APRICITY | SKZ

7 - World 0 pt.1 | H.JS

A rouge or a maverick?

She honestly had no idea who or what she was at this point herself.
All she knew was that a lot of time had passed - a lot of time spent in solitude.

She's definitely experienced better times.

No matter how much she tried, scrubbing at them in every source of water, she couldn't get rid of the dirt that was deeply snug beneath her fingernail.
Her hair had become a hard task, a diversion, so she cut it short in the nearest mirror she could find.
The lumps adorning her body barely did anything to shield her from the scorching heat anymore, leaving her skin to burn raw.

She huffed, tightening her grip around the straps of her backpack as she continued wandering through the city.

There was no hint as to where she was or which part of South Korea she was straying around in. That was pretty much due to the fact that there wasn't much left of it anyway.

Even though it was the same everywhere, she still regularly experienced great shocks at their conditions.

The cracked asphalt revealing lush greens, the vines that pierced the skyscrapers, which once stood in all their glory, mercilessly and the rustling in every corner. Nature was relentless, claiming back every part of the world the humans had taken from her.

She gulped, feeling her throat turn scratchy. It had been some time ago when her feet also started to hurt - what distances has she already conquered?

A pause?

It was risky.

Staying at one place for too long.

But goddam, her shoulders were throbbing from the heaviness of her backpack.

It shouldn't do much harm, right?

Her eyes quickly scanned the area. She identified the district as a former place for shopping, judging from the many shops around her. Sadly, the windows of almost every shop had already been smashed and the darkness behind them left little imagination.

No no.

Too risky.

What caught her attention was the little convenience store down the street. Its front was barricaded with wooden planks and the door was closed.

They didn't know how to open doors, at least not yet, so it probably is safe.

The door creaked open after a little struggle, her gloved hands burning from the fine shards that pierced her skin when she punched a hole into the glass next to the door. It was a bit too noisy, making her wince in distaste, but there was no going back now.

Once the door was unlocked, she pulled her hand back out and opened it, thanking God that it didn't creak obnoxiously. It has happened before and even put her in a dangerous situation.

She grunted and pushed a shelve infront of the door as a safety measure before she switched on the tubelight. The buzzing sound was a bit annoying at first, especially since she was used to the chirping of birds and the sounds of crickets by now, but she tried to ignore it as she searched for a place between the isles.

The shop looked fairly untouched, offering a lot of different foods for her.

Sitting down on the floor right between two isles, she removed her backpack with a grateful sigh and massaged her shoulders first. There were many knots and bruises on them from her long journeys.

Once the pain was somewhat gone, she grabbed a bottle of water from behind herself and unscrewed the lid eagerly, devouring that crisp liquid with greedy gulps. A small moan of relief escaped her once she was finished, her parched and scratchy throat rehydrating and her body cooling down.