<div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=184573.msg8873547#msg8873547">Quote from: ShainaDean on September 08, 2013, 10:27:28 pm</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">The ruined streets of Los Angeles were quiet in the warm twilight sun. A soft wind wound softly through the skeletal mounds of concrete and steel, gently stirring the cobwebs that had taken root since The Cataclysm came and the people died off. What had once been a small convenience store had become an empty tomb, nothing inside it but garbage and bones. A thick layer of dust covered the floor, undisturbed but for a single pair of small footprints.<br/><br/>Gina looked at the prints she'd left and sighed. <em>I'll have to make sure I rub those out when I leave, </em>she thought to herself. <em>Lord knows if any raiders spot them, they'll do their damnedest to track me down.</em> <br/><br/>She turned her attention back to the jumble of garbage that had once been the canned produce aisle. Wiping her hands on the legs of her cargo pants, the small, slim girl began rooting through the pile of refuse, searching for cans that might still contain edible food. A few moments and far too few cans later, she adjusted the pistol on her hip, brushed a strand of dirty blond hair back under her once-white bandana, and glanced nervously out the remains of a window at the dying light. Night was coming, and night was a bad time to be out.<br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/><br/><br/><strong>Music, laughter, a home cooked meal, friends, and a hot shower. These were all things Alexa missed horribly and not necessarily in that order. One moment she had been laughing and partying with her friends and the next thing she knew, she was learning how to survive on her own in a world gone completely mad. Well, not completely on her own. One friend had managed to survive with her, but even she was gone now. There was nothing like your own best friend willing to kill you over a can of fruit. Alexa eyed the mean looking cut along her abdomen before settling her dirty grey tee shirt back down over the top of her worn and faded jeans. She needed medical supplies desperately to get the cut cleaned and bandaged and even more important than that was the need for shelter. Darkness was descending on the war torn looking streets of Los Angeles. It didn't matter how tough you were, it was not safe to be on your own and wondering the streets.<br/>     Alexa kept her eyes constantly moving as a slight wind blew eerily through the condemned buildings and mostly deserted streets. Picking her way over a few more piles of debris and what was left of a few human remains, plotting a course for what looked like a convenience store just a few feet away. She tucked her long locks back under the ball cap she wore and took the dagger from under the back of her shirt, just in case as she entered the non existent front door. Most raiders and loners opted for guns, but not Alexa. She found guns to be too bulky and loud for the most part. She had perfected sneaking up on anyone she needed to with little to no noise and there was no hope for the person she needed to protect herself from. Stepping quietly into the aisle that boasted of band aids and other such items, she moved silently down the aisle, listening carefully for any sign of movement other than her own.</strong>