<div class="floatleft">(http://static.desktopnexus.com/thumbnails/609779-bigthumbnail.jpg)</div><hr/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Name:</strong> Natasha Evans<br/><strong>Title:</strong> <del>Snow Angel</del> None yet<br/><strong>Affiliation:</strong> Neutral<br/><strong>Location:</strong> Streets of Los Angeles<br/><strong>Tags:</strong> Open<br/><br/></span></span><hr/><br/>“Hmm... Not bad,” Natasha mumbled, after she put on a black cat suit that she found in an abandoned shop.<br/><br/>She admired herself in the broken full-sized mirror, as she thought,<em>I wonder if this cat suit makes my ass look fat?</em><br/><br/>She turned around and wiggled her bum at the mirror, giggling at her performance.<br/><br/>“That looked silly,” she said, her lips curling up in a smirk.<br/><br/>The frown returned on her face moments later, however, as she contemplated whether the shades she found were in fashion or not. She stroked her chin in the palm of her right hand, while her left hand supported her right elbow as she looked with a tilted head in the mirror.<br/><br/>“I don't know... I suppose these could work, but... Hmm. They're a little on the large side I think, but maybe when I wear my hair loose...” Natasha wondered, as she pulled the pin out of her hair that had kept it in a bun.<br/><br/>“Yes, much better,” she said, giving her mirror image a satisfied nod.<br/><br/>“Hey, what does this switch do?” she asked herself, noticing a small switch on the right side of the spectacle frame.<br/><br/>Pushing it to the front activated something electrical, and the brownish tints she saw turned into a greenish tint. Looking at a dark corner of the shop she saw several items that she hadn't noticed before. She pushed the switch back again, and the normal brownish tints reappeared, making it more difficult to see the dark corner.<br/><br/>“That's strange... Some kind of night vision glasses? I'm guessing these will be very useful,” she concluded, with a happy tone in her voice.<br/><br/>Natasha Evans didn't remember anything of the past forty-eight hours. Brief flashes of painful memories surfaced occasionally for a few seconds, but they faded away as quick as they appeared. She had been walking around in a daze for at least an hour, her clothes were torn, and dried blood covered visible parts of her skin. She couldn't detect any wounds, however. Where she expect large gashes, cuts, or bruises, there was simple ordinary healthy skin, even if there was a streak of blood consistent with a deep cut on that spot.<br/><br/>She had been a doctor long enough to recognize knife wounds and physical abuse, but apart from feeling a bit weak, she felt fine.<br/><br/>When she found a half-leveled store with survival equipment that had its inventory strewn around in a wide arc around the shop, she decided to investigate, hoping that she'd find some useful supplies. She had been a Den Mother for the Girl Scouts the past four years, and judging the state of the city, survival gear would be useful to make it through the night. Brief flashes of memories told her that the city had been under attack by some kind of army, but who or why attacked Los Angeles was unclear to her.<br/><br/>Although the details of her memories were vague, the obvious damage to the city was not. She had concluded that whatever caused this would likely come back to recapture her. Flashes of her capture and escape told her that something terrible had happened, but when she tried to recall the past events, nothing but a black void greeted her mind, leading her to conclude that she was either suffering from amnesia, unconscious at the time, or suppressing her memories due to a traumatic experience.<br/><br/>Whatever the reason may be, once she encountered a lovely looking cat suit that seemed to fit her size, she decided to strip naked and try it on. She had discovered more stained blood on her bare body, and after she took a few sips from a bottle of water, she had used the rest of the water to clean herself. The cat suit she tried on was some sort of body-forming spandex, meaning that it adapted to her size to make a perfect fit. It actually felt remarkably comfortable, and, most important of all, it didn't make her ass look fat. If there was one thing she hated then it was looking bad while wearing a tight outfit in front of an audience, even when that audience only consisted out of herself.<br/><br/>When she also found a matching pair of two inched heeled boots, she thought she had died and gone to heaven. The black boots had one-and-a-half inch squared heel, making it even ideal for running. It fit seamless with her cat suit, making it the ideal outfit for a.... Well, whatever you call it when the entire world had gone to shit, but still offered you an opportunity for 'free shopping'.<br/><br/>She also found a lightweight black backpack, a multi-tool, high-calorie nourishment, three cans of energy drink, and another bottle of water. Packing all those items in the backpack took half the space she had available, but she figured it'd help her get through several days, while she tried to find a way out of the city.<br/><br/>The mall she currently found herself in, also had several other shops which were for the most part accessible.<br/><br/><em>It's pretty dangerous with all these loose wires, electric sparkles, damaged pipelines, and the occasional fires... I hope I don't end up electrocuting myself. Then again, I should be fine, this suit seems to be made of some sort of rubber. It should have an isolating effect on me,</em>Natasha considered, in silent thought.<br/><br/>She found a drug store several hundred yards further down the path, and with the door and windows already blasted out, entering the store was simple matter of finding an opening large enough to squeeze through.<br/><br/>“Ah, medical supplies,” Natasha mused, “That should be very useful. I feel naked without my doctor's bag.”<br/><br/>It didn't take her long to loot several first-aid kits and to acquire other useful supplies. She wouldn't be able to do full-scale operations, but she had plenty of supplies to help out at least a few wounded people with her skills. She realized that medics and medical supplies were rare goods in this world; the combination of the two could be a real lifesaver for some poor citizen struck down by the vengeance of whoever was behind this apocalypse.<br/><br/>Checking a back room in the store, she also found a nine mm gun and two spare cartridges. Next to it lay also a fashionable holster. It didn't take her long to make up her mind that those would be going with her as well. She might only be an average shot with guns, but in a city like this it could be a valuable way to defend herself. With her backpack filled to maximum capacity and her stomach filled with a sandwich she prepared in semi-destroyed Bed & Breakfast, she set out into Los Angeles.<br/><br/>Whenever Natasha heard something fly over, she made sure to hide in one of the abandoned and half-destroyed buildings. The rubble strewn across the street made it hard to travel at any reasonable speed, but that was okay with Natasha, her thoughts kept her occupied.<br/><br/>“It's strangely quiet,” Natasha mumbled.<br/><br/>She had expected to see at least some other survivors, but so far she had only encountered decimated corpses. Not even the birds made a sound, although she did hear some distant noises that she couldn't identify.<br/><br/>In her mind, however, she sensed someone-... no wait, several people, who were scared and in pain. Among them was one mind who felt regret, but was otherwise remarkably calm and in control of himself. The emotions were very faint, but they definitely didn't belong to herself.<br/><br/><em>That's weird,</em>Natasha thought,<em>It's as if I can feel the emotions of others, however, that can't be possible, right? Then again, one of my patients suffered from emotional anxiety, and she turned out to be a mutant with an Empath ability. I've never felt this before though, and I'm sure that I'm not a mutant. I tested myself years ago for the X-gen, but it was missing in my DNA.</em><br/><br/>Natasha tried to ignore the feelings at first, but they kept tugging at her mind. She felt pity for the people who experienced them, and wanted to help out. The emotions originated from about two miles away, and she decided to travel into that direction. As she got closer, her sense of the emotions also improved.<br/><br/>Suddenly, however, the emotions changed, and not for the better. There was somebody among them who was seriously pissed off. Her anger was aimed at somebody else in that group of survivors and it was building up quick!<br/><br/>How Natasha knew that it was a 'her' was a mystery to her, but it definitely felt like a woman. A strong discharge of emotions followed seconds later, and Natasha could feel an intense burning headache following the release of the anger. The stinging pain was so bad that Natasha fell to her knee and held her head in her hands.<br/><br/>Miraculously, the pain she felt drained away, turning into a dull ache, before it completely disappeared. It left her feeling weaker, but at the same time her memories also became much clearer. She massaged the temples of her head with her fingertips. The massage had a soothing effect on her. More details of what took place the past forty-eight hours, became clear of her.<br/><br/>In her mind she saw herself getting captured. A strong sense of remorse overruled all her other feelings, but it was a mystery to her what caused that remorse. When she tried to look further back she was met by the black void once more, leaving it a mystery to her what had happened. Her mind moved forward instead. Her memories became dizzy after her capture, and it felt more like she experienced a sort of dream; she saw armored soldiers of a legion she didn't recognize take her to a prison camp. Thousands of other people were there too, the soldiers injected them with some kind of drug. Most perished, but some survived and were taken elsewhere.<br/><br/>One of the soldiers dragged her kicking and screaming to the soldiers who were doing these inoculations. A strong part of herself didn't want to die like the others had, but another, and at the time even bigger part, longed for death to liberate her from the cruelty that had taken place earlier.<br/><br/>Despite her struggling, they managed to inject her arm with the serum. A burning headache made itself known nearly instantly. Her head was filled with the pain and anguish of all those around her. The emotions she felt were mind numbing.<br/><br/>A mental cry of her went out, as she wanted to rid herself of all the emotions she felt. She felt her fingertips ache and was glad that she could massage her temples like she was doing now. It soothed her head, bringing the headache down to manageable levels. The soldiers around her seemed frozen with a terrified look on their face. Some where passed out, others were heaving as they were throwing up. It was the same for many of the other survivors, those who were still alive anyway. Natasha hadn't given it any other thought, making sure she got the hell out of the place.<br/><br/>She had wandered around in a daze for several hours, until she finally recognized the familiar symbol of a store that specialized in survival equipment. That's where she had found the cat suit and other useful items.<br/><br/><em>So that's what happened,</em>Natasha thought, as she stood up.<em>I better hurry, that woman still feels like she's in a lot of pain, and others close to her could probably use my help too!</em><br/><br/>Feeling hungry, she ate half an energy bar, replenishing her lost energy. After she felt better, she trotted to the area were she felt the emotions coming from. She followed her instincts, without giving it any other thought why her massage had made her head feel so much better. Instead her attentions were focused elsewhere.<br/><br/><em>These boots are incredibly comfortable despite the heels! In fact, I'd swear they were made for running,</em>she noted, her inner voice pleased with the performance of her new gear.<br/><br/>It was so much nicer than the dirty sneakers, torn blouse, and ripped jeans, she had left behind.