Thread: Between Life & Death [Midnight x Fruit]

------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cassandra Knight Female Status Escaped Pursuit teams searching. So far so good, well at least it seemed as good as it was going to get she was out of that hellhole, and the dogs seemed to have been called off, quite possibly to avoid their frantic barking alerting the infected to their presence... In time all she could hear was the rain and her breathing, feeling the cool water on her skin and the chill slowly settling in on her barely half-dressed form. She had been lucky, of this she was certain, she didnt know if the infected had any reason to be outside the city at night, but she was at least aware that the zombies got much more active after dark, it was at nights that she lost the most of her friends and allies after all, and had some of the most horrifying experiences of her life. But, for now she didn't smell carrion, or hear their rasping moans, or even see their staggering, slow bodies moving between the trees as much as her exhausted mind tried to convince her she did. As she approached the city her footfalls slowed and she paused to allow herself to catch her breath. This close to the city's limits the trees and hills were becoming more sporadic, a gradual but increasing downslope that revealed steadily the lush and dark expanse of trees being steadily broken by lines of buildings and streets. Before everything had fallen apart, this place would have a wonderful view of the sprawling city, its glistening lights and glass spire, but no, right now the city in which she lived was as much a living corpse as the monsters that roamed the countless crisscrossing streets. Cass couldnt help but grimace at the thought. From her position she could see pretty far through the haze of rain, to the lights still glistening from fires that never seemed to stop burning and of course a few lights that were on in buildings. Those buildings were to be avoided, either overrun with the undead, traps, or survivors stupid or ballsy enough to leave lights on at night. She could see more of these in the city's heart, as well as the glow from either fires or places where electricity hadn't stopped flowing fanning out from the dark heart of the City, street lights and old buildings. Certainly less lights than she had last seen last time she had been this far from the city. Shit, how long had she been down there? The people of Pacific City were resilient, even in the face of the Apocalypse, but even Cass didn't know how many were left after she had been gone so long. She didn't have long to ponder this thought before she resolved to press on she was cold and tired, but relative safety was only a couple crossings ahead of her. She began to very carefully pad her way down the hill, trying to avoid muddy patches in the wet grass that might send her screaming and spilling down the rather sharp incline that lead to the barrier of streets and freeways that separated her from the city limits. She grew closer and closer, reaching the bottom of the hill and finally in sight of a few of the buildings, now approaching the backyards of small industrial yard. The warehouses and other buildings this close to the treeline were all abandoned, and the infected had probably already moved in closer to the city, or at least she hoped warehouses didnt stand out in her mind as perfect holdouts, this thought unfortunately didn't last long as she almost reached the first fence. Almost instinctual panic rose in her as soon as the movement caught her eye. Further down the hill, almost between herself and her objective she could see the movement that made her drop to a lower stance, one that made her eyes go wide and heart still. Two figures made her almost instinctively crouch, then breathe a sigh of relief followed by a stifle gasp once she figured out exactly what they were. Two Deer were by the fence to the yard, and one was eating the other. Once again, she had gotten lucky as the standing cervine had its head buried in the guts of the fallen buck, shredded flesh scattered about the wet grass. The standing deer was clearly infected, bulging muscles were exposed in his legs and his flesh had been peeled from the majority of his skull, giving off a nightmarish appearance. Busy eating the creature was both a potential threat and a grim reminder that no living thing seemed to be immune to the virus. It hadn't noticed her, but that didn't stop her pulse from increasing to a hammering race as she finally descended to the fence and began to climb. Making it over before the thing lifted its rotting head up to listen for more prey, and she was in the yard before it could detect her. In previously inhabited areas the challenges were different than out in the woods, her eyes had adjusted to the dark as well as they could, but there was always the threat of impaling her feet on rusty metal or more barbed wire, because it was pitch black. Cass knew now it was important to keep low, while the zombies she had encountered were usually slow and dumb she wasn't going to take any chances, she quickly approached one of the smaller buildings in the yard felt her way around the wall and breathed a sigh of relief finding that not only were none of the important windows broken, but the door wasn't even locked! She crept inside the building and with patience and speed scouted the interior for supplies. The building was small but looked secure, perhaps a storage unit of some kind before Z-day, the lock on the door even still worked! Once she was out of the rain and inside a set of walls, the adrenaline of her flight began to wear off and the all-too familiar sensations of exhaustion and pain began to creep up on her. The inside of the shack was practically barren, only a few lengths of metal and large wooden crates littered the floor, each of which the young woman crept up to and checked for potential threats and supplies, almost cheering she she found several sheets of soaked cardboard in one and a rag in another. She had made it to the outer limits of the city, and found shelter for what remained of the night, giving her time to rest and recover, to check her wounds and rest her wary feet... some shoes would be nice, but it was unlikely she would find any until she got further in. In the meantime though Cassandra limped over to the far wall and slid to a sitting position, tying the rag around her injured leg as a makeshift bandage and trying to get some rest. Resting in the corner of the room she grabbed the sheet of cardboard and tried to wrap it around her form the best she could to both hide herself and in a vain attempt to shield herself from the cold long enough to fell into a restless sleep. If I can wait until dawn my chances to get further in are better she whispered to herself, mostly to reassure herself that she might be able to get to her little hideout intact. Still, this was in the middle of the city's heart, and traveling would only get more and more treacherous once she crossed the first freeway of Pacific City's Sprawl.