Season 1, Chapter 2

Nick Shirhad wakes after a long night wondering what happened to his teammate Keyra, He kept her fox Petra company through the night. This day seems less cold than the other days, however when he strolls over to get a drink, he notices the water tank is severely low, maybe it was a cold streak that cracked it, now we need water to keep the survivors alive, also they are asking if they can get fresh fruit, not an easy task but he is going to try. He pets Petra and asks her to stay and watch the bunker, he gears up to leave and investigate the area for some water. Nick is a tall and slender man, wears very well worn gym clothes, he packs his gear to head out then looks over at his nightstand, the ol trusty revolver his grandfather has had, a .44 special S&W model 24, worn blued color but reliable plus several boxes of ammo thank god for his trip. He has shot many things for food plus needed it in a jam at times so he is happy to pack this along with him to head out and see what he can find for water and fruit plus anything else useful today.

He heads into the early hours to start his journey, it seems very quiet compared to the other times he has walked these woods in the nearby neighborhoods, he notices a dump site that seems very worn down and abandoned, the levels seem too hot and as he squints he feels that he should move past this spot for sure. Sounds pick up slightly as he finds a parking area with lots of car wrecks, hearing voices in the distance he tries to avoid detection, when he moves slowly past the area he hears a grunting sound, “Damn it!” as a mans voice is echoing from a van but the man is trapped. Nick approaches cautiously, “Are you OK?” , the man is on the ground with his leg caught in a trap, he does not look armed but does seem stressed. “I am trapped, damn bandits trying to capture me, my partner is going to get a crowbar from the camp to free me, I am pretty much stuck, please don’t hurt me.” Nick looks as it seems like he can’t free the man, he asks if he has a weapon to spare, he has some food to give in exchange but Nick is torn, his grandfathers heirloom handgun or food? Nick swallows a little rough and lies to the man, “sorry I do not have anything to help, I hope you partner comes soon as bandits roam all over here.” The man understands the risks in this world now and nods back to Nick, “It’s alright son, I will be OK” Nick moves along quietly within the next several hundred feet sees a man with a crowbar headed that way, he heads towards the houses he sees in the distance to hopefully find what he needs. He passes by a small med station, these little boxed contraptions were set up all over to offer possible aid to travelers and usually it is empty however he does find some rad meds, he takes them and feels better then he did in that hot zone area, thank god for that find. Just down the path there seems to be a backpack on the ground as well as a body which has decayed, looking over the stuff he finds a small container or fuel plus a sawed off shotgun with two shells attached to the stock, they seem intact and functional. He gathers this in his own backpack, looking over towards here he came and considered going back to give the man the weapon but decided to move forward instead. Nick starts to approach closer to the houses, they seem to have various amounts of lighting here and there, he hears a soft voice near some bushes, “Hello, please I need help.” A very short and dainty lady dressed well but seemingly nervous stands by the bush and approaches Nick, he holds his hand up as to motion quietly to not come too close. “I am Diana, I am unarmed and lost my way from our homestead, can you help me? Nick sees she is not armed, seems harmless enough but could not survive just on her own. “I am happy to help, maybe find your home if you have family there?” She replies, “I have lost family, had some friends but we got split when a bandit troop came passing through this area.” Nick decided to let her tag along, to be careful and vigilant. The lady nodded in agreement, she closely flanked Nick as they moved forward. Passing another dump site, he tries to stay clearer of the hot zone but does feel the effects starting over and Diana looks a little concerned, “It’s ok, hot and cool zones all over so we will tend to feel some effects.” Once they went to the group of houses he noticed a large house, this must have been a more affluent neighborhood, so he decided to check it out to see if this place has anything worth salvaging.

Nick approaches a large colonial style home that seems mostly intact, the rad scans are fairly positive in most of the entrance so he makes his way to a dining room. In the corner is a large hutch which he proceeds to look through finding several sets of cutlery and also a fair amount of place mats, “This will be nice to have at the bunker” Diana smiles and is happy she is with a person who can possibly assist her in surviving longer term. As they proceed further there seem to be a few hot spots, but Nick manages to maneuver to a little area that is a sort of utility closet, as he walks up to this closet there are lot of containers inside, some locked and some not. Nick fusses with a few containers that seem locked or possibly rusted somewhat on the hinges, after about an hour he manages to unlock a metal tin with a good size bag of bird seed in it. Then on the floor under a couple coats he sees a briefcase, it has those funky combo locks but Nick knows they do not have time to waste so he pries the latches open to find some fudge which actually is wrapped well, perhaps not been left that long here. “ We should be careful as there might be survivors inside here by the looks of how fresh this fudge is” Diana acknowledges that she knows many people she knew were in and about here but it has been a while since she saw them. As they move closer to the internal areas in the house many spots seem to register much cooler in the rad temps and levels, this is good to help reduce the chance of getting an affliction. As he walks down a corridor there is a door slightly open with something on the back of it, a robe well-worn and nothing in the pockets but too smelly to use. In the last part back in the house there looks to be a lot of things well organized and surrounding maybe a camp site of some sort, a cold fireplace sits against the far wall with a couple bedrolls and a few items on some makeshift tables from old furniture parts. Diana looks at some of the things and pauses, “Hey, these things look like Walter’s stuff” She explains that Walter is a friend she had been tagging along with several others a few months ago and got lost when they were scouting. The camp seems to have been abandoned quickly and left alone for some time, so Nick decides to leave this part of the house to see what’s over by the back door. Chairs that might have been a lookout spot, however maybe not for some time as they have a good amount of fungus and mold all over them.

Nick hits a few hot areas but still feels it is OK to make their way upstairs, the second floor seems like it is a little warmer but still safe to search, one small old bedroom has a few bookcases with old DVDs and books but nothing very useful in and around them. They proceed to a larger bedroom, possibly the master in the house, lots of white furniture that is now worn and dusty is all about this room. A white cabinet sits next to a large fish tank, maybe there is water that is salvageable, sadly it is not very full and the water is rancid. However, looking in the drawers Nick finds some muscle cream which has hardly been touched, at least a few good things are here to help the bunker, just need more water. There is a large walk-in wardrobe in this bedroom which also looks like someone has been camped here, sleeping bag, tent, tent pegs, guy ropes and a small mallet, fairy lights, more good equipment to get for the bunker for sure. Dusty all in this area as well, no one seems to have been here for a while, but they stock up on some supplies in decent shape. This room has a lot of hot zones, Nick really needs to scavenge the water hopefully needed, he feels a little lightheaded as the hot zones start to take some toll on him. The meter blinks rapidly as Nick starts to feel sick, vomiting on the rug and almost passing out, his skin feels like it is tightening all around him as he feels it stretch and harden. Diana pauses as Nick looks older almost in an instant, Nick has a scaly skin appearance and after about an hour seems to be able to move just not as comfortably as before. In the back portion of this large bedroom there is a crib all set up with blankets all over it, as they approach the blankets appear to move! As they cautiously approach a little snout with whiskers pops out from the bottom of the blankets, a small ferret who is afraid when it sees Nicks appearance however Diana manages to coax it out with a little food, she picks it up and it clings to her like a little child who found their mother. Diana says; “I will take care of him, nice to have a little friend along with us” Nick agrees, as long as she can take care of it we can move along , “this house is pretty well searched and we need to press further ahead”; Nick states. Diana nods, she looks a little worried at the new appearance over Nick’s body however he seems ok so they press forward out the window.

Farther up the road as they are weaving in and about the streets in the distance is a large church, lots of rumors that holy places can be good spots to camp or keep supplies, so Nick wants to go check it out. The rad scans show quite a lot of cool zones which is a good thing as the daylight is coming closer to a head so that makes it tougher on them as far as radiation exposure, thankfully in this cool zone there is a nice wooden cabinet that has a pile of bibles but even better a few flasks of holy water. “Great! Nick exclaims, this will help for sure!” Diana smiles as they pack up the books and water containers. Farther back in that same area there is an antechamber, however they only find some old pewter plates but nothing more substantial, but they can sue the plates for food at the bunker. Luckily towards the back of the area by the altar there was a set of antique cupboards, dust all over. However, when searching over the top of it Nick finds a key that can open them up as they were locked up tight. Thankfully another stash of holy water for the bunker! As they gather the waters in the back packs they faintly hear a rustling noise in the distance, Nick briefly touches the handle of the .44 as an instinctive reaction, he puts his finger up to his mouth to signal Diana to be quiet, they make their way towards the opposite side of the church. As they approach it seems there is a man standing towards the back of the room fiddling with something, patched up coat with woolen gloves that are finger less, as he slowly turns he then notices Nick and Diana walking towards him then he face lights up. “Diana! He exclaims, Diana’s face also lighting up, “Walter?!” she can’t believe it is him, “I lost you a while ago and was worried”. Walter sighs, “ I know lots has happened, I am hungry and have been camping here for a while but was going to head out”. Nick sees that it is all peaceful and offers Walter some fudge and a few beef jerky pieces, “Thanks man!” Nick looks around, “I am Nick, we should head back to the bunker, you are welcome to tag along”. Walter decides it is time to regroup so he accepts the invitation to follow them back towards the bunker.

The way back is a little more familiar, however several areas they had traveled seemed a lot busier with activity, so they decided to take a few detours along the way. Taking a back way that moves along the edge of the streets and neighborhoods they traveled to before Nick spots a van on the side of the road, several boxes are piled around and spilled over. Maybe there is some more water here? As they go to inspect the van a sudden growl sound emanates from the back, 2 mangy dogs are looking quite aggravated that they have invaded their spot, Nick chooses to run instead of fighting or risking injuries with limited medical supplies. “We can look elsewhere on the trek back, let’s move forward”. As they move along this perimeter the zones lighten up and cool off, this helps Nick feel some relief that maybe we won’t be as exposed before we get back to the bunker, they come upon a shed that seems in good shape but the shed is inhabited. A man with a mask and long black coat exits the shed and in a little shock at seeing the small group headed towards him, "You folks looking for trouble?, You found it!" The man does not seem in the mood to talk so Nick decides to utilize that sawed off shotgun and fires a round immediately with no verbal response, the shot ring out as it nearly takes the bandits head off but grazes his head instead. The bandit, now on the ground in shock, gets up and runs as fast as possible at a pace like he was on fire, Diana and Walter look over at Nick, Nick just sighs and puts the gun away. They find more water in the shed, they almost have what they need to resupply the bunker! “I am sorry guys, just a knee jerk reaction, I don’t take kindly to others trying to mess with us and our stuff.” Diana breathes a little sign, “Thanks for protecting us”, “we owe you so much and appreciate the help.” Farther down the way as they are on the cusp of the bunker site a truck that has collided with a house sits tilted but the bed still intact, a large amount of blankets sit inside the bed, suddenly rustling around they move and a larger cat with pointy black ears pops out from under them. Skittish and afraid Nick and his condition wants to bolt; however, Walter manages to coax it a little with some of the beef jerky, it decides it’s hungrier than scared. “Wow, Nick says, “You both seem to tend well to animals.” Walter manages to get the Lynx to follow them along the path, it always stays a good 10 feet away from Nick in caution. Now as they see the bunker site the near horizon there is a house that is partially collapsed, the balcony seems to have a bag hanging from it, Nick moves over and climbs up, maybe this has the last of the water he has been searching for. Sadly, no, it does however have a small propane tank inside, looks intact and functional. “Well, at least there is something I can still use inside, Let’s get to the bunker before the heat rises too much”. As they approach the bunker a few members come out in anticipation, Nick has done well even if he did not gather as much water as he wanted, they are grateful he has supplies for them, Diana and Walter sit and decide together they need to gather up what they can and find the others from the group they were in before, Nick understands and with their companions they have a good chance to find where they need to be, Nick lays down to rest, today was not too bad of a day after all.