Apocalyptia (Retro/ValiantPickle)

Husks of empty and dilapidated buildings dotted the landscape that Charlie traveled through. Some of the larger frames seemed to reach up to the heavens with their height. Shiny glass littered the street and large patches of grass were managing to pop up through the cement (the tips of which were starting to fry in the brilliant sun). Litter, too, scrambled along the sidewalks as it rolled with the gust of the wind.

Normally she wouldn't have dared to travel so far into an old city but she had heard rumors about some places still having canned food and other supplies hidden within their recesses. It had been a few days since she had eaten and all four of her canteens were nearly empty. This was an emergency.

So she walked along the streets, moving as quickly as possible. Although she had disguised her figure well with an overly baggy shirt and a pair of overalls and hid her hair with an aviators cap, there was still a chance that she'd be recognized for a woman.

Being a woman in that sort of environment was almost as dangerous as going against Samson's Order, the totalitarian government that had risen to power in that section of the world once everything had gone to shit. Females, after all, were such a rarity in that day and age. Many were enslaved and put to the grueling task of breeding. A shudder of disgust had gone through her. The most 'beautiful' of women were used as status symbols as well... the whole thing sickened her considerably.

As she continued on, she shifted the weight of her bag on her back. The contents didn't make it a heavy load. All that was inside of it was a first aid kit, some clean bandages, and some very, very important IVs that her father had given her incase of an emergency. While the two had been separated hastily, he had managed to give her some things before she went on her way. Still the straps were always uncomfortable after a few hours of travel.

Finally she had managed to find the place she had been looking for. There was a building in slightly better condition than the ones around it. Before it was a massive parking lot and various signs hung over the many different entrances. There was also a big sign that was on a pole that jutted out from the middle of the parking lot. Most of its letters had faded away but the remaining letters spelt 'MALL'.

"Okay, Chuck," she whispered to herself. "Its going to be dangerous in there, no doubt, but you can do it. She brought her hand to rub across the bridge of her nose in anxiety, leaving a streak of dirt behind to cover the small smattering of freckles there. Pale green eyes narrowed on the building and she heaved a sigh before heading in.

It was dark inside and she wish that she had a lantern to give her light. Every rustling sound caused her to jump. All she wanted to do was find water either by hoping the plumbing was still in use there or by finding some in plastic bottles from the old pharmacy. The luxuries of the time before the war baffled her.

A rustling sound caused her to turn quickly. "Who's there?" she called out. There was no reply except for more of that sound. She chewed on her bottom lip. Shit. Hopefully no one was able to tell she was a girl by the sound of her voice but she knew full well that she could be in trouble.

"What? No, I don't think it'll be useful." a voice said. It belonged to a scavenger named Lance. He and his two friends were scrambling around in some large building. They were looking for scraps of metal that weren't rusted and fairly flat. Lance, James and Sam. Thier footsteps echoed and they stepped on the cracked floor. They talked in hushed tones and ignore each other for the most part. Lance removed the goggles from his eyes, leaving clear, dirt free circles around his eyes. His brown hair was wild and messy. He wasn't a large guy, but an twenty two he could hold himself in a fight. The only light source these people carried came in the form of green glowsticks.

Lance glanced over to see James and Sam trying to decide whether or not a piece of metal was acceptable or not. He rolled his eyes at them and began climbing over a large pile of junk to get sccess to a different part of the area. His jeans and think leather jacket kept him from getting cut by sharp pieces of scrap. He affixed his goggles over his eyes again. It was something he had become used to. Sandstorms were common enough and when sand got in your eyes you regretted it.

The shelves contained nothing useful. They had a few cans of some unidentifiable food. But the three of them had plenty of food at the moment. Besides Lance had made a point never to eat anything that had no label. Last time he had it was either bad meat or good cheese. He spent the entire day throwing up. He moved on looking for some more metal. The three scavengers used the metal to reinforce the little shack they lived in. Lance found a piece and stuffed it into the bag slung over his shoulder.

He smiled to himself when he heard a noise. It sounded a little like shuffling. Someone was either too lazy to pick up thier feet when they walked, was trying to be quiet or dragging something. Lance knew his curiosity would get the better of him as he pulled a long metal shard with leather wrapped around one end. A shiv basically. He climbed over the top of another pile of junk when it collapsed. The junk toppled over and Lance found himself buried. Stealthiest. Approach. Ever.

Lance heard a voice. It sounded like Sam at first, he was young and had a high pitched voice. Lance dug himself out of the garbage, managing to hold onto his glowstick. He stared out from the pile of trash, hip deep, only to fine someone he had never seen before about ten feet away. Just who was this creep? Who was he and who walks around in a dark mall without a lightsource? Lance held up the glowsitck to get a better view, but the thing was on it's last legs and he could only make out a vague shape. Still he had ever right to be suspicious. "I know who I am. But who're you?" That was typical Lance, never give a straight answer and just ask another question.

Seeing a man in a pile of rubble made her scream. Instantly she threw her palms over her mouth. Not that it mattered. Whoever was in that mess clearly knew she was there. Not only knew but could call for any buddies he may have if he had any inclination to do so. Rigidly she kept her hands to her side, fighting the urge to simply run. If she ran then he would know something was wrong. Either she had a bounty on her head or she was, in fact, female.

"Listen, mister, I don't want any trouble," she started off. "I'm just nobody looking for a little bit of something to eat. That's all."

Her heart beat rapidly in her chest and she could feel the blood rushing in her ears. All of her muscles screamed at her to make a break for it. He was still knee deep in rubble and she may have been able to run away from any accomplices. She had been able to develop her fleeing skills pretty far.

"I'm called Charlie though."

There was nothing wrong with giving a name and, really, her name was a boy's name. Her dad had wanted a boy when she was born so he gave her that name in hopes she'd be more boyish.

Lance raised an eyebrow. Dubious, that's the only word that could possibly describe this person. Did he just... scream. Really? What kind of reaction was that? Lance pulled himself out of the rubble and dusted himself off. It was more or less pointless since everything was dirty anyway. He was just looking for food huh? Lance looked at this obscure shape in the darkness. His eyes hadn't adjusted to the glowstick's dying light.
"Well... if you don't mind something that's not labeled then there's some suspicious looking can right over this junk pile."
He looked back at the destroyed pile. then back at this new person and nodded.

He saw his shiv in the rubble and grabbed it. This person didn't look dangerous. In fact he looked scared shitless. Although it could be an act. Lance was still about eight feet from this person. He pointed the shiv at him lazily and said,
"Charlie huh? Do you commonly give out your name to strangers?"
There was nothing wrong with it really, but it seemed a little odd. Just what was bothering him?

Almost as soon as the man mentioned cans, Charlie was off towards the pile of junk, ascending the pile with a quickness and skill that was shocking. It didn't matter that it meant going right past the man who she was unfamiliar with. Food was food and she sure as hell wasn't going to be picky about it.

However she stopped dead upon seeing the shiv and her pale green eyes widened. Her full lips, cracked with thirst, pursed. That little bastard!

"A lot of people are named Charlie," she replied simply. "What's the danger of giving out a simple name? Its not a reason to pull a pointy out on me."

A hand went on her hip. As she was standing a little bit closer than before, the skin that showed through a gaping sleeve could be seen. Even in the dark of the mall a very distinct curve could be made out. A curve that no boy had.

"Can I just get my fucking food and leave you to this part of the mall?"

Pull a pointy? What was he, seven? Thought truth be told the voice was high enough to be a young boy voice.
"Yeah, I suppose." Lance said.
"Just don't interrupt James or Sam. They're prone to stabbing without asking questions."
Lance put the shiv in a little make-shift holster. He held up the glowstick and walked past him. But then he stopped. Now that they were closer, it seemed obvious that this person had something strange about them. The high pitched voice, the baggy clothes, and the effeminate stance they were taking right now. Lance wasn't one to shout out accusations but after he walked past him, he turned around. "Are you a girl?" he asked. It was a very blunt question. One that seemed almost pointless to ask since all of the girls were akin to slaves. Lance raised a questioning eyebrow and pulled out his canteen. He put it in his mouth and took a quick swig. He really wanted to hear the answer to this question.

At the accusation Charlie stiffened. Damn it. She had flapped her gums too long with that guy and now he knew her secret. She crossed her arms protectively over her chest, her cheek pinking with the fear and worry of being found out.

"So what if I am?" she asked through a hiss. "What are you anyway, a slaver for Samson's Order?"

That was a stupid way to go about that and, instantly, she regretted it. Still what was there to hide? He knew that she was a girl. Not only did he know but, if she lied about it, he may have gone to drastic means to find out if she was lying or not. Men of the waste were untrustworthy.

"I'm not afraid of your kind. I've run away before and I can do it again."

Lance pursed his lips. His kind? What did she mean by that? Was she talking about men in general or had she instantly assumed he was a slaver. He glared at her for a minute. Now that he'd found that little tidbit out, he did the only thing he could.

Lance busted out laughing. She had to be kidding. Did he look like a slaver? "No, I'm not with Samson's Order." he said after he calmed down. If fact he was a rebel. he was trying to overthrow thier corrupt powers. But she didn't need to know that. Lance took another swig from his canteen before putting it back in his bag.
"You know, if you keep acting so suspicious then one of them will find you eventually."
It briefly crossed Lance's mind that if she'd been caught and run away before. Then there was the possibility she had been force to... breed. Lance shuddered at the thought.
"Right, so anyway you better grab that food."

Charlie couldn't help but eye the canteen he had. How fortunate had he been? There was food he could ignore because it didn't have its label and he could drink more than once from his canteen every half hour or so. If he hadn't been apart of Samson's Order, then how could he do those things?

Her cheeks puffed out at his laughter. Was it really so hilarious that she couldn't tell slavers apart from normal people? This was the first time she had been out on her own and, mostly, she stuck to little backwater towns. There was barely anyone to be suspicious around and she always managed to get away without a hassle if anyone tried to capture her.

"I've never talked to a slaver before, let alone let one get so close to me," she informed him. "I think I do very well with being inconspicuous... and I'll get the food. Though I am wondering if you're drinking fresh water. Is there a supply of it around here?"

If he wasn't going to cause her problems, she figured she'd weasel every bit of information out of him that she could. She reached up and yanked the hat from her head. Waves of copper colored hair fell to her shoulders and she sighed, running a hand through it.

"My canteens are almost empty. I haven't had a drink in hours because I'm afraid I'll be without water."

Well that was... a relief? She never got touched? Yay? Yeah, Lance had no idea how to feel about that. It seemed to him that this girl was relatively new to the bigger world that was the waste. Which confused him, she wasn't that far from his age. Or so he assumed, it was hard to tell from behind his goggles. He watched her hair fall. It was long and not something one saw commonly.
"No there's no source. We just use a mass collection of tarps. It provides us with what we need, usually." Lance said, referring to the rebels. Lance moved the goggles to his forehead. He saw his two friends come over the mountain of junk.
"Holy crap, Lance. I thought you were dead." James said.
"If only you were so lucky." Lance replied.
James stopped when he saw Charlie. He gave a questioning glance at Sam and Lance.
"Don't look at me." Sam mumbled.
"I just met Charlie here." Lance said, keeping her gender ambiguous in the dark light. After all men had long hair too. Well sometimes... ok it wasn't that common.

Hearing how they collected water was intriguing. If that was the case she would have to set up camp for at least a week at a time to get enough water for her consumption.

It couldn't be longer than that and, really, even seven days made her feel uneasy. Her father said to continuously move. If she did not move then she might be found out. Being found out meant that she would become a slave. That was what happened to her mother when Charlie was six; she remembered the men from Samson's Order coming into their shanty hovel and attempting to abduct both the woman and child. It was by sheer luck that her father had been able to save Charlie.

She stiffened whenever she heard more people coming and prepared to make a dash for it but, seeing that they were the goggled man's friends, she paused. If he was giving her all of this advice and helping her surely he was trustworthy.

"Hello," she said. Now relaxed, the voice she bored was clearly feminine and soft, save for the gritty sound at the end of her words that came from a parched throat. "I heard that there was some food here. Sorry if I am stepping on your guy's territory or something like that."

"Territory?" James said, bursting into laughter. "Hardly, this place sucks." Sam joined in laughing both were clearly more amused by her comment then the fact that she was a girl. Which was odd by itself. Lance started walking up the junk pile toward them. He was sick of this place and wanted to get back to thier little shack for a cigarette. "Alright guys. Let's get outta here." he told the laughing pair.
"What arout Charlie?" James said.
"What about her?" Lance replied before disappearing over the top. James shrugged his shoulders and followed. Sam lingered for a second before waving goodbye, still chuckling a little bit.
Lance didn't know why he was leaving her. But having a girl around could easily make the group a target for any opposition. He was more concered with himself than someone he'd just met. In need or not. One of those cans would surely have some sort of nector or syrup she could drink. She'd be fine.

She glared at them laughing at her. How was she to know what was good territory or not? Everything in that damned world was on its side and she had been thrown into it pretty gruffly a few months beforehand. The redheaded girl ran a hand through her hair, cringing at the way the grease felt against her palm. What she wouldn't do for a place to wash off the dirt. She'd even settle for brackish swill to clean herself off in.

Her eyebrows raised when they started to leave. They had just met one another! Why were they parting so early?! It had been forever since she had someone to speak with and it felt so strange that they would part after such a short time.

"Hey! Wait!" she exclaimed as she hurried after them. Pieces of rubble that they stumbled over she took on easily, jumping from one thing to the next with a skill akin to a spider monkey. It ended with her launching off of a large piece of wobbling cement and landing in front of the three. "You guys seem to know your way around the city. I was wondering if you could help me a little while longer."

Lance had just gotten over the rubble when the girl landed in front of him. That was... impressive. He looked at the rubble and traced how she did it in his mind. She was shape that was for sure. He wasn't sure if he wanted to help her though. He looked at his two comrades and they shrugged. Typical, they were no help at all. Well maybe they could work something out.
"If you keep you helmet on, and don't talk to anyone else then you can come." He told her.
They didn't need her around if everyone knew she was a girl. But Lance had mistaked her for a boy, and if she didn't talk no one would ever be the wiser right? The other two nodded in agreement. Lance was the oldest out of them, James being seventeen and Sam was... around fourteen? No one knew his birthday or how old he was. Lance pointed to the shelf. "The food is over there, let's get moving." he said.
Really the trio were just heading back home. Thier shack was about a mile from where the Rebels had thier little "hideout" and a good five miles from where they were now. Recent shortages made the scavengers travel farther to find good scraps of metal.

She clapped her hands together and smashed the little leather hat back over her head, taking time to stuff the coppery colored strands back inside of it. At least she had some place to head to for the evening. Perhaps she could even weasel a place in to stay for the night. Charlie didn't like to find shelter when it was dark. Going into abandoned buildings wielded problems like animals and running into other human beings.

Grabbing up cans of food until her arms were overflowing with it, she followed after the three of them. Of course she got a few curious glances from the younger kid. He likely never saw a female before and, once they were out in the light of day, she really was cute. Beneath the dirt were large pale green eyes, a narrow and strait nose, and a pair of full lips.

Staying quiet was difficult for her though. She had to screw her mouth shut. There was a lot of things that she wanted to know about the trio. She wanted to know if they were the only three or were there other banded together with them. Were they a gang? Did they have their own headquarters?

Now, travelling through the wastes of a large city was bound to attract some unwanted attention. Even if their group wasn't a gang there were still plenty of those about. And a small group with bits of scrap metal and food were a target. Especially when there were two young boys in the mix; weak links in the chain.


A rather large man was watching them travel and, with a wave of his hand, motioned several other men forward. All were various sizes and shapes but none of them were fat. Getting fat was impossible when you scavenged to survive.

"What do we have here?" he boomed loudly.

His voice carried well and caused Charlie to jump, making her drop her cans. She scurried to pick them up. Her lips screwed more tightly together. No. She would not give herself away and further endanger their small group.

"Looks like some kids, boss," another greasy man replied.

Lance walked with his head held relatively high. If you didn't look confident and though then you'd get killed out here. He was ahead of the rest of them, so the only time her saw them was when he would look back to tell them something. Mostly, 'stick close' or 'be quiet'. You know, the common stuff. After they got out of the mall, Lance began keeping a sharp eye out. It was still the middle of the day which honestly was the safest time to travel, but still had it's disadvantages. Like being spotted really easily.

Suddenly Lance's thought's manifested themselves as a bunch of men appeared. How the hell did he not see that coming? Lance stopped in his tracks and backed up. The three boys put thier backs up against one another, facing the men and shielding Charlie from view. Shielding the girl wasn't thier intention, she just happened to be there. Since Lance was th one leading this little group he spoke up to the man.

"We're not kids." Lance said. Well... Sam was. "What the hell do you guys want?"

Lance could feel his shiv up against his body. His arm was aching to pull it out. He knew both James and Sam had such weapons too. But he didn't know what charlie had to defend herself. Not to mention he didn't know what these guys were carrying or what they would do. Lance sword under his breath. He could hear James muttering under his breath and Sam was deathly quiet. They had to think of something but at the moment nothing was coming to mind.

The large man chuckled a deep, throaty chuckle. He was older from what Charlie could tell; middle aged at least which was something considering the environment. There was a reason why humans could stay alive longer and longer and that was medical advancements. Now, with things regressing the way they were, and with harsher and harsher living conditions...

"You've got some nice things on you." he replied. "We want those things. Now hand over the canned goods. I've got me and mine to feed."

The girl clung tighter to the unlabeled goods. No way was she going to give them up! Not without a fight! Although she didn't have any weapons, she was in fair shape, and wasn't afraid to scrape with people to live.

"Annnnnnd," another added, "that scrap metal probably wouldn't be too bad neither."

Lucky for the travelling youths, the gang of people were similarly armed with makeshift, sharpened tools. Except for the leader who was wielding a large bloodied machete.

Lance wasn't going to lie. That machete looked like it could take his arm off. But they just spent all morning getting there things. Lance pulled out his sharpened piece of metal which gave the cut for Sam and James to do the same. He wasn't sure what he could do. Fighting might be bad. If this was all of them they might be able to take care of them.

"Listen buddy, these are ours. I suggest you and your friends just go away." he said.

Lance tried to keep his voice steady, but it was hard. He could always try to scare them away with the Rebel's name. The Rebels had a fierce reputation for being vengeful. A reputation founded on mainly lies. they would be sad they died but they wouldn't seek out thier killers. Well it was worth a shot.

"I don't think Heaven's Redemption will take it very lightly if you mess with us."

Lance swallowed hard. He suddenly got a very bad feeling about this all.

[[Yeah, I know. I couldn't think of any other name. xD]]

Charlie balked. Heaven's Redemption? Where did these people come of with these names? Samson's Order was ridiculous enough. While she was pondering the large man actually paused for a moment.

"How do I know you're not blowing smoke up my ass?" The man asked. "That ain't a name that you go throwing around willynilly. Not around these parts."

There was a murmur of agreement and Charlie wondered why. Was there something special about knowing that name? She stood on her tiptoes to get a better view of what was happening and the one that was second in command of the gang let out a low whistle.

"That's one pretty boy you've got there. Hey, boss, should we just ask for him instead? I bet he'd make a pretty nice bedwarmer."

"Shut your trap, Carl! This is serious business. These shit stains mentioned something about that rebel group. If they're with people who'll go against Samson's Order, I'm not sure I'd want to bring that sort of shit on my head."

Lance smiled. At least the name got his attention. Lance flipped the shiv in the air before cathing it. Now he just had to thin of some was to prove he was a part of it.
"Ah, I see that's a name you know." he started. "I suppose your choices are fairly simple. Kill us and take our meagre little load of metal, then get away scott free. Or you could have the entire rebel force knocking down your front door. I don't think it's worth it for a load of food that won't even feed all of you."
Lance didn't look around, just staring calmly into this gruff man's face. He tried to look calm anyway, inside he was thinking of other ways to get these people to leave.
"And that's my pretty boy, sorry."

Charlie rolled her eyes. Really? She guessed, in the wastes, people found love wherever they could and if women were scarce the next best thing would be a pretty boy. The young woman looked between their small group and the larger gang and swallowed harshly. The main man was taking things into consideration but it was impossible to tell what he was feeling or thinking beyond that. She felt the three boys shift around her, protecting her from what could happen.

Finally the man shook his head and threw up his arms. "Not enough maybe to feed all of us but some of us who haven't eaten in a long, long while. But I see what you're getting at and its took much of a risk."

"But, boss..."

"You heard what I said! Pack it up boys! We can find someplace else to scavenge today."

There were collective grunts of disapproval and one of the younger members of the gang cried out in annoyance but they were quelled with a raise of the man's hand. They all filed off looking rather dejected.

Sam dropped to his knees and Lance and James let out sighs of relief. "Oh thank god..." Lance muttered. He looked at his group and Charlie. Thankfully she hadn't said anything. Lance laughed a little bit. He didn't even know that would work. "Ok boys." he told them. "Let's get out of here before someone else comes along." He really needed a smoke now. He thought for a brief second of giving them a couple cans of food anyway. But these guys were tough, they would find something... right? Of course.

"But first." Lance straightened up and walked over to Charlie. "Don't you have anything to defend yourself with? Isn't that more important than holding onto a couple cans?" Lance wasn't really that upset, but it seemed utterly stupid to not have some kind of weapon.
Lance helped Sam up and reached into the kids bag. He found what he was looking for, just another sharp piece of metal. But it was curved and looked dangerous. Sam didn't look like he wanted to give it away but Lance shrugged. What else were they supposed to do? He put the metal on the cans Charlie carried in her arms. "If someone else like that comes, just wave this around until they lose interest and walk away."

Charlie had never carried a weapon before. Her dad had always told her it was their jobs to help the wounded and not make more of them. That is why she was taught parkour. Better to flee without injuring anyone than being forced to hurt someone. Yet she knew that she would need to be able to fight. Seeing how hairy things could get so quickly out here, she knew that she could not remain and entirely peaceful entity forever. Blood was going to get on her hands whether she liked it or not.

"Will waving it around actually protect me or will I need to be trained with it?" she asked. Then she caught the dismayed look on Sam's face and winced. "Please don't be upset. If you'd like I can try to make my own weapon later on. I don't need this, really."

Charlie didn't like the idea of making kids upset. Life had to be tough for someone growing up in the wastes. She was fortunate that way. Her parents had always made sure she grew up as protected as possible.

"Waving it around will make it look like you know what you're doing. Unless they still think they can take you. In which case you're outta luck." Lance said moving over the Sam and putting hand on his head. "And this kid's fine. He has a million of 'em. He's a collector."

It seemed wierd that any kid would carry around a buttload of weapons. But nowadays it was a common practice. If you were going to collect something it might as well be something useful right? Lance started walking again. They still had quite a ways to go. James gave Sam a nudge and they soon followed.

"Soooo... if you're unarmed and without food. Why are you in the city?" Sam asked falling back to walk with Charlie. Lance glanced at him. He was pretty sure he'd never seen a girl before, and being the curious kid he was, he probably wanted to get to know her. Lance and James shared a silent laugh and kept moving.

That was a good question. Charlie only knew how to heal. Whatever food her family had, had been provided by her dad. Never once did she question where it came from. Trust was what kept them alive for as long as they were and she never, ever looked that in the mouth. Though she was seeing now that her father had done her no favors by protecting her like he did.

"I figured it would be the best place to refill my canteens and get something to eat. Even if these things are unlabeled, they have something inside of them that is edible." She explained. "Judging by what's left that wasn't a good idea."

She looked all around her and cringed. It was worse than what she had been told. Much, much worse.

"How about you guys? How do you all survive in conditions like this? This is a horrible sort of place to live, I'd imagine."