Chapter 2: Episode 2
The smell of rotting flesh assaulted her nostrils. The sting on her knees and arms was still fresh from falling down on the pavement, and her back was sore with cuts and scratches from being drug across the ground. Her surgical gown and any exposed skin were spoiled with human rot and waste.
She had been thrown down into what used to be the sewer but had now been taken over by scavengers; it was the way they moved around their territory. She slowly lifted herself from the mound of half-rotten bodies. Her scarlet hair matted, she tried in vain to wipe her face off with her arm. Her jade eyes searched the darkness. She didn't understand why she was still alive. She could hear scuffling around her in the blackness. The thought occurred to her to try to climb out back to the street.
Just then, there came a scavenger out of the darkness. She was instantly struck with fear.
'This is it... They're going to eat me!'
Others came out, circling around her, caging her in. They began to run their fingers across her face and through her hair. Her blood had turned cold in her veins, and she sat so still one might mistake her for a statue.
A chilling hiss rose over the commotion, causing them to back away. They cowered at the approach of the creature that gave it. Its eyes glinted, yet they were wrapped in something other than hunger, curiosity. Around its neck hung a large bloodstained nail. It placed its hands on her face and began clicking and muttering things to the others. Just then, it reached down, snatching up a fresh femur, and smashed it against her head.
The pow of pain exploded and rippled through her head as everything went black. She felt herself collapse back onto the heap of decaying bodies. In the midst of the blackness, there came to her a strange sensation, as though she were being carried, drug through some dark tunnel. Cold hands and arms, shallow water, a great inescapable stench, and sporadic lighting entered into her mind as a jumbled mess.
Waking from a deep sleep, there was something sticky on her face. She opened her eyes; she was still down in the sewers. The smell was not as bad as she had remembered.
'But then, perhaps my senses have been dulled from being down here.'
She scoured her surroundings, yet there were no scavengers in sight.
Just then, she noticed there seemed to be a heavy weight around her neck. Looking down, she saw it was the bloodstained nail that had hung around the one scavenger's neck. She gingerly picked the square nail up, giving it a good look over.
'A gift...?'
She took a gulp, licking her lips. Her jade eyes were fixated on the square iron nail, its surface covered in someone's blood. Her stomach began to turn. It was a gift, a gift from cannibals. It was seldom she'd heard of such a thing happening.
'When given a gift, covered in blood from scavengers, one may pass safely through their territory, as long as they possess the gift,' she thought.
She sat there for only a moment before she finished lifting herself out of the human muck. Her body ached as she climbed up a nearby ladder through a large hole in the street. The sun was about to creep over the horizon. Her hair, skin, and gown were caked in brown substances; she didn't want to begin to guess what they were.
She began to make a weary walk through the streets, her boots clunking on the cement. They seemed heavier than she remembered. Everywhere she looked, she was reminded of death. Her matted red hair would have blown in the breeze but was too weighted down to do so. Her chest ached; it was where she had been shot and cut open. It was hard to believe, only yesterday she was dead. She pressed her hand against her chest, hoping to dull the pain. She was finding it hard to breathe, yet she did not stop her steady trudge.
The time trickled by. Hours passed and the sun rose high into the sky. She thought she might faint. At last, there came a sight that lifted her spirit, a freshly abandoned small surplus store. The broken glass from the windows crunched under her boots.
"Scavengers... expanding their territory. Looks like they left in a hurry and left a lot of stuff behind..." She took in a deep breath and raised her eyebrows.
'Better for me I suppose.'
She snatched a shirt off a shelf and found her way to the bathroom. She pressed her lips together, slightly biting the inside of her bottom one at the sight of blood streaks across the wall.
'They didn't get the chance to leave...'
She took in a steadying breath and entered the bathroom. Turning on the faucet, she was relieved to see that the water still worked. Dunking the wadded shirt under the cool water, she began to wipe her matted skin clean.
Looking in the dirty mirror, she got the first good look at her wounded body. She had a great incision down her chest and stomach, the stitching precise. The whole area was understandably very tender to the touch. She thought it was a miracle that she hadn't torn herself back open fighting against the scavengers. She only stood there a moment longer before continuing with cleaning herself.
---
There came a slight leather squeak as she finished buckling her new black belt. She had lucked out in clothing. She had found herself suitable undergarments as well as a rather nice pair of fitted very dark blue jeans and a red cotton tank. She decided to toss her stolen boots. They were too big and she thought it would be impossible to get the smell of death out of them. They had been replaced with a sturdy pair of black boots. She knelt down and finished lacing and buckling them.
She then made her way to the jackets. It would get too chilly at night for her to be running around in a tank top. Pulling her size off the rack, she wrapped herself in the black fitted jacket. She pulled her long wet scarlet hair out from under the garment, letting it fall free on her back. She was thankful there had been a lot of soap in the bathroom. Had it not been for that, she would still be rank with the stench of scavengers. She took in a great sigh.
'It feels so good to be in a nice pair of fresh clothes. Now for some equipment. I'm not going to be caught without some knives and at least one gun if I can help it.'
She began to rummage through the selection of knives. She slipped one into her right boot and strapped another to her left thigh. She shoved another in her jeans pocket. After that, she went over to the selection of firearms and found herself a handgun. She hid the five-inch Viper JAWS under her jacket. To finish off her weaponry, she strapped a Mossberg 12 gauge shotgun to her back. She stashed a few magazines and extra bullets for each gun on her person.
Grabbing a bag off a shelf, she stuffed it full with whatever ammunition was left. She tossed in a few more knives and some food and rounded up all the money she could find in the place. She stood there a moment, wondering if she'd forgotten anything.
"Whatever happens, I don't want to be caught unprepared..." She zipped up the bag and took a sharp inhale of realization
'The nail, I can't leave without that.'
She walked back to the bathroom. It was still sitting on the sink where she had left it. She was hesitant to take it with her. On the other hand, she couldn't dare step out of the store without it. Just then, there came a noise from inside the store, one that stopped her heart. Her green eyes swelled.
'Someone or something is in the store, and my bag is still out there...!'
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
-- Power
stone