Jayne stepped out of the woods at the base of Mount Rainier, physically exhausted but mentally invigorated by his successful crossing of the Rockies. The mountain had given him a great vantage point of the urban sprawl that rolled out across northern Washington. He stepped out, knowing that he was trading one wasteland for another. Mountains and wilderness gave way to jagged concrete outcroppings and the distant shuffling of feet. Jayne slid through the suburban streets like a viper, hunting his prey while avoiding the horde of hawks that nested in the carcass of the United States. His travels had hardened him into a master of evasion, slipping through the plague ridden streets was now simple enough to be a secondary focus, akin to walking or breathing, merely second nature.<br/><br/>More than a dozen people joined him at one point or another during his expedition west. Those that didn't split off at the first sight of a city perished when they proved incapable of completing the complex maneuvers required to travel through highly infested areas. There was a host of reasons why he was still alive while the rest were dead, and not one of them was luck. He was careful when he could afford it and daring when the situation demanded it, he respected fear as an ally, an innate warning system that was to be embraced and used to his advantage, and above all, he never took unnecessary risks. The world had become cold and unforgiving, those that chose to travel with Jayne quickly lost any doubt of that fact. He made it clear from the offset that anyone he chose as a companion would only be kept so long as they provided assistance. Should they become a liability and fail to quickly remedy the situation, they would be left behind.<br/><br/>The Tacoma safe zone wasn't far. He could just make out the fortifications amidst the skyline. Husks continued to shamble about, wandering from building to building with no real direction. Jayne skimmed through the city in total silence, watching the ground as much as his surroundings to ensure he didn't kick anything that would cause a commotion. He skated past a run down fast food restaurant and suddenly halted, freezing in place at the introduction of an unfamiliar sound. Growling. It wasn't loud, which troubled him. The sound was low and faint, but he could tell it was not an echo of a loud issued at distance. He grimaced, knowing that meant there was a special kind of threat nearby. Dogs were enough of a nuisance on their own, but wild dogs usually traveled in packs, loud, easy to detect packs. This one sounded alone which meant it was either rabid or in the company of humans.<br/><br/>Jayne took a deep breath, he was doing alright on supplies, so killing them for their food and weapons would be too much risk for too little reward. He did however need information, the kind of information he could only get from locals. This was a delicate situation and he didn't plan on letting someone get the better of him this close to his goal. Jayne circumnavigated the restaurant, sticking to the collapsing walls of the neighboring buildings until he came to a shattered glass door. He ducked inside, making sure to avoid the field of broken glass that threatened to give away his position. Moving through the building was easy enough, but he took extra caution to avoid rooms without windows. The threat of a stalker attack became much more real inside, stairwells and interior rooms were especially dangerous. The building was some sort of cafe in days past, it boasted a bar and large storefront windows, both of which proved useful when a young man came into view on the road outside the cafe. Jayne rolled over an empty section of bar and rested behind the counter top, drawing his pistol while he waited for the survivor to pass. The man headed into the CVS across the street, leading Jayne to wonder if he was the dog owner.<br/><br/>Once the kid was gone it didn't take long for Jayne to find the stairs that lead to the upper level. He opened the door quietly, doing his best to avoid startling anything that resided in the dark stairwell. His heart raced, this was one environment he wasn't comfortable in. Dark, cramped spaces with nowhere to run, no distance to take advantage of with his rifle. It was just him, his pistol and the darkness. He wished that his flashlight still had batteries, but managed to work his way to the second floor without incident. He barricaded the door behind him regardless. No sense in being careless. Jayne loved cities, the architects always liked to put way more window space on the exterior wall than necessary. The upper floor lacked any real outer wall, instead boasting massive windows that had been blown out long before. With all of his possible marks inside the CVS Jayne took some time to construct a sniper's nest from the overturned tables and chairs in the large room, setting up a defensible position from which to observe the actions of his targets.