Pal checked her Geiger counter, and shook her head with a grin at the reflex. She hadn't needed it for a few years now, but it had become reflex, every time she went somewhere new, every time she felt nervous, to check for the radiation that had been thoroughly scrubbed from the world. And then her grin faded as she looked at the city before her. What was left of it.
Yes, someone or something had managed to clean the Earth, even fix the deadly winters that had resulted... But it was too little, too late. Nobody could talk to each other. Many people had died. Many
more
had died in the chaotic years since that final war, that final,
stupid
war. It was only a small consolation to her that the arrogant, bigoted fools who'd started it all were the first to die.
Still... She was on her own now. The small group of younger survivors, now their mentors, their adoptive parents were gone, had decided to go their separate ways. Some went in groups, like Micah and Tara. Others, like her, went alone. But all of them had the same goal... A new community to join. Somewhere.
Anywhere
. Anywhere?
It had been six months, and her rations were running low. So she had come to the city, to find more.
At least it isn't raining. I was stupid enough not to pack a poncho
. Tossing her long brown hair irritably, she hefted her pack, and started walking. The road was cracked, heavily cracked, and overgrown... But it was a road. It was easier to traverse than the rocky outcrops that surrounded the city. What was it called again? She... She'd forgotten. She'd never really been there, never really knew anyone there, so she'd never bothered to memorise it. Another thing lost.
Still... The weather was clear, the animals had stayed away, and it didn't take her long to reach the first of the crumbling buildings. The street sign had faded, but, looking in through the window, she saw the chairs, the cracked sinks, the broken mirrors... A salon.
Well
, she thought,
I'm in need of a haircut
... She grinned. It looked stable, although she probably wouldn't be safe going any higher, and, more to the point, it didn't look like it had been looted. She stepped over the window frame, and put down her pack.
Curlers, dryer... Pfah, useless... Trimmer... AHA!
They weren't in the best of condition, but she pulled forward one of her locks, and snipped experimentally. And, looking critically at the line of the cut, she smiled. It was the little things that kept you going, sometimes.
So... Short, shoulder... Pixie cut
.
Yessss...
Sitting in one of the chairs, she set to work...
* * *
She'd had a mirror in her pack, thankfully, and, as she looked for storefronts, places that might have food, tinned or otherwise... Maybe even firewood... She briefly pulled out the mirror and admired her look. She'd never been that good at cutting her own hair, but, for all that... It looked nice! Placing the mirror back in her pack, she spotted one of those food, thrift, and knick knacks stores... The brand wasn't important, would never be important again, what was imporant was...
A loud noise immediately set her on alert, diving into the store and hiding herself behind a wall. Not only did it sound like nothing she'd heard before, it was a
mechanical
sound. And images crossed her mind, fantastical images of all sorts of horrors. The unknown was even
more
terrifying these days. The unknown could very well kill you. And she waited, breathing as slowly and quietly as she could, as the noise grew closer. Rising noise. Falling noise. WHAM. And again. And again. Even before it came into view, she understood what she was hearing. And when it did...
It towered in the street, a four legged, almost insectile thing, painted dark green and yellow, and its head and chest glowed as it twisted around. Searching. Seeking. She kept out of the way, and only peeked in between its swinging searches, but from what she could see, it was only moving slowly
because
it was searching. Those legs were
built
for moving, and moving
quickly
, and it was only because those legs were taller than the store she was in that she only felt a
moderate
urge to run. But it seemed not to have noticed her, and so she waited, keeping as quiet as she could.
After what felt like an age, it stopped twisting around, and lowered its body... A clank, something dropping to the ground, and it lifted itself back up, before striding down one of the streets, twisting its body once more as it surveyed its path. And she let out a shuddering breath.
Worry about whatever it dropped later
.
Food first
.
Wood first
. Nights were still pretty frosty, and she would need to find shelter... Preferably somewhere this new, dangerous element couldn't reach. Reflexively, she lifted her pistol from its holster, and checked it. Loaded... She'd cleaned it a few days ago... She'd keep it to hand, from now on.
Just in case.
* * *
It didn't take her long to find what she needed. The Geiger counter didn't even blip over the tinned goods, the use date was still in the future (She wasn't looking forward to when that would change, in a year or so's time), and they had firewood bundles. She put the tins in her backpack, and tied the wood to it, hefting it with a grunt. It would do. She didn't
like
everything she'd picked up, but the times had passed for her to be fussy. Still...
Nearing the entrance, she looked suspiciously at the object that insectile monstrosity had dropped. It was flat at the base, pretty thin, with some kind of translucent blue material in the center. She'd seen landmines and shaped charges (Almost run afoul of both, in fact), and this didn't
look
like either of them, but...
Pal shook her head. It was in the
middle of the road
. What the hell could it do? She adjusted the pack on her shoulders irritably, stepped outside, and, as it beeped, she felt a
