After the Desolation- Rebuilding the World

C

Charlie Vasilyev

Guest
Plot Henrietta Gulyas Aiden Pyrel
  • Starting the early 2020s the third world war broke out only this one was different because most participants were building or had nuceal capabilities. It was long and bloody and in the end nuclear weapons were used. Many countries were wiped out.
    The USA had been building vaults and shelters during the war and many citizens survived hiding there. Still most of the country was left on the surface to suffer the consequences of nuclear fall out. Most died, but some survived burned and mutated. As year went on the nuclear wasteland that was once the US also moved on. Where cities once were grown over rubble now stood. The animals and humans thta lived mutated to survive. The climate even changed putting the US ever present extremes. Extreme heat or extreme cold with very few 'moderate' months in between.
    Years kept moving and things fell into a way of life. In the vaults people lived under the thumb of their director. Some were strict some lenient. Some vaults were evacuated because systems failed, revolutions ended others, and still other survived by harsh punishment and extreme control.
    There are roaming gangs and nomads that have been thrown out of or escaped vaults on the surface, but what the surface dwellers and shelter dwellers don't know is that the vaults were never built to last this long. The time will come when everything will stop running and working. Then it will be seen who will survive.


  • Name: Henrietta Sari Gulyas

    Nickname: Retta, Ri, Henri

    Age: 19

    Gender: Female

    Orientation: Straight

    Likes: People, water, drinking, music, her denim jacket(She likes the patches), colorful things, flowers,

    Dislikes: Feeling used, being alone, the night, her past, sleeping

    Why They're Out Of The Underground: She was thrown out of her vault for stealing alcohol.

    Personality:

    Impulsive- Henrietta is very impulsive. She tends to act without thinking and doesn't have the best self control. She has hyper-sexual tendencies and tries to hide problems by distracting herself and keeping herself busy with other things. She will get into fights, steal things, and make poor decisions and deals just to keep herself from having to think about her past or why she does what she does.

    Extroverted- Henrietta enjoys being around people which can be a problem in the wilderness where friends are hard to come by. She tends to get anxious and depressed because she has nothing to distract herself with. Being around people gives her energy and helps her keep her mind busy. Henrietta also cares for people a lot which is hard to see because of how jumpy her attention is, buts he truly does care for others.

    Energetic/Jumpy- Henrietta has a lot of energy. She tends to be hyper which helps her keep going for the days where it's dangerous to sleep because of gangs or mutants in the area. Her energy is very vibrant. When around others she talks a lot and is very jumpy and exciteable. She doesn't focus too well either so her conversations are very flighty.

    Lonely- Even when around others Henrietta tends to feel isolated and alone. Which is why she overcompensates with being high energy and very friendly. Because of her past Henrietta feels like she can't connect with others easily. She depression issues, but can hid it around others because people give her the energy to hide stuff. When alone she doesn't have that energy to care anymore.

    Bio: Henrietta was born in one of the harsher vaults. It was very strict about who was useful and who was useless. Her father, who was a nurse, was thrown out when she was 4 because he was stealing narcotics. This was also the time the twins were born.

    Kata and Abraham were born early and Kata was born with CP in her left leg. The director of the vault gave her mother a choice. Give him Henrietta or Kata gets kicked out because she was considered 'useless' due to disability. The deal was secret of course and required for Kata to stay hidden so that other families didn't try to cut deals also.

    Her mother chose to give Henrietta to the director. Henrietta lived with him until she was 15. A week after her 15th birthday it was discovered that Henrietta had been stealing alcohol from the small supply the vault had which was used to reward people the director favored or rarely as a reward when the vault was doing well. Stealing in the vaults was considered one of the worse crimes because of how limited certain supplies were especially as rare as some things were.

    Upon being thrown out Henrietta didn't have anything. She wasn't allowed to take any supplies to take with her. The vaults policy was if anyone was caught stealing they would be released into the wilderness with one pair of clothes, but no shoes and no supplies. This was discourage stealing even in the lowest class of the vault.

    Henrietta hooked up with several gangs as she wandered using prostitution as her form of paying because she had no other skills.

    Looks: The young woman stands at 4'11" and is rather thin from her time in the wilderness. She has very small muscle definition from getting stronger but is also very spindly. Her curves though their are relatively small from malnutrition.

    Henrietta is part Hungarian, part Israeli, and part British. Her skin is a light brown and now after 4 years in the wilderness is deeply tanned and dirty. She has plenty of scars on her body. There are a lot on her legs and feet from her first weeks and months in the wilderness and also on her arms and chest from fighting and sometimes her form of 'trade' got rough.

    Henrietta has black slightly wavy hair that's greasy and filthy because of how little she gets to perform personal hygiene. She hacked it up with a knife recently because she thought it was getting too long and too nasty. It hangs over her ears a bit and unevenly around her neck and forehead. She has moderately thick eyebrows and rather thick eyelashes.

    Her eyes are a very deep blue with a star burst of gray near the middle and specks of brown in them. Her nose is a button nose and her lips are thin. Her right ear is normal, but her left ear looks mangled because when she was first out one of her 'clients' shot at her after he felt he didn't get a good enough end of the deal. It missed her barely, but ripped up her ear and deafened her in that ear.

    Henrietta's hands are small and by now well calloused and scarred. Her nails are bitten to the quick because when she gets anxious she bites them. Her feet are also relatively small.

    Wears: She wears a dingy tan t-shirt that used to be white, but now is more sandy brown if anything. Her pants are a set of faded desert camoflouge cargo pants that have rips at the edges and are getting threadbare at the knees and her boots are a pair of brown kids work boots she traded for years a go.
    She has a coyote tan backpack she also traded for also a few years ago. It's a military bag with velcro on the outside for patches and strips you can hook flashlights and the like too.
    She has a faded denim jacket with various odd patches in her bag she uses in the winter.
    She has a milk jug filled with water she keeps slung on some rope over her shoulders.

    Other: She is deaf in her left ear.

    Henrietta bites her nails when anxious.

    Her gear is a mismash of old military stuff and work type clothes. She got most of her gear during her first year in the wilderness.

    Most of her 'trades' now she still uses prostitution for because she refuses to trade her equipment for fear of losing her things.

    Most of her trades now are to use water filling places and get food.

    Henrietta never sticks around with one gang because despite it being her choice to sell herself she eventually starts feeling used and unable to form any deep connections will runaway and move on.

    Family:

    Mother- Riva Miriam Gulyas

    Father- Gregory Edvard Gulyas

    Sister- Katalinka Lily Gulyas

    Brother- Abraham Gregory Gulyas

    Theme Song(s):

    I Will Not Bow ~ Breaking Benjamin

    Creator: @Charlie Vasilyev


  • Name: Aiden Pyrel

    Nickname: Peacock

    Age: 18

    Gender: Male

    Orientation: Straight

    Likes: Being around others, Certain types of pain, Feeling useful

    Dislikes: Doing Nothing, Laziness in general, Deep water (he has a fear of drowning),

    Why They're Out Of The Underground: His father got kicked out, and since his mother left with his father, he joined them.

    Personality:

    Tolerant: He is willing to listen to the opinions of others and not degrade them for what they believe, especially there he knows there are questionable things about himself.

    Charismatic: If the mood seems low, Aiden is good at using words and action to pick up the mood and motivate those that are down.

    Selfless: This is not always a positive trait. In many cases, he will put others above himself, even at the risk of his own health. There are a few specific cases where he will put himself first when it means no physical harm will come to the other person.

    Prideful: It is this trait along with his looks that earned him his nickname of Peacock: the pretty boy with an attitude. Being prideful can be negative, but he tries to make it as positive as he can and only struts himself around someone he considers a friend.

    Bio:
    Aiden doesn't remember much of his time in the vault. He remembers the people were fairly kind, at least to him, but they were also strict because they had to be. He was only there until the age of 5, since during that year his father, Seth, got kicked out for his lack of willingness to help. His mother was not willing to leave him, so she went with and so Aiden came along also.

    His memories of the vault are limited, whereas his memories of the surface are clear as day. The first year above ground was fairly uneventful, with the three of them wandering around, but after that, his father took control of one of the wandering games, and it was with that gang he lived for the next 11 years.

    Life for him was fairly simple. As a young child he made friends out of some of the other permanent members of the gang, and as he grew older he learned how to better survive. Unfortunately, as the years passed his relationship with his father started to crumble. The two of them began to argue about many things, the biggest one being that Aiden took pleasure in inflicting pain upon himself, something he figured his father would never understand.

    A chance at understanding would never be given since Seth was killed in front of him by someone he had thought was a friend of their family. The killer told him to leave unless he wanted to suffer the same fate. With no other choice, he fled. The seventeen year old quickly turned 18, and he spent his time trying to survive while hoping he would one day be able to return to the mother he had to leave behind, praying that she was doing ok.

    Looks:
    Aiden stands at 5'8" and has a weight (that used to be an average of 120 lbs) has been dropping since the incident that led him to being on his own.

    His hair is black and hangs down to his neck, expect for his bangs which hang down slightly passed his nose since it has grown and he has not taken the chance to cut it. It stands out against his paling skin, since most of his traveling has been done at night when he is least likely to accidentally run into the gang he was kicked from, fearing what might happen if he did.

    The middle of his irises are a seafoam green, the edges blending into a more darker blue. His eyes are soft, like the rest of his facial features. The right side of his bottom lip is pierced, something he convinced a friend to make for him as a way to spite his father. It hadn't been easy to get what was needed for the piercing, but he had managed to work out a deal.

    Clothing is whatever he finds to wear, normally a plain t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Shoes are another story as his recently became unwearable so he is looking for something else to wear, so as of right now his feet are bare. He was lucky enough to find a backpack so puts anything useful he finds in it.

    Aiden small

    Other:
    Aiden is a masochist, but he is anything but submissive.

    He wants nothing more than to return to his Momma, the person he loves the most in this world.

    He is not doing as well on his own as he thought he would.


    Family:
    Seth Pyrel- Father- Deceased
    Unnamed mother- Alive
    Adrian Pyrel- Uncle- Unknown

    Theme Song(s):

    Soliders ~ Otherwise

    Creator: @Icystorm
 
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Henrietta rolled away from the past put older man next to her on the old creaky bed. She had made the desicion she needed to leave this gang. For all the 'work' she was doing here she was getting very little food and shelter. She quietly stood up and pulled on her trousers and tshirt before putting her boots back on. It was a colder time of year, but her jacket was currently being used for more important things so she just told herself to suck it up.

Quietly lifting her bag off the ground she slung it on her back and moved over to the window. They were in an old busted up ranch-style house on the edge of what used to be a good sized town. Henrietta peeked out to see where the patrols were. There were always people guarding in case of an attack from mutants or other gangs. It was very early in the morning, probably about 1 AM, and the patrols were just changing. The window was busted so Henretta easily climbed through and moved quickly away before anyone could see her. She sucked behind some buildings and kept moving.

The young woman's goal was too put some distance between her and the gang before the sun came up. Honestly they probably wouldn't miss her that much. She was just another mouth to feed and 'stress relief' so to speak. However they would miss the three jars of homemade alcohol she currently had in wrapped in her jacket stowed in her bag. The gang home brewed their own moonshine/vodka type combo and they were very protective of it.

The sun started peeking as she trudged along the side of the road a good distance from the town. Henrietta glanced behind her checking for followers again. She turned off the broken road and started off into the trees where it would be harder to find her.
 
A few days ago Aiden left a group of people that had been kind enough to help him. They gave him some food and water, not much but it had been better than nothing, especially since he had given them no reason to help him. He was just a grubby looking boy with nothing to offer except for kind words. The one thing they would not do was let him stay with him since they didn't want another mouth to feed. The food and water had been enough for him, it was more than most gave, but it wasn't something that would last long.

It hadn't. He had made it last two days and was now going on the third with nothing to eat, and he had not been lucky enough to scavenge anything. The food wasn't his biggest concern, though. His supply of water was also gone, so if he did not find more soon then he was a goner. How long could someone last without water? 3 days? 4 if lucky?

He had been walking through some trees but stopped to shift his unfortunately light backpack. He estimated he had another twenty minutes before the sun came up, so he continued walking, now also searching for a place to sleep, ignoring the way the tree branches scratched at his exposed arms. Suddenly he clamped his hand over his mouth to prevent a pained sound. Lifting his foot, he took a deep breath and pulled out the sharp stone that had tore through his calloused foot, blood flowing out of the wound. This was not what he needed today.

With a sigh, Aiden sat down on the ground and pulled out some wrapping out of his backpack. After wrapping the wound, not that it would do much good, the rocks and twigs on the ground would only tear through the wrapping, he stood up and continued walking.

The estimated twenty minutes passed. He still had not found a place to shelter, but the sun began to rise. Deciding he had to keep moving until he found somewhere to sleep, he continued on. Another couple minutes passed and finally there was a change, the sound of someone else walking. Hiding the best he could, he waited as the footsteps grew louder. He told himself he would wait until the person passed, but that did not happen, because when he saw that it was only a young woman, he emerged from his hiding spot and tried to make himself appear non-threatening, which wasn't too hard with his soft features. "Is there other people around here, or is it just you?" Only after the words were out of his mouth did he realize how suspicious it sounded, that she could easily take it the wrong way, so he quickly added, "I'm almost out of supplies and need to get some more."
 
Henrietta jumped and whipped out her switch blade when a young man suddenly stepped out in front of her. He seemed harmless, but you never knew these days desperate times changed how people acted...how people thought.

"Is there other people around here, or is it just you?" The scraggily young man asked.

Well that's an F-in' creepy question...this guy's probably mental. Henrietta thought backing up slightly her switchblade still open in her and ready in her left hand.

"I'm almost out of supplies and need to get some more." She listened to his next statement which still made her slightly suspicious. He could be playing the 'I'm-a-helpless-puppy' card to lure her somewhere. She frowned for a few moments,

"What do you want? What you got to trade for it?" she asked. It felt weird Henrietta was never on the upper-side of a trade deal. She was always the one begging, seducing, or going to new lows to get what she needed. It was odd to suddenly have the power. Yes she had supplies that would probably last her long enough to find another group or person to trade with.

Keeping her knife trained on the young man Henrietta started to assess him and the environment around them. He was very thin and shockingly pale for someone who lived out here. His hair was a ratty mess and partially covered his face. He wasn't a bad looking guy honestly despite the circumstances. Glancing around around she tried to gauge if she could run away if needed. If she dropped her bag she knew she could, but she didn't want to lose her precious supplies, jacket, and bag and have to retart so that was practically not an option.

Henrietta turned back to face the stranger waiting impatiently for him to respond.
 
Aiden eyed the switchblade but kept his non-threatening appearance. He had no plans to hurt or force her to give him what she had, even if she didn't want to help him or give him any helpful information. Too bad she didn't know that, so if she ended up attacking him, he would run, and if running was out of the question then he would do what he could to subdue her without hurting her.

Her questions caused him to blink in uncertainty, and he could very quickly see where this was going, and it was not looking good for him. It was always with the trading, which was fair, but when one had nothing of use to trade then life became very difficult. Mostly everything he came across that was useful had been traded for food and water.

"I'm going to move, but please know I'm not going to hurt you." Slowly, he crouched down and set his backpack in front of him. His movements continued to stay slow as he unzipped the bag and began to pull out what items he had. On the ground he placed a knife, an empty bottle that he used for water, a pair of socks that were in shreds, wrappings for wounds, a small blanket, a winter hat, and a rope. The rope was something he would rather not trade away, and if people knew what he used if for they would give him a look of horror.

"I need food and water, or at least just water, but that is all I can offer." He looked up at her, his pleading features a mixture of hope and worry.
 
Henrietta came to a realization. She hated being the one with the upper hand at negotiation. It made her feel like a horrible person and reminded her of her mother begging her to go with the director.

Please Henrietta you have to! Kata will die out there! Her mother's voice whispered in her head, Here I'll give you the toys you can take take those with. And daddy's ring you just gotta to the directors. It'll be OK you'll just e living with a different family! Henrietta frowned and forced that memory away. She didn't have the ring anymore. The director had taken it away from her before she was kicked out because she wasn't allowed to have any comforts from home. She'd loved that ring because it reminded her of her daddy who was one of the few people she actually felt love for. The ring, because there wasn't really actually wedding rings anymore, was tightly wound steel and copper wire soddered to hold together. Her mother's had been just steal wire with a quartez stone like a diamond on it.

Don't do it Henrietta. This is a horrible idea! her brain shouted at her, but Henrietta didn't listen.

"I'll take the hat and you have to travel with me." She told the pleading young man. He didn't appear to be much of a fighter, but maybe he had other skill sets that were useful. Honestly it the first idea she thought of and being impulsive and impatient she went with it.

Nervously the young girl glanced behind her and lowered her knife. She needed to keep moving even though she was tired,

"Hurry up." she commanded the stranger waving her knife as she gestured, though it wasn't in a threatening way more of a haphazard I-forgot-I-was-holding-this way.
 
Aiden blinked up at the girl. It had been surprising that she had agreed to do any sort of trade with him, and it was even more of a surprise that she wanted him to go with her. He didn't know why she would want him to come with her, it wasn't as if he would be much use with the state he was in right now. He hadn't been doing such a great job of taking care of himself. After all, he was practically begging for help.

"Alright." He packed the items back into his back, leaving the hat out. Zipping up the bag, he slung it over his shoulder and stood up, hat in hand. As he was standing up, he noticed how the girl looked behind her, as if expecting someone to be there. Was someone after her? It would explain the way she was acting.

Not wanting to get close, especially with the knife she held in her hand, he held out the hat. "Here." As he waited for her to take it, he took the time to get a better look at her. She looked how he would expect anyone to look that was living on their own. Her hair was as dirty as his, if not dirtier, and it was also shorter than his own. She had more scars than he did. Like him there was blue in her eyes. Unlike him, there was also brown mixed with the blue while his had green mixed in. The most noticeable feature about her was her ear, which was torn and mangled. Something had happened to her, and he imagined it had not been pretty.

"Why do you want me to come with you?" It made no sense for her to want him to come with when he would only eat her food, drink her water, and possibly slow her down. That was if she decided to share more than a sip of water with him.
 
Henrietta grabbed the hat and pulled it on so it covered her mangled ear because it was cold, but not over her good ear. Being deaf in one ear made her cautious about limiting her hearing in her good ear which even meant covering it too keep it warm. She didn't like limiting her senses more than they already were.

Slinging her bag down she pulled out a partial loaf of bread ripped some off and handed it too the young man. She grabbed the water bottle which he'd forgotten to pack away and filled it half way with her jug before also handing it to him and putting her rucksack back on.

"Let's go." she said ignoring his question. She wasn't sure why she'd invited him with her, it just seemed like a good idea at the time. Mostly because she hated being alone and any company was welcome for her, though that wouldn't come out right if she said it. Too needy and wimpy.

"I'm Henrietta by the way." She introduced herself putting her knife back in her pocket and starting off at a brisk pace away from the road. No one was after her yet, but she wanted to be far enough away that her trail couldn't be picked up. She wanted to rest and find shelter, because she'd been going since around 1 AM and hadn't really slept before then, but since she'd made the decision to steal the alcohol that wasn't an option for her.

"Who are you?" she prompted glancing up and waiting for the young man's name.
 
Aiden looked as if he were about to cry as he took the piece of bread. The temptation to eat all he was given was strong, but he ignored it, taking nothing but a bite out of it. The rest might be needed for later, so he reached behind him, grabbed the zipper of his bag, and unzipped it enough to stash the rest of the bread inside. Once the food was in his bag, he waited to zip it up since he saw she was also filling some of his bottle.

Taking the bottle, he took a much needed sip of the water. He was careful not to drink too much. Capping the bottle, he put it in his bag and zipped up the zipper. The girl seemed impatient, so he did all this as quickly as he could, only now noticing that she had not answered his question.

As he followed her, he was glad she was at least social enough to tell him her name, and it made him a bit hopeful that he would actually enjoy travelling with her. He had been alone longer than he liked, only getting to visit with people when he begged for a food and water. It was so unlike him, the begging, it made him feel low. That is what he was, though, wasn't it? His actions when meeting Henrietta proved that.

"I'm Aiden." He sped up his pace so he was walking next to her and gave her a kind smile. "It is nice to meet you, Henrietta. Thank you." For both the food and company. Even thought the company was questionable, it was better than nothing.
 
Henrietta walked quickly alone noting how little Aiden actually ate and drank though he appeared very hungry. She trotted along at a good clip taking a sip out of her jug of water and putting the cap back on as she kept moving. She glanced at him now and then still assessing him. She tucked some of her scraggily hair behind her ear as they walked along trying to think of how to start a conversation. Most people in the wilderness didn't seem to talk much unless they were close with a gang.

"So Aiden..." she started trying to think, most subjects were sort of off limits. Family was a horrible idea to ask about, recreational activities were minimum to none these days, there was no real future hope either to talk about. Henrietta sighed she was too tired to fully think through anything right now.

"You hear about the packs of dog mutants around here?" she asked. There had been more stories going around of dog packs becoming more aggressive which was worrying because they were very vicious and do to their mutating their bites infected quickly. If you didn't hang out around people or gangs you might not here as much news like that, but being 'social' or whatever her form of survivor social could be called, Henrietta would always hear the newest information and rumors that floated around the gangs, the larger 'communities' of people, and even from strangers she would join during her wanderings.
 
Hearing her speak, Aiden turned to Henrietta expectantly, more than happy to have a conversation start up. It would help with how the last few days have went for her, boring and worrisome as he had watched his food and water supply dwindle then vanish. Most any conversation would be a welcome one, and there wasn't much he would not tell about himself. He had nothing to hide, and what he did not want to tell wasn't because he was scared or unwilling to talk about it, it was usually the other person that was unwilling and tended to stop conversation as quickly as one could start.

Scrunching up his brow in thought, he gave his head a small shake. "No. I haven't." He knew there were packs of dogs roaming, he just wasn't sure where in the world they were located. If they were close, then that was troubling, but nothing he was going to worry too much about. He had yet to run into a mutant dog, and if push came to shove he was sure he could take one on. Maybe not a whole pack, though, which was the main reason for the little worry he was allowing himself.

"What do you know about them? Are there many in a pack?" He wanted as much information as he could get so he could have a plan ready in case a pack did attack. Fighting one could be simple, fighting them all was not an option. Maybe two or three, but more than that and there needed to be a plan B. If it came down to it, climbing a tree might work, but after that..he would have to think it through.
 
How long has this poor sucker been out on the vaults? Henrietta thought when Aiden said he hadn't heard of the mutant dog packs. She listened to his questions quietly and raising one eye brow slightly, still incredulous he hadn't run into or even heard of the dogs before. Maybe hew as from part of the land where there were none? Was there a place where there were none?

"I think packs range between 3-9, though I've heard of larger." Henrietta started, "There have been a lot of sighting and reports of them recently. Apparently they're getting more vicious and willing to attack...they think some food supply got contaminated or water because they used to just be scavengers." She explained her voice oddly calm for talking about vicious dog packs,

"Their bites are quite nasty and because of the mutations and fungus that grows in their mouths they infect quickly. I knew a dude who had to get hi arm cut off cause he didn't have anything to clean out a bite with and it was spreading quickly. He was lucky though he got attacked by a lone wolf. If it'd been a pack he would've been dead." Henrietta told Aiden. She'd seen dog packs in the distance a few times and seen them attack someone once when she was hiding in a ruined two story building. It was when she'd first been released and she had no real supplies so all she'd been able to do was watch in horror.

"Their hearing is pretty sharp and they run quickly, but they're seeing is cruddy though. Pretty sure they're sense of smell isn't that good either cause they like fungus and mucus always dripping. They look f-in disgusting...not much meat on them and all ratty." Henrietta explained before realizing she might be going into too much detail. She grimaced and shrugged,

"But yeah I hear they're being seen a lot more and more willing to attack recently." she finished sounding slightly sheepish.

Good job Henrietta you probably freaked him out...he's never seen them before! Shoulda just stuck to the basics... she thought worriedly. She didn't want to scare away Aiden. Thens he'd be alone again...plus he was a nice looking guy for a someone who was living in the wilderness she didn't want to disgust him and make him think she was a terrible gross human being.

 
That was not the news Aiden had been hoping for. Up to nine or more dog mutants would not be easy to deal with if they ran into a pack that large. That mixed with the fact that the dogs have been seen more often and were getting more aggressive was not a good sign. That meant they really did need a plan for if they got caught by some dogs, or else they would no doubt be goners.

He took in the rest of the information as he worked on a way to battle the dogs if need be. So the dogs were fast and could hear well, but their sight and sense of smell were cruddy. That would serve them well. Not being able to smell well would mean tracking would be difficult, and bad eyesight would come in handy since it would be harder for the dogs to see an attack coming.

His tongue played with the piercing in his lip as he looked around, an idea suddenly coming to mind. As they walked, he scanned the ground, and after a minute he picked up a stick that was a little smaller than the length of his arm, but not as wide. Testing the stick, he was satisfied to see that it was sturdy and would not break easily. Tucking it under his arm, he slipped off his backpack, held it in front of him, and put it back on after he dug the knife out of it. Before he slipped it over his shoulder, he zipped it up but left the top open. With the knife, he began to carve the end of the stick, alternating between looking where he was walking and what he was doing with the wood.

"So basically all we have to do is stay out of range so we don't get bit and we are good to go?" The tip of the stick was quickly turning into a sharp point, and after it looked sharp enough, he lifted it in front of his face to examine it then brought the sharp end down on his arm. Aiden didn't flinch as the spear pierced his skin, deep enough to bleed but not deep enough to cause any damage. Somewhat satisfied, he reached back and stuck the newly made spear in his bag, sharp end up. It would be better to make them when he had a fire, but he wanted a few right now just in case, so he scanned the ground for another worthwhile stick.
 
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Henrietta nodded as she watched him sharpen his stick. She thought it was weird when he ran it down his arm. Normally you didn't want any sort of open wound shallow or not because of the lack of ability to clean thing.s It was a touch freaky, but she didn't care. Everyone had quirks right?

"Yeah pretty much." she agreed. Not knowing what else to say she stayed quiet for the next few hours of walking only now and again starting up a short random conversation about some plant they passed or any news she'd heard recently.

It was drawing close to midmorning and they were getting to some hills when Henrietta stopped. She frowned and squinted through the tree line.

Is that a vault entrance? she asked herself peering through the foliage. It indeed was one of the large vault door propped open with rust and vines on it. There were abandoned vaults around, Henrietta had never seen any though. She knew communities sometimes took them over or large gangs and she'd heard of horrible fights that had broken out over them even massacres of one gang by another. Some vaults weren't even safe because disease and contamination were why they'd been abandoned.

Henrietta squatted near a tree and behind some bushes and rocks and watched the opening for guards of any sort,

"Wanna check it out? Most have already been looted, but we may find some supplies." she suggested to Aiden.
 
Aiden ended up sharpening two more sticks, testing the sharpness against his own skin just like he had with the first, before growing too tired and not wanting to accidentally injure himself with the knife. He stuck the knife back in his bag and put all his focus on where they he was stepping. He wanted to say something about needing sleep, but so far he had not spotted any worthwhile sleeping areas, so he kept silent.

His eyes began to droop the longer they walked, but Henrietta's random conversations helped to wake him up some for at least a few minutes, and if he hadn't been so tired, he might have learned something new from the mostly one-sided conversations.

Seeing Henrietta stop, Aiden followed suit, but since she didn't seem frightened or worried, he didn't bother looking towards the vault right away. His head was lowered and he quietly watched as his foot created random patterns against the ground. It was only when she moved and squatted down that he did the same, finally looking in the same direction and spotting the vault.

The door didn't mean much too him as the gang his father had ruled over avoided vaults. It wasn't until he was on his own that he had seen one, and this was only the second vault he had ever seen. "It wouldn't hurt to check, so long as we can sleep after. I'm about dead on my feet." He let a hand slide through the tangled mess that was his hair then took the knife back out of his bag in case they ran into trouble.
 
Henrietta looked Aidan up and down. He did look drop dead exhausted and Henrietta knew she was tired too, so resting would be good.

"Yeah sure...if the water and stuff works here we might be able to bunk here until tomorrow or tonight." she suggested. She got up and slowly approached the opening. The first room was mostly security and some disinfecting gear. None of it appeared to be working and the security booth was locked. Henrietta continued on to the door that led to the rest of the vaukt which was on it's hinges. The vault smelled odd, like blood and rot.

Th next room was a hall that had various doors ad led to what looked like was a cross ways or quad. The halls smelt horrible. Henrietta peered into one of the rooms it was a generator room, the generator gave a wounded hum now and then sputtering. The rooms had flickering lights, but the hall didn't. Henrietta kept going and stumbled she backed up and squatted down trying to feel around. She felt what was possibly an arm and then slid up.

She snapped her hand back suddenly with a sharp intake of breath. It was a body. This would explain why the smells. She kept going peering in rooms which were various things from greenhouses of sorts, a cafeteria, work rooms. They finally got to the quad and since Henrietta's vision had now adjusted she muttered some oaths under her breath.

"Looks like a battle got fought here. Probably a revolt cause they don't look like outsider bodies...I'm guessing a few months..." she muttered for her own good as much as Aidan's. The stench was gag inducing and thick.

Henrietta looked around squinting at the halls way. The quad, now strewn with rotting bodies, looked like it used to be a rec area. One corridor probably was medical, one might be living, and another training and supplies probably. Nessicities with some luxuries thrown in.

"Let's keep going...this might have detered others from looting." Henrietta muttered picking the hall directly to her left. She was still being cautious, but doubted anybody was here. Some people and gangs Henrietta had been with had thought she was psyhcotic, a sociopath, or in some other way mentally ill because of how she acted during certain situations. Sometimes Henrietta came off as callous because between her time with the director and her time in the wilderness, especially her first few months, she'd trained herself to not think too much about things and focus on other stuff as her coping mechanism.
 
That sounded like a plan to him. Aiden didn't care where they slept so long that they were able to rest soon, and hopefully they would eventually be able to get on a normal sleep schedule, because his schedule was ruined. A destroyed sleep schedule in exchange for company? That was perfectly fine with him.

He followed close behind in case something or someone came shooting out of the door, knife tilted down but ready to be raised and used in the blink of an eye. No danger came jumping out at them, and he looked around the room, not recognizing much of anything. His eyes locked onto the security booth and he figured he could get it open if need be, but Henrietta did not say anything about it so he shrugged it off as not important and continued on.

The growing smell of blood was bothering him, and he was worried about his eyes adjusting and seeing what was causing the smell. Unfortunately, having traveled at night except for today, his eyes quickly grew used to the darkness and he had to swallow down the bile that rose in his throat. The dead bodies filled his with horror since one of the last bodies he had seen was that of his father. To make matters worse, the last words he had spoken to his father while the guy was alive had been ones filled with hate. They had been having an argument, which wasn't something new. He just wished his last words had been about how much he loved his father, not about how the guy would never understand him.

He let Henrietta do most of the looking into rooms, focusing most of his attention on not thinking about the bodies that littered the ground. It was disgusting and painful and he began to question why they had come into the vault. If he had not shed the last of his tears months ago, then he would no doubt have been crying by now.

"Alright. If you think it is worth it." He would have preferred to leave the place, but since they had come this far then he would force himself to finish what was started. Stepping over a body, he followed her down the hall to the left. If they didn't find something good, then he doubted he would go into another vault. If this was the horror that awaited him, then it was not worth it. It was mentally screwing with him. As for sleeping in this place, no way in hell.
 
Aidan's words made it seem he wanted to be quick about this. In and out so to speak. Henrietta checked the rooms. It looked like they were in the medical wing so she started entering rooms and searching. There were still bodies here and most anything that was useful had been smashed to pieces or broken open. Continuing down the hall Henrietta entered a room with a lot of cabinets most had been smashed open. She stepped over some broken glass vials, needles etc and squatted down reaching into a hole in the glass and rooting around,

"Hell yeah!" she half whispered half exclaimed, she was still trying to be quiet, but was exited. She pulled out some cartons with pill bottles. Some had been cracked open and had blood on them making them useless, or were already opened and emptied, but there were a few un opened. She opened her bag and put those in telling herself she'd find out what they were later. There also throat lozanges on the ground along with the colorful array of pills and liquids. Henrietta found a few more pill bottles and an unopened bag of Hals.

"Lay let's move on, maybe find some bandages, and the food storage." she whispered excitedly. This was one of the best hauls she'd ever gotten from a place. Normally you were lucky if you found a can of food, they'd gotten some actual drugs! She slipped out and down the hall moving on to the next room.
 
Aiden ended up helping Henrietta look around a some rooms a little bit since it served as somewhat of a distraction from the depressing images the dead bodies brought to mind. The need for sleep was also still eating away at him. That he could even think about sleep while in this place was astounding. This vault should have been enough to wake him up fully for fear of nightmarish dreams that might plague his mind.

Finally one of the rooms provided them with something useful, or at least something Henrietta thought was useful. Approaching where she was crouched down, he watched as she pulled out bottles full of..something. He had seen bottles similar to that, but they had been on the ground and empty, like most everything in this room. If she was so excited, though, then it must me a worthwhile fin.

"Alright." Following her out of the room and into the hall, Aiden walked next to her and glanced at her bag. "What was it that you found? There must be something good in the bottles, so what are the contents?" Whatever it was, there was no way it was as good as food. Speaking of food.. Slipping the backpack off his shoulders, he unzipped it, broke off a piece of the bread, then zipped it back up as he chewed the piece he had broken off.
 
"Pills...drugs and stuff. We can use them as bargaining chips or currency." Henrietta explained. "They're in high demand." she added. Henrietta had never really taken medication before. Her vault didn't have much when it came to medicines so it was saved for surgeries and severe injuries. She knew, however, that pain meds were very addicting and some recently released vault dweller or even surface dwellers would make stupid trades just to get their hands on them.

The cough drops on the other hand weren't very valuable and were almost treated as a candy or sweet. She taken them for herself.

The rest of the medical wing proved to be useless due to all the destruction. Henrietta turned and headed back,

"Let's see if there's food or anything else and then we can find somewhere to stay the night." She promised Aidan as they went into the wing directly across from the one they were just in. This appeared to be a living wing. This vault was designed where everyone was in giant barracks like rooms and there were public bathrooms, and a cafeteria/soup kitchen style eating area.

Henrietta entered the kitchen and started to search for any food that wasn't spoiled.
 
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