Approaching the outskirts of the nearest Den, Alexis gave her gas mask's filters a spare, loosening the rubber strap around the back of her head, and letting the contraption dangle down around her neck. She started unscrewing the filters for safe keeping outside of prying eyes, as she ventured more into the Den, the cluttered litter that some would call sheds starting to grow in density around the muddy, overturned concrete path snaking through.<br/><br/>"<i>Th' mayor's busy. But uhh...</i>" The lughead holding a semi-automatic in his tattooed and sooty muscular arms gave Alexis a very straightforward eyeing from head to toe, before looking back up again at her expression of derisiveness with a stained teeth grin. "<i>... I ain't.</i>" The two hired hands bellow a laugh at the door of the local "mayor's mansion", a half wrecked two star hotel, reinforced with zinc sheeting and assorted wooden planks where the walls crumbled. Most of the power of the Den was routed to it, in an ever lasting testament to the greed and corruption afflicting the lives of survivors today.<br/>"<i>Tell him I have something he'd be very interested in.</i>" Alexis stepped up defiantly, halfway through between both of the guards.<br/>"<i>I said he's busy, you stupid bitch!</i>" The guard to her left removed his hand from the trigger guard to grip Alexis' forearm. The girl moved her right arm to grab his wrist and pull at the weight he offered her, effectively pulling him towards his companion who was already steeling to aim his rifle at Alexis. A shot was fired into the air, as both of them tumble down the two steps leading up to the main entrance. Alexis ducks instinctively, along with only a third of passers-by. Gun shots were a common noise throughout these parts.<br/><br/>Feeling outnumbered, and out-gunned, Alexis decided it was best to return in the morning, and legged it as soon as she saw both guards trying to scramble up to their feet, grunting their protests. She cursed her hot temper as she ran off down the main street, not looking back. She almost fell forwards when she heard both guards - now on their feet - open fire. A man in rags got slugged in the shoulder and twirled to the ground in agony, while she ran off towards the less bright part of the Den, her heart pounding in her ears.<br/><br/>When she reached the flickering neon sign spelling "Serena's", or "Se ena' " depending on the time of day, she was holding her bleeding left thigh with a piece of cloth. This was going to hurt.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>