice just made him cough and clear his throat. He lifted his umbrella and started to wave and then open it, to make a sort of contact to the person. He then took his arm down and just let it dangle under his arm while he slowly walked to the girl. He knocked the umbrella against the wall to make it clear that he's coming towards it, hoping that she would understand that he isn't doing any threats. With no water around he could barely speak, just keep on coughing and sounding like a dead man, the only choice is to keep quiet now or else she would probably find him weird or maybe even a creep.

 

[Noodles]

She raised her eyebrows at the person. She decided the person was no threat. She could only see an umbrella and she was desperate for human contact. She stepped out from behind the wall. "Can you talk?" She asked as the wind blew her blonde hair from her face. It was greasy and dirty. She was a short girl and her grey eyes grew wide as she edged closer to this other person. "A-are you real?" She asked curisouly.

 

[Nathchi]

-"I-I-" He coughed in the try to talk and even though he had a cloth covering his mouth he still covered his mouth with his hand. A habit people have when coughing. He saw the little girl whom was much shorter than himself and it wasn't really that weird since he was about 190cm tall, something like that anyway. She was probably like himself, lonely and lost. In search after anything and in a city like this, you had no place you could call your real "home". He got closer as his blue eyes shone in the darkness and his white skin that could be shown around the face hadn't been touched in the slightes. As clean as ever it was.
-"I...hrmmrrh... my.. throat'h is dry." He coughed some more after speaking when his throat got irritated and when he spoke he sounded like he was about to die, or was deadly sick even though he wasn't any of that.

 

[Noodles]

"Oh!" She said as she swung a backpack off her back and scooped out a canteen of water. "Here, you sound like a dead person." She said handing him water. She looked up at his piercing blue eyes. "I haven't seen a breathing human in so long..." She said awe-struck. "Are there more humans with you " she said getting excited. "How are you so clean by the way, as you can see I'm not in the cleanest shape at the moment." She said brushing herself down and running her fingers through her grimey hair. "I'm grace." She said as she grinned and stuck out a small scratched up hand for him to shake.

 

[Nathchi]

When he saw the water he almost snatched it from her hands but more gentle than he wanted to, took away the cloth from his mouth and drank and drank and just drank the water until he moaned in relief, he saw that he almost have drank all the water, it was just some little left. He gave her it back fast before he would drink any more.
-"Thank you." He said with a more clean deep voice that would softly ring in your ear and a gentle smile that could make anyone smile back. He then looked at her with wonder.
-"Ah, no. It's just me and well..." He started to wonder before shrugging.
-"I guess the rain, since I usually takes a shower or two once in awhile. Also I don't touch much stuff, except for my umbrella." He showed her his umbrella that had an animal on it with ears, it was probably a cat.
-"Anthony." He then said and took a gentle grip around her warm, small and dirty hand.
-"I guess... it's only you here, huh?" He then asked, looking around.

 

[Noodles]

After shaking his hand she tucked the near empty canteen back into her bag. "Yeah, just me, and the rats of course." She frowned. "Its a cute umbrella." She said trying to lighten up the mood. "Do you have a camp somewhere? Cause I've just been mooching around the streets staying where food is." She said gently. As two rats scampered on a drain pipe above them.

 

[Nathchi]

-"Ah, I understand and thanks." Anthony smiled and then scratched his cheek a bit.
-"Weeelll...." He said while looking up at the buildings.
-"I guess I have, since I sleep there but nothing more then that." He said and then looked at the surroundings that was tight, filled with dirt and ruins and old stuff you couldn't use anymore such as a tv, a broken table, lamps, chairs and much more. Then there were the rats, climbing and didn't need to worry about the virus nor food but soon they would probably have it difficult with food since the humans aren't much and most of the food is starting to rot or is already fading away.

 

[Smo]

And if his eyes had searched farther, through the debris, it'd be clear that they were not alone. Shifting through the rubble, a fiery redhead was on her haunches, busily taking apart a lamp for its wires. She hoped as she always had that the wires were in good condition but as she carefully popped some metal back, she thought quietly to herself.

Tricky thing, she mused, but not as impossible as the dated TV on my left...

With the back of her hand, she wiped the grease from her brow, and went back to taking apart the lamp until a piece snapped. She muttered curses as she watched the bit ricochet off a few things, knocked what had been a table at some point over, causing a huge ruckus. She bounced to her feet and looking rather bewildered at the two people, she then smiled sheepishly.

"Well, then. That was quite..." she looked behind her, where everything had collapsed. "Awkward."

 

[Noodles]

Grace jumped and nearly slipped at the sound of a bunch of stuff collapsing. She shot a look toward the sound to find a smiling girl. "Geeeez you almost gave me a heart attack" she let a big sigh out. She then grinned a big toothy smile. "Well hi there. I'm grace!" She pranced over to this new person. She was ecstatic to see another person! Two in one day! Amazing! "So what's your name?" She asked while examining her.

 

[Smo]

"Erm," she hadn't expected to be well received. "It's... Aston."

Her gaze fell to her hands where she still held onto the now dissembled lamp. With a stroke of luck, it seemed that the wires were intact and that made Aston's heart leap with glee. The girl's gaze shot to Grace's and wondered why the other was looking at her closely. She wasn't nothing too impressive, with her stained mechanic overalls and wild mane of curls. She ran a gloved hand through her hair and shyly leaned onto her left foot. One would get the indication she was a shy creature in this dreary land.

Then the look of realization hit her face, "Wait. Did I interrupt something? Because if you two were uh, sucking face or something, I can step over here and -- oh look! More parts." She inched off to the side, busily fiddling with something.

 

[Noodles]

Grace's looked like it was about to explode. And then it did. She was laughing hysterically. It had been the first time in ages since she had laughed. As she was laughing she was waving her hockey stick and it hit her in her own shin. "Ouch!" She whispered. She then looked back at the girl. "No, we only just met actually." She explained. "And you should stay with us! Little happy hobo family" she chuckled.

 

[Smo]

Aston looked relieved as she scritch-scratched her hand. "Hobos, eh?" she chuckled at that.

If they were kind enough to offer, there weren't many downsides to the situation -- so she hoped. She could defend herself but the idea of joining a little herd of 'hobos' was satisfying. It was hard enough sleeping with one eye poked open, but with a group, there was safety in numbers. There was no denying that. So with a small grin, she nodded in agreement.

"Sure, why not? And is that really a hockey stick?" she then asked, her brow perking up.

 

[Noodles]

"Yay, little hobos forever! And yes this is really a hockey stick." She held it up and then into a swinging motion." Its great! It can knock down doors and swat rats awaty and shatter glass." She put it back at her side in case she was going to hit her head instead of her shin this time.
She looked at the sun setting. *I think we should make a fire. It gets cold as hell, as you know. But them again light and attracts all the vermin in this dead city." She said almost arguing with herself.

 

[Smo]

There was an instance where Aston felt over-prepared. Tucked in her waistband was a gun she crafted from the scraps she found, and she wondered how they would react if she was that armed. She didn't want to cause any problems -- she just felt the need to make one because given the chance if she did run into humans, she didn't know their intentions and she wasn't ready to give herself up to the mercy of a sketchy individual.

These two however, they were fine. Her gut told her so. She believed she was a good judge of character and though it hadn't failed her yet, she was willing to start trusting at least Grace. She didn't know about the young man with her, but she felt he was harmless. To her, anyway.

"We should get out of here, the vermin will be coming shortly and I don't like my ankles getting gnawed."

 

[Nathchi]

He looked at them both, chatting with each others and there he was, just smiling. To think that he would meet this many in one day sure is amazing. When was the last time he met other people this many? He can't even remember and then when they talked to get to safety he would speak, his voice wasn't all too well since it was still a little dry but atleast he didn't sound weird.
-"I've a... shelter of some sort where I sleep, I also have a lamp there that works and gives out heat. I can't remember what they're called but if you two want. We could go there." He offered and looked at them in wonder, he was actually quite scared of the darkness, not really the dark but what could happen when it gets dark outside. When he last spoke with people he've heard stories of a dangerous group wandering around, killing people for whatever reason they had. There were even rumors that this unknown group was cannibals and he didn't like that. Of course, a rumor of a group eating and killing people in a city like this was... hardly accepted since most of the city is dead... but still, it gave him the creeps even though the rumors are ages old.

 

[Smo]

"It'd probably be best," Aston concurred.

She didn't stay in one place for long, and made camp in the most obscure of places where nobody would expect to find a girl sleeping. Hopefully he had taken the means to secure a safe spot because if it wasn't, Aston would be playing guard all night. She offered a smile, nodded, and went to strip the remaining wires of the lamp she was taking apart before she discovered these two. Needing only a few of them, she plucked them out and stuffed them into her pocket.

"Ready to go? Lead the way."