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female // 22 // human // tagged; --
Another shriveled, struggling settlement had been unfortunate enough to come into her line of sight. It was more than a little bit on the small side, and in all likelihood there was nothing there that was really worth stealing or scavenging within it, but that wasn't really what it was about. It was about the thrill of it all, of the momentary whir of her minigun and the rush of brilliant adrenaline that came with it, of opening an old cupboard and delightedly finding an unopened can of irradiated pork and beans awaiting her, an appreciated reward for the trouble of fighting off a pack of drooling ferals or a couple scraggly scavengers. She missed running with a gang, of course, but she could only ask for so much. Ginger adjusted her grip on the decidedly large gun she had decided to wield as her primary weapon, and enthusiastically started forward, her footsteps loud and heavy on the packed earth. She didn't hear much of anything at all, which was undeniably strange - even if this place was abandoned, most abandoned towns or settlements were very quickly overtaken by either the people/creatures who had killed the original inhabitants (ferals, raiders, mutants, etc.) or an influx of categorical pests (like flying bugs or mole rats). If anything, this place being completely empty was potentially an even scarier prospect than it being inhabited by any race of wasteland nuisances. If that was the case, then the question at hand would be "Why? What chased them away?" Well...technically, that was two questions, but they were really just variations on a theme. The point was that it would've had to be something really scary, like a serious force of nature, to keep even the ravenous wasteland critters out. Unless it'd only been abandoned just recently - but still...why?
She was a regular philosopher, asking all these questions! She'd missed her calling, it seemed. Say...what was philosophy, anyway? Eh, that was a question for another time. She'd come upon her first row of buildings and was peering through the alleys, searching for any signs of life. It was strange - she'd made no attempts to hide her presence (as was her typical manner), and yet she hadn't been sneak-attacked, threatened, or set off an alarm yet. Maybe the dimwitted settlers had all just decided to hide when they'd seen a pink-haired woman with a minigun come strolling up to their crappy cluster of houses? "Helloooo?" Ginger called out, finally getting brave enough to call for somebody. If they turned out to be hostile, so what? She could deal with that.
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male // 19 // human // tagged; archie mentioned
An eastward wind always left Shiloh just a little bit uneasy. It wasn't as if every single time the wind was blowing in from the southeast, a storm followed, but that was where the storms came from, and there were few things he loathed more in the world. He'd take twice the mutants and bloodbugs if only he never had to deal with rain again. Of course, that was probably not a common sentiment, but he was no common man. Trying to take his mind off the restlessness the wind had instilled in him, Shiloh turned his attention back to the road ahead. Not that he was going anywhere in particular; he'd been 'just wandering' for what seemed like an eternity, but no desire to settle down had struck him - and, to be honest, he doubted it ever would. Maybe he was just destined to be a wanderer for the rest of his life. Coming up over the rise of a hill, he glimpsed what looked to be a settlement shortly in front of him. However, there was no distinct movement among the buildings, which would seem to indicate it was abandoned - though Shiloh knew better than to stick to that assumption. Probably for the best, as he almost immediately spotted a moving shape skidding down to the base of the slope. Based solely on the way it moved, it was most certainly a person - or at least close enough. Shiloh immediately snapped into light-footed mode, crouching close to the dirt until he was certain enough he had not been noticed. Then, rising up somewhat, he began picking his way down the slope, sinking his heels in to keep himself from sliding and strategically placing himself behind any sparse cover that stood between him and the bottom of the hill. Hopefully, he wouldn't be noticed; after all, he had no idea yet what kind of person he might be dealing with.
Watching the stranger for a moment, Shiloh saw him pull a gun from his hip and lift it cautiously as he made his way towards the abandoned town. Just another scavver, from the looks of it, but still worth being aware of. As Shi finally reached the foot of the hill, he intended to scurry off to the right without getting spotted and make his way into town on his own, but as he straightened his back and made as if to run, his foot immediately came down on a sizable stick, and it uttered a soft-but-distinct crunch. Of course - it was only the most cliche way possible to upset an attempt at being stealthy. He should've kept an eye on that branch the stranger had been using as a makeshift walking stick.
