The wind howled relestlessy as if there was a storm coming. Although at present there haven't been clouds in the sky for a few days now. Oddly enough its not an inferno like it is normally.

Chorus of winds begins to whistle as it blows through cracks and crevices in the rocks protruding out of the dark brown almost black sand.

Skirath awoke, drenched in sweat, and shivering in the wind. She slowly sat up from where she lay on the ground, and raised a hand to shield her eyes from the sand in the wind. She looked around, but did not recognise her surroundings. The last thing she could remember was lying in her bed at home in Maronton, trying to hide her infection from her family in the hope that it would get better.

As far as the eye could see was vast a expanse of blackened sand desert. The sun seemed to shine brighter the more Skirath tried to focus on any distant shimmer in the distance. Tracks from the towns truck are still imprinted in the sand but are slowly being erased from the path by the wind. It almost appears as if hope itself has left.

It was then, as Skirath's eyes met the tracks, that it clicked as to what must have happened. People from her town, her family even, must have thought that she was going to turn into a zombie, and left her in the wasteland. Although distressed by this thought, Skirath understood their logic, and soon turned her mind to following the tracks in the sand before the wind blew them away. She climbed unsteadily to her feet, and began walking, head tilted down to avoid the sand in the wind, following the faint tracks.

After five minutes the tracks were only mental lines, an illusion appearing only in her mind. The sands carried by the wind were strong and very blinding. Then twenty minutes passed and the tracks made by Skirath were gone. Time soon became merely a concept as the day carried on with the sun high in the blue sky, being the only company of the moment.

Skirath realised the futility of her chase, and sat down in the sand to catch her breath and think through her situation. She wondered if the townsfolk would have even considered the possibility that she had overcome the infection and survived. She realised that perhaps it would be best to find some point of orientation, or at least some shelter, until she could get her bearings, and so she set off into the desert.

As if a greater snapped their fingers, the winds died down. Visibility in each direction improved greatly. Still desert and rocks protruded forth from the ground. The coolness of the winds was no more and it was heating up.

Skirath, at last able to see clearly, looked around to see if she was anywhere recognisable. But the sand and rocks were all unfamiliar, and there was nothing in the distance but more sand, rocks and vast expanses of empty space. Skirath sighed from the heat and realised how thirsty she was. It was then that the hopelessness of her situation hit her. She was out, alone in the wasteland with nothing to eat or drink, and no clue as to which way was home, or even which way was safety. Skirath sat down in what little shade a particularly large rock could offer, to think of what to do.

Upon a second look the rock was much smoother and almost had a dull metallic rusted sheen to it. It curved a bit out of the sand and from the looks of things it had been there for many years more like decades. Skirath stood up, and looked more closely at the metal object that she had been resting against. She brushed a little of the dust from it, and tapped it, to make sure it was metal. "Strange," she thought to herself, as she walked around the object, trying to find some clue as to its purpose, "Perhaps this will help me get home."

After twenty or so minutes of tapping on metal protusion, flipped open and turnable handle could be seen. It looked new despite the rust and dullness of the buried metal "rock" that was jutting out of the ground.

Skirath looked at the handle, and wondered if she should risk turning it. She considered the possibility that it may be a bomb or some other kind of weaponry, but then she remembered that if she didn't find her way to water soon, she would most likely die anyway. And so Skirath gingerly turned the handle.

It turned easily and clicked once it made a full clockwise revolution. At first nothing, then sound of sand moving could be heard. Within a few seconds the sand moiving in almost a whirlpool could be seen. It started smalled and began to be emptied into an unseen trap door to the side of the escarpment that had once served as shelter from the sun for Skirath.

More of the metal could be seen and from the looks of it various patches of it were dull grey and camoflague green. It was slick and very little grip could be gained by Skirath's boots. It was much bigger than it originally appeared and from the looks of things it was alot larger than a house.

Skirath gasped in amazement, stunned that such a small handle would have such a big effect. She carefully walked along the metal object, surveying its strange form, and trying to ascertain what its purpose was, and, most importantly, if it could be of any help to her.

It was a foreign object, as far as Skirath could tell it was old possibly some old facility from the times before "The Great Collapse." The smell of stale air permeated from the recently opened chasm. The light provided from the sun failed to directly show her the contents below. Shapes of various sizes could be made out. She could tell that most definitely that there was something down there and it wasn't moving.

Although unable to work out what the object was, Skirath was amazed that such a large structure could remain hidden under the sand for so long. Despite the possible dangers, her curiousity, and the lure of shade, drew Skirath to carefully climb down from the object and into the chasm. She landed on the sand, and stood up to take in her surroundings.

The area wasn't exactly a cavern but it was big enough to fit a house in, and it slanted slightly going only deeply into the darkness. After moment of the poor lighting to the room scraps of curved metal plates and what appeared to be helmets lie in piles at the bottom of the incline. Some of these metal plates were a bit more intact and hooked to the wall. But more light was required to make heads or tails of what it really was.

A few open doors could be seen along the sides of the walls but only darkness could be seen past their sideway hanging metal.

Skirath stepped gingerly further into the darkness, hoping her eyes would adjust to the lack of light in the chasm. She walked up to one of the open doors along the wall, and stepped inside.

The creaking of old metal accompanied each step towards the door. In some parts of the Room it looked as if half a yard holes had been drilled through the floor and walls on the opposite side of the doors. Upon stepping into the adjacent room, the heel of her boot touched down and crunched something. Almost the sound of brittle rock shattering upon hitting the ground.

There was still darkness but various shapes can be made out and she could ascertain that they were indeed boxes. What kind of boxes they were remains to be seen.

Skirath looked around for some way to get light into the room. Finding none, she stepped back into the faint glow cast by the doorway, and carefully treaded forward, her hands outstretched in case there was anything dangerous in her way.

As She pushed her way into the room more boxes got in the way. They were all hexagonal cylinders about quarter of a yard long and about two foot round. Upon feeling on them, each cylinder had handles. It wouldn't be easy move one them into the light provided at the entrance to the chasm Skirath was now inside of at present.

Despite the size of the cylindrical boxes, Skirath saw no better idea than to drag one of them back into the light from the doorway. She chose one, and dragged it back into the light, before turning the handles to get it open.

Upon dragging the cylinder into the light to examine it. Unreadable scribbles could be seen on its sides with a few arrows point at various parts of the canister. It was light green and had side locking clasps that helped it to stay sealed tightly. After another few minutes of fiddling with it, it clicked the clasps loose from their bindings and the cylinder opened. Inside was rectangular metal squares with half foot long pointed brass shells inside of them stacked perfectly on eachother.

The sound of footsteps and talking could be heard above the chasm outside but no one could be seen.

Hearing the footsteps, Skirath quickly hurried out into the lightest part of the chasm that she could find. "Help!" she called, desperately hoping that the person or people above could hear, "Please help!"

She squinted her eyes, trying to see who was up there. The thought occurred to Skirath that whoever was above her could be dangerous, but she was beginning to get so thirsty that she didn't care. After all, she realised that this may be her only chance to make it home.

"Aye!" yelled one of the voices. "How'd you wind up down there?!" asked another. Then there was another voice, "How do we know this isn't some kind of trap?" The first voice interjected in, "Because she wouldn't be screaming help and trapped in a pit." It was silence for a moment as if the other guy was stupid. "Oh." He said. The sound of one of them getting smacked could be heard, "Get the girl a rope to climb up on so she can get out of the pit." Said the more authoritative voice. A roped was lowered into the chasm for her to climb out on of the pit.

"Thank you!" Skirath called back, relieved that the strangers were helpful, and struggled up the rope they had let down. Once she reached the top, she sat down, puffed out and weak from the effort, and looked up to see who had rescued her.

After a moment to catch your breath the three gentlemen appeared to be covered in filth, wearing dirty coveralls and long sleeves shirts that we a dingy brown and black. They were all covered in soot and looked to be crazy. One was bald appeared to have severe sun burn. The more quiet one had curly hair that was more matted to his scalp and the third had a mess of black hair that looked to be tangled.

The one with black hair spoke, "So whats down there missy?" "Yeah! whats down there!?" questioned the bald one. The one with with curly hair stood up and moved to Skirath with a canteen in his hands. He smiled revealing dingy yellow teeth and spoke, "Would you like something to drink Miss?"

"Thanks," Skirath said, smiling and taking a long drink from the water canteen. "It's hard to tell what's down there... As far as I could tell just some helmets, scrap metal and a whole lot of boxes. But it's real dark, so if you want to explore it you should probably take some sort of light."
She stood up and handed the water canteen back to the curly haired man. "So do you guys know where we are? Are we anywhere near Maronton?"

The bald one laughed. "Maronton? Whats that?" he asked in a hickish voice signifying his low intelligence. The one with tangled hair smacked him upside the head, "Shut up you! It's your fault we're even out here." The curly took the canteen back and smiled. "So why are you out here?" he asked.

"Ohh... umm..." Skirath stammered as she paused to think. She knew that if she told them the truth, they may not help her out of fear that she was infected. "I just got lost when I went out walking... I kind of lost track of time and direction. So where are you guys headed? The nearest town?" she asked, looking at them hopefully.

"The nearest settlement is Kerby, which is about two days walk south of us." Said the curly haired one. "So mind if we dig through this cave?" asked the one with tangled hair. "Well miss i got lost all the time. Mom said I was retarded but I thinks I ams smarters than that." Said the bald one.

Skirath sighed with disappointment, for the word "walk" implied that the three men did not have any kind of vehicle. Normally she would be delighted with the opportunity to explore a strange cave out in the middle of nowhere, and was indeed curious to find out what the structure's purpose was... but right now, she just wanted to get home. Still, seeing no better alternative, Skirath shrugged and managed a smile. "Sure," she replied, "I hope you brought a light though, it's very dark in there."

The tangled hair man grinned before he spoke, "We'll check the chasm good just as soon we have our way with you." His grin looked almost devilishly. "I'll hold her down!" Said the bald one. The curly haired man spoke almost defensively of Skirath, "Hey now guys! She hasn't done us no wrong. It's not like we can't buy a prostitute or three with this salvage. Just leave her alone. She is not our concern."

Both the bald man and the man with tangled hair look at each other before looking back the curly haired man. The Tangled hair man whipped out a pistol and smiled evilly, "Nice of you to be the voice of reason Bill but your not going to stop us from having a little fun." The curly haired man's eyes went wide with fear. "No Rex! Come on man I'm your brother! You wouldn't shoot me now would you!?" he said pleadingly as he tried to buy time. He looked at you making eye contact. Rex fired the pistol twice both shot connecting to Bills abdomen. Holes the size of quarters appeared as the bullets drilled through his body. Blood flowed forth from the holes as Bill's body flew back into the dune and rolled. He was dead.

Skirath gasped in shock, eyes wide with fear and horror at what she had just seen. For a second she considered running away, but immediately concluded that such a course of action would be an almost sure fire suicide mission because of the lack of good hiding places.

Panicked, and running out of time fast, Skirath did the only thing she knew would keep her safe for the moment... she jumped back down into the chasm, and ran as fast as she could into the darkness of one of the doorways, and pressed herself against the wall, gasping and desperately hoping that the men didn't follow her.

The moment she moved Rex fired the gun missing her barely. The loud crack of the pistol and the subsequent click signified him being out ammo. "FUCK!" he exclaimed. "It can't be too big of a place. Lets get her!" Said the bald one.

Within moments the sound of them climbing down the rope could be heard. Then from where Skirath was hiding, light could be seen sweeping the main area and the room. Bones and bits of armor plates litter the floors. Along with visible signs of rust and weather abuse. "Come on out! We won't kill you, we'll just rape you! It won't be so bad." Said Rex tauntingly.

Skirath silently inched along the wall, and crouched down behind some of the cylindrical boxes, hoping she was out of sight. Realising that she didn't have a lot of time before the men discovered her hiding place, Skirath racked her brains for some idea of how to escape. Fortunately, whatever light source the men were using revealed a doorway in the corner, which seemed to lead further into the cave.

Although it was a very big risk, Skirath knew that if she stayed put, she would definitely be found. And so she decided to make a break for it and go through the doorway. But before she left her hiding place, she carefully picked up one of the helmets on the ground, and threw it across the room, hoping it would distract her pursuers, as she ran quickly through the door in the corner.

"What the fuck was that?!" Yelled Rex. "I bet the bitch is in that room over there." replied the bald man. They both moved in through the door way after Skirath. But by then you were in the Hallway from the door and judging by the light reflecting off of the way there was a door right next to her and a door further up the hallway from where she was hidden. At the bottom however where the floor slanted was sand. Which left her with two possibly place to go. The foot steps of the two men were getting closer and a decision had to be made.

Skirath ran as fast as she could to the door further up the hallway. She stepped through it and felt her way along the wall until she reached what seemed to be a console or control panel. Being careful not to press any of the buttons in case they lit the whole room up, Skirath continued, until she brushed against a chair that was pulled up to the control panel. Knowing that looking for another doorway to go through, or an otherwise better hiding place was useless without more light, Skirath quickly hid under the console, and pulled the chair closer to better disguise her whereabouts.

The two pursuers happened into the hallways after a minutes or so of searching the Cylinder Room. The booted steps echoing throughout the cave and into the room across from the door way. "COME OUT YOU BITCH AND WE WON'T KILL YOU! WE'LL JUST FUCK YOU!" yelled Rex frustrated that he couldn't find her.

Another couple of moments passed and they were moving up the hallway towards Skirath. The light shone into the room and Control panels, steering sticks and three chairs bolted down in the center of the room could be seen. They were close and her cover was becoming something soon to be blown.

Skirath held her breath, trying to stay as silent as possible and stop herself from shaking. She could hear the footsteps drawing closer to her hiding place, and her eyes scoured the room for any possible means of escape.

Light flashed across the room panning it. There was a skeleton still strapped into one of the chairs in the center of the room. Loose wires and metal plates were loose on the floor and ceiling.

Rex and the Bald man's were breathing heavily from chasing you. "Bitch! Come out now and we promise to just fuck you." said Rex as he edged into the center of the room. The Baldman flashed the flashlight straight at Skirath and continued panning. Another second later passed and the Baldman flashed the light back on you. "THERE SHE IS! THERE SHE IS!" he yelled and charged at Skirath who underneath the control panel. Rex flanked Skirath from her other side and reached down to pull her out from under the desk. "Gotcha you whore!" he exclaimed.

Skirath, terrified and panicking, did the only thing she could think of, which was to bite Rex's hand as hard as she could, and try to push him backwards, hoping she had caught him off guard.

She tore into Rex's hand catching him completely off guard that she would fight back. The flesh ripped as your fangs and incisors imbedded and tore into the skin all the way down to the tendon. The bitter taste of blood flowed into her mouth and down your lips. "Bitch!" yelped Rex and he got shoved to the ground. She was on her feet and quite possibly just maybe a chance at getting away.

Skirath was amazed that she could inflict such an injury, but had no time to think it over as she started running towards the door of the room.

Just as She made it to the opening some small but relatively weighted clipped Skirath in the back knocking her down. "Oh no you don't whore! Not this time!" Yelled the Bald Man. Only his silhouette could be made out in the darkness as he closed in on her.

Skirath screamed and crawled towards the door, struggling to get to her feet. She had momentarily considered turning around and trying to bite the bald man, but decided it was a bad idea until there was more light.

She managed to scramble back to her feet right as the Bald man made for a tackle on Skirath. By the time you made it to then door to the Cylinder room he was back on his feet with Rex right behind him.

Skirath ran as fast as she could go through the cylinder room, and into the main room. She was relieved to see light at last, and looked around for what she should do, before deciding to head for the rope, as it was the only way out of the chasm.

The two pursuers made their way through the cylinder room. "FUCK!" screamed Rex as he tripped over one of the cylinders. The noise from his falling to the metal floor reverberated through out the cave. The Bald man however made it through the door way and looked rather pissed that he was having to chase her.

Skirath reached the rope, and started climbing. It was hard because she was shaking from fear and exhaustion from the chase and lack of food, but somehow she was about halfway up the rope.

The Bald Man made it to the rope and grinned pulling at it, as if to shake her from it or pull it down. Looking down Skirath could see the made determination and drive behind his actions. He was vicious and angry, determined to make her last few moments very degrading and painful.

Skirath held onto the rope tightly, despite the bald man's best efforts to shake her down, and continued climbing until she reached the top of the rope.

There was a foothold on top of the chasm with which to get steady and safe. The pylon that had the rope tied around it looked to be loose and slipping with each violent tug from the Bald Man.

Rex could be seen below at the rope trying to pull you down as she reached the top. The moment Skirath stepped foot onto the side of the dune where she dropped in earlier, was the moment the pylon was yanked from of the sand and pulled into the pit. "NICE GOING TUCKER! WE DIDN'T GET HER! AND NOW WE'RE TRAPPED!" said Rex as he hit the back of Tucker's head. She was free for now as in the incompetent two argued below in the chasm.

Skirath sighed with relief and sat down on the sand at the top of the pit, safe at last. After taking a few minutes to catch her breath, she stood up and walked over to where Bill's body lay, and began searching through his pockets in case there was some items of value or clue as to how to get home.

Bill's body lay sprawled on his back. His eyes were still open and dried blood stained his lips and dried in the sand making it clumpy in the area around his head. Urine stained his coveralls and the stink of bodily release upon death was already permeating. The expression on his face was that of pain, as he must've been alive for a few minutes as he lay there shot.

His pockets turned up a gold coin with the number 5 on it, a canteen half filled with water, a spoon and few loose .45 caliber bullets. Other than that he had nothing of use and he had already made himself expire by taking the two bullets for you. The lay Bill, unburied and recently deceased.

Skirath pocketed the smaller items and carried the water canteen with her as she walked away from the stinking corpse as quick as possible. However, she didn't get far, before realising that she would just be wandering randomly. She tried to think back to her conversation with the men about where the nearest town was, but it all seemed so distant since the chase. She half-considered going back to the chasm to ask them about it, but decided against it, and so, set off once more into the wastelands.

After about another four hours of constant walking the sun was beginning to set rapidly into the horizon. It was turned the sky a brilliant yellow, orange and red as it began to dip below the horizon. Soon it would be getting very cold and very dark. There was no sign of shelter in sight.

Skirath shivered in the chilly air, and picked up her pace of walking, both to keep warm, and in the hope that there would be shelter nearby. While there was still light, she searched the horizons desperately for some signs of life, and called out every few minutes in case someone was within earshot.

She heard nothing nor found any signs of life. It was upon another hour later that the sand dipped down into an area with signs of former civilization which the burnt out hulks of vehicles lays. Parallel of her was a bill board that was barren the advertisement with which it held worn away by two centuries of wind and erosion. This was perhaps a safer place.

Skirath almost could not believe what she was seeing... she ran quickly to one of the larger vehicles, which was more intact, and climbed into the back seat. Although it was damaged, it would do well to keep her out of the cold that night. As she lay down and closed her eyes, Skirath wondered if she would see her family or even another person ever again.

The wind began to howl, screeching loudly through the hulks of burnt cars. It was a long, cold restless night that kept on as if to make sleep and dreaming impossible.

The sound of foot steps treading through sand could be heard. And before she knew it hands were on her ankles. It was Rex and he was grinning insanely.

Skirath screamed, surprised and caught off guard, and tried to shake free from Rex's grasp. She was mystified as to how he had managed to escape from the chasm and also that he'd been able to follow her all this way.

Rex laughed maniacally as if the sun and loss of blood had gotten to him. "Bitch! I know the look in your eyes. Surprise! Wondering just how I got out of that pit? I'll tell you right before I rape you. Maybe you deserve that much before you die." He said condescendingly as he pushed her skirt up and over powered her with a hand on her throat. "I got out. I got out right as soon as I killed Tucker. Dumbshit could have pulled you down but decided to yank the rope instead. I had him help me up. Then I shot him with my last bullet. Right between the eyes. I followed your tracks and now I am here. And I am going to fuck you and there ain't gonna be anything you can do about it." Said Rex as he finished hiking her skirt up. He licked her cheek, his foul warm breath bearing down on Skirath.

Skirath screamed again, and tried to push Rex away, struggling and clawing at his face with her nails.

He dodged herr nails and laughed as she screamed. His weight was overwhelming and his grin ever widening. The gaze of heat induced insanity was strong in his eyes. He groped Skirath, before undoing his pants and pressing himself against her. He began the starting motions and thrusts. He continued to laugh over herr panicked screams. "Shut up bitch! This is just only beginning." He said and began laughing maniacally.

Gripped with panic at what was happening, Skirath wrapped her hands around Rex's wrist and tried to pull his hand away from her throat, and towards her sharp teeth.

Rex noticed this attempt to over power him and slapped you across your face. "Not this time Bitch!" He yelled as he continued pumping inside of you. He started laughing again.

For another moment more he was violating Skirath in one of the most extreme ways short of inflicting death. Then he was pulled away and tossed through the air in a blur of movement. Rex hit the hood of a burnt out car with a loud sickening thud. Whatever had pulled him off of Skirath was big at nearly eight foot tall by her estimate.

Rex tried in futility to get back on his feet. But in his panicked state with his pants around his ankles he kept falling down. He began to try and crawl away.

The massive shape finally became a bit more discernible. Whoever it was wore darkened, tattered robes that had two distinct pieces of armor on his shoulder and guarding his crothc. He walked with a slight lurch over to Rex and scooped him off of the ground by his throat with one arm and held him there dangling. He fought but his strength was no match for the titan.

The man in robes produced a large, curved blade from within his Robes. With one swipe he sliced Rex's penis off, "OH GOD!" He screamed as the pain caught up with him. The phallus fell to the ground and blood began to spurt out of the spot where his penis once was located. The man thrust the knife into the rapist's stomach. Each thrust into Rex's body pulled out intestines and other internal organs that dangled from the recently made cavity. Rex screamed himself into a bloody gurgle. His body went limp.

For a moment, The stranger stared at the corpse before snapping Rex's neck and dropping the corpse to the ground like a piece of garbage. The man turned. His face still unseen and spoke, "Are you alright?"

Skirath stared, too shocked to speak, at the tall man, trying to take in everything that had happened. She was at once grateful for his help and at the same time horrified by the violence with which he killed Rex. But after a few more moments, Skirath found her voice. "I think so..." she replied, wiping her eyes and straightening her clothes.

The Tall Man scanned around the burnt car lot to make sure no other hostiles were near. He spoke, "Alright. Do you have food or more appropiate clothing?" He asked kurtly.

"No," Skirath replied, as she got up and walked unsteadily towards the man, "I don't even know where I am. Do you know? Are we anywhere near Maronton?"

"The name is Vadbol. I have some spare rations and an extra coat to spare for you since you are illprepared. Maronton is 6 days travel from here. And no, I am not heading there. I am heading for Pete's Point two days walk from here. Whats with the bite on your wrist?" said Vadbol as he picked up his ruck-sack and began to rumage through it for the spare coat.

"Oh, this?" Skirath asked, having almost forgotten about the zombie bite with what she had been through since then. She wanted to tell him the truth, but didn't know how he would react... and the thought of being alone in the wastelands was enough to make her lie, "It was that guy who did it... the one you killed."

She decided that it would be best to travel with Vadbol, at least until she was somewhere where she could contact home from. "My name is Skirath, by the way," she added, "And thanks for helping me out."

"Your welcome." said Vadbol as he finished pulling the jacket out of the bag. It was tanleather jacket with black patches keep it together at various parts. After a moment of silence he spoke, "I suggest we clean your injury. dispose of the body and eat."

Skirath gratefully accepted the jacket and put it on. "So why are you out here?" she asked, hoping to learn more about this mysterious stranger. She sat down in the sand and rolled up the sleeve of her jacket to reveal the bite.

Vadbol silently pulled a first aid kit out of his robes. "I can't stand civilization or the rules that come with it. Now sit still this is going to hurt alot." he said as he cleaned the wound with sterile rag and added antiseptic.

It began to burn like the fires of hell in the ridges of the teeth marks. They were getting sterilized.

Skirath clenched her fists and bit her lip, trying not to scream at the pain, and reminding herself that the antiseptic would help. As the burning subsided, she wondered why anyone would trade in the safety of civilisation for the horrors she had encountered outside of it. Then again, she thought to herself, if you could defend yourself as well as Vadbol, life outside civilisation would probably be easy.

"Thanks," Skirath said, smiling at Vadbol. She was mildly suspicious of why he was being so kind, but didn't plan on going anywhere, especially after the offer of food.

Vadbol reached into his pack produced sealed, preserved food. It was a luxury among the waste to still have prewar food. He handed it to you. "Once you pull the first wrapper off it will heat the food. That one is steak and mashed potatos." He said pulling one out for himself, pulling the first layer of packaging off and then the second. He pulled a fork from his food pack and began to eat quickly.

Skirath pulled the first layer of wrapping off her food and then the second, and took the spoon out of her pocket and started eating. She was so grateful for food after a whole day without it. Before long she was finished eating. "Thanks for the food," she said to Vadbol.

He finished eating quickly and tossed the packaging and wrapper in the car. "Your welcome." he said, standing up. He moved over to where Rex's corpse lay and dragged it out of sight. Only Vadbol's back could be seen and the sound of sand being dug to make a grave could be heard.

After another ten minutes he was standing before you. "You need sleep. It is 03:30 hours. We are moving out in 6 hours." he said dictating the time to Skirath.

"Sure," Skirath agreed, climbing to her feet. "We can just sleep in the cars, right?"

"I have guard. I was asleep until you started screaming. Your welcome so get your rest." said Vadbol as he stood up to sit on the hood of empty SUV. He wasn't the talkative or mannerly type. He was more or less short and violent.

Skirath nodded and climbed into the back seat of the SUV, and lay down to sleep. She was grateful for Vadbol standing guard, because she knew she'd never sleep otherwise. The combined effect of the warm jacket, the food, and the knowledge that she was relatively safe allowed Skirath to fall asleep.

The next day hit and it didn't feel like the seat of a ruined car. It felt like you were being carried. Infact you were! Right over Vadbol's shoulder. He must've been marching for quite a while before the movement and wind actually stirred you from sleep and into reality.

The day was at high noon. Clouds could be seen high in the sky and a light breeze was blowing. Off in the distance the husks of buildings and former society faded into the shimmering horizon.

Upon first waking, Skirath panicked, not knowing where she was or who was carrying her. But suddenly she remembered Vadbol, and was grateful that he had let her get the extra rest. "Thanks for carrying me," she said to him, "Can you put me down now?"

Without hesitation Vadbol dropped Skirath to the ground. The Sand cushioned the fall. "I tried to wake you up but you were difficult. So I carried you. We are 1/4 the way to Pete's Point." Said Vadbol tersly. He waited for you to start walking before marching forth into the desert.

Skirath stood up, slightly annoyed that Vadbol had just dropped her, but didn't feel like complaining about it considering that Vadbol was doing everything out of the kindness of his heart. Well, at least she hoped that was why. As she walked through the desert with Vadbol, Skirath tried to make conversation. "So why are you going to Pete's Point?" she asked.

"I am going to trade with the people and kill Pete." said Vadbol as he began getting ahead of you.

Skirath struggled to keep up with Vadbol, hoping he wouldn't walk this fast the entire time. "Who is Pete? And why do you want to kill him?" Skirath asked, curious as to the strange man's motives.

He didn't turn around to speak, "He shortchanged me in my last trade with him. And I don't allow faulty deals." He clenched his fists and continued moving. "We're taking a break in 5 hours." He said as he looked up at the sun.

"Okay," Skirath said, not sure what to say, now knowing that Vadbol would kill someone for shortchanging him. She thought better than to ask for a break sooner.

After a few more minutes of trying to keep up with him, Skirath began to feel sick. She tried to suppress it but after a while, she had to stop. "Can we take a break now?" Skirath called ahead to Vadbol, but before he could reply she was kneeling in the sand vomiting.

He stopped dead in his tracks and turned around facing Skirath as she puked. "You were already infected when he bit you. Your not attacking me. That makes you a ghoul. First sickness. Keep hydrated." said Vadbol as he pulled a spare canteen from his ruck sack and held his hand out waiting for you to take it.

"Ghoul? Infected?" Skirath asked, wiping her mouth and taking a drink from the water canteen. "First sickness? You mean infected with the plague? But I'm not a zombie..." So many questions swirled through Skirath's mind as she stared up at Vadbol.

"Yes. Infected. Not everyone turns into a zombie when affected by plague. Some people survive. Only a small margin. It means their immune system worked well enough to keep from dying but has formed with your immune system." said Vadbol as he finished handing you the canteen. He then went on to add more to the answer of Skirath's questions, "It means you never get sick. But you'll rot if you don't get fresh blood and meat from animals and people. Also you skin will be sun sensitive."

At that very moment, the ground started rumbling at first it was faint but within moments it was an audible loud creaking sound. Vadbol grabbed Skirath underarm and dived into the sand, digging with his free arm and burying themselves as quickly as possibly. Within moments it was pitch black, hot and very hard to breathe.

Skirath was confused and terrified as to what was going on. She was still struggling to comprehend the fact that she was infected with the plague after all, even though she wasn't a zombie. But the immediacy of the present threat was now the focus of Skirath's attention. She had no idea what was happening, but she knew that if Vadbol had to hide from it, then it must be dangerous. And so Skirath just kept her eyes closed and clung onto Vadbol's sleeve, hoping whatever was happening would pass.

After about what seemed like minutes Vadbol stood up out of the sand letting it roll off of him like water. It was everywhere. "Slavers." He said. The rumbling was gone and it appeared to be safe. "We need to get moving. They are in the area "sweeping". That means they are looking for tribals for cheap labor." answered Vadbol as he made eye contact with Skirath. He scooped her onto his shoulder and started walking. "Break time will have to wait." he said as he began running full sprint, complete with gear and Skirath on his back.

Skirath steadied herself by holding onto Vadbol's robes as he ran. A week before now, Skirath had had no idea that so much danger was out there in the wastelands, and now that she was finding out, she was grateful for Vadbol's help. "Thanks," she said, although it seemed insufficient for all he had done for her.

Vadbol ran full sprint for the better part of three hours before stopping and letting Skirath off of his back. He stretched and pulled his personal canteen from his robes taking sips off of it as he scouted around the immediate hills making sure it was safe. "Clear" he said affirming that the area was safe.

Skirath took a drink from her water canteen and looked at their surroundings, wondering how Vadbol knew his way around so well. "How long before we reach Pete's Point?" she asked.

He was still scanning the surrounding carefully. "Were 18 miles away." He said as he stood up on top of a rock. "I will need you to keep up. If you get tired say so." he quipped before he hopped off the rock to the ground. The sand was slowly fading to light brown dirt. There were patches of grass around the resting spot. Vadbol looked at you then looked ahead of him and took off running.

Skirath knew that there was no way she could keep up with Vadbol for 18 miles... but she figured she may as well try her best for as long as she could, and so she took off running after him.

After an hour of nonstop running Skirath's legs began to ache.
Another thirty minutes passed and it was like needles being driven into the muscles with each time her feet connected to the ground. Vadbol was still running strong as if it were breathing for him.

"Vadbol!" Skirath called ahead, slowing down and trying to catch her breath, "I'm tired... I can't keep up!"

He stopped in his tracks and walked in a fast pace over to you. He scooped you up with one quick flick of his wrists and you were on his shoulder. "Rest. We will be taking a break in thirty." He said as he began running full sprint again. He was slightly slower but he was still running strong.

After 3 hours of constant motion, and few breaks, Skirath began feeling sick again. She didn't want to inconvenience Vadbol, but after a few more minutes she figured it was better to ask him to stop than throw up on him. "Can we please stop for a moment? I don't feel so good," she asked.

Vadbol stopped running almost entirely. "Break time anyways." He said as he lowered Skirath by the scruff of her jacket to the ground with out dropping her. He pulled out his canteen and dranked as if it was his first time drinking.

Skirath was glad Vadbol didn't just drop her this time. She walked a few paces away and then threw up. Once she was feeling better she had a drink from her water canteen. "Will I always be sick like this? Is it part of being a ghoul?" she asked Vadbol.

"No. The first month is full of plague sickness." Said Vadbol as he stretched and popped his back and shoulders. Upon noticing that Skirath was done resting he scooped her up and placed her onto his shoulders. He began to run full sprint again. "We'll be there soon." He said in between strides.

As she held onto Vadbol as he ran, Skirath was relieved that she wouldn't always be sick, but still not looking forward to the month ahead. She wished she could be at home where she wouldn't have to worry about finding water and food and avoiding danger as well as sickness. She hoped that Pete's Point had some way she could contact her family.

Vadbol ran for four more hours and the sun began to set. Without asking if you needed to stop he stopped near an abandoned white brick house. He sat you down and stood there scanning the surrounding area. "We'll stop here. Pete's Point is near." he said as he entered the abandon house.

After a minute of checking for danger inside of the house he appeared in the doorway waving you inside. "There is a bed in the room to the right. This place has been lived in recently."
He said as he stood aside and moved the door to the house back in the way. He pulled a chair out the area of the house that appeared to be a living room and into the bedroom. He took his rucksack off, placed it on the ground and sat down in the chair, the cushions and frame of the old chair squeeked and indented. "I will get dinner out in a moment." He said as took his shades off and rubbed his eyes with a gloved hand.

Skirath was glad that they were stopping for the night, and hoped that the house had running water so she could get another drink. She took her water canteen into the kitchen and turned on one of the taps to see if it was working.

The pipes of the house creaked as water poored out of the old facet. "No. We must check it." said Vadbol as he stepped into the doorway. Despite his massive size the floor didn't didn't echo underneath his steps. He moved over to the facet and pulled out what looked to be a black cup with a cap on top of it with alot of holes. He ran some of the water through the cup, turned the facet off and waited for the cup to work it's magic stating whether or not it was drinkable or not.

Two minutes passed and the water didn't appear to be dangerous. A beeping sound and a visible green light on the side was a yellowish-green. "The waters safe with rust content. It's consumable. I'll get the filter." Said Vadbol as he moved back to the bedroom where his rucksack was located.

Skirath watched Vadbol in wonder. She was amazed at how much he knew about survival... things she would never even consider seemed routine to him. She realised how lucky she was to have his help.

He came back into the kitchen with a small black box that had attachment spaces, four hoses and six canteens. Vadbol connected the black box to the facet head, connected the hoses, attached the four hoses to four of the canteens and started the facet running to fill them up with pure water. Vadbol said, "Chicken, broccoli and rice ration." and pulled two rations out of his robes. He handed one to you and opened the other. Steam rose from the packaging and the smell of chicken and broccoli permeated from it. He had his fork ready as he opened the second sealing of the ration and began eating.

"Thanks," Skirath said, accepting the ration gratefully. She had forgotten how hungry she was. She opened the first layer of packaging and then the second, took out her spoon and started eating. She hoped that food would settle her stomach so she could get a good night's rest.

Vadbol shoveled through his food before the first four canteens were full. He discarded the ration packaging and finished filling up his and skirath's canteen with purified drinking water. He watched Skirath eat for a moment before collecting the equipment and returning to the bed room to store it in his pack.

He came back a moment later hold two pills. "Anti-nausea and rad pills." He said as the two white pill sat in his hand. "Early start tomorrow. I will wake you once. If you don't wake up then you get left behind." Said Vadbol as he waited for you to take the pills.

"Wow... thanks," Skirath said swallowing the pills with a mouthful of water from her canteen. It never ceased to amaze her how well-prepared Vadbol was for everything. "I should wake up easily tomorrow if I get lots of rest tonight," she reassured him. She finished her food and took another drink from her canteen before walking into the bedroom. She lay down on the bed and closed her eyes.

Vadvol nodded as Skirath thanked him for the medicine. He went into bedroom for a moment as she was falling asleep and secured his ruck sack to make sure she didn't rummage through it. He sat down for a moment retightening the straps on his boots.

"Perhaps when I get back to Maronton my family will give you a reward for helping me so much," Skirath said, opening her eyes to watch Vadbol.

"Perhaps." said Vadbol. His tone was monotone but it sounded hopeful. He looked at you as he began to sit down and spoke, "You need sleep. No need to be exhausted tomorrow. You will need strength. Those pills will stop nausea."

Vadbol sat in the old chair and adjusted the visible armor plating underneath his robes. For a moment he pulled his knife out of its hiding place. It was long, slightly curved and sharp. It shined in the light as if it were brand new. He pulled another one out of the inside of his robes. They were both exactly the same. He looked like he was getting ready to kill. Like the eve of a great battle. He got his gear ready and placed the blades back in his hiding spots for them and say there looking out the window at the moon.

As Skirath drifted into the land of sleep, she vaguely wondered if she'd get to see Vadbol kill the man he had mentioned called Pete. She didn't know what the next day would bring, but she felt relatively safe with Vadbol there to protect her.

The world suddenly hit Skirath as Vadbol shook her awake. "It's morning we need to go." He said as he rolled you out of bed and to the floor. He moved aside and slipped his rucksack on his back.

Skirath woke up, startled, but glad Vadbol didn't just let her sleep. She climbed to her feet, picked up her water canteen, and smiled at Vadbol. "So we'll get to Pete's Point by today, right?" she asked.

Vadbol watched as you collected your stuff in a hurry and waited until he was moving the front door of the way to answer the question, "Yes." He looked around observing the brightening morning sky which was dull blue with no sign of the sun in sight. "I will put you on my shoulders." Said Vadbol as he scooped Skirath off of her feet and placing her up on his shoulders. He began to jog slowly as she got adjusted to his quickening pace.

Skirath held onto Vadbol and watched the scenery go by as he jogged. "Do you think there'll be a way to contact my home town when we get to Pete's Point?" she asked him.

"No. Not unless Maronton has a radio." Said Vadbol before Skirath could finish that question.

After two hours of constant running they were very near Pete's Point. The sign stating it was nearsaid so. Vadbol stopped and let Skirath down. A High white stone wall could be seen as for people or structure passed it nothing could be seen. "There. Here are binoculars to pay attention to everything. Guard my pack." He said as handed her a pair of binocular. He began a slow walk on up Pete's Point gates.

Skirath sat down near Vadbol's pack and watched through the binoculars as he walked up to the gates. She was glad that he trusted her enough to let her guard his pack. It was also a sure indication that he would return.

Looking through the Binoculars, Skirath saw the gate open and a man wearing a dark grey almost black uniform come strolling out and the gate closed behind him. Up on the walls appeared men wearing black armor with Helmets that covered their faces. They were pointing guns at Vadbol. By her count there was at least twenty on top of the wall.

For a moment things seemed to be going so well until the man in the dark grey uniform pulled a gun on Vadbol. The echoing of the man yelling for Vadbol to get on the ground was silenced in a blur of movement as he lunged past the uniformed man. He stood there and tried to turn around to point his pistol at Vadbol. Up twisting his body his the left side of his chest from shoulder to stomach split open and blood geysered out. The hand holding the gun split away from the wrist as the barrel and the index finger on the trigger fell from the gun to the ground.

There was an uneasy silence as the soldiers on the walls slowly registered what happened to their comrade. Vadbol stood there looking up at the soldiers pointing guns at him. From the distance that Skirath was away she could hear Vadbol talking loudly, "I want to Pete. You do not have to die. Open the gates and let me see Pete."

They obliged his request by opening fire.

Skirath gasped in horror, partially at the gory death of the man who had pointed the gun at Vadbol, but mostly at the thought of Vadbol himself being killed. Although she wanted to be of some help to him, Skirath knew she was too far away, and no match for the men with guns, so she just continued to watch through the binoculars.

The soldiers let loose with fully automatic fire. The dirt where Vadbol stood was riddled with bullets and dust filled the air. After a few seconds of trying to trying to locate Vadbol, he could be seen scaling the wall of Pete's Point with his blades. The soldiers caught onto him as he was almost half way up the three story wall.

The readjusted their aim and tore into him. The bright flash of sparks as bullets hit his armor and were flattened or deflected against his armor. He reached the top of the wall swinging his free arm with blade in hand. The nearest soldiers head separated from his neck and blood spurted like a fountain from the void where shattered place plastic and severed head used to be positioned.

He cleared over the wall and began his assault. The second mand to go was split inhalf acoss the waist as he was thrown over the alabaster wall to the ground below. The third lost both his arms and disappeared from view. Vadbol's movements were hard to follow but upon killing a person they slowed enough to show that his robes were in even greater tatters as they clung to his armor which was faint oxidized gold and black.

He threw one of his blades at the man nearest to him to him. The blade twirled like a boomerang throw the air as it cut through the man's chestplate as if it were a scissor cutting paper. The next man was clipped through his side and fell off the wall firing his assault rifle all the way to the ground. The blade cleaved into a third and then a forth soldier where it could be seen sticking out of his chest as he attempted to get away from it.

An explosion rocked the wall. Misting blood, smoke and debris could be seen filling the air making visibility of the situation difficult. After a few moment of the ceaseless chatter of automatics fire and louder bang from what sound like shotguns. There was silence. And Vadbol could be seen breathing heavily. His robes on fire burning away. Revealing his black and gold combat armor underneath it all. His blades were in his hands and held at the ready. He scanned the wall making sure no man lived and disappeared off of the wall.

In the distance within Pete's Point walls a loud speaker could be heard, "Cease and Desist! Put the blades on the ground and step away!" Another explosion rocked Pete's Point and the main gate and several sections of wall were blown apart. Revealing fires. It couldn't have been even a moment before the sound of battle filled the air.

Skirath heard screams, and saw the smoke rising from the walls. She was worried about Vadbol getting hurt, and wished she could do something to help him... but she knew it was better if she stayed out of the way. So she sat and waited to see what would happen next.

Five minutes passed after the last shot, there was no more gun fire, no more screams, no more explosions just smoke and fires crackling. Then another ten minutes passed no sign of life stirred from Pete's Point. It was somehow understood that the area was clear of imminent danger.

After waiting for so long with no indication of what was going on or whether or not Vadbol was alright, Skirath decided to move in closer to have a look. She picked up Vadbol's rucksack and carried it up to the gate. She looked around before gingerly stepping through.

As Skirath moved to the gate she saw the bodies of the dead soldiers. The First body she passed on her way through the field. His expression was surprise as if he expected to kill Vadbol dead. The other two bodies were on either side of the gate. They died knowing a brief but very painful deaths.

Upon stepping throught the shattered gate that hung in the archway there was even more bodies and the fires were quite visible. Above you blood died almost flowed from the corpses that lay scattered about the wall and streets. A cannon lay positioned in the center of the street it's heavy steel barrel laying below it, rendering it inoperable and useless. The crew lay dead next to it gutted like Rex.

Abandoned buildings and merchant stalls lined both sides of the street. A trail of guns, shell casings, bodies, body parts and blood had been forged by Vadbol as he fought his way through Pete's Point. It was almost a straight line.

Despite the effects of the anti nausea pills, Skirath's stomach churned as she took in the horrible scene of death and carnage. She followed the trail of destruction further down the street. On either side of her lay dead people, some of which were holding guns. Seeing this, Skirath decided that perhaps it would be best if she had some kind of weapon, and so she picked up one of the guns, a pistol that had fallen from the grip of it's former owner. The clip was still in it, so Skirath knew it was loaded. She concealed it in one of the pockets of her jacket, and continued following Vadbol's trail of destruction until she arrived at the Pete's Point City Hall.

When Skirath entered the city halls doorways heavy wooden doors lay on the floor. A hand lay sticking out from underneath them. Blood covered the floor. In the door ways two men on each side lay against cracked walls where they were thrown. They weren't chopped to bits like the others but She could tell it was Vadbol's work.

Vadbol could be seen at the end of the long room sitting on an old metal desk against the wall. His golden and black armor dented in from gun shots and covered in blood. His blades lay attached to the backs of his forearms in special sheaths for each arm. His sunglasses lenses were cracked and his bandana that he was wearing as a scarf was slightly burnt. He turned to face Skirath acknowledging her as a friendly rather than those he killed just moments before she entered the town.

Skirath smiled, delighted that Vadbol was still alive. "Are you okay?" she asked as she walked over to him. She set his rucksack down on the desk and looked at him to see if he was hurt.

Once she got right infront of him half of his armor had been blown away and his ribs and internal organs could be seen. There was something odd though...it was healing sealing up as if no injured had been incurred from whatever inflicted such a severe, fatal for anyone else injury. Vadbol spoke one the outer tissue started sealing itself back together, "I'm Fine. Take what you need. We are leaving soon. Systemists coming to reinforce." By time he finished talking his armor had repatched itself as if had never been damaged.

Skirath stared at Vadbol in awe, amazed at how both he and his armour were repairing themselves. "How... how can... how is your armour and skin healing like that?" she stammered, and then thought further on what he had said, "And where are we going?"

"Otto. It's a town two weeks travel." Said Vadbol as he got up off of the desk. It creeked as his tremendous weight moved off of it. Vadbol eyeing one the decaptitated corpses spoke, "Now take what you need. Pete is dead. He wasn't honest. He was an example." He left the building and walked back into the street where he stood scanning it for danger. Which at present there was none.

"Sure," Skirath said, glancing at the corpse, still finding it hard to believe that Vadbol would kill so many people just to teach one guy a lesson. She was a little annoyed that Vadbol didn't answer her first question, but she figured that collecting as much as she can from the dead people and merchants' stalls was a more pressing priority. Having been observing Vadbol for several days, Skirath had learnt a lot about what was needed to survive in the wastelands. She found a backpack that had belonged to one of the dead soldiers, and started searching for food, water, clothes, anti-radiation pills and other supplies to fill it with, as well as a hat and sunglasses.

With Vadbol's help, Skirath was able to locate the bare essentials to surviving out in the wastelands for a few months. No people bothered to stop them while the looted the corpses and abandoned merchant stalls. They knew that being dishonest had consequences especially in the wasteland.
It had only taken them twenty minutes to gather supplies and get gone before more Systemist back up arrived.

After an hour of leaving Pete's point Vadbol muttered something, it sounded almost like, "systemists..."

"So who are the Systemists exactly?" Skirath asked, "They were the people in that town, right?"

Vadbol didn't pause, didn't turn around while he spoke, "No. They are who I used to be. I rather not kill anyone but examples must be made if people won't listen. The town told them about me. That is why Pete shortchanged me. To ambush me." He was quiet. It couldn't be discerned what emotion he was speaking from as he spoke. But it could be understood that examples were made of anyone who tried to stand in his way.

"Oh," Skirath replied, not sure of what to say. She thought that for someone who would rather not kill anyone, Vadbol seemed to kill a lot of people, but she didn't say anything, and they kept walking for a few more minutes before Skirath thought of another question. "So how did your body and armour repair itself when you were injured?" she asked.

Vadbol stopped and looked at Skirath through his sunglasses. "I heal when injured because my body is different from yours. I can't explain further. Classified." He said evasively as he started walking again.

Skirath nodded and kept walking, trying to be understanding of Vadbol's secrecy, despite the fact that she was fascinated by his ability to heal like that. They walked on for a few more hours, stopping occasionally for breaks when Skirath needed them.

After almost seven hours of walking with breaks in between Vadbol and Skirath were at group of small huts made of scrap and junk that had long since been abandoned by the original primitive architects. "We'll stay here." Said Vadbol as he scanned the horizon for sign of people. He moved around the grounds a few times just make sure that there would not be any unpleasant surprises. He sat his pack down inside one of the huts and sat indian style for a moment resting.

Skirath was glad that they didn't have to do any more walking that day. She put her pack inside the hut too, and sat next to Vadbol while she had a drink from her water canteen. That moment the thought struck her that she had two more weeks of travel like this, and she began to wonder whether she'd get back to Maronton at all. "So why are we going to Otto?" she asked Vadbol.

"Delivery and information." Said Vadbol as he snapped out of reverie and stood up. He looked down at her, "Dinner will be served soon." he said as he stretched, his bones could be heard popping into alignment.

Skirath sighed, and wished Vadbol had given her a proper answer. She didn't like investing so much time in going to a place that she didn't know for a reason that wasn't explained to her well. But, Skirath realised, what choice did she have? Vadbol was her only hope of survival under the circumstances. "What are you delivering?" she asked, staring up at him.

"Medicine that I had to get from Pete. He shortchanged me on that. Otto needed the antibac pills. That is where we are going." said Vadbol. He pulled out two rations, handing one to Skirath and kept one for himself. Upon opening the first layer of packaging Vadbol spoke. "Diced chicken and noodles. My Favorite."

Skirath smiled, both at the thought of the delicious food, and the thought that Vadbol had just said something other than the bare basics. "Yeah, chicken and noodles is great," Skirath agreed, opening one layer of packaging and then the next, and starting to eat. Between mouthfuls, she said, "Do you think after we go to Otto, you could help me get back to Maronton? I'm sure my family will reward you for how much you've done for me. I'm sure if you wanted you could even stay a while."

Vadbol ate silently, mulling over Skirath's proposition. "It Depends. There might be work. I need work. You can be my apprentice. Learn survival and scavenging." said Vadbol as he finished his dinner off and discarding the packaging. "That was good." he said. He pulled his ruck sack in front of him and opened it pulled out lengths of fabric and rain/weather resistant materials. Vadbol began to make another robe to replace the one that had been blown off of him at Pete's Point.

Skirath was shocked. She stopped eating and sat in silence staring at Vadbol for several seconds. "Learn survival and scavenging?" she snapped, "But if you'd help me get back to Maronton I won't need to learn survival and scavenging!" She frowned and stormed out of the hut.

For a moment the cool desert air hit Skirath cooling her anger. It was the only thing really feel her wrath. "We will not be going straight to Maronton. We are going to Otto. It will be a week and a half trip to reach Maroton. So it is best to learn now." Said Vadbol as he reached out and relunctly almost confusedly rested a hand on her shoulder. His hand felt like it weight a ton as it connected with her. It was strangely cold to the touch, much colder than the air that chilled Skirath outside of the hut.

Skirath turned around to look at Vadbol, her eyes full of hope. "You mean we are going to Maronton?" she asked, all signs of anger gone from her face. She didn't mind going to Otto first, it was the thought of never going back home that had bothered her.

"Yes but the people of Otto need the medicine. Come back inside sleep is important." Said Vadbol removing his hand from her shoulder. He turned and went back inside of the Hut to work on his robes.

Skirath sighed with relief, and walked back into the hut. "Thanks, Vadbol," she said, and smiled, "I just can't stand the thought of never going back home... I don't know how you live out here for so long just travelling alone."
She took her sleeping bag out of her backpack and unrolled it in the corner of the hut.

He finished sewing the arm to the torso of the robe. "I don't think about it. No point. Home is a relative term." he said as he sewwed more fabric together. He held it up appraising it, making sure each side and measure of fabric was even. He looked at Skirath with a look of wonderment and spoke questioningly, "What is Maronton?"

Skirath smiled and sat down, her eyes wide with memories as she started talking. "Maronton is my home town," she explained to Vadbol, "All my family and friends live there. There's 45 people in all, and although we don't always get along perfectly we tend to work together well and support each other. I'm sure you'd be more than welcome to stay with us. We could definitely do with your help, and it would be a chance for you to learn what home is like. You know, meals cooked by other people, much less danger, not having to worry about finding shelter."

Vadbol looked up at Skirath for a moment before he started sewing the other arm to his robes. He didn't say anything for a whole moment as if he were mulling over what Skirath had said, "We'll See." He said and went back to work on his robes.

Skirath lay down on her sleeping bag and stared at the roof of the hut for a few minutes, thinking. "So why don't you stay in the one place, Vadbol?" she asked. "Why do you keep travelling?"

Vadbol stopped sewing and looked at Skirath as she scooted into her sleeping bag. "To Fine What I've been missing. So far I scavenge. I go where others cannot, I am succesful." Vadbol finished his sentence picked up the needle and thread and went straight back to sewing.

"What are you missing?" Skirath asked. It seemed to her that Vadbol had everything he needed in terms of surviving in the wasteland.

"I don't know. Wanderlust maybe? Enough talk. You need sleep." Said Vadbol as he went back to silently tending his Robes that were almost complete.

Skirath nodded and pulled the sleeping bag around herself to keep warm. She was fascinated by what motivated Vadbol to live his lonely existence... but she knew he was right, and that she needed sleep. "Goodnight Vadbol," Skirath said, turning over in her sleeping bag, closing her eyes, and falling asleep.

Night passed and sleep was filled with the faces of the dead from Pete's Point. All so them talking but no sound was coming out then more faces of the dead appeared to Skirath. People she had never met, never seen and all of saying the same word over and over yet the air didn't carry it audibly... "Murderer." The world around Skirath's head began to bleed and tear apart into darkness.

Skirath woke up screaming and panicking, thrashing around and trying to get out of her sleeping bag and away from the dead people in her dream.

She managed to force herself out of her sleeping bag and to her feet. But Vadbol cut here before she went running into the fire he set up to keep her warm. She slammed into Vadbol head on the cold metal of his armor causing a numb kind of hurt that snapped her out of the waking nightmare she was in at that moment. "Calm down" Said Vadbol repeatedly almost soothingly with his accent.

Skirath shook her head to clear it of the nightmares, grateful for Vadbol's calming influence. "Sorry," she apologised, feeling stupid for being so scared of a dream in front of Vadbol. She sat down near the fire to keep warm, as the idea of going back to sleep didn't hold much appeal. She looked over at Vadbol. "How come you don't sleep?" she asked.

Vadbol went back to sitting indian style next to his survival pack. "I require minimal sleep every week. 5 days is my next sleep cycle. I will be unconcious for 12 hours." said Vadbol answering Skirath's question.

"Wow..." Skirath murmured. She never ceased to be amazed at how different Vadbol was from everyone else she had met. "So are you human? I mean, why are you so different?" she asked, her curiousity getting the better of her.

Vadbol paused for a moment while staring at Skirath the entire time. An uneasy minute passed then he spoke, "I am Human. I can't explain my differences well. Science made me like this." He was quiet as if he made uneasy by his differences from Skirath and other humans he had run into during the course of his travels.

Skirath smiled at Vadbol, before looking into the fire as she warmed herself up. "Was it the systemists who made you... how you are?" she asked

Vadbol was quiet again this time for a few minutes as if he were recollecting. "The Systemist didn't make me. Dr.Krauser made me. I killed him...long ago I killed him." said Vadbol almost as if he was having a flashback.

"Who was Dr. Krauser? What happened?" Skirath asked, edging back from the fire a little and watching Vadbol with curiousity.

Vadbol stared at Skirath. "He is dead. He has no relevance anymore. Just a name. But since you won't drop this, he grafted this armor to me. And for years I have wore it. No you need sleep. It is late." Said Vadbol authoritatively.

"Ohh, okay," Skirath said, grateful for the small pieces of information that Vadbol was telling her. She went back to her sleeping bag and crawled inside, closing her eyes and trying not to think about the nightmares she'd had before.

The next morning Skirath awoke still in her sleeping bag being carried on Vadbol's back. He had somehow attached her to his back while not waking her up. He was quiet and the sun was covered by dark looming clouds that hinted at rain over head. It was quite an odd feeling being in a sleeping bag on someones back.

Skirath smiled, glad that Vadbol had opted to carry her instead of making her walk. She was going to say thanks, but decided to stay silent so he would think she was still asleep and keep carrying her. A few hours passed.

But within that third hour of being on his back quietly admiring the beauty of the grasslands nausea twisted and churned in her stomach. It was time to be let down.
"Vadbol, is it okay if we stop?" Skirath asked.

He reached around and pulled the sleeping bag off of his back, unzipping it and letting Skirath out of it carefully. "Time for medicine. You need water." He said as he scooped out an anti radiation/nausea pill. Vadbol set the pill ontop of her pack and waited for her to come back from vomiting.

Skirath finished throwing up, and wished she had thought to ask Vadbol for an anti-nausea pill before now. She took a long drink from her water canteen, and swallowed the pill. "Thanks," she said to Vadbol. "So how long before we get to Otto?" she asked.

"Four point five days." He said at which point he added, "Keep moving. If your tired tell me. Rain is coming." Vadbol strapped her sleeping bag to his rucksack and began walking. It was assumed by now that if he said for something to be done that it got done no questions unless it was obviously dangerous.

"Sure," Skirath replied, and started walking along beside Vadbol. She hoped they wouldn't get caught in the rain.

They walked for six hours, stopping for breaks when Skirath needed them. As they went, Skirath admired the scenery. In contrast to the bleak and blackened desert that they had walked through before, this environment seemed more alive, as it had grass and trees that weren't dead.

Vadbol stopped dead in his tracks. "Rains coming very soon." Said Vadbol as he reaches into his ruck sack pulling out some extra fabric that was sewed into the form of a pancho. He handed her the pancho and said, "Here take this now." At that moment rain started falling. The initial droplets dampening everything making the earth smell alive.

Skirath smiled and put the pancho on. "Thanks Vadbol," she said, and kept walking. She was glad he was always so well prepared for everything. As they kept walking in the rain, Skirath thought of something. "How did you know it was going to rain exactly then?" she asked.

Vadbol didn't bother to look at her while he spoke, "Temperature change, wind direction, clouds and humidity. Armors programming gathers the information." He was silent for the remainder of the day. Even when Skirath and Vadbol found shelter for the night it was still raining with no sign of letting up in sight.

The shelter that they had found was an abandoned and looted warehouse, about as big as a medium sized house. The walls were grey stone, and it had a roof of rusted tin. The floor was smooth concrete, and as Skirath stepped through the door she realised that although the warehouse provided good shelter from the rain, it was drafty. "Can we get another fire going?" Skirath asked Vadbol hopefully as she set up her sleeping bag.

Vadbol shrugged as he sat his pack down on the concrete floor. He dug around in it unless it came up with a circular device that was small and grey green with a button on the side of it. It had writing on it that Skirath couldn't read but when Vadbol pressed the button the device's center opened up and a bright blue flame shot up from it. It emitted kind of a quiet but constant sound of fire and it generated heat. Heat enough to be as warm a camp fire.

By this point it was assumed dinner was served upon stopping for the night. So as custom Vadbol pulled rations out for himself and Skirath to eat. On the menu tonight was roast beef and potatos. Or so the packaging said.

Skirath sat down by the fire and ate her dinner, listening to the rain on the tin roof of the warehouse. She wished she was home, safe and warm, but didn't say anything in case Vadbol thought she didn't appreciate his efforts to keep her alive and well.

Before Skirath knew it sleep had embraced her in its grasp and she woke up with the sound of rain and the warmth of heat greeting her. "We're leaving get ready. Medicine is waiting for you next your canteen." Said Vadbol with his back turned to her, staring out into the vast expanse of grassland surrounding the lone warehouse. It was going to be one wet, cold day and the rain didn't help much either.

Skirath had a drink from her water canteen and swallowed the pill that Vadbol had got for her. She packed up her sleeping bag and things, and put on the pancho. "Do you know when the rain will stop?" she asked Vadbol, hoping that it would be soon.

"Two days." Said Vadbol as he fastened his equipment to his person. He stepped out of the protection of the warehouse and into the rain. He his march slowly so that Skirath could catch up.

Skirath walked along beside Vadbol in the rain. She was tired of spending every day walking, and the rain didn't help to lift her mood. As Skirath walked, she thought of home and wondered how long it would be before she saw her family again.

The two walked for two days with very little rest or breaks in between. When Skirath slept Vadbol carried her on his back. The Grassy fields were transformed into the equivalent of flood plains as the clouds continued to torrent on during that period. At the end of the two day the rains stopped but the clouds hung up in the sky dark, forboding the chances that it would start raining again at any moment.

"It stopped." Vadbol said as he stepped on top of a rock to scan the surroundings. "We're closer to Otto. Two more days." Vadbol said almost hopefully despite his monotone voice. He hopped down from the rock splashing mud everywhere. "Shelter point two miles." He said as he started walking again.

Skirath was glad that they'd be finding shelter in two miles. She followed Vadbol, trying to keep up with him in the muddy terrain.

The walk was tiring and grudgingly difficult especially since Vadbol seemed to have no problems walking. One they reached shelter it was obvious it was the only building in sight. It was set of small buildings in a clearing a sign hung on the side of the biggest one "Abandoned." As far as grass and mud was concerned it was clear. Oddly cut, assymetrical stone pavers served as a path way to the old wooden and stone buildings. At one point it was a town, now it was camp grounds.

Skirath looked around at the buildings. She was curious about what was in them, and especially why they had been abandoned in the first place. She opened the door of the largest one and stepped inside.

The door opened rigidly with a rusted creek. The odor of stale air and rot hit her nostrils. It was dark inside as there were no windows in the building. Movement could be seen inside though it could easily be a mind trick.

Skirath stepped forward into the darkness of the building, trying to see what had moved. "Hello?" she called, "Is someone there?"

No one responded but the pungent stench of death hit her. There was alot of movement in the darkness. And it dawned on Skirath through fear and remembering it was the silence that zombies maintained unless they were on the hunt for flesh. The fear turned to panic and a flashback to what happened to her not too long ago...when she got bit.

Skirath screamed and ran back out the door. "Vadbol!" she called, gripped with terror, "Zombies!"

Things started to move so slow as if Skirath couldn't get away from the zombies fast enough. By then they started to hiss at her as she had encroached upon private territory. They could be heard behind her slowly moving, their rotted insides sloshing around with each step. Their stench permeated through the fresh air outside of the building.

The first one could be seen in the corner of Skirath's sight. It was wearing a filth covered jacket, It pants were soiled in excrement and blood. It's eyes were dead white. Flesh was a pale, yellow and darkened from blood pooling. The zombies face was scratched ripped open and its teeth were exposed through it's cheek. It moaned in frustration as Skirath ran away.

Skirath suppressed her horror at the sight of the hideous zombies, and continued to run from them. She ran towards the center of the cluster of buildings desperately looking around to see if she could see Vadbol or any other zombies. "Vadbol! There's zombies here! Help!" she screamed as loud as she could.

Once she reached got to the center of the buildings it was apparent that this entire camp ground was infested as one feel out of an already broken window. Its throat was ripped out and its moan was raspy as blackened blood stained its ratty t-shirt. Large holes in it suggested that he was shot repeatedly just like Bill oh so many days ago. Another shambled out of the doorway. It appeared to be female but so much of it's scalp had been ripped out exposing skulls and gnarled flesh.

Skirath was getting surrounded. And she just so happened to do it unintentionally. More moans of the undead could be heard as they communicated that they had indeed found meat. The situation was not looking the brightest at present as Vadbol was no where to be seen.

The awful thought struck Skirath that perhaps Vadbol had been attacked by the zombies. She realised that she didn't know whether or not his armor protected against the plague, and the possibility of losing Vadbol filled her with a deep dread. However, matters at hand were more pressing, as the zombies advanced on Skirath. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the gun that she had picked up at Pete's Point. Not knowing quite what to do with it, she pointed it at a zombie and squeezed the trigger.

She leveled the .45 caliber pistol at the zombie with the missing throat. The gun kicked as she clicked the trigger. A brief loudly flash pierced the moans temporarily silencing the horror that was encroaching on her safety. The bullet slammed into the creatures chest shattering bones, boring it's way through its insides and out it's back. Blood oozed from the entry wound and the zombie was thrown back away from her. Much to Skirath's dismay it got back up.

Skirath screamed louder and fired more rounds at the closest few other approaching zombies. "Vadbol!" she shrieked, looking around for him once more.

Her aim was horrible as she fired the gun. The first bullet hit the wall of one of the buildings. The second grazed the first zombie she shot at's head, ripping it's ear off. The Third his the female zombie in the stomach causing an almost steady flow of black ichor from the now massive wound. The fourth hit a rather fat but fast moving zombie in the face, it skull was pulzrized by the .45 caliber hollow point that impacted it. Liquified bits of brain, eyeball, flesh and skull flew through the air like confetti. The zombie was dead. The fifth bullet missed. And the sixth bullet hit something fast moving behind the rest of the zombies that were moving in on Skirath. She clicked the trigger again but her efforts were rewarded by a dry sounding click. The gun was empty.

Skirath threw the empty gun as hard as she could at one of the zombies, and backed away from them. She knew that there was nowhere left to go, as she prepared for the worst.

That blur of movement at the back of the mob of zombies slowed down long enough to reveal a green, grey, yellow and brown robed man...it was Vadbol. His knived were at the ready and he was swinging. His movements were like a dance as he moved through the crowd at almost lightning speed as he raced against the zombies. The closer he got Skirath the zombies. stopped moving. They didn't moan, they didn't move and within seconds their heads split off of the their throats and hit the ground with wet thumps.

Vadbol didn't stop though he danced around Skirath avoiding her with his blades and decapitating the zombies that were immediately behind her. Within another few seconds the mob that was surrounding her stood there headless. Vadbol stopped moving and stood there scanning the area for immediate threats. "Were any injuries sustained?" He asked, it was apparent that he was fatigued as his chest was heaving.

Skirath stared at the headless zombies all around her. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and she could hardly take in how fast Vadbol had killed them all. "I'm fine," she managed to reply, "But where were you? I thought the zombies must have got you."

Vadbol got on one knee and heaved. "I was scouting. I need to recharge soon. Watch your aim." He said. His robes were parted and a decent sized hole was just then sealing back up from damage. The zombies corpses fell over.

After several minutes passed Vadbol stood up and reached into his rucksack pulling out a flashlight. He handed it Skirath. "Scout. Get your gun. Find the cleanest house." he said and managed to make it to a wall to lean against.

"Sorry I shot you," Skirath said, patting Vadbol's arm apologetically. She searched through the grass looking for her gun. She found it lying among the stinking corpses of the zombies and then took it back to Vadbol. "How do you reload it?" she asked him, fishing around in her pocket and pulling out handful of spare rounds.

Vadbol took the gun and the spare bullet, ejected the clip, with the release button located underneath the trigger. He took the clips slid the rounds into it and slid the clip into the gun. He pulled the release and thumbed the trigger back as he handed it to Skirath. "There. Now scout. Aim for the head to kill." he said resting against the house.

"Thanks Vadbol," Skirath said, holding the gun in one hand and the flashlight in the other. She walked over to one of the houses and stepped in through the door."

The light of the flashlight met the darkness and illuminated the one room house. It was filthy, the floors and walls smeared with blood and fecies. The room had a few travelers packs grouped at the center. On a small table across from the door a latern sat, it's flame long since burnt out. Whatever happened here was violent and painful for the poor souls that Vadbol relieved from their unlife.

Skirath backed away from the door, and moved on to the next house. She shone her flashlight in and looked at what was inside the house.

This building too was ruined by the touch of undeath. There were beds but they were overturned and a body lay on top of them picked to bones. There was still some meat left but judging from the smell and the amount of decay the body had been there for at least a month. There was bits and pieces of glass laying across the floor from where the window had been shattered.

Skirath moved onto the Biggest building scouting it carefully. The door was wide open and in the room was table and chairs that had by smashed and overturned. Spent shell casings and blood soaked guns upended for clubs littered the floor. There were quite a bit of corpse across the room, most of the either decapitated or shot in the head. Body parts and rotted chunks of flesh had flies buzzing around them. It was a breeding ground for plague.

Skirath moved back outside to escape the sight of so much death. And decided to move onto the next building.

It was clear. Only a few muddy foot prints along the stone floor. There was no tables, chairs or beds but there was a fire place and a stack of wood next to it. It looked like Skirath found a keeper. Just to be on the safe side Skirath bookmarked the building and went to the last building to make sure no more zombies lurked nearby.

Upon approaching the door she found it dirty. The inside had several corpses laying side by side with bullet holes in their heads. The building too needed to be burned. Upon finishing the scouting of the structures she returned to Vadbol who appeared to be barely concious. "What did you did you find?" He asked repeating himself exhaustively.

Skirath was shocked to see Vadbol in such a state. He seemed less healthy than when he had been regenerating after his injuries at Pete's Point. "I found a house with a fireplace and no rotting corpses," Skirath explained pointing to the house, "We've got to get you inside," she said, trying to help Vadbol to stand up.

Skirath had a hard time getting him up onto his feet as he was heavy...very heavy. He stumbled carelessly through the doorway of the empty house, clicked the release mechanisms of his ruck sack and collapsed onto the floor like a sac of bricks. He was unconcious but at least things were secure. With Vadbol down for recharging, Skirath had to do everything for herself including serving herself dinner but also building a fire and keeping safe till Vadbol stirred from his twelve hour hibernation.

Skirath closed the door of the house so that the cold didn't get in, and thought about lighting a fire, but decided it would be easier to use Vadbol's little fire device. She felt a twinge of guilt as she searched through his pack for it, and also for a ration for herself to eat. Skirath knew that she'd have to be the one staying up and keeping watch in case of danger that night. She eventually found a ration and the fire device, and set it up in the fireplace. She opened the packaging on the ration and began to eat it. Although Vadbol's conversation was rarely more than one or two sentences at a time, Skirath missed having someone to talk to while she ate.

It was very quite and very scary with the fire device emitting a blue flame that illuminated the room. Wind howled through the buildings and no light could be seen through the window. not that the house was emitting much light either but it was probably a safer bet that it didn't just in case more zombies were around the area.

Vadbol was as lifeless as a corpse, he made no noises nor did he move while he slept. It wasn't until about six hours into the silent slumber of Vadbol that Vadbol started talking his in his sleep, "Serial Number 1077-0809-4432-2336 Awaiting orders." It was brief like many of Vadbol's speeches. After that spat of words he was silent.

Skirath was very curious as to what Vadbol was talking about, and made a mental note to ask him about it later, when he was awake. She thought that perhaps his serial number was related to his past as a systemist, but really didn't know much about Systemists at all. And so Skirath sat, leaning back against the sleeping Vadbol and watching the door.

Strangely enough even with the full weight of Skirath leaning against him, Vadbol didn't even budge. Three hours passed and for a bit it seemed like people were howling outside but it turned out to be the wind howling again. It was very terrifying to be the only one awake when the only person capable of defending was out cold and incapacitated.

Skirath stood up and paced the room for a few minutes to stretch. She never imagined it would be so boring keeping guard. She sat back down leaning against Vadbol, and took her gun out of her pocket, ready to use in case any threat presented itself.

The last three hours of Vadbol sleep cycle was painfully boring. Sleep tried to creep into Skirath's mind but she resisted to the best of her ability. Keeping watch was the least she could do after all the help Vadbol had given her in the week that she knew him.

Vadbol started stirring as sleep wrapped its way around Skirath's mind and pulled her into it's embrace. He felt her start to slump and caught her before she his the floor.

Skirath shook her head, trying to shoo sleep away and appear responsible now that Vadbol was awake. "Did you have a good sleep?" she asked him, smiling. "While you were asleep you mentioned a serial number... what is that about?"

"Not sleep. Recharge. That number has no relevance." said Vadbol as he appeared be waking up still. He was grouchy. Vadbol scanned the room and spoke, "You need sleep. Four hours we move."

Skirath nodded, too tired to ask Vadbol about it anymore, and unpacked her sleeping bag. She crawled inside and fell asleep almost instantly.

Hours upon hours passed and Skirath found herself strapped to Vadbol's back. The smell of burning word and the sight of fire and smoke in the distance signified that they hadn't been gone from the shelter too long.

Vadbol was walking at a fast pace that seemed like a light jog. Almost eerily as if he predicted Skirath's sleep pattern he spoke, "Your awake. You need medicine." At which case he stopped and sat her down gently. The pill was alread his hand by the time Skirath was out of the sleeping bag.

"Thanks," Skirath said, taking the pill and swallowing it with some water from her canteen. "How long now before we reach Otto?" she asked Vadbol as she stood up and stretched.

He started scanning the area around them before he acknowledged her question with an answer, "One and a half days." He started walking slowly so that Skirath could catch up.

Skirath followed Vadbol, trying to keep up so she could ask him more questions about what he had said last night. "Did the Systemists give you that serial number?" she asked him, hoping for more answers.

"No but it is not relevant." Said Vadbol cutting the end of her question off with a dodgy answer. He started walking a bit hurriedly forcing Skirath to have to almost run to keep up. It was becoming more evident that Vadbol's past was a taboo and sensitive subject.

Skirath sighed and decided not to push the matter. If Vadbol wanted to be secretive about his past, it was up to him. She walked on in silence, concentrating on keeping up with Vadbol rather than conversation.

For the better part of the day Vadbol said nothing. Instead the environment changed a bit as the grasslands slowly faded and become rocky and more hills appeared in the horizon with more evergreen tree's populating it. It looked as though nature had never been disturbed. It was awkwardly beautiful as Vadbol pushed another mile out of Skirath.

Skirath trudged on, trying to keep up with Vadbol and thinking about how nice it would be to finally reach civilization. Although the scenery was beautiful, Skirath was tired and bored with walking. Every so often she would look up at Vadbol hopefully in case he had seen someplace for them to stay that night.

Vadbol didn't stop walking, infact he kept pushing Skirath a little bit more to help get more ground covered. After four more hours of walking well into the evening, Vadbol stopped. "We'll camp here." He said. They were in the thick of alot of trees that provided perfect cover.

Vadbol approached a small tree, drew his knife and in two swing it was over on it's side. With in another minute it was cut conveniently into fire wood. He then used his knives to dig a hole into the dirt with which to build a fire pit which took him another couple of minutes. He around the first pieces of wood into the pit and used the heat generating device to start the fire. It sparked the pieces of wood into flames and it began to catch abalze. At first no real heat came from it but as it got going a beautiful yellow and orange flame danced from the burning wood in the center of the pit.

"At last," Skirath couldn't help muttering, and put her pack down on the ground. She sat down by the fire, took a long drink from her water canteen and watched the flames from the fire grow. She looked up at Vadbol and smiled. "Do you think we'll be able to stay in Otto for a few days?" she asked him hopefully.

Vadbol fished a ration out of his pack for Skirath and tossed it to her. He however didn't get one for himself. "Yes. We will be there three days." he said answering her question.

Fatigue gripped at Skirath. It seemed every day she traveled she got weaker and weaker. Had it not been for the antinausea pills she'd probably be dead from dehydration and starvation. Dinner was silent as Vadbol reorganized his rucksack and began cleaning assorted gear he had stored in it.

Skirath was delighted with the news that she'd have time to relax in Otto before doing more travelling. She finished her ration quickly and unpacked her sleeping bag. "Goodnight Vadbol," she said, as she climbed in and drifted off to sleep almost instantly.

The next morning arrived and Skirath was actually awake in time for it. The sun was just starting to poke through the morning sky shining the first light through the trees. Vadbol was sitting with his back turned to Skirath, watching the sun rise. "Good morning Skirath. Eight hours." He said acknowledging Skirath was awake.

Skirath smiled widely, glad that Vadbol seemed to be in such a good mood. "Good morning Vadbol!" she replied, climbing out of her sleeping bag and stretching. "We get to Otto today, right?" she asked, before having a drink of water.

"Yes" he said as he stood up and clicked his ruck sack to it's harness on his back. He began to walk ahead setting the initial direction they would be heading to reach Otto. He waited on Skirath.

Skirath quickly packed up her things and set off walking, trying to keep up with Vadbol. The rest and the knowledge that they'd be reaching civilization that day lifted Skirath's mood, and she tried to make conversation with Vadbol as they walked. "So you'll be really welcome in Otto right, since you've brought them their medicines?" she asked.

"I suppose. The Medicine is top priority." he said as they began walking. He wasn't walking as hurriedly as he was yesterday as the ground was very uneven. Not that it would stop him but there was a chance Skirath could hurt herself.

They walked silently for another four hours until the ground evened out for a moment. The treeline ended and it opened into a fielf of gravel and rocks that lead to the opening of a Canyon. The gravel, rocks and the canyon were a light redish brown clay color that seemed almost artificially formed. "Follow my steps exactly. Mined." said Vadbol as he started to walk into the field towards the canyon. The gravel, rocks and the canyon were a light redish brown clay color.

Skirath nodded and gulped. How did Vadbol know his way through the minefield? Of all times, wouldn't this be the best time for him to carry her, she thought. But Skirath guessed that Vadbol must know what he was doing, and so started to walk through the field carefully treading only where his feet had been.

It took a painstakingly long time to follow Vadbol through the field as each step was perfectly timed as to avoid getting killed by the mines. At the end of the field at the opening of the canyon Vadbol stopped for a moment to make Skirath was indeed safe. He nodded and begain to walk further ahead into the canyon confidently. "Otto. Four hours." he said.

Skirath sighed with relief, glad that she and Vadbol had survived the minefield. Knowing that the comfort and safety of a town was only four hours away made Skirath smile as she walked into the canyon with Vadbol. "So do you have friends we can stay with in Otto?" she asked.

Vadbol looked at her with ease and spoke almosy a bit more hope than his normal monotone, "Yes. A few." They made the trip through the canyon in roughly two hours then it was back to evergreens and a low grass field with buffalo grazing. It was beautiful as if the wastelands didn't exist.

Vadbol lead the way with a renewed fast pace and eventually they happened upon wooden fences that divided property and a wall the size of a two story building. They were a bit aways from it but a sign nearby said, "OTTO. Population 350" but a line had been drawn through it and it said, "283."

They were finally there.

Despite her obvious high spirits at finally reaching their destination, Skirath was more than a little disturbed by the sign. "What happened here? Why has the population gone down?" she asked Vadbol as they walked towards Otto.

Vadbol looked at Skirath. "Plague." he said quietly. They were standing infront of the gates of Otto. A bell was sounding from inside the walls. People could be heard shouting to eachother that there were visitors. The gates opened and an a group of men wearing forest camo fatigues stood there. "VADBOL! You came back!" said the head of the men. He wore a dark green bandana and seemed be the oldest of all of them. "Well don't just stand there come on in, I bet you would like to get a meal and some rest." Said the man wearing the green bandana. He looked over at Skirath. "Oh who is the lovely lady?" he asked.

Vadbol made his first steps to the gates and spoke, "Skirath."
The man with the bandana spoke gladly, "Well whoever she is, any friend of Vadbol's is a friend of ours." he extended his hand shaking Skirath's hand firmly, "Welcome to Otto. I'm Howard."

"Nice to meet you," Skirath replied, smiling and shaking Howard's hand. She followed Vadbol through the gates and into the town. It was almost overwhelming to hear so many voices after spending the last week with only Vadbol for conversation, and Skirath couldn't wait to enjoy the meal and rest that Howard had mentioned.

When Skirath and Vadbol strolled through the gates they were greeted with smiles and cheers. There were buildings and houses made out of stone and wood. The smell of freshly back bread was in the air as they were lead past the bakery. Vadbol and Howard were speaking back and forth in some language that Skirath could not for the life of her decipher. When they concluded their conversation Vadbol pulled a zip pouch off the side of his rucksack and handed it to Howard. Vadbol turned to Skirath as Howard went off to distribute the medicine amongst the sick. "Come. We need to get home." Said Vadbol as he started walking again at a slow non military like saunter.

Skirath walked along with Vadbol, smiling at the people she passed and looking around at the different buildings in the town. "Where is home?" she asked Vadbol, "You have a house here?"

Vadbol seemed to be the hero of Otto and the way the townspeople regarded him as one of their own was evident. "Yes. I have a house. I am barely here but the people here gave me it." said Vadbol as he stopped at the unsuspecting house and opened the door, "Home." He stood there to the side of the door waiting for Skirath to enter.

Once she stepped through the door the house was nice. Smooth wood floors, a fire place, copper piping that suggest fresh running water. Wooden furniture, a bedroom with a Vadbol sizes bed. There were some shelves loaded down with various parts, salvaged goods and kits containing various parts for repair and putting together machinery. There was a small stove with piping hooked up to it. And past it was another room that appeared to be a bathroom with a bathtub shower combo.

"Wow..." Skirath gasped, walking into Vadbol's house. It was one of the nicest houses she had seen in a while, and it went to show how much the people of Otto appreciated having Vadbol's help. Skirath gazed around the house once more, before her eyes rested on the shower. It had been so long since she'd had a shower, and she immediately smiled and looked hopefully at Vadbol. "Is it okay if I use your shower?" she asked him.

He looked at her as he took his robes off carefully unhooking them from his gold and black armor. "Yes. Towels and soap are in the cabinet to the left of the door." he said obliging her request. Vadbol sat down at his wooden chair with his arms resting on the arm rest and began to stare out the window.

Skirath walked into the bathroom and found the towels and soap, just as Vadbol had described. She closed the door, got undressed, and took a shower, enjoying every minute after going without one for so long. Although she didn't want to get back into the clothes she had worn continuously for a week after her shower, Skirath didn't really have a choice, and made a mental note to go shopping for new clothes sometime the next day. And so she dried herself, got dressed and walked out of the bathroom.

Vadbol was seated at the table eating a bowel of stew that the residents of Otto had prepared from him. There was a pot of stew on the stove, it smelt of finely seasoned meat, potatos, carrots, celery and beef broth. Beside the pot was a few loaves of freshly prepared bread and bowls besides it.

Vadbol was actually taking his time eating and he had his glasses off for once. They were sitting on the same rack as his robes. His eyes were a light blue and seemed to have a blackened ring around the iris. He looked over at Skirath. "Eat up Skirath. Dinner is good." He said as he took a bit from a piece of bread the he had cut for himself.

Skirath smiled at Vadbol and walked over to the stove. "Wow, these people sure appreciate what you do for them," she said to him, serving herself a bowl of soup and sitting down in the other chair. "You've never thought of just staying here? I mean, it's got everything you could ever need," she continued, and then started to eat the soup.

"I still need to find myself." he said inbetween bites of stew and added, "Also I do not need to overstay my welcome." It was obviously Vadbol was more talkative than he had normally been out in the wastes but still he seemed more intent on eating.

"Ahhh, that's understandable," Skirath replied. She ate for a few more minutes until her soup was finished, and then she returned to the stove and took a piece of bread back to her seat to eat. "So what's on the agenda for the next few days?" she asked Vadbol.

He looked at her making eye contact. "Rest, Eating, Work and Training." said Vadbol as he got up and served himself some more stew and bread. "Take your medicine." He said as he began to dig into his second bowl of soup.

"Well, those first two sound good anyway," Skirath said with a smile, before eating her bread. She then took the pill that Vadbol had left on the table for her and had a drink of water to wash it down with. "Do you have a spare bed or someplace I can sleep here?" Skirath asked Vadbol, the thought of a warm and safe night's sleep calling her, despite the fact that she hadn't looked around the town yet.

Vadbol looked at her with a blank expression. "Considering I am at peak efficiency for my charge cycle. You can take my bed. I needn't sleep at present. Blankets are in the dresser against the wall bottom drawer." Said Vadbol reassuring Skirath.

"Thanks Vadbol," Skirath said gratefully and walked through the gate into Vadbol's bedroom. She pulled a couple of blankets out of the dresser, put them on the bed and climbed in. It felt so nice to be sleeping in a warm bed, in a house, instead of in a damp sleeping bag on the floor of some abandoned building. Skirath sighed happily and fell asleep almost instantly.

Skirath was awakened by the sound of birds chirping and the smell of sausage. The sunlight was shining faintly through the wooden blinds in Vadbol's bedroom. The was a plate of food still steaming on the small table next to Vadbol's bed. It contained eggs, sausage and slices of tomato and bell pepper with some bread. Vadbol however was not to be found or heard.

Skirath blinked in the light and smiled peacefully. She was so glad not to have to get up instantly and spend the day walking. But when she saw the breakfast sitting on the table, staying in bed suddenly didn't seem so great. She got up, and ate the delicious food, before going out to the kitchen to get a drink of water.

When Skirath made it into the kitchen there was a set of clean clothes prefectly made to Skirath's measurements. How Vadbol knew was anyones guess. There was also a letter, "Hello Skirath! Welcome to Otto. Vadbol told us of your condition. And that is fine as we have infected here. It should never be something that keeps you out of a community because we all need love to surive. Enjoy the clean clothes and feel free to see our town. Signed Mayor Hicksby."

Skirath was infected with plague and still welcomed in Otto.

Skirath was touched by the generousity and kindness that the people of Otto had shown her, and wished she had some way to repay them. She decided to bath before putting the new clothes on, and carried them into the bathroom.

As Skirath sat in the bath, she smiled and thought of what a nice place Otto was, to accept those infected with the plague. The thought that perhaps the people of Maronton wouldn't be so accepting crept into her mind, but she tried not to think about that, as she bathed, and then dried off and put on the new clothes. They were indeed a perfect fit, and Skirath felt cheerful and ready to explore the town. She had a drink of water, and then stepped out the door and into the street.

The stone street had kids playing outside. The clouds hung beautiful in the sky as it was the perfect day. An old lady walking with her grand daughter smiled and nodded at Skirath as she passed them. On each other street everyone seemed so cheerful. Then it made sense as to why Vadbol massacred Pete's Point because there were people in the wastelands that were worth a damn and Skirath was one of the lucky ones.

Skirath couldn't help smiling as she strolled down the street, looking at the buildings and the people. She wondered where Vadbol was, and looked around to see if she could find him as she walked.

Otto smelled strongly of pine trees and food as smoke rose from the chimneys of houses. She eventually found Vadbol trading equipment at the general store. Skirath noticed that he had traded alot of guns and other useful oddities to the store.

"Hi Vadbol!" Skirath exclaimed, pleased to see him, and walked into the store to see what he was trading and have a look at the things in the store.

Vadbol turned and nodded acknowledging her presence. He was back in his Robes and had his Shades on as always. On the counter top was alot of guns and boxes of ammo that he'd pulled out of various places, several spare parts to machinery Skirath had no clue of and some lenghts of heat and cold resistant fabrice.

The store was decently stocked with all the basic essentials to survive from day to day. Not of prepackaged good like the rations Skirath had grown accustomed to eating from day to day since meeting Vadbol. One of the things that caught Skirath's eye was there collection of knifes and blades behind a glass case. Blades like Vadbol's were not shown, they must've been one of a kind.

Skirath walked over to the knives to get a closer look. She stared at them for a while, then looked up at Vadbol. "Where did you get your blades?" she asked him.

Vadbol looked at Skirath for a moment, just long enough for the Shop Keeper to notice that Skirath had struck a sour note.
"We'll talk at home." he said steadily reassuring the Shop Keeper that there wouldn't be violence. Then again he didn't know the relationship that Vadbol and Skirath shared.

It was fairly quite as Vadbol concluded his trade for raw materials, food and medicines. He turned with his small crate full of goods and started walking towards the door. It meant it was time to go home.

Skirath followed Vadbol out the door and into the street. She didn't say anything in case she had offended him.

Vadbol lead Skirath on the most direct path home. He somehow had picked a way where there was now people so that he didn't have to endure people's niceties or well wishing. For once he had shown emotion other than concerned ambivalence.

He opened the door and went in without so much as stopping to wait for Skirath to come inside of the house.

Skirath slowly followed Vadbol inside. She could tell he was angry, but wasn't sure why. She thought perhaps it was the question about where he got his blades from, but it seemed a reasonable enough question to her. She closed the door and watched him warily.

Vadbol put the supplies and equipment up and pulled on of his blade out of his robes. He held it in his hands looking at it before throwing it straight at Skirath's feet. "Slave Maker's blades." he said as he took off his sunglasses. He was pissing his eyes gave it away. "I got them off of a destroyed slave maker a while ago." he said answering her question. He sat down in his chair completely ignoring the fact that he threw the blade at Skirath. It was still stuck in the floor at her feet where she stood.

Skirath stared, wide-eyed at the blade stuck in the floor. She had no idea why Vadbol was acting so strangely towards her. She didn't move, but looked up at him. "What's a slave maker?" she asked.

Vadbol sighed for a moment it couldn't be gather whether it was out of annoyance or whether it was preparation for what he was going to say, "Systematic Life-Force Assimilating Vehicle Maker or Slave Maker. They were created by the same technology that created me. A technology that cannot and must not be used again since humans can't seem to live up to consequences. Slave Makers were created over three hundred years ago to wage war. They used tiny robots that worked in colonies called nanites they also carried plague and made people into zombies. They had to be killed by their blades on their back. That is what my knives are and that is what I use. There was twelve of them from what I heard. Over the course of that war so long ago they were wiped out one by one. But in their wake they left factories that plagued the land like a disease. That churned out more and more copy Slave Maker's that swarmed the land making entire areas devoid of life. Then they were all destroyed at the end of the war along with everything else." said Vadbol who seemed a bit more calm. He pulled the other blade out of his robes and held it in his metallic gloved hands. He took in the detail of the hand where the blade connected to it and handed it to Skirath. "Look at the blade." he said.

The blade was incredibly heavy to Skirath. She nearly dropped it because it was heavier than it looked in Vadbol's hands.

Skirath held the blade carefully and turned it over, looking at it. As she watched the light reflecting off the blade, she realised that Vadbol had never said so much in all the time she had known him. But she was still confused as to why he had been so angry.
"Why were you so upset about it before?" Skirath asked, glancing down at the blade still stuck in the floor.

Vadbol looked back at her quietly for a few minutes. "I destryoed the last Slave Maker. Now I can never get out of my armor." he said. Skirath glanced back at the blade it had a small eight engraved in it. An Eight.

Once again, Vadbol's reply gave rise to many more questions in Skirath's mind. "You can't get out of your armor? How come? And what is the eight for?" she asked, running her fingers over the eight engraved on the blade.

Vadbol sighed almost painfully before giving response, "Nanites. It's nanites and mine are fighting. It's winning. Eight was one of the twelve that came before factories." Vadbol took his knife back from Skirath and held it in his hands before placing it back in his robes.

Skirath nodded, and placed her hand on Vadbol's shoulder in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. "You can't get any scientists or doctors to help?" she asked quietly.

His armor felt strangely cold to the touch as she rested her hand on his shoulder. "There aren't anymore, I killed them all. When I kill they take over more of me." He said almost hopelessly. They were quiet for close to five minutes.

Skirath sighed, wishing there was something she could say to help Vadbol. "But aren't the nanites what give you your ability to regenerate? Without them you wouldn't be able to help the people here as much," she said after a while.

"Yes. Double-edged sword. Help and Killing are different. Help is to sustain. Kill is to destroy." Said Vadbol as he stood up. He looked at Skirath as he pulled his blade out of the ground and spoke, "I need to leave momentarily." At that Vadbol left the house leaving Skirath alone.

Skirath was annoyed that Vadbol had left before she even had time to ask where he was going. But she figured that it couldn't do any harm to find out, so she crept out the door and started following Vadbol at a distance.

She had managed to stay at a distance which Vadbol wouldn't have noticed her. Using what she had learned from him she was able to stick to cover and walk quietly enough to not give herself away unless one of the towns folk blew her cover.

Vadbol walked through town through a part of town unfamiliar to Skirath. He moved through Otto city park taking a turn off of the path and over a fence that led downhill to some fields that looked to have been recently tilled for planting food. Which in turn made Skirath wait until she had the opportunity of cover again. By then he was barely in line of sight and past several strange houses made of glass. There was a stream that ran behind the houses and passed it was hill with a small thicket of trees beside it. Vadbol was so very far away.

Not wanting to lose sight of Vadbol, Skirath hurried quietly over to the glass houses. Every time she thought Vadbol was far enough away, she advanced, using trees or the glass houses for cover.

The closer that Skirath got to Vadbol, the bigger that hill grew in height. Vadbol was halfway up the side of it by the time she reached the start of the trail up. Wherever it was Vadbol was going to he ceratinly did his hardest to try and lose anyone even remote capable of following him.

Determined to find out what Vadbol was up to, Skirath began following him up the hill. She tried to stick to the cover afforded by the long grass and small trees, and kept a safe distance behind Vadbol so that he didn't see her.

It took Skirath the better part of a half hour to make it up the hill as quietly she could. Once she reached the top Vadbol was kneeled on his knees apparently meditating. The winds blowing by were calm almost chilling in the afternoon sky. "Why did you follow me?" Vadbol asked.

Skirath sighed, and stepped out into view. She realised how futile it was trying to follow Vadbol without him noticing. "I just wanted to see where you had to go in such a hurry," she explained quietly.

Vadbol nodded and went back to meditating. "Have a seat and clear your mind and let the wind talk." he said.

Skirath sat down near Vadbol, relieved that he wasn't angry she had followed him. She closed her eyes and tried to meditate, but was distracted by so many thoughts and feelings from the last week, and hopes and fears for the future. Sitting still had never been Skirath's favourite thing to do, and she soon started getting bored. She opened her eyes and watched Vadbol meditate.

He meditated for what seemed like hours. I that time the sky darkened and the clouds drifted away as the sun began to set. The sky dulled from its majestic blue to a beautiful orange that flared lightly in the sky as the violet and blues of the starry night sky filled it beautifully.

Skirath lay back in the grass and looked up at the stars. As she stared up into the sky, she thought about her family and friends, and wondered what they were doing. Much as Otto was a lovely place, she missed home, and having time to think only made her miss them more.

Vadbol stood up and looked up towards the stars. "Let's go. Dinner is waiting." He said as he turned to got back down the trail on the side of that small mountain.

Skirath stood up and started following Vadbol down the mountain. The prospect of food was enticing, and after all that walking Skirath was looking forward to a good night's rest.

At about half down the mountain Vadbol stopped to let Skirath catch up and scooped her up onto his shoulders. He still walked at a casual pace but it saved them precious time that could be back at his house or thats at least how Vadbol saw things.

They reached the summit of the small mountain in half an hour. Vadbol made it across the bridge and past the strange tinted glass houses.

"What is in the glass houses?" Skirath asked Vadbol as they walked past them.

Vadbol arched his head up looking at Skirath. "Those are green houses. They contain plants that can produce medicines and foods that the fields can't sustain. Without them Otto wouldn't have the variety of food it does." He said as he focused at the ground ahead of them.

He had cleared the fields and made his way up the side of the hill in the span of twenty minutes. The sound of live music could be heard in the distance. The sound of something Skirath had never heard.

Skirath's eyes widened as she heard the happy and welcoming sound of music coming from Otto. She had never heard music like that before. Sure, in Maronton the locals would gather at special occasions for sing-a-longs with small, home made musical instruments... but never like this! After all the bad things Skirath had seen and experienced in the last week, the familiar feeling of hope and excitement to take part in something new crept into her mind. "Are the people celebrating something?" Skirath asked Vadbol as they moved closer to the nice music.

"It's friday. They always have music on fridays. I never go. Dinner is waiting. But you can go to it if you like. I will be home." he said as they made it through the small park. Within minutes they were back at his house, he sat her down. Vadbol watched as Skirath gravitated towards the music. "I'll keep dinner heated." he said as she walked away.

"Thanks Vadbol!" Skirath called back to him as she walked towards the town square, where the music was coming from. She was delighted to get the chance to experience such a pleasant part of Otto's culture.

Once Skirath made it to the center a band could be seen playing. They all played differnet shaped instruments that made different sounds. The music was beautiful and happy sounding and people danced in the around town square which was a stone statue of a man holding a rifle named Otto. There was a few other people standing around talking and a boy about Skirath's age standing looking at the people as if he wanted to dance.

Skirath stood and watched the people as they danced, and smiled peacefully as she soaked up the atmosphere and the music. Seeing such a happy scene made her better understand why Vadbol had killed all the Systemists at Pete's Point walked all that way to bring medicine to the people of Otto. Such a sense of peace and community was definitely worth it.

While Skirath was observing the people of Otto the boy who had so long been looking at the crowd spoke to her, "Hey there." He said with country drawl and asked, "Would you like to dance?" He bowed with his arm down in front Skirath for her to take.

Skirath smiled at the boy, and took his arm, "Sure, thanks!" she replied, and walked with him into the square where the people were dancing. "I don't know how to dance though," she explained, "I'm new here."

The boy smiled at Skirath. "I'm Elroy. I knows you came into town yesterday with Vadbol but I don't know yer name. What is it?" said Elroy in his drawl, he took Skirath's small hand in his and rested his hand on her hip dancing with her to the music. He guided her with ease as it was kind of easy to dance in a circle. Elroy smiled and spoke, "Your good for someone who ain't ever danced."

"I'm Skirath," Skirath replied, smiling back at Elroy. She was also surprised at how easy it was to dance, and the pleasant music made it even nicer. "So Vadbol's been living here a while?" she asked after a few more minutes of dancing.

Elroy smiled and kept dancing with Skirath. "You sure have a cool name. Yeah, Vadbol's been a living here since before I was a baby when Otto the twelth was still alive. I'd reckon about forty years. I'm only nineteen so that's what muh ma and pa told muh." he said and he spun Skirath in his arms.

Skirath smiled even more, enjoying the dance. "So what do you do around here?" she asked Elroy.

Elroy looked back her and kind of frowned, "Well I work in the fields but I'm going to be regular guard. I don't get to go trade for Otto like You or Vadbol." He kept dancing with Skirath until the song was over. "You ever been to the farm?" He asked curiously.

"Trading isn't so much fun. There's a lot of danger out there," Skirath explained, trying to ignore her memories of Rex, Pete's Point and the zombies. "Today I saw the glass houses," Skirath said, "Is that the farm?"

Elroy walked with Skirath over to the sides where the older people and single people were standing. "No thats the labs. Were they keep plants for medicine." said Elroy he glanced up at the stars and back into Skirath's and added, "The farm is where I work. We keep the livestock and storehouses of food there. It's also where I hang out when I'm off unless it's Friday. Wanna go?"

Skirath smiled, and felt a shiver of excitement run down her spine. "Sure, that'd be nice," Skirath replied.

Elroy without speaking took Skirath's hand and started walking her towards the part where she hadbeen earlier. "I can't wait till I can be one of the regular guards. Then'll I get to carry a gun and defend Otto." he said and he glanced back up at the sky. He lead Skirath on the trail through park and past where it made it through the fence. It was a long incline down to a the edge of the fields.

Where lengths of fence and pens for livestock kept them from roaming free through town. There were four barns, grain silo and a windmill towards the back of the animals pins. "This is the farm. It may not be much but it's definitely grown with Vadbol's help over the years." Said Elroy as they walked past the live stock pins towards the nearest barn.

"I can imagine," Skirath replied, looking around at everything as they went. Maronton had only a tiny fraction of the agriculture that Otto had, and for the first time since she had woken up in the desert all alone, Skirath felt like perhaps there was somewhere even better than home. She looked at Elroy and smiled. It was so nice to have company other than Vadbol, she thought to herself.

Elroy stopped walking and looked up at the stars in the night sky. "Yeah..." sighed Elroy. "So where is you from Skeerath?" He asked as he took a step closer.

"I'm from a town called Maronton," she replied, watching his face to see if he recogised the name. "Idon't know how to get there from here, but it's a great place. Not as big as Otto, but it's home... where all my friends and family live," she explained.

"Oh wells I ain't ever heard of any other town. Vadbol deals with all of Otto's trades." he making eye contact with Skirath. He took both of her hands in his and asked, "So Skeerath do you got a boyfriend or husband back home?"

Skirath held Elroy's hands and looked into his eyes. "No," she replied. "I take it you don't have a girlfriend here already?" she asked, smiling.

Elroy smiled. "No I ain't got a girlfriend. All of them are taken. I'm the odd one out I s'ppose. But it ain't so bad now that I met a purty girl like you." Said Elroy smiling bashfully. He squeezed Skirath's hands and kissed her.

Skirath returned the kiss and moved closer to Elroy. She wished she knew more about romance and whether or not she was doing anything wrong, but she figured it was best just to trust her instincts and go with the moment.

Elroy pulled Skirath closer trying to kiss her more passionately. He had moved his hands rather timidly down her hips and squeezed softly as to not hurt her. He stopped for a moment looking into Skirath's eyes. He was breathing warmly almost lost for breath. "wow!" he said quietly, his hold was on Skirath still.

Skirath smiled widely and met his eyes, "Wow," she echoed, holding him and running her hands over his back. The thrill of being close to another person was almost overwhelming, and she didn't know quite what to say.

Elroy kept her gaze and kissed her again and squeezed her closely. He kept the kiss going for a few moments more then he slowly broke contact and smiled sappily. "Wanna go into the barn?" asked Elroy squeezing her side and pulling her close again.

Skirath, still smiling, nodded and took Elroy's hand. She squeezed it and started walking towards the barn.

Elroy followed suit and walked with Skirath to the barn. He tapped on the door and listened before opening it. He took lantern out of the inside of it, pulled a lighter out and lit the lantern. He let Skirath go in first and came into the dark barn with the lantern in hand. He set back up on its perch walked back to Skirath smiling. He kissed yet again softly then again a bit more passionately.

He pulled her close and started lean with his back against a small bale of hay. He sat down pulling Skirath with him gently. He stopped kissing her for a moment to ask, "You ever been with anyone Skeerath?" He was smiling and his look of was of curiosity.

Skirath paused for a moment. The thought of what Rex did to her was creeping into her mind, but she tried to ignore it. "No," she replied, smiling at Elroy, "How about you?"

"Nope I ain't a been with anyone either Skeerath." said Elroy as he kissed Skirath again and pulled them both onto the bale of hay so they were sitting comfortably.

Skirath kissed Elroy and let her hands roam over his body. She was nervous, but at the same time grateful for the affectionate touch of another human being.

Elroy pulled Skirath on top of him, helping her take her jacket off and tossing it to the ground of the barn. He kept kissing her softly and tried to make sure she didn't fall off of or the bale of hay.

Skirath kissed Elroy's neck and unbuttoned his coveralls. She ran her hands up under his shirt and touched his chest, before starting to unbutton his shirt.

Elroy helped Skirath slip out of his overalls and finished unbuttoning his shirt. He had managed to unzipped, unbuttoned her skirt and slipped her shirt off tossing it to the pile that was growing on the floor. The feeling of the hay was none to comfortable for Skiraths knee's and Elroy's back and legs. "Hey Skeerath?" he asked in between kisses he finished off the question with, "Can we go to the ground?"

"That's a good idea," Skirath replied, climbing off the bale of hay and taking Elroy's hand. She pulled him down onto the ground with her, and started kissing him again.

Elroy kept kissing Skirath while they were on the ground and rolled with her on top of the pile of clothes. He layed there with her a moment kissing her softly making sure that he inserted into her properly and began slowly and tenderly getting used to the feeling. He held close to get a feel for what he was doing.

Skirath wrapped her legs around Elroy and looked into his eyes. She concentrated on enjoying the sensation of the moment and forgetting all her problems.

Elroy looked back down into her eyes, leaned down and kissed her passionately while keeping pace with Skirath. They were slow and tender even when he moved her on top after several more minutes passed they were on their sides. Elroy took Skirath hand right before end of the build up before release and squeezed it tightly. He wouldn't last much more but still he tried.

Skirath squeezed Elroy's hand and pulled him close as he finished. Elroy spasmed for a bit and squeezed Skirath close. She gazed at him and reached a hand out to stroke his cheek. She tried to think of something to say, but couldn't find the right words and so just held him.

Hours passed, somehow with her watch on Elroy she had fallen asleep. The sun could be seen coming up through the crack in the barn door.

As she woke up, Skirath rubbed her eyes and looked around. It took her a second or two to remember where she was, but then she realized and smiled. Skirath snuggled closer to Elroy, enjoying the warmth of his body and the feeling of acceptance that seemed to radiate from being so close to him, but then the realisation dawned on her that she had stayed out all night, and that Vadbol was probably worried, or angry, or both. She sighed and reluctantly shook his shoulder. "Elroy," she whispered, "Elroy, wake up. I have to get back home... Vadbol, you know?" She started pulling on her clothes, hoping they didn't look too dirty.

"whut's goin' on skeerath?" said Elroy as he came back into reality. "Oh sure. my dad is gunna kick muh ass." He said smiling and immediately began getting dressed.

Within minutes they were dressed and walking back town. When they made it to the incline, Elroy kissed Skirath again. "I'm so glad I met you." said Elroy as he squeezed her hand. And they continued walking back to Vadbol's house. Before they reach it Elroy hugged her. "Have a great day Skeerath." He had walked on around the other side as to not be spotted by other townspeople or Vadbol.

She was there in front of his house waiting to go in but going through the possible consequences in her head.

Skirath thought of how Vadbol might react, already knowing what he was capable of. But, she tried to convince herself, Vadbol wouldn't hurt her, not after going to all that trouble to keep her safe. Then the awful thought occurred to her that he might try and hurt Elroy. The thought send a shiver of guilt down Skirath's spine, and she just hoped that if it came to that she could at least reason with Vadbol.

Summoning all of her courage, Skirath opened the door, and stepped inside.

Vadbol was sitting in his chair staring at the door when it opened and Skirath entered. "Where were you?" he asked, his tone shifting to annoyed concern. "You were gone for 10 hours 13 minutes and 23 seconds." he added.

"I was just, errr..." Skirath paused to think up a suitable euphemism, "... Just getting to know someone," she finished. She was more than a little surprised that Vadbol had counted how long she had been gone, down to the exact second.

"Lies!" he said his tone getting louder. He stared at her long and hard, his eyes squinted readingher. "No don't lie to me. You've engaged in intercourse recently." he said somehow reading Skirath by her eyes. A chill went down her spine somehow he knew.

Skirath flinched, and then turned to face Vadbol. "So maybe I have," she said quietly, "It's none of your business."

"God damnit Skirath! You carry plague. You could have infected him. It is my business." He said and slammed his fist in the arm rest of his chair. The wood splintering to pieces under the force of the blow.

"No one told me that! How was I supposed to know?" Skirath exclaimed, backing away from Vadbol. The thought that she could have infected Elroy filled her with guilt and dread.

"It is assumed once you get plague. It's contagious. If he get's infected they will either kill you or send you to the sick part of town. That is something I can't help you with Skirath." Said Vadbol as he stood up.

"There's a chance he won't get infected, right?" Skirath asked desperately. Her eyes searched Vadbol's face for some kind of answer. "I really didn't know," she said quietly.

"There is a 25% chance." he said walking towards the door, locking it. "You will not be leaving until our trip to Maronton. Unless I am chaparoning you." he said coldly. He sat back down in his hair and massaged his forehead.

"Vadbol! That is just not fair!" Skirath exclaimed. She certainly did not plan on spending the rest of her time in Otto locked inside Vadbol's house. Skirath changed her tone, in the hope that reasoning with Vadbol would convince him. "Please," she began, trying to sound calm, "Now I know how infectious the plague is, I won't do anything. I promise. Just please let me see if Elroy is okay?"

Vadbol stood there looking at Skirath begging for him not to deny her freedom. "You are quarantined. Shower and change. You will not be leaving for the rest of today." Said Vadbol as he sat down. He noticed that Skirath was going to argue with him like an irrational child and said, "Do not make this any hard than it has to be Skirath."

"What the hell is your problem?!" Skirath yelled at Vadbol, fighting back tears. "I'm not gonna infect anyone! What, you think that I can't be trusted all of a sudden? You're just jealous because you don't fit in with the people here!"
Skirath ran past Vadbol and into the bathroom. She slammed the door and sat down on the floor, angry and upset by Vadbol's attempt to control her, and the thought that she could have infected Elroy with plague. She leant back against the door and let the tears come.

Skirath cried for hours. Vadbol didn't stop her. In the back of her mind she knew deep down he did what he had to do since she spent the night with Elroy and that constituted the separation from everyone else.

After another hour the smell of food permeating from the kitchen pulled at Skirath's stomach. It growled.

Skirath didn't want to see or talk to Vadbol. But she did want to eat, and eventually her hunger got the better of her, and she emerged from the bathroom. She walked into the kitchen to see what food was being prepared.

Vadbol was reheating leftovers from the night before and cooking up some seasoned meat that he had gotten from the General Store in his earlier trades with them. "Breakfast is ready." he said as he fixed himself a plate. He said nothing to Skirath it was almost as if he had no particular emotional response to the situation.

Skirath didn't look at Vadbol, and just took the other plate of food, and sat down in one of the chairs to eat it. She ate quickly, not looking up or paying much attention to the taste. It was only when she did glance up for a moment to see what Vadbol was doing that she caught sight of something out the corner of her eye. It appeared to be another door that she had failed to notice, or ignored previously. Her knowledge of the shape of the house indicated that it led outside. As Skirath finished her food, a plan began to form in her mind. She hoped that Vadbol had forgotten to lock that door, and decided that as soon as he was distracted or not paying attention to what she was doing, she would make a break for it out the back door. Skirath remained expressionless, so as not to give away her plan, and headed for the bathroom. She figured she may as well shower before she escaped the house.

Skirath showered taking her time, listening for any sound or movement of Vadbol leaving. After about a half an hour she got out of the shower, dried off, got dressed and checked to see if the coast was clear. She edged to the door opened and after not seeing Vadbol in sight she made a break for the back door. It was locked. She tried for a window and slid out of it and to freedom.

The window led to an alleyway, which Skirath started running down, away from the street and towards the backs of the houses. Skirath noticed that the houses were all designed almost exactly the same as Vadbol's, made from stone and wood, with neat little chimneys on top. Skirath really had no idea of how to get to Elroy's house, or even if his house was in this area of the town, but she knew that getting away from Vadbol, in case he had followed her, was her first priority. Once she was sure she was safe, then she could try and find Elroy's house.

She heard yelling coming from one of the houses at the end of the black. "Bullshit! I love Skeerath and thats all that matters." Said Elroy as he yelled at his parents. "She is outlander. She has plague Elroy and your not allowed to see her." said who she assumed to be his dad. "Yeah well I'd be dead if she was carrying plague." he said defending Skirath. Skirath stopped and edged over to the window cautiously peering inside to see what was going on with Elroy and his family.

Elroy noticed Skirath and nodded at her. At that point Elroy's dad stormed out of the room and yelled, "Your Grounded till we know you ain't got plague!" To which Elroy countered, "Whatever!"

Elroy waited till the coast was clear and opened the window. "Hey Skeerath. I missed you." said Elroy holding her hand.

"Elroy! You're okay!" Skirath exclaimed, squeezing his hand. "I'm so sorry," she began, looking down, before looking up again, into his eyes. "Your dad is right. I do have plague. But I swear I didn't know you could catch it."

"Nah don't worry abouts it Skeerath. I am fine. I took that pills that Vadbol brought us." he squeezed her hand and kissed her forehead. "I gotta go before my pa has me beat. sorry Skeerath." said Elroy as he squeezed her hand one last time before letting go. It was about time Skeerath went back home as well now that she knew Elroy was alright.

Skirath smiled at Elroy as he disappeared, and started walking back along the lane behind the houses. She eventually found the alleyway leading back to Vadbol's house, and climbed back in through the window, hoping that Vadbol hadn't noticed she was gone.

She managed to get through the window, closed it and was by the stove as Vadbol opened the door. He was carrying a few boxes of supplies. He looked at Skirath and sat the boxes by his chair and sat down. Skirath had barely managed to get home. She was incredibly lucky to have beaten Vadbol home.

Skirath remembered that despite the relief she felt that Elroy was okay, she had to keep pretending to be angry at Vadbol. She stood in the kitchen, leaning against the bench and staring out the window, ignoring Vadbol.

Vadbol began organizing the boxes of supplies into his rucksack. He looked up at her, looked back down and went packing in supplies. "Elroy and his family are innoculated against the plague. The antibiotics were developed by the Systemist. They can't help you since you infected." said Vadbol to Skirath. He finished organizing his pack and placed it in it's respectful place. "One more day. Then we're going to Maronton." Said Vadbol in a matter of fact way despite his monotone.

Skirath was delighted to hear that she'd be going home so soon, but then the thought of possibly never seeing Elroy again entered her mind, and the prospect of leaving Otto suddenly didn't seem so great. Especially since she had one day left to spend there, and, unless Vadbol had changed his mind, she would be spending it inside.
"So Elroy can't get the plague ever?" Skirath asked Vadbol hopefully. She thought that if there was no chance Elroy could get the plague, then Vadbol might let her out to see him.

Vadbol looked out the window and for a moment it seemed as though he ignored her question. "He is immune now. Unless the plague mutates." said Vadbol as he trailed off as if lost in thought.

"So, since he can't catch the plague... can I see him tomorrow?" Skirath asked, stepping closer to Vadbol and watching his face to try and guess what his answer would be.

Vadbol's face generally never had emotions unless he was angry. "I'll talk to the council." he said kurtly.

"You don't have to talk to the council, just don't tell anyone. Nothing bad will happen, I promise," Skirath said sincerely.

He looked at her and spoke, "Standard Operating Procedure. End of discussion."

Skirath sighed and looked away, growing more frustrated with Vadbol. "How come it wasn't Standard Operating Procedure before?" she demanded, turning back to face him. "You just let me wander around the town, with no advice on how contagious the plague is, and now that I know, you decide I can't go out? It just doesn't make sense!"

He looked at her even though she was evading his eye contact. "You are never supposed to mix fluids with an uninfected. I ruled that out by chances of probability." said Vadbol answering her question. He then went on to add, "Plague is lethal. It is assumed you stay away from others once you are infected." He was quiet again seemed to be analyzing Skirath's next move.

"But don't you trust me?" Skirath asked, looking at Vadbol pleadingly. "We've only got one more day here," she continued, "And you know I won't infect anyone."

"Drop it." Vadbol said as he stood up. "Do not make this any harder for you than it has to be. The town has say so." He was staring down at Skirath his height looming in the dark of the house menacingly.

"Yeah, whatever," Skirath muttered, turning away and walking over to look out the window. She realised it was useless arguing with Vadbol, and her best chance of seeing Elroy again before she left was by sneaking out. She hoped that Vadbol would be going out sometime that night or the next day.

The frustration and nervousness caught up with Skirath wrenching here stomach. She tried to calm it, so she could appear angry at Vadbol but after several more painful moments later she vomited. The pain was still twisting inside of her stomach.

Vadbol was well aware that plague sickness was still working it's way through her and he got the antinausea medicine ready. "Here." He said as he leaned her up with a canteen of water at the ready. "Take it now or you'll be worse." he said with a bit of concern.

"Thanks," Skirath replied quietly, swallowing the pill and taking a drink from the canteen. She felt too sick to bother staying angry at Vadbol, so she just sat back and hoped the antinausea medicine kicked in soon.

Skirath had managed to get herself soaked in her own vomit. Once she sat back up she realized how much of a chore it was just trying to stay focused. This bout of nausea that had inflicted itself upon her made her feel very weak and very tired. Vadbol scooped her off of her feet and carried her to the bathroom where he layed her down in the tub. "Stay put." He said as he disappeared back into the main part of the house.

A few moments passed dizzyness washed over Skirath again. "The medicine is working. It is quick release. Your immune system is changing we need to keep you warm." Said Vadbol as he started to strip Skirath of her vomit soaked clothes. "Sorry." He said apologetically. He started to run the warm water in the tub and began to hold Skirath up as she started to soak in warm water.

"Thanks Vadbol," Skirath whispered, too tired to protest about him seeing her with no clothes on. She was very grateful for how kind he was being, despite their arguments.

He added several chemicals to the water from medicine droppers he had in his supply cabinets. "Your body is going through alot of changes and your skin will not be able to handle sunlight. I am going to experiment. It won't kill you and there is a slim chance it'll at least offer permanent protection from the sun." said Vadbol as he added more chemicals to her tub water. They heated the water up and caused her skin to tingle. After the water finished running Vadbol exited the room. Vadbol came in carrying a walkie talkie and spoke quickly, "You will need to stay concious. Call if you need help." He left Skirath alone.

Skirath soaked in the tub, trying to stay awake by thinking about seeing Elroy again, although she didn't feel up to sneaking out that night. She also wondered whether or not the chemicals that Vadbol had put in the bath would be helpful for her skin or not. Skirath didn't much like the thought of never being able to go out in the sun, especially since she and Vadbol had a lot of travel to do.

She started to nod off after a half hour of sitting there. The chemical made her skin numb after the first ten minutes. After a little while longer, she found herself getting shook awake by Vadbol who was holding a white bath robe that looked to be new. He must've went to the general store to get the linen and sewn it together while she was in the tub. "Come on Skirath. Your skin has been treated. You need." said Vadbol as he lifted her out of the bath tub, drying her off and helping her slide into the robe. He scooped her and carried her to the bed, where he tucked her in his bed and set up the heat emiter to keep her warm.

Skirath was humbled by Vadbol's kindness, and smiled at him as she closed her eyes. "I'm sorry about before," she said quietly, "I didn't mean to be so rude to you."

Vadbol didn't say anything he set a glass of water on the stand next to the bed and exited the room. The door closing in the living room meant that he had left but at present Skirath was too weak to leave.

Hoping that she'd be well enough to see Elroy the next day, Skirath curled up and fell asleep.

"Hey Skeerath." said Elroy as he shook her awake he was smiling and glad to see her. "Vadbol said you was ill when he came to get me. I figured I'd make ya breakfast." said Elroy as he set a plate of food infront of her. Bacon and scrambled eggs. He picked up his plate, took his first bite and said, "I hopes you like."

The sun was barely peaking in the clouds and Vadbol wasn't in sight. Odd especially for the way Vadbol had acted. It was no dream Elroy was really there.

"Elroy! Oh, that's so kind of you!" Skirath said, surprised, and smiling delightedly. "Vadbol really came to get you?" she asked, amazed at how out of character that seemed. Skirath sat up and started eating the breakfast Elroy had prepared for her. It was delicious.

"Ye'ah Skeerath he dun came and got me, practically dragged me over 'ere told me you was leavin'for a bit and to spend some time with you." Said elroy as he finished he breakfast.

Elroy took their plates to the kitchen, washed them and came back to the room. For the rest of the day Elroy and Skeerath spent all the time they had together. Vadbol came in and out preparing his and Skirath's travel packs with the appropiate supplies. "Hey Skeerath why is Vadbol always paranoid when nuthin' ain't gonna happen?" asked Elroy as they cuddled in bed.

"I'm not sure," Skirath replied, "Maybe he thinks looking after Otto is his responsibility, and if anything went wrong then he would be to blame. Maybe he's just like that for no reason." Skirath smiled and cuddled up to Elroy. She almost didn't want to leave.

Vadbol came back again and started dinner cooking on the stove. He came up to the gate in the room and spoke, "I am going to meditate. Be back in an hour. Elroy check stir food every thirty minutes." He left before either could give a response. He had left.

Elroy smiled at Skirath mischievously. "So skeerath. How ya feelin'?" Asked Elroy. By the look in his eyes and the way Skirath's beemed back it was unanimous she was feeling "fine."

"I feel great," Skirath replied, cuddling closer to Elroy and kissing him. "This is so much more fun than meditating," she whispered, between kisses.

Within thirty minutes they had managed to go through the act twice. Granted there was inexperience between the two of them it was still thrilling to them that Vadbol could walk through that door any moment and kick their asses. At present though he wasn't there so there was nothing stopping Elroy and Skirath.

Skirath was resting her head on Elroy's chest, listening to his heart beat and holding him close, when she remembered the food. "Maybe you should go check on the food," Skirath suggested, not wanting to get up.

"Aww crap!" said Elroy as he rolled out bed, trying to pull his clothes back on so he could go stir the stew. He was gone for a few minutes before climbing back in bed with Skirath. "Yeah Skirath the stew should be a fine." Said Elroy as he wrapped his arms around her and nodded off to sleep.

They fell asleep and when awoke Vadbol was standing before them. "Elroy you forgot to stir. Do not be careless again." demanded Vadbol. He went back t the kitchen to finishing preparing the stew.

Skirath cuddled up to Elroy and smiled. "Vadbol's meditation mustn't have been too relaxing," she whispered. "We should probably go and eat that stew."

Elroy smiled exhaustedly and hugged Skirath. When they finally climbed out of bed and went to eat Vadbol was on his third bowl of soup. "Eat." he said as he finished his third and went on to his fourth. Immediately Elroy shut up. It appeared as though he were intimidated by Vadbol.

Hoping to ease Elroy's nerves, Skirath sat down and started eating her bowl of soup. She could understand how anyone could be intimidated by Vadbol, and hoped Elroy wasn't too scared.

Vadbol ate another two bowls effectively wiping out the soup while Skirath and Elroy were on their first and only bowls. "Elroy you have work. I will wake you at 0500 hours. Get rest." Said Vadbol as they finished eating. Vadbol washed dishes, set them to soak and left unexplained.

After a few minutes Elroy got up the nerve to ask a question, "Is he always quite like this skeerath?"

"Vadbol's not like us," Skirath explained. "He might seem rude and threatening, but he's a good person. Maybe the way he acts has something to do with how he can regenerate when injured, doesn't need to sleep for days, and can't get out of his armour." Skirath shrugged and smiled at Elroy, "Something to do with nanites."

"Huh. Whut are nan-ites? I ain't ever seen a man take a hit and keep goin' unless I see it for muhself." Said Elroy skeptically.

Vadbol came back inside and grabbed one of the packs off of the shelf. "Going to repair the wall. Someone has been damaging it." he said as he left again.

Elroy smiled at Skirath and said "One thing I do know is that Vadbol seem to leave at oppr'tune times." He took Skiraths hand and lead her back to the bedroom.

Skirath smiled widely and followed Elroy to the bedroom. She pulled him close and started kissing him passionately.

Soon they were at it again for the better part of a half hour before falling asleep. Skirath fell asleep tightly holding onto Elroy.

However the next morning when she awoke he was gone. Vadbol was standing in the doorway and ready to go. "Skirath twenty minutes to shower and get ready." said Vadbol.

Skirath nodded and hurried off to shower. She hoped that she wouldn't have to go another week without a shower again, but figured that it would be worth it to get home. Once she finished showering, she found that Vadbol had washed her other sets of clothes, and smiled. Skirath got dressed and packed up what remained of her things into her backpack.

When she finally got fully ready Vadbol said, "Nineteen minutes thirty-three seconds. Good." He let Skirath out of his house first and locked the door behind them. People waved them on as they left Otto and moved back into the world. Soon they were passed the walls and the fields of green. I

Walking for Skirath was so much easier as she had finally had time to regain her strength from all the strain from traveling for long hour stretches. She was actually able to keep up with Vadbol at his stroll.

They passed through the Canyon and through the mine field onward towards Maronton.

The first day passed quickly as if it hadn't been that much of a strain on Skirath.

The second day drudged along passed the ruins of the camping grounds where the zombies attacked them.

The third day took them to the tribal huts and drained Skirath a bit more.

The fourth day put them back past Pete's Point which looked to have been attacked by raiders. Vadbol did not bother to inspect it as they were no longer his concern anymore. They rested at the house.

The fifth day put them way out passed the burnt car lot where Skirath had been saved by Vadbol. Skirath grew weak as the plague made it difficult to traverse without having to be carried.

The sixth day put them with in a day of Maronton but Skirath was incredibly weak. They stopped at the abandoned building where Skirath was biten. It almost looked the same except for the unmarked graves that surrounded the building. "We'll rest here for the night." Said Vadbol.

"Wait!" Skirath said, before Vadbol could go inside, "Last time I was here there were zombies. This is where I got bitten," she explained, looking around to see if there was any sign of zombies.

Vadbol moved in motioning Skirath to stay calm. He disappeared inside of the building and came back a few minutes later. "It is clear. The unmarked graves are where they are buried. The corpses were burned." Said Vadbol motioning at burn marks on the pavement.

Very carefully Skirath moved her inside of the building and to the second floor where they would be able to see people coming for miles. Or at least Vadbol anyways. "Dinner time." Said Vadbol. However the idea of a prepackaged ration didn't sound appealing to Skirath infact it sounded nauseating. For some reason she craved raw meat and the taste of blood that accompanied it.

"Do you have any uncooked meat instead of the normal rations?" Skirath asked Vadbol hopefully. She was aware of how strange the request sounded, but she really didn't feel like eating anything else.

Vadbol was quiet for a moment. "Skirath...you're a ghoul. I have some meat rations that are uncooked. I prepared for this infact I figured you would have had need for them sooner." said Vadbol. He dug through his pack and pulled a sealed plastic package of meat from it. He opened it and handed it to Skirath. He ate his ration right as she began to eat hers. It didn't bother him in the slightest.

It never ceased to amaze Skirath how well prepared Vadbol was for everything. He seemed to know so much about survival that she didn't. Skirath finished eating her raw meat, and looked up at Vadbol. "Will I always be like this?" she asked him.

He looked back at her and looked away out the window. He hesitantly spoke, "Unfortunately Yes." He stood up scanning the horizon and said, "Eating raw meat, taking medicine and vitamins will cause your cells to be maintained normally. Meaning you stay as you are at present."

"But we don't have the kind of medicines that you have in Otto." Skirath sighed, looking up at Vadbol. The more she learned about the plague, the less possible it seemed that she would be able to return to her normal life.

Vadbol was quiet as stared out of the second story window. "I have medicine. I can help you." said Vadbol as hopefully as he could to Skirath. It almost seemed as if there was a hurt in his monotone voice. He reached out to Skirath's hand and took it in his squeezing it lightly. "I want to help you more." He said and repeated, "I want to help you."

Skirath stared at Vadbol wide-eyed. She was unsure of what exactly he meant, and had no idea of how to react. This was the first time she had seen him express any emotion other than anger or concern. Then again, she thought, perhaps this was some manifestation of concern. "Wh... what do you mean?" she asked Vadbol.

He looked down his face still stone and spoke, "I want to cure you of plague." He pulled his hand away from Skirath's and looked away. He said nothing else.

Skirath was still confused by Vadbol's sudden show of emotion, and hoped she hadn't somehow upset him. "There is a cure for the plague?" she asked him.

Vadbol nodded. "Yes there an immuno booster that stops it but it'd kill someone already infected." Said Vadbol as he stood up and walked to the stairs. "I am going to meditate." he said.

Skirath sighed. One minute Vadbol was talking about wanting to cure her of the plague, the next minute he was saying that the only way to do it would kill her. She was too tired to try and understand what he meant, and so got out her sleeping bag, climbed in and fell asleep.

Skirath was shaken awake by Vadbol the next morning. She was exhausted again and her hunger was back. The sun in all it's morning glory was barely peeking over the horizon. "We need to go." He said as he set out a package of meat for her and spoke again. "Eat."

"Thanks," Skirath said, rubbing her eyes and taking the package of meat. She sat up and started eating, still surprised at the fact that raw meat was appealing to her. She finished eating, and packed up her things into her backpack, ready to go.

They left the building and began moving forward towards Maronton. Towards home. The morning was cold like the first days of winter yet no snow clouds loomed over head. Vadbol let Skirath lead and he followed.

In six hours they were along the western ridge of Maronton. And in another thirty minutes she saw the edge of Old Man Dunn's pig farm. As they continued into town people came out and looked surprised that Skirath was alive and well.

Mayor Malm strode out from his house in the center of town and addressed Skirath, "Welcome back Skirath." He put his thumbs underneath his suspenders and smiled his middle aged wrinkle becoming more visible. A bead of sweat formed when he took a look at Vadbol. "Whose your friend?" he asked.

By then everyone had migrated from their early morning tasks to see who the visitors were. And whispers and gossip could be heard.

Skirath smiled widely at all the people who had gathered. She was delighted to be home, surrounded by familiar faces, and hoped that the townspeople would be as accepting to Vadbol as the people of Otto had been to her. "This is Vadbol," Skirath explained, smiling at Vadbol too. "He saved my life several times, and helped me get home."

People seemed amazed that she was alive and well. Her parents and brother were no where to be seen. But before Skirath could be asked Mayor Malm interrupted her, "Well that Vadbol there seems like quite the gentlemen. So I reckon you'll be staying?"

"After we dropped yeh off we killed all them zombies. I lost muh deputy!" yelled Halbert, the town sheriff. "We got revenge but yer still alive. It ain't too fair considerin' ol' man Dunn lost his only boy." added, the sherriff.

Some of the farmer yelled in contempt at Skirath as if it were her fault they died.

"Whoa now boys let us not get angry at Skirath. It is a blessing from the good lord himself for her to be back with us." said the Mayor trying to calm everyone down.

Some of the towns folk began to leave in obvious digust and frustration. Some stayed by just spectating others were genuinely happy that Skirath was back. Vadbol said nothing but it was apparent he was in defensive mode.

Skirath was disturbed by the less than welcoming reaction, and edged closer to Vadbol, her smile rapidly disappearing. She hadn't asked anyone to kill the zombies, and didn't see why it was her fault that someone had died. "Is my family around?" Skirath asked Mayor Malm.

When Skirath asked her mother came walking up smiling. It was reassuring. "Oh my precious little Skirry." she said hugging her. Her hold on her suddenly tensing as she grabbed Skirath arm, pulling her arm into the air and yanking her sleeve down for everyone to see her bite scar. "She is not my daughter! She is the devils now!" shrieked Skirath's mother.

Her Brother William chucked a brick through the air at Skirath but Vadbol caught it in midair. He crushed it in his grip. Her Dad screamed, "I have no daughter! She is one of the evil one's."

The townsfolk joined calling Skirath names and throwing stuff at her. The Sheriff returned with his posse of farmers. They were carrying rifles. "Kill her. That is the law!" said the Sheriff as he raised his M-16 and fired at Vadbol to get rid of any protection she had at that moment.

Skirath screamed in fear and pushed her mother away. She wished she could explain that she was still the same person she always was, but surviving was more important at that moment. Skirath quickly hid behind Vadbol, still in disbelief that her own town and family would want to kill her.

Mayor Malm had tried to calm everyone down but his calls for not resorting to violence where unheeded and he was knocked unconcious.

The Sheriff and his posse fired at Vadbol their bullets bounched off Vadbol. He lunged throught he crowd and swung his arms almost wildly. The Sheriff's head came off and two of the possed were sliced into chunks of arms, legs and internal organs. Blood was everywhere and all over Vadbol. The townsfolk fled in terror after that. They wanted to get away from Vadbol. And to Skirath she had murdered those that had fed her and helped to raise her to the person she was until she was exiled.

Vadbol running back covered in blood scooped Skirath up into his arms and fled from Maronton. Skirath was still in shock and disbelief but safety for her was Vadbol's only concern as he ran. He never stopped running for the better part of five hours. At which case he collapsed and dropped Skirath to the ground. He was out cold. Recharging.

Skirath sat on the ground beside Vadbol, crying and trying to clear her mind of the image of Vadbol killing people she had known all her life. This time was different to the detatched horror she'd felt witnessing his massacre of the Systemists at Pete's Point, and she was angry at Vadbol. He didn't have to murder them, she thought, knowing well enough that Vadbol could have injured them and still gotten away safely. Skirath stood up and looked down through her tears at him, lying there covered in dried blood. She shuddered and turned away, unable to look at him for any longer. Skirath picked up her backpack and started walking away, not knowing where she was going, or particularly caring. But she only made it ten steps or so before she realised that if she wasn't welcome in Maronton, where she had lived her entire life, she would be welcome nowhere. Skirath sighed and walked back to Vadbol, and sat down again. She realised that he had only been trying to protect her, but it didn't make it any easier.

Hours had passed and the hunger came. The dried blood on Vadbol looked so appealing to Skirath. Despite the death at Maronton, she was still very hungry almost drained completely of energy.

Skirath looked around taking in her surroundings. By her estimate they were an hour away from Pete's Point. Vadbol had covered more distance than he ever had before with Skirath.

Another six hours dragged on and the winds picked up blowing cold wind through Skirath's jacket. The clouds up in the sky began to white out the sun. It started snowing.

Two more hours passed and Vadbol stirred from the ground. He stood up and scanned the horizon. "We have to keep moving. Blizzard coming." he said as he rested a hand on Skirath's shoulder. He apologize, "I'm sorry." he said as he began moving back towards Otto.

"Wait," Skirath called after Vadbol. "I really don't think I can keep up. Can you carry me?" Despite the appeal of the thought of getting back to Otto, or at least getting out of the snow and cold wind, Skirath knew that she didn't have the energy for walking long distances.

Vadbol stopped and scooped Skirath into his arms. He held her so that she'd be warm and began to run full sprint. He didn't stop for the night he kept running even as Skirath slept.

When she woke up he has a meat ration ready for her so that she could keep her strength. Once she ate she was back up and in his arms running again. In two and a half days time they were half back to Otto. Vadbol must've had business for him to be in such a hurry.

Skirath had never seen Vadbol run so much without stopping before, and was curious as to why, especially considering they didn't seem to be in any danger. "Why are we in such a hurry to get back to Otto?" she asked him.

"I have an idea on how to cure you." he said in between strides. The winds were cold and the snow falling made things much colder than they were for Skirath. It had been that way for the past few days and at present Skirath needed a warm place to sleep before she got any more worse off than she was from the plague.

The prospect of a cure would have excited Skirath if she wasn't so cold and tired. "Can we stop somewhere for the night?" she asked Vadbol, hoping that he knew of someplace warm, or at least out of the snow and wind.

Vadbol stopped running after a few more miles. They were at a small clearning with pine tree's surrounding it. He sat Skirath down pulled his knives and began carving away into the earth until there was a sizeable hole for Skirath to sleep in so the wind wouldn't catch her while she slept. He rifled through his pack and pulled out fabric and some retractable poles and set up a tent to keep snow from falling on Skirath.
"Get some rest." He said.

"Thanks Vadbol," Skirath said, smiling at the thought of a good night's rest. But she knew there'd be no way she could sleep until she found out what Vadbol's idea for how to cure her of plague was. "What was your idea for how to cure me?" Skirath asked, looking up at Vadbol hopefully.

Vadbol looked backdown at her while he finished setting the tent up and spoke, "It complicated." His answers were usually short and to the point. He finished building her tent handed her the heat emitter, a meat ration and said, "Good night."

Skirath sighed and retreated into the shelter that Vadbol had made for her. She wished he would tell her more, as the thought of being cured of the plague filled her with hope. Skirath set up the heatemitter and sat down to eat her meat. Once she was finished eating, she curled up in her sleeping bag, warm and safe. Although the mystery of how exactly Vadbol planned on curing her still ran through her mind, Skirath managed to fall asleep.

She awoke the next morning bundled up in her sleeping bag still warm. Vadbol was walking at a fast pace as to not wake her. They were just passing the camps grounds that Vadbol burned down to eliminate contamination in case other traveller's happened by. Skirath's nausea was gone which was good as she was comfortably warm in the sleeping bag.

Skirath smiled as she woke up, glad that Vadbol had let her get more rest. It almost seemed to Skirath as if he was being nicer to her, and she wondered if it was something to do with guilt over killing those people at Maronton. Skirath pushed the thought out of her mind. "Good morning Vadbol," she said.

"Home is near." Said Vadbol as he kept walking at his brisk pace. He moved for about another hour more then came a break time where he fished out a meat ration for Skirath. She couldn't tell what time of day it was but it seemed like it was about lunch time.

Skirath stretched and took the meat ration. She opened it and started eating, but about halfway through, she paused. "Are you sure you couldn't give me a clue about your idea to cure me?" she asked hopefully, looking at Vadbol intently.

"You won't understand. I require the vaccine that protects against it." he said curbing anymore questions.

Vadbol looked at Skirath and sat down as he waited for her to finish her meal.

Skirath shrugged, and went back to eating. If Vadbol didn't want to tell her anything, it was his problem when things went wrong. She finished eating the meat, and looked at him. "I'll walk for a while if you want?" she offered, guessing he probably needed a break from carrying her all the time.

He said nothing. They walked for the better part of four hours however the cold began to chip through Skirath's jacket and clothes. It wasn't dark enough to set up camp but it wasn't getting any warmer. It was time again for Vadbol to carry Skirath.

"Vadbol, can you carry me for a while? It's really cold," Skirath asked, too cold to worry that she was being demanding to Vadbol.

Without a single word spoken he scooped her up into his arms and held her as he began to jog. He only jogged for a few more hours before he stopped at the camp grounds that they had visited twice before where there was a pit that he had set up for a fire.

He cleared it of snow and bits of log that failed to burn up and set up Skirath tent over it. "There. Get warm." He said as he pulled out a meat ration and heat emitter. and handed them to Skirath.

"Thanks," Skirath said gratefully, before setting up the heat emitter in the tent. She sat down by it, warming up and eating her meat ration. As she sat there in the warmth and comfort, a feeling of guilt crept over her. Once she had finished eating, Skirath emerged and looked at Vadbol. "You won't be too cold out here will you?" she asked, concern in her voice.

Vadbol sealed the tent. "No. My armor is temperature regulated." he said. The night carried on quietly and Skirath was soon asleep.

Skirath slept peacefully for a while, but before long, her dreams turned from vague and unmemorable to horrible and frightening. In her nightmare, she was back in Maronton, surrounded by the townspeople and her family, all of who were holding weapons and shouting insults. As they advanced, Skirath looked around desperately for Vadbol, but couldn't see him anywhere. She tried to call for help, but it was too late, as they had already shot her. Skirath woke up screaming.

She clawed frantically out of her sleeping bag screaming and into the walls of the sturdy tent. She was unaware that anything was happening other than mindless panic. Before she could hurt herself further vadbol had caught her and scooped her away from the heat emitter. "Your safe." He said patting her back with a little more force than was necessary. He climbed into the small sleeping area that was Skirath's and tucked her back into her sleeping bag. "Rest. We'll be home tomorrow." he said as he sat near Skirath for letting her know she was safe.

Skirath smiled tiredly at Vadbol. "Thanks," she said, curling up and going to sleep, trying to think pleasant thoughts in the hope that they'd keep the nightmares away.

She awoke the next morning with Vadbol taking down the tent. It was cold but not bitter and biting like it was the in previous days. Vadbol noticed her and acknowledged her conciousness with a, "Good morning."

Within moments they were packed up and walking. Vadbol wasn't in such a rush to get back as he was after he Maronton. He was finally calm.

"So do you think they'll let me live in Otto permanently?" Skirath asked Vadbol hopefully as they walked along. The thought of having no home to return to frightened her, and Otto was such a nice place that it almost already seemed like home.

"They will. Your no longer a threat to them." Said Vadbol. He chugged along through the forest at a pace that Skirath could keep.

Soon they were too the clearing right before the minefield and the canyon. Cratters litter along the trail of mines. They had been detonated and no evidence of body parts and debris could be seen. Vadbol sighed.

"What do you think happened?" Skirath asked, staring at the craters, then looking back up at Vadbol.

Vadbol began walking across the field. "Sonic bomb. Used sound to set off the mines." He said trekking the minefield for further traps. He turned and waved Skirath forward. They made Their way into the cannon and discovered small twisted, scattered scraps of blackened metal laying on the ground. "Drone parts." said Vadbol as he scooped up the piece of metal and crushed it in his fist.

"What's going on? Why would someone want to set off the mines, and why are there drone parts? Do you think someone is going to attack Otto?" Skirath asked as she followed carefully after Vadbol.

At that moment Vadbol took off running. Skirath followed as fast as she could. The adrenaline of fear of what could have happened to Otto was too important for her. Soon Vadbol was out of her sights but still she ran as fast as she could possibly run to catch up to him.

Skirath was terrified. What if the one place she could now call home was under attack? What if something happened to Elroy? Skirath tried to push these thoughts to the back of her mind and concentrate on at least trying to keep up with Vadbol. She kept running and looking up ahead to see if she could see him.

After twenty minutes of nonstop running she was finally caught up with Vadbol. He was standing still on top of a rock that over looked Otto. Patch of the green field were charred, the cows that grazed the fields were shot dead, some were blackened husks of dead dead animals. The damaged beauty of the fields lead up to Otto. It's wooden walls shattered, bullet marked, bodies hung off it, a faint smoke billowed from the inside the town. There were craters where part of the wall was missing entirely. It was dead.

Vadbol stood there in shock. His home was destroyed. He didn't know how to act appropiately.

Skirath gasped in horror as she stared at the destruction. "Who could do this?" she whispered. She was close to despair, but felt hope tug at her heart. "Vadbol, we have to go in there, what if people are still alive? We have to do something!" she exclaimed, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.

Vadbol whispered, "systemist." He set off into Otto carefully, he shoved the front gate down and it crumbled to pieces as it hit the ground. Skirath followed with great trepidation. Otto was ruined burned bodies lay twisted in their death throes. All the houses were blown to bits others burnt to their frames. In the town square lay Elroy the side of his head blown off with a thin layer of ice on his corpse. He had a rifle in his hand and died with a look bravery on his face.

They spent the rest of the day moving through Otto. The farm and the fields had been razed. The trees in the park destroyed. Everything was destroyed. Everything Skirath had grown to love about her short stay in Otto had been destroyed. Despair and hurt pulled at her heart. Tears wouldn't even relieve the anguish. Vadbol was silent however Skirath could feel his anger emanating from him.

He stopped. Looking around the town. "GOD DAMNIT!" screamed Vadbol. He clicked the release to his ruck sack releasing it to the ground. The statue of Otto was still standing but Vadbol kicked it into pieces from anger. He heaved angerily and turned his back to Skirath. She had never seen him that angry.

Skirath flinched and stepped back. Amongst all the other thoughts and feelings swirling through her head, one gnawed at her soul the most. If it wasn't for her, Vadbol would have been able to stay and defend Otto against the Systemists. Skirath looked down and sighed, overcome by guilt, and the fear that Vadbol would blame her for what happened.

Vadbol collapsed to the ground sobbing tearlessly. He punched the ground denting it three feet in each direction. Skirath had never seen someone so big in so much pain. "I'm sorry Skirath." He said standing up. He took his cracked sunglassed off, tossing them to the pavement and pulled his robes off letting them hit the floor. His armor was gold and black slowling staining into a blooded gold. He grew bigger by three feet his armor filling out and blood misting out of him. A scar of a black eight formed into his forehead. A mask had formed covering his his mouth from the neck plate of his armor. He had gone through a grand metamorphosis and was something else entirely. He had an aura of hurt, hatred, anger and vengeance about him yet Skirath was scared unable to act out of fear.

"Skirath take what you can out of my pack. And leave. Eight day travel south from here will take you to Millent. I am sorry but I will not be accompanying you anymore. I have to kill the Systemists. I love but you will never see me again." Said Vadbol his voice deeper more modulated, more twisted almost like razors to her ears.

"Please," Skirath begged, tears running down her cheeks, "Please don't go. I'm nothing without you. I won't make it." She stepped closer to Vadbol and looked up at him pleadingly. She knew that no matter who or what Vadbol had become, he was all she had.

"I'm sorry Skirath I can't stay. I have to go kill them all. With whats in the pack you can survive for three months. At which point trade for what you need. Keep hydrated and eat once a day at least." Said Vadbol as he began to walk away from Skirath. He started to run when she called out in futility to try to get him to stay. The pain from recent abandonedment and the loss of all those was too much. She tried to chase after Vadbol but he was gone. Skirath collapsed on the ground crying uncontrollable. She didn't know what to do with all the hurt in heart.

Skirath cried for what seemed like hours. She couldn't tell anyway, she had lost track of the time, and it didn't seem to matter to her either way. She had never felt so alone in her entire life. She'd lost everyone she had ever cared about, and had no place to go. Granted, Vadbol had mentioned a town called Millent, but Skirath didn't know if she would be welcome there, or even if she'd survive the journey. But after a while, the cold began to get the better of her, and Skirath walked back to where Vadbol had left his rucksack, and started to decide what she could carry. She owed it to Vadbol to at least try and survive, and to make the trip to Millent.

She gathered what meat rations, medicine, easily carryable gear that remained and began the trek to Millent. It took her ten days but she survived. Once there she wasn't rejected but she wasn't welcome to stay. She traded for the food she needed and a serrated "medusa" knife in case she ran out of bullets. After a few days she was gone again.

Slowly Vadbol's edge for noticing shelter and danger had began to manifest in her as she got used to traversing the wastes alone. She avoided slaver's, systemists and hunting parties from tribals in the region. She soon discovered that she was in Colorado and that there were other regions known as States. Then there was New Mexico and there she began running with groups of scavengers that raided ruins, alcoves and prewar caches. There were no big finds, no "motherlodes" as they called them but there was enough to survive and make ends meet when it came to paying some of the gangs tribute.

On some occassion Skirath would find massacred patrols of Systemist. Their bodies cut to ribbons which meant Vadbol had passed through the area. It gave her hope that maybe she would run into Vadbol and they could travel together again. But each time she tried to follow the trail of death it lead to dead ends and free meals.

Months dragged on and soon she began searching out past New Mexico towards Arizona, Nevada and Utah. Soon she found herself back in Colorado. She had her bearing straight and wound up spending the night at Pete's Point or what remained of it.

A year passed and she celebrated her birthday alone. She had been to over sixty separate settlements and none of them accepted her. About the only thing that did keep her going was limited contact with other ghoul scavenger groups that found themselves at the dead end of a Systemist firing squad. Skirath survived she always did, eventually she found herself spending more time in New Mexico as it's temperatures were more bearable and the people alive long enough to do trade with her.

Skirath had changed so much she was no longer the skilless girl that had been protected by Vadbol, she was a survivor, a scavenger.