:Alive: [The Southern Sufferring]

Chapter Three: Destiny Barrach and a Familiar Misery

The survivors were all spread out as they were brought to this new world, separated from their kin, and left to fend for themselves for the most part. Destiny Barrach was one of those survivors, and as she scanned her surroundings, she noted there was not a single thing that wasn't in ruin.

"Well ain't this ironic," Destiny mused aloud, "Our world would always prosper, they said. Life would never truly hit rock bottom, they said. Bloody conformists."

Destiny was a young lady around age eighteen.  She was rather tall for her age, reaching about five feet and ten inches.  She had jet black hair that reached the nape of her back.  She wore an attire of all black, including thigh high boots that were stylish, but difficult to walk in.  Her lovely grey eyes complimented her button nose.  But her appearance rarely matched her attitude.

Des shook her head just after she said this to herself. What she was thinking in her head wasn't accurate. What she was seeing wasn't right. Hell, if she didn't know any better, Destiny would've outright assumed this would just be another one of the umpteen nightmares that she often suffered from time to time, and if that were true, then she'd wake up a few seconds later after some cheap scare tactic was executed. As such, Destiny knew exactly what to expect as she examined the decimated city that lay before her. Sure enough, various intimidating figures materialized and vanished from her vision, and one of these figures had spotted Des from the distance and growled at her, no doubt licking its chops as it sized her up as some sort of meal... probably breakfast judging by the current time of day. Des slowly backed away from this thing, not because she was scared of it, but because quite frankly there was no other option. Except that didn't go to plan.

"Fucking... wanker... P.E. teacheeee--EEEEEEEK!!" Des shrieked as she narrowly evaded a bite from the mysterious beast's fangs, adrenaline pumping as she tried her damnedest to keep ahead of it.

Thankfully, Destiny caught a break. Although she herself managed to pass through just fine, the beast crashed straight into an invisible barrier just as it made one last reach for the flesh on her bones. It gnawed at the barrier for quite some time to no avail, before abandoning its prey and leaving Destiny to recover her stamina. Des was extremely perplexed; she knew damn well that a few seconds ago was her cue to wake the hell up screaming, but that just wasn't the case. Perhaps that scare tactic wasn't enough... but what could possibly be next? A second beast popping up from under the ground just as Des turned her back on the first one? Or maybe she'd look up at the sky after unexpectedly sweating heavily, only to realize the sun was on a collision course, that being right on top of her. Or maybe Des' body weight might be too much for the weakened ground to hold, her falling into a jagged crevice and dying as a result. Or perhaps... just perhaps...

"Oh, bloody hell," Destiny muttered under her breath as she caught sight of the other survivors. More conformists; just what she needed. But then all of a sudden it'd hit her. The destruction that New Orleans, where everyone had seemed to wind up, was real. The beast that was trying to eat Des and gobble her up was real. Hell, the fact that Destiny could've died back there just because she was that incompetent at running was real. It all hit her rather hard, but after a while, Destiny shook it off.

Two beings by the name of Yuel and Zephiel explained everything, and one of the survivors broke apart from the rest of them. Destiny herself wouldn't have been too happy to spend life with six complete strangers either, but she'd have done if she knew she didn't have a choice. Maybe this other survivor needed to be reminded of it. Or maybe they needed some space so that what they were told could sink in. Des kept an eye out nonetheless. Hopefully, this person wouldn't be stupid and go out to throw their life away.