<span style="font-size: 12px">Sleep was a blessing and a curse during the times after the fallout. Kade's familial unit - if it could be considered anything so civilized - had taught her a number of tips and tricks concerning how to ensure she slept well while still remaining alert to danger. Most hostels and inns had some form of security, though in moderation, usually based on what was easily accessible. A night manager with a shotgun was the typical line of defense, but all it takes is one brief break from the desk, and suddenly there's a problem tracking angry steps up the old wooden stairwell. The blonde heard them coming before they made it to the third-floor landing, and quietly, she rolled from the dilapidated canopy bed taking up the majority of free floor space to the room. Barefoot and groping in the dark for the clothing she had shed hours prior, she wore nothing more than her skivvies and a scowl, her thoughts constantly darting between potential outcomes of an encounter.<br/>
<br/>
But waiting in the darkness was difficult when one was crouched defensively, and though she was positive it was the fellows from before, they didn't barge into her room. Actually, by the noise of the happenings she could make out through the walls adjoining, the crooks had stumbled into someone else's room in their drunk attempts to take revenge. The thought would have earned a wry smile from the blonde were it not for the sounds of violence blaring through the topmost level of the hostel. Terror washed over Kade as she scrambled back abruptly, instinctively grabbing for the firearm she kept for traveling - a Luger pistol of sorts, mismatched by countless efforts to replace parts. Ugly but effective, much like the landscape the survivors inhabited, right down to their location.<br/>
<br/>
For whatever reason, Kade believed a man screaming was far more unsettling than when a woman screamed. Kade could recall countless women making noises akin to what the thugs made as they were butchered, but for such exquisitely bleak squeals to come from men's throats as they met their maker was nearly enough to make the woman retch. Shakily covering her mouth with the back of her hand, the other held her firearm at the door for the impending collapse of struggling runners trying to find exits. Just as sure as her back braced against the far wall, so too did a desperate figure barrel through the darkness toward her, only to be made quick work of by the hulking creature with the albino features.<br/>
<br/>
Their eyes would meet amid the gore, that candid honesty her gaze held alerting him of her fear - but also of the awe in seeing his display. Powerful, imposing, and incredibly predatory; she almost looked away. If she hadn't felt that grip of fear tight beneath the swell of her breasts, Kade may have attempted shielding her vision from the carnage. Either look at the monster or look at his victim. Neither was preferable, but the monster refused to be ignored. The dismembered ruffian cared little if she looked. Her lips gaped slightly as cobalt hues darted after Caanan while he stalked in his circle, the movement of his form casting long shadows over the walls surrounding them. The window allowed only enough light to make out the bare details, but it was enough to register his person in her memories down to the hunger his gaze directed over the curves and swells of her mostly nude person. <br/>
<br/>
Even in a state of shock, gun wobbling in her fingers under the weight of indecision, she could feel an uneasy blush of arousal rising in her cheeks. No one had ever looked at her the way he did. In a way that saw too much, <i>knew too much</i>.<br/>
<br/>
"Y-yes..." Kade acknowledged weakly, doing her very best to ignore how tautly her breasts pushed against the confines of her nightshirt, the sheer fabric offering no protection from the ravenous orbs of the beast in her quarters. <br/>
<br/>
Then, as quickly as he had come, the stranger dragged the body of the dead hustler away, unceremoniously leaving her alone in the rented apartment. For a long time, Kade just sat in silence, doing her best to unhear the events that had transpired, but there was something haunting about her visitor. Not just the murders themselves, but the murderer and his scarred visage. It was well after midnight by the time Kade managed to check her door to ensure it was locked and try and go back to sleep. If she met death on any other occasion, she would be satisfied - but in her underwear at midnight in Oasis was no way Kade wanted to go.<br/>
</span><br/><div style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 12px">-- The Next Day --</span>​</div><span style="font-size: 12px">Exhausted, the buxom blonde knew she wouldn't make it far enough that day to reach the city. It was long, slow steps over the dunes - spots of land where the roads were nonexistent, and the only trails were guarded secrets of caravaners and Bah'gahti tribesmen equipped for journeying. Despite having her rations planned accordingly, her stomach ached and her eyes were bleary from poor rest and constant paranoia. She left the hostel as early as she could, dragging all her belongings in tow to pack as she moved. Water was traded for, cigarettes were acquired, and worse for wear, Kade had accomplished just what she intended to accomplish. Her biggest regret was not managing to get a bath, but after the bloody aftermath she stepped over vacating the building, it was the furthest thing from her mind to remain in Oasis. <br/>
<br/>
Not with that <i>man</i> still in town...<br/>
<br/>
Normally, Kade was good about keeping her steps cautious and light, but with how worn out she felt, the woman didn't notice the dune starting to flatten in a strange manner of pucker. All it took was one misstep, and Kade cursed loudly as her body jettisoned down the natural slide feeding into a cavern beneath the desert's surface. An aquifer pocket of some sort, flooded with newfound light that the blonde brought with her tumbling body. She hit the bottom with a dense thud and groaned angrily, less hurt than she was irritated by the setback, but that irritation lasted only as long as it took to peer around the shadow-y underground well. That's what it was, she realized when she sat up- an honest to God hidden pool in the middle of the desert.<br/>
<br/>
Now, Kade wasn't a firm believer in luck and cosmic interference, but after having such an awful night prior, she would take whatever hint of improvement she was allowed to join. Hastily, she shrugged off her pack and her hat to peek over the pool, instinctively checking for the tell-tale signs of contamination or nuclear material near the water source. When satisfied there was none, Kade leaned over the shallow end and splashed her portrait with the cool liquid several times to ensure it was actually real. Sure as she lived and breathed, she was alone in a pocket of paradise that not even the Bah'gahti had managed to dig up in their trekking exploration. It was settled before she even started undressing.<br/>
<br/>
She needed to fill her extra canteens and bathe, and when all of the essentials had been settled, she knew she would require a marker in the desert above to keep the location visible. Not too close to the entrance, but within a thousand paces, pointing her in the direction of the spring. Happy for the first time in too long, Kade eased out of her worn denims and her dirty layers of leather and cotton, left with only that tanned figure exposed to what little light fell directly on the pool. She was beautiful and toned, her shapely hips drawing attention while her breasts carried their weight well. Bearing a bit of an hourglass figure, thick thighs teased at the peach fuzz of her pubes as her long legs marched her right into the water. A shiver was accompanied by a sigh, escaping her lips as a string of sounds secretly admitting her contentment. <br/>
<br/>
Squinting toward the far side of the pool, she missed any nearing sounds from travelers above. <i>Everything was quiet.</i> A familiar solitude to look forward to; the calm before the storm.</span>