Us/Them, Chapter One: The Burning Plains [PG-16]

[Timeskipper]

The sun was setting over the rubble that greeted travellers at the entrance of the town. The blue and green fires that never went out still dotted the scorching hot asphalt of the highway leading into the Burning Plains.

 

As the last of the giant red circle of the Sun finally disappeared beyond the horizon, it was the signal to everyone roaming the highways that it was finally safe to come out of hiding. They usually didn’t hunt at night.

 

A lone Harpy squawked in the distance. She was dismantling a car with her mechanical beak, formed by two pairs of shears, and munching on the metal.

 

For a moment, it seemed like she had sensed the two travellers marching on the road that led into town, but she quickly turned around, resuming her activity.

 

One of the fires giggled.

 

 

---

 

 

Finally, one weary traveler reached the outskirts of the town, trudging the street that others had fled.

 

One foot in front of the other, that’s all Khristy knew at this point and for once in her miserable life she had found someplace that she could call a home. Though she was a bit weary, most if not all the travelers here were human, or looked the part anyways and that meant that she was a big threat, well… As long as she stood far away from everyone. She remained silent as she strode along to a quiet corner where she sat down for the first time in days, she may have been a living ball of poisonous slime but she had her limits too.

 

 

Another also came into the town, though from a different way. The metallic “thunk” of either armored boots or bionic feet rang out a ways ahead of the dark robed figure from which they came, who most could tell was a Courier by the enormous pack on his back. This was Pharon Del, and the sight of the town to which he had been sent brought a sigh of relief from behind his sky blue scarf, which he took a moment to tighten. He wanted to look presentable when he got into town. Well...as presentable as he could. The journey had dirtied his robes, and there were a few more tears in their low-hanging hem. So, with his goal in sight, he set into a run to close the last few hundred meters.

 

 

---

 

 

The scenery was rather depressing, in fact: most buildings, while still standing, had giant holes in their walls, or were clearly just biding time until they finally collapsed. A lone stadium on the outskirts of town looked like a cheesy replica of the Colosseum, as one of its sides had collapsed in a perfect mimicry of the archaeological treasure of Rome.

 

Khristy had entered town through a large avenue, flanked by modern-looking, but still ruined houses. An old neon sign hung, lightless, from the entrance of what must’ve once been a movie theatre. Smoke was still coming from the destroyed landscape, and at a roundabout in the middle of the street lay a monument made of mangled and destroyed cars, mashed into one another in a bizarre pile. At their heart, licks of blue flame still spouted outside.

 

 

“Alright...this is unexpected.” Pharon said aloud as he neared the town, and noticed the distinctive lack of signs of activity. Even small settlements tended to make a fair bit of noise when everyone was getting ready for the night’s business. His run slowed to a jog, and then to a walk as he came nearer to the buildings. Electric yellow eyes darted this way and that, and a spark or two danced unbidden across his fingers as he made himself ready for trouble.

 

 

---

 

 

The sound of metal running on the ground drew Khristy’s attention, it was coming fast and into the town, almost as if a metallic creature was charging it’s way in. The metallic footsteps soon slowed down, though the metallic noise was still audible, Khristy was already on her feet and was peeking from the edge of her corner. She was slipping the glove off her hand, whatever it was, if it was hostile Khristy had to defend herself.

 

 

“This place looks like a herd of Brutes came through…” The robed Technomancer muttered as he cautiously approached the center of town, sweeping his gaze about in search of anything that might mean him harm. One could not be too careful when among ruins, especially fresh ruins. In the hopes of frightening off anything that might mean him harm, he brought a familiar weapon into being. His left hand now clutched a smoking red cylinder that glowed with a baleful light and occasionally crackled with electricity.

 

 

---

 

 

Peeking from her corner, Khristy caught sight of the source of the footsteps, a human? Maybe, maybe not, but this humanoid was carrying a very dangerous looking weapon in it’s hand, not good, one wrong step and there was going to be a hole in her body, but not if she came out peacefully? What even is peace these days? Nevertheless, Khristy would much rather settle this without conflict if it was a human. She walked out real slowly with her hands in the air, she had to look nonthreatening.

[fearen]

Neph trundled along, staring down at her feet all the way. The cracked asphalt would slowly leave her vision, only to be replaced by a new, nearly identical strip. It was sort of calming, in a way. One foot in front of the other, again and again and again. She couldn't remember for how long she had followed this road. Probably days at least, but her rhythmic steps helped her to forget all of that. Maybe if she walked long enough she could forget where she came from. Maybe she already had.

 

Her growling stomach woke her from her musings. That was something she couldn't forget. She wondered how long it would be until she got to... where was it she was going? "Burning Plains", she thought out loud, though no one heard. There was people there, and by extension, there would be food. She had no idea how much farther it was though; the past few days blurred together in her head, and she could only remember the asphalt at her feet. These thoughts did nothing to sate the emptiness in her stomach. "Maybe one of Them will come by." she said, before thinking about just how sick it had made her last time. It probably didn't matter too much anyways; she doubted that she could kill one right now.

 

Neph didn't notice that the sun had set already, until she saw the flickers of blue and green illuminating her tattered cloak. She held up her hand so that she could see the lights reflected on it. She gazed deeply into the silhouettes dancing across her black veins. In another state, Neph might have something poetic or melodramatic to say about the the light on her hand, and how it danced with the darkness as its partner. She might have thought about how intertwined the two were and about how one couldn't be without the other. Right now though, she could only think about how much pretty the flickering fire was. "Wait. Fire?" Neph said as she broke from her trance. She pulled her head up and scanned across the flames, her gaze landing on what she knew to be her destination. She grinned at the thought of being able to talk to someone after so long, but even more so, she salivated at the prospect of getting something to eat. As fast as her weak body would carry her, she trotted into Burning Plains.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Pharon swept his gaze this way and that, the thrum and crackle of his glowing blade some comfort in this desolate place. Once or twice he thought he heard footsteps apart from his own, only to stop and hear nothing more. Whether he was truly alone or not he did not feel certain, and he only grew more tense as he went without knowing. The strangeness of walking through such a recently destroyed place only made things worse for him, but he did not give in to panic. That would help nothing. Eventually, though, he properly caught the sound of footsteps. He knew they were not echoes of his own when he stopped in place and they continued. It was relieving to know that he was not alone, but without knowing who was with him he could relax only so much. Thus he turned to face the source of the noise.

 

He breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed that they seemed to be human, though they covered themselves similarly to him. His left hand opened, the blade in it dissipating into an indistinct cloud of vapor a few moments after, and was quickly raised in greeting.

 

"Hello there!" He called out, his voice only slightly muffled by the scarf wrapped around his face. Pharon took a moment to adjust his enormous pack so he could more easily carry it and began approaching. "You wouldn't know what's happened here, would you?" Only then did he notice the other had their hands above their head, and soon enough he was laughing aloud. "Oh, no need to surrender. I've no intention of harming you."

[Wind Rider]

"Hello there!"

 

Khristy froze. She was half expecting the man to attack her out of instinct or something, but she let out a sigh of relief when the man put his weapon away and greeted her.

 

"You wouldn't know what's happened here, would you?"

 

What happened here? That was something that Khristy wanted to know too. Wasn't the Burning Plains some kinda safe haven, and if so, then why did it lay here in ruins?

 

"Oh, no need to surrender. I've no intention of harming you." The man said with a laugh added in.

 

Khristy let her arms fall to her side, but brought them up a bit when the man started to approach. "S-stay... Back..." She backed up a few steps. "I... Don't want to... Hurt you..." If this traveler really was human, then it was a terrible idea to get close, she didn't want to poison him.

 

She was much more comfortable talking from a distance. "I... Don't know what happened here... I only recently arrived... Myself..." She said in a very shaky tone. "Why... Are you here?"

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

 

"OK... no need to panic any more; you still have one daughter," Xenlisa Sargent said to herself as she walked away from the one major medical site within the Burning Plains. Still, this didn't ease the former mother of two's mind in the slightest. After all, that was twice now that her last surviving daughter was under the threat of dying, and if the girl were to kick the bucket, then who know how Xenlisa would react?

 

It was funny. All Xenlisa wanted to do was to raise her two daughters right... and then all of a sudden she lost the capability of raising them at all. It happened so fast as well. She shook it off, supposing she should probably focus on something else, and looked around at her surroundings. Something about these buildings seemed off. Were they always in this state of ruin? Was this place under a siege of some kind? Xenlisa hadn't been in the Burning Plains since around the beginning of the apocalypse, and back then she was, understandably, more concerned that she would lose her daughter at any given point of time. So she couldn't afford to think about such a thing.

 

But now her observations had gotten her to start wondering...

 

Xenlisa started to approach the outskirts of the Burning Plains when she caught sight of two persons entering. From the looks of it, they came here separately, and one of them seemed to have startled the other. Her curiosity peaked, Xenlisa headed towards the two of them.

 

'I sure hope a commotion doesn't break out between those two,' she thought as she continued her approach, 'The last thing we need here is more violence...'

[fearen]

Neph walked through the crumbling town, occasionally stumbling over bits of rubble. She hadn't really thought that finding the shelters would be so hard, but in hindsight, she probably should have. Maybe there would be some sort of... "Map? I doubt it." she said to herself, before realizing that she had stopped moving. Neph shook her head and blinked a few times in an effort to refocus herself. Deciding that standing in the middle of the street wasn't very productive to either of her goals, Neph looked to the buildings around her. Halfway through assessing which ones would likely contain a bunker, something else or, more accurately, someone else caught her attention.

 

"Hello there!" he said, and Neph looked to her right to see two almost completely covered individuals, standing not too far apart from each other. They started talking about something, but Neph was preoccupied with wondering if the more outgoing one had food in that pack of his. She wondered if he had anything sweet, or maybe some fruit or meat. With how hungry she was, Neph thought that she wouldn't be so picky to refuse a simple slice of bread. Her attention came back to the two in front of her when she saw third approaching from the distance. She looked a bit different, to say the least, and Neph was quite sure that she was a hybrid, if not one of Them.

 

"I... Don't know what happened here... I only recently arrived... Myself... Why... Are you here?" said one of the first two, and Neph was quite pleased that she knew, and could also remember, the answer to that question. "Oh! That's easy! The two communities just sort of stopped, um, being communities, and there was apparently fire. The fire is very pretty." she said giddily, before realizing that she didn't much know what had truly happened here. Thinking for a second, Neph also realized that she didn't know if she had just interrupted a conversation, or if she even cared if she had, but she did know that there were more pressing matters right now. "Hey, does anyone have any food?" she asked, before nearly collapsing face forward onto the ground. She caught herself with her hands and sat down on the pavement, which was suddenly very comfortable. "I am extremely hungry."

[Asriel Dreemurr]

"S-stay... Back... I... Don't want to... Hurt you..." Now that was an odd thing to say, Pharon thought. Why on earth would anyone be so worried about hurting him? It wasn't like- oh. Well, certain things made sense if she were a hybrid with some form of harmful mutation. The fact that she covered up as much as he did for one, and her apparent worry when he tried to approach her. Well, that certainly made things a bit difficult for him. It didn't make much sense for them to shout back and forth like they were, as much attention as that could draw from the few of Them that were active at night, but she wasn't going to let him get close. Well...maybe...

 

"It's alright." He said as he held his hands up. "I don't think you'll accidentally hurt me." Rather than just explain what he meant, he set about removing the shoulder-length glove from his left arm. In just a few moments, the glimmering steel that substituted for skin and the quiet whir of servos in the place of muscles made it quite plain that his body was far from entirely natural.

 

"Oh! That's easy! The two communities just sort of stopped, um, being communities, and there was apparently fire. The fire is very pretty." Another voice answered his question about what had happened in town, and nearly made him jump off of his bionics. Thankfully, a quick glance at its source showed him someone who at least seemed friendly. "Hey, does anyone have any food?" And she had a question of her own, which Pharon didn't get the chance to answer before she fell forward, caught herself, and set herself sitting on the ground. "I am extremely hungry." That...well, that was a problem wasn't it?

 

"Um...sorry." He said, fitting his glove back over his arm and pulling it back into place beneath his robe. "I ate the last of my food before I came into town. I was hoping to use my pay to restock here but...well, I guess we could always loot one of the stores here. Not like the owners will be that upset, considering they're gone."

[Wind Rider]

"It's alright.​ I don't think you'll accidentally hurt me." So wait... Was this guy a human? Her thoughts were answered when the man uncovered his arm, it flashed under the light and it was making a strange whirring sound like a machine. Machines can't be poisoned... Right? They can corrode but... Khristy was unsure if her body even contained any acidic properties. Before she could speak, another new face joined in on the conversation about the settlement. "Oh! That's easy! The two communities just sort of stopped, um, being communities, and there was apparently fire. The fire is very pretty. Hey, does anyone have any food?" Khristy looked to see the newcomer and was surprised to see them flop onto the ground and reorient themselves in a sitting position. The girl looked like she was completely malnourished, no wonder she was asking for food. She looked more organic than the other traveler so Khristy had to be careful with her.

 

"I... Have some food..." Khristy took a quick look in her bag to find only one fresh apple, a rare sight in this world now, in her food pack along with a little bit of water left in it. Thinking about it, this girl needed it more than Khristy. She took the pack out of her bag and held it out in the girl's direction. "Sorry if it's... Not much..." The first contact with sane travelers... Khristy had to show that she was not an enemy, she still kept herself covered however, she couldn't trust that she wasn't going to end up hurting someone.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

 

Xenlisa noted a third person approach the duo, entailing a little about what was happening and asking for some food. The male of the two (or so she had to guess, considering they were both in robes) apologized, stating that he'd used up the food he had for the journey here, but the female had produced an apple for this newcomer. It may have looked fresh on the surface but, considering fruit and vegetables would normally be found already spoiled...

 

'...there's no way she could have found that fresh,' Xenlisa then got to thinking, 'Could she be a Hybrid like me?'

 

Slowing down as she drew near the three travelers, Xenlisa maintained her distance. She was tempted to reach for the apple and inspect it for herself, and if it were more akin to a pear, she would've. It looked to still be at a state of edibility, however, and she could very well come off as rude if she were to insist, so she let it slide for now.

 

"Hey, um... I just passed by an old supermarket on my way over here," Xenlisa announced, "It might be a long shot considering raiding one would be the first thing that'd come to mind in this type of situation, but if you guys are looking for food, there might be a few items here and there that may have been inadvertently dropped."

 

She didn't know that for sure, and one could tell by the tone of her voice. On top of that, it would've been too risky for Xenlisa to have searched the supermarket herself and tried to verify what she was saying. But she wanted to be proven right or wrong on that subject, and there was only one way for that to happen...

 

"Would any of you like to search with me?" the Hybrid nurse asked, "If you do, I... I'd be happy to share what we find... assuming there's anything left at all, that is..."

[)e//!s0P]

Chera could smell betrayal. She always knew when betrayal was in the air, just like many things. Love, anger, even pain. But she never expected the old man to betray her. She woke up, head hurting, and surrounded by small, insignificant rodents. She took out her knife and did a quick slash to take them out. She knew that one more kill, and she'd drop her knife. She at least had semi fresh meat. And with random flames , she could use her family's old cooking skills. 'Wait' she thought. 'I think someone is over there.' "Hello! " She called."Anyone!" She knew her adventure was not over, and revenge was awaiting the old man.

[fearen]

"I ate the last of my food before I came into town. I was hoping to use my pay to restock here but...well, I guess we could always loot one of the stores here. Not like the owners will be that upset, considering they're gone." the one carrying the pack said. Neph was found it a bit suspicious that there was no food in his bag, but she didn't have long to think on this before the other one said "I... Have some food... Sorry if it's... Not much..." Neph looked back to see the other covered individual holding out a fresh apple. She licked her lips and made an attempt to get up off of the ground, but found that her body refused to cooperate.

 

"Hey, um... I just passed by an old supermarket on my way over here," the third stranger announced, "It might be a long shot considering raiding one would be the first thing that'd come to mind in this type of situation, but if you guys are looking for food, there might be a few items here and there that may have been inadvertently dropped. Would any of you like to search with me?" she asked, "If you do, I... I'd be happy to share what we find... assuming there's anything left at all, that is..." This all seemed well and fine, but it was a bit too much for Neph to think about right now, and her attention turned back to the apple and how to get to it. She didn't usually like doing the thing around other people, especially strangers, but this was a special circumstance, and Neph had a suspicion that at least two of her new companions were hybrids as well. She shifted her focus to her heart, or at least how she imagined it to look, and the blood flowing through it. She then focused on the blood flowing through her veins, and she just sort of got it to...

 

Well, Neph was never quite sure how it worked, but she definitely knew when it had. She lifted her hand into the air weakly, and her black veins swelled. Her body began to rise with an unnatural movement, which could maybe be recreated by a contortionist ballerina. At the top of her ascent she relinquished control back to her body, and now that she was confident that it could make the rest of her journey, she slowly walked the few steps to the charitable figure. She reached out and grabbed the red fruit, hurriedly biting into it until it vanished, core and all. She swallowed the last of her snack before speaking, as much to be polite as to savor the taste. 

 

"Thank you." She said to the one in front of her, who she now realized remained nameless. As a bit of her concentration and composure returned to her, she remembered the offer from the third one. "I like supermarkets, or raiding them at least, but maybe we should introduce ourselves first? I'm Neph."

[Wind Rider]

The girl Khristy offered the last of her food to didn't seem capable of getting up after tripping over, but that didn't seem to stop her. Khristy had seen creepier things, but she wasn't prepared to see the girl get up in such an unnatural way, she was like a puppet getting lifted up by strings. It didn't last long thankfully, because as soon as the girl got to her feet she walked normally up to Khristy and took the apple from her. She devoured the apple in seconds, even the core, she must of really been starving.

 

Just as the girl had said thank you, another figure, one dressed as a nurse or medic of some kind, referred to a decrepit supermarket nearby that may have supplies in it and asked if anyone would join her in... Well, raiding it. Khristy only had a bit of water to her name, so a little bit of searching couldn't hurt.

 

"I like supermarkets, or raiding them at least, but maybe we should introduce ourselves first? I'm Neph." the malnourished girl introduced herself. If she truly wanted these people to trust her, Khristy would have to do the same. "M-my... My name is Khristy... B-but... Please keep a fair distance away..." Even if these other travelers were Hybrids, Khristy didn't want to risk that she wouldn't poison them.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

 
"I like supermarkets, or raiding them at least, but maybe we should introduce ourselves first?" the newer girl suggested, "I'm Neph."

 

Xenlisa supposed this was fair enough. After all, if these survivors were to be part of a unit, then being able to refer to each other by name would be a necessity. Of course, the girl in question, Neph, was the first person to introduce herself to the group. Next was the taller of the two females..

"M-my... My name is Khristy... B-but... Please keep a fair distance away..."

 

'Hmm... she's one of those types, huh?' Xenlisa wondered. Something about this... Khristy, didn't sit right with the former mother of two, but she couldn't quite put on her finger on it at that point of time. In any case, Xenlisa supposed she should step up to the plate.

 

"Xenlisa Sargent, though you can call me Lisa for short if you want; I don't mind," as Xenlisa said this, she looked over to the one male who'd yet to introduce himself now. She was anxious to get going though; if there were supplies to be found in that supermarket, they weren't gonna stay accessible for long...

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Well this group of theirs was growing fast. Three quickly became four, and with the sound of someone calling out four might very well become five soon enough. In any case, the others ended up talking about an old supermarket from before the apocalypse. Not that Pharon expected there to be much there, as far as he knew he'd been born after the Apocalypse so there was certainly time for people to have looted anything worthwhile in it. Still it was something, and even if there wasn't any food at the very least they could potentially figure out something about what had happened to the settlement. Maybe he could figure out where the intended recipient of his package was as well.

 

"Well, this all sounds like a good plan." He said aloud, turning to look them properly over. Not that he could get much of a look at Khristy, but that was fine by him. Xenlisa stuck out as odd to him, but then with his upgrades he couldn't exactly judge too much when it came to appearance. Neph looked startlingly normal, so he found himself wondering if she were anything apart from a...well there weren't many "normal" humans, but that was what he thought of her. "I am Pharon Del, a Courier if you couldn't tell from my pack. Now, have any of you seen a man with three legs and no nose? I have a package for him and I would very much like to not have to carry this thing out of town with me when I report back." He patted the side of his pack, which he was hoping to have the opportunity to fill with foodstuffs or, well, anything while he was in town. He could keep what he didn't eat for later.

[)e//!s0P]

Chera had seen a group. She was tired. But she moved fast, calling introductions. "Hello! Who are you?" She called many times. One appeared to be a nurse, another a robotic man (a technomancer, no doubt), a 3rd a courier, and couldn't see a 4ths details. She started to run as fast as she could to the group. She felt like a storm, blasting faster and faster. She stopped as soon as she realized that she would collide into them. She felt the ground burn as she slid, hurting her. She had stopped when she gotten to the group. 'Perfect timing' She thought. She put on a brave face. "Hello! I am Chera. As you can see, I am forced to look as I did when I was younger, but tainted. Who do you fellows happen to be?" She felt the golden flower in her hair begin to fall, and she lunged for it. In this red lighting, it looked like a demonic creature. She put it back up in her hair. She knew it was not time to strike.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

 

"OK, that should be everyone," Xenlisa stated, this applying even after yet another stranger met the group, "If you'd all please follow me,"

 

Xenlisa took the lead at this point, walking ahead for the first few hundred meters as she looked around, mostly to her right as she remembered the supermarket being more in that direction. The terrain looked to be uneven, with parts of broken, slightly risen pieces of pavement across the footpath in various places. Xenlisa's spider-like legs would allow her to traverse through the tattered pavement without any issues, but she'd slowed down on purpose anyway. After all, she didn't want anyone to trip over in their haste to catch up to her, lest the whole party be ultimately slowed down as a result.

 

A stand-alone building could be seen to the party's right, as Xenlisa had expected. Like all the other buildings, the supermarket that they had approached had been sorely dilapidated, with more than its fair share of cracked windows all over, some of which had been boarded up and some of which hadn't, and shards of glass littering its outskirts. Markings could be seen on the front wall where the letters that once bore the supermarket's name would have been formerly place, but there was no sign of the letters themselves to be located. It was likely that each one may have fallen off through wear and tear alone, although that would likely have taken years for that to have been accomplished. The two front doors were held closed by a rusted chain wrapped tightly around the handles.

 

"Well... this is the place," Xenlisa said in solemn but grim-sounding tone, "Here, lemme break of some more of this glass so we don't cut ourselves trying to enter,"

 

With that, she ventured off towards the front of the supermarket and wrapped her decayed, brutish-looking left hand through one of the cracked windows, snapping of pieces of glass as she went and throwing them a safe distance away. It may have been a difficult procedure at first, but it got easier as more glass was removed. She then cleared a path from glass for the other survivors before entering through this same window. She fed the left arm through it first, then her head, both of her left legs and the rest of her body and finally the other legs. It would be a tight squeeze for Xenlisa, but she persevered.

 

Xenlisa began to scout around while she was inside, thinking she may as well begin searching for the supplies that she and the others came here for. However, she did the smart thing and waited for everyone else to climb through the window before moving much further than where she stood.

[Timeskipper]

The spectacle that greeted Xenlisa as she entered was not as depressing as she thought. The lights were all out, of course, with shards of plastic neon lamps littering the aisles' floor, but some lights still managed to enter from the odd holes in the roof or windows. The place, she immediately sensed, was tainted by Their presence, though she could not determine whether that meant that there might be some monster inside, or it was just the corruption permeating most of the city's ground.

 

Here and there, the remains of rotting and mouldy fruit, steaks and crisps still lay around. Still, the unnatural atmosphere seemed to have preserved them to the point where she and the others could still make that food good to eat without risks.

 

All in all, it was clear to everyone that looked attentively, that a good haul could be made from the market, enough to sustain a community for weeks, maybe months, too.

[)e//!s0P]

Chera found the Nurse to be patient, for being half spider. She remembered when she had to fight off a giant spider during her first couple of years and the Their came. She found herself calm, to her surprise. It's probably because of the fact that she was only spider from the waist down.

 

The supermarket was not expected at all. Of all the places to get supplies, a supermarket? Nevertheless, Chera went through the opening made by the Nurse.

 

Chera gawked at the condition of the supermarket. It was almost completely stocked. Chera quickly ran over to the nearest isle and took a sniff. It smelled like... "What is that smell?" Chera whispered to herself. It was the smell of stale glazed donuts, and something else. She frowned.

 

She knew exactly what to do. She ran off to find a bag or two, for supplies, carefully, as she felt the presence of something, but what was unknown. She felt something inside her, craving for a fight, ANYTHING, for a chance for blood.

[Wind Rider]

Khristy listened in as everyone introduced themselves, including a newcomer, Chera. This group just kept on getting bigger much to Khristy's dismay, hybrids or not, Khristy still kept a fair distance from all of them. Even as they all traveled to a supermarket that Xenlisa saw, Khristy was at the very back of the group.

 

Arriving at the supermarket, Xenlisa made a way for everyone via a broken window. Khristy waited for everyone to enter before going in herself. The market itself seemed plentiful in supplies, sure it was all rotten and dusty and possibly irradiated, but that really wasn't a problem for a hybrid. "There... There seems to be a tone of food supplies here... I doubt we could eat everything here..." she finally said at the back of the group.