Futuristic Mankind's Mistake

[ChibiMonkey]

Lila Evans

Age: 24

​

This was not how she had expected today to go. Waking up this morning, she hadn't imagined herself where she currently was, running through some old ruins with these mechanic beasts chasing after her. All she had wanted to do was gather more supplies, as she had been running low. But instead, the ruins she had decided to scavenge and search for supplies had been taken over and guarded by a group of beast-like robots that had turned it into their home.

Something that mankind had been proud to create and excel in within the world and technological advancements had become out of control. Scientists had kept pushing the boundaries of advancements in technology. And while progress was good and all well, there was a point where things needed to be questions. That never happened though, and in the quest for a more technologically advanced society, robotic artificial intelligence was booming and widely popular. At some point though, things went wrong, and got out of control. The AI's acted on their own, and started to become smarter, stronger. They soon realized they were superior to the humans, and thus, because of the greed of science of those that came before her time, the world was in a state of chaos and ruin.

There were more AI's than humans on the planet, and she was sure it was their goal to try and make the human race extinct. While some humans looked up to AI's as the superior beings they were believed to be, others resisted. Lila was one of such people. However, survival alone was hard enough to manage, with cities in ruin and robots occupying lands. Resources were scarce and hard to come by, both food and supplies.

That's what Lila had currently gone out to do, only to wander in the den of one of the many types of Robots there were occupying this planet now. Beast-like mechanics that traveled on all four, more like a pack of predatory animals. Alone, they weren't the hardest to take care of. But they weren't alone, and were together like this type typically were formed and stayed in packs.

 

[archur]

Artyom Romanat

Age: 29

Artyom had been lucky for the last few days, tracking a trail of food scraps and bot parts for what seemed like miles. Trekking through the barren land wasn't easy. There were bots everywhere, roaming, scouring for resources or people. Always walking, always sniffing, always hunting. Nights were restless, and the days weren't much better. He wasn't doing so well on his supplies, and runs were getting riskier and riskier, not like they weren't risky in the first place.

It wasn't until recently that he was alone, due to the fact that he -while beginning to evaluate a nest of bots- spotted another survivor enter the den. Smirking, he figured that she would go in alone and test the waters for him. A decent plan, if he did think so himself. He prepared, and hid himself by lying low to the ground, near the wreckage of what was once a tree out the front of some amusement park that hasn't withstood the tests of time. Readying his rifle, he re-counted his ammunition. 9. 9 trigger pulls until he had to bluff again.

Popping the clip back into his old friend, his eyes snapped upwards when the pounding of feet and clanking of metal sounded from the ruin across the road. His adjusted his mask, pulling it off his face and propping it off his dirty forehead. He gritted his teeth, his lips cut and red, his eyebrows and nose not much better, both being squared and scarred. His closed his right eye, it's shape resembling something of an almond, having seen metal monsters commit inhuman atrocities against people and against each other, but this group of monsters seemed to be moving in a pack, like wolves.

Well, he always liked shooting galleries as a kid.

One pull, the bot careened to the side, aimlessly moving it's legs as it circled on the ground. The others pressed on, gaining on the girl. Another pull. Pull slide, load, push slide, and pull again. He missed a shot, but clipped another's neck, sending it reeling. They still had the same weaknesses of the real thing. They'll never learn.

3 more on the hunt. He reloaded, and lined up a perfect shot. The AI were jostling and jockeying for position, but it set up a perfect shot, two pinned through the head and one through the jaw. Though the last one was still functional, he put it down easily with a final shot to the neck, the mechanical beast's green eyes blinking, before slowly fading to black. He counted ammo again, a practice he had gotten used to. 4 more shots until he was defenseless again.

He got up from his perch, placing the mask back over his face, waving to the survivor across the road. Holstering his grandpa's Garand, he crossed the road, looking left and right before doing so. As he walked across, he realized the force of habit that had really taken him, and how little that simple practice meant in this wasteland. Smirking under his mask, he called out to the survivor.

"Hey! You alright there?!"​

 

[ChibiMonkey]

Running across the ruins as she tried to gain some distance on the beasts, she cursed to herself as she looked for a good spot, all the while avoiding being killed. She wasn't useless, and she wasn't a bad fighting. She had a gun strapped across her back, but at the moment, it was useless to her. She hadn't any bullets left - hence why she was out here in the first place looking for more supplies and ammo. And even if she did have ammo, she wasn't about to waste them by randomly shooting at her targets while running. She needed to find a spot they couldn't get to her, where she could then have the chance to load up an accurate shot that would take them down with as minimal depletion to her ammo and resources as possible.

But again, that was all if she even had ammo in the first place. She did have a long dagger like weapon, which, when fighting a single bot and in close proximity could prove useful if she dug it into the vulnerable points of connection on the beast. But again, that unfortunately also was not the case for her, as an entire pack was after her at the moment. Therefore she wouldn't be able to use that tactic either. So, she was left with the most basic option left. To run. And hope she found something to either perch herself on that they couldn't get to, or some otherwise form of shelter.

She instinctively flinched when she heard a first shot echo off in the air - not knowing if it was a friendly sign for her or not. After all, some of the AI have become smart enough to not only wield weapons, but even become a weapon with weapons of sorts built into them. Glancing over her shoulder, she noticed one of the fallen beasts though, she didn't really have time to look for where exactly the help came from at the moment though, as there were still several others on her tail.

She swiftly jumped over a pile of debris - so broken down it was indistinguishable whatever it had used to have been was. She had been running for a while now, and while this kind of world taught her how to keep up her stamina, she was starting to feel the exhaustion. Glancing back over her shoulder, three were left. She'd have to seriously thank whoever was helping her. Granted, she only hoped it wasn't someone saving her just to take all her stuff. There were people like that in this world now - it was hard to trust others.

She quickly hopped over more debris and ducked under a pile for cover, pressing her back against the half broken wall of an old building. She grabbed her dagger, ready to fight the last one left, until the unknown help had taken that one down as well. She let out a heavy breath of relief, relaxing a bit as she looked over in the direction the voice was now coming from, seeing the figure who had helped her out of quite the tight pinch.

"Yeah" she called back as she approached the figure "I really owe you one, thank you" she said as she glanced at the fallen machines as she passed by them, looking to the male "You had the kill, so you can have this site" she said, thinking it was only fair that whatever was salvageable and useful here be for him, as he not only saved her but also took down the ones that they'd have to get through to retrieve anything from the area.

 

[archur]

Nodding, he loaded a final, 6th bullet into his rifle, if he would have to use it on her. In the wastelands, you could never really trust anybody. Keeping his gun at his side, he walked facing the woman, making sure to tread slowly backwards until he was fully within the ruins, within the prospect of more supplies. Passing into the shadow of the ruin, he turned and sprinted into a much larger, open room.

Little charging ports were lined across the walls. Of course, they would have to be modifying everything they touched, corrupting their world to make it easier for them to overrun everything there was. Bastards. The slots in the walls glowed bright blue, fully charged. The ground was strewn with varying bits and bobs, mostly metal scraps. License plates, a few tools, a gardening shovel, some nails, a hammer, an empty spool.

Nothing useful. Of course. Scavenging around a little more, he found some crates stacked in a corner. Strange, he thought to himself, as he pulled down the crates to open them. Inside, were mostly engine parts. Another crate, ammunition, some of it the type he needs. He stored all 27 of the .30 rounds in his bag, and moved to the third crate, which was somewhat empty, but had 3 MREs. Military type of stuff. Sighing, he wished for a single hot meal before packing the MREs into his bag. It wasn't until he moved the third crate that he noticed the hatch under the crates. Curious, he slowly began to open the hatch. But slow wasn't going to happen, as it burst forth suddenly, throwing him backwards.

Exploding outwards from the hatch, a mass of metal and tentacles scurries up the wall, it's formless yet deadly nature leaving it to stick upon the ceiling. Scrambling, he quickly reached for his gun, snapping off a wayward shot before it exited the ruin with a cry.

"Shit."

Brushing himself off, he hurried outside to warn the other survivor. Nobody deserves to be killed by that ball of metal and death. But as he did, it leaped onto him, harrying his initial jump and clinging to his back. Clawing to pry it off him, he rammed his back to a wall, but the spiked appendages drove deeper into his clothing, drawing blood with each tear at his clothes.

This was not how he expected that to go. There must have been a reason for the boxes to been over the hatch. The formless monster kept tearing into him as he desperately struggled for his life.

 

[ChibiMonkey]

Watching as the male rearmed himself and loaded his weapon, she watched him carefully before he silently disappeared off inside of the ruins of what once had been some sort of building. She figured he was just being careful - which she couldn't blame him for, though she did keep a mindful watch about him in case he did decide to attack her. She wasn't overly worried, since if he wanted her dead he would have let those beasts take care of that first before he finished them off so he wouldn't have to waste any more ammo or energy on her.

She kept a relatively friendly nature about her as she easily offered up the site to him as it was his skill that made it approachable without being killed and all. She wasn't looking for a fight, or reason for there to be one, therefore wanted to show that to him as well. Once he disappeared into the ruins, she herself relaxed a bit, though didn't let her guard down of course, as she continued to look around the outside and the surrounding area of the ruins.

She took to investigating the fallen machines, something she often did. While she fought them, she took every chance she could to learn more about them as well, as it would prove helpful in her attempt of trying to find some sort of way to break or kill them more easily. As she was crouched down investigating one of them and taking it's body apart, an inhuman screech caught her attention as he head snapped up in the direction of the ruins, where she saw the man from before running out, before seconds later being tackled to the ground by a beast she had yet to encounter.

"Shit" she cursed as she quickly stood up, her eyes widening as she watched the encounter between the male and beast - and what seemed to be a clearly one-sided fight, which wasn't in the favor of the human. It wasn't particularly one of the kinds of bots she wanted to handle close up, with all those multiple limbs it had. But unfortunately, with her gun empty, she hadn't much of a choice. Well, she did have the choice to run, technically, and leave the man to himself as she would likely be able to get away with the beast occupied with him. However, she while it technically was a choice, she didn't consider it as an option. She wasn't that kind of person. Regardless if the man had previously saved her own life or not, she couldn't just leave him.

Mentally cursing herself in her head, she made a large rounding approached to the fight that was happening, trying to avoid the bot noticing her presence. She grabbed her long dagger, and stepped onto one of the outstretched tentacle-like limbs of the beast, running up it to where she was able to jump onto the creatures back - or general body of a lump of metal and bits that it was. Her eyes quickly scanned the body, looking for a crack, an attachment where an opening of sorts would be for her to be able to slip her dagger into, to get past the hard outer-shell of metal armor it had, and to the more vulnerable mechanics on the inside.

Finding a spot, she quickly dug her dagger deep into the body of the beast, twisting and wrenching at it as the beast let out an inhuman shriek, its limbs flying away from the male it had in it's grasp as it tried to attack the new threat. The body attempted to clamp down on her hand and trap it there, and she winced in pain, hissing a bit as she quickly yanked her hand away and jumped off the beast, tumbling away from it. She'd be able to retrieve her dagger once it was dead and motionless. Thankfully, after a few moments its limbs seemed to break down and no longer be able to hold itself up or carry it, and another minute later, it was entirely immobile and lifeless. Sighing heavily in relief, she glanced over to the male "You okay? Where the hell did you find this thing?" she huffed as she approached the lifeless machine, yanking her dagger back out of it's body, and wondering how they hadn't noticed it, or it hadn't previously noticed them with the commotion from the other beasts.

 

[archur]

Grunting as the beast had slowly stopped stabbing into his spine, he heard the scuffle of footsteps behind him as he tried to pry the monster off him. It was only when the beast let a scream of agony directly into his ear that it hopped off him. He fell to his hands and knees as he heard the sounds of struggle as the beast fought off somebody else, and by the sudden stop of it's whirring, he figured that it was done with whatever vile function it intended to enact on him.

Catching his breath, he fell to his hands and knees. His hot breath was blown back into his face by the gas mask he wore, and his breathing was haggard. He could only watch as the limbs of the beast lost function, and it's body followed suit. His breathing slowed, and his hands felt to his left for a handhold to stabilize himself on. Scanning for reason as to why the beast had stopped functioning, he was almost surprised to see the woman he had rescued earlier from those hounds. What goes around comes around he supposed.

He readjusted his hat firmly on his head, glad to see that he was alive for another day in this forsaken wasteland due to a stranger he had gotten to know very little about within the past 15 minutes. "I'm fine, thank you." He brushed himself off. Glancing behind him, he saw there wasn't any other immediate threats that were ready to pounce again. "I was just moving a few crates I found, and this hatch. Must've been a good reason as to why it was like that." Nodding to himself, he traced the bleeding wounds on his shoulder, shuddering at the horrifying experience.

"Well then." He chuckled a little to himself, easing the pressure in his chest. "Thanks for saving my life. I guess we're even now." He scratched the back of his head, and looked down, searching for his rifle. The sling broke, so the rifle had to have that fastened on again. He didn't know what to say to her, he hadn't exactly been the most humble of people, and he didn't really know what to give her: his bag was in the ruin still.

"I guess we're going to have to know each other well enough." He looked around for any sign of further attack that might befall him. His eyes darted around the blasted landscape. The road, the ruin, the wastes. "Artyom." He bowed his head before his turning his attention back the ruins. "There's some supplies left inside. Ammo, stuff." Pointing back into the darkness of the ruins.

 

[ChibiMonkey]

Retrieving her dagger from the beast, she sighed a bit in disappointment seeing it was chipped a bit, and she'd have to resharpen it a bit. She was glad it had done the job though...even though she had penetrated inside the machine to the more vulnerable parts of it, she knew there was a very large possibility it wouldn't do enough damage. She knew nothing about this bot, having never encountered this type before, therefore she didn't know what she'd be hitting inside. It could have just been a few jumbled parts inside for all she knew, while vulnerable, the damage might not have been to a component as serious as it ended up being that she struck. Thankfully she'd gotten lucky with that - and luck for the stranger as well.

She glanced to her hand while had several cuts and scraps scattered along her wrist and hand from when the machine clamped down on her hand when it still held the dagger the moment she thrust it into the creature. It wasn't anything too serious though, thankfully, and she just ignored it as she kept her dagger in her hand in case any other random bots decided to pop out and attack like this one had. Even though the coast seemed officially safe and clear now, she wasn't entirely relaxed, and kept her guard up.

Glancing to the male when he spoke up again, she cracked a half smile at his comment of them being even, and she gave a short not of agreement in turn. "Seems so" she spoke softly as she crouched back down beside the new bot and began to examine it, and take it apart to learn more about it and it's components and structure. As she was inspecting it she heard what sounded like a name from the other, and glanced to him with a small nod "Lila" she responded with her own, before he mentioned the other supplies inside he hadn't gathered "I'll check it out, thanks" she said. Hopefully it was ammo compatible with her own gun. Even if it wasn't, she might take it as it could be good bargain material in the future if need be.

For the moment, she continued to finish up her inspection of the motionless beast before her on the ground, all the while making small talk with the male, Artyom. They both just saved each others lives, she figured that was sign enough neither of them cared to fight the other or anything like that, and so decided to learn a bit more out of him, partly curiousity, and partly conversational sake. It was rare to find another individual that wasn't of some sort of threat to yourself. "So, Arty" she spoke up, giving him a nickname whether he liked it or not "You travel alone?"

 

[archur]

Rolling his eyes at the childish nickname under his mask, he shrugged at her question. "Yeah, I travel alone most of the time." He looked in the direction that he came from, the dead trees barely moving in the breeze. He exhaled sharply. "Yep. I don't talk to people most of the time either, you're the first one in. . ." He held up all 9 of his fingers, his ring finger missing from his right hand. With a quick count, he held out his right hand, showing all of his 3 fingers and a stump. "4 years I think. Yeah, 4." He chuckled again.

"I've uh, been living, roaming around, nailing these bots, clearing places, hunting, and killing people when it gets down to the wire, you know?" He rambled on. It's been such a long time since he has had a genuine conversation outside of a few angry barks with some sort of bandit that wanted his stuff before he planted a bullet in their neck. He hoped that she didn't think that he was weird or anything like that, but at the same time he was quite calm. She could know about settlements out in the wastes that weren't full of bandits, robots, or radioactive wastes.

"I need to get my bag, you can come with and check out some of the stuff I saw in there if you want." He suggested, gingerly plucking his rifle from the ground and holding it at the ready as he entered the ruin again.

His bag was knocked over, it's contents littering the ground, but it wasn't of much concern for him. Packing the ammo, food, and bits of clothing and accessories back into his bag, he began to answer a question he felt like he would get a lot when he was theorizing conversation with other people. "So I know what you're thinking: How'd you lose the finger? In short, it got shot off. The long version? Well," he began as he continued packing away items back into his pack.

"So a few years back, 4, this was the same reason as to why I haven't been hanging around people for some time, I was traveling with a guy. His name was Josh, but that's unimportant. This guy and I were assigned to be scouts for this settlement, and we came across this group of bandits. Wearing liscence plates, bot bits, all sorts of scraps, and they were obviously evil you know, with skulls and blood coated stuff. Diseases. Bad things. So they are like 'Hey! What are you two doing here?' And Josh throws a grenade in there." He stops packing and looks up to atom cloud hand motion.
"Anyways, we see they have this gun. Railgun, experimental tech, probably from some decrepit lab or something. So I say we take it back for the shelter, and he wants it for himself. In short, I shoot him, and leave him for dead with the bandits. He shoots first, but only hits my finger. Lucky me. I lost the railgun a year or two ago to bandits. Lost everything. But here I am now, scavenging, looting ruins, surviving on the skin of my teeth, and if it weren't for you I would be pretty dead." He closed his bag, fixing his bedroll into place. Looking up to her with a positive vibe, he asks her a question.

"So I take it that you travel alone as well?"

 

[ChibiMonkey]

She pulled a few things apart from the body of the beast she had killed, all while listening to him explain how he travels alone, and has been for a while now. She glanced over at him momentarily when he seemed to mentally count out how long it's been, and it was kind of hard to miss the missing finger, but she didn't pay too much mind too it since honestly it didn't surprise her. Well, it's not like when she saw the man she expected him to be missing a finger or anything. But, with the world they lived in, with chaos and death it's not like it was an abnormal thing really either.

She finished her scavenging of the beast before her, collecting a few parts from it that would be useful and wouldn't take up too much space or anything like that for her to carry in her travels. She then wiped the blood on her hand off on the thigh of her pants, before standing back up straight and brushing herself off slightly as she then followed him inside the debris of the ruins.

He seemed a bit more relaxed and open than before. Perhaps because of the fact they were now on mutual grounds of having saved each others life. Whatever the case, Lila appreciated his friendlier demeanor. It was a rarity to come by amongst other humans nowadays, and one that she enjoyed if she got the chance. Much like how he commented of her being he first person he'd talked to in years, she was the same way. She couldn't remember the last time she had a friendly and non-threatening interaction with another human.

She headed over to the old crates and looked around at the supplies that he hadn't collected and mentioned that she could take. Finding the ammo she grinned a bit when it was the type for her gun, and she was beyond relieved. She was also thankful that Arty here seemed to not need it and had a different caliber than her own, meaning he didn't need it or take it. Taking her gun out she loaded it, and even had enough to keep that didn't fit in the barrel, which she securely packed away in her bag.

She moved to sit down on one of the old crates, glancing over to Arty as he finished explaining his story about his finger. "Well, I don't blame you then. That's certainly a reason to avoid grouping up with others again" she explained, followed by a nod of her head when he asked her the same "Yeah, I've been on my own for a while now. It's a wonder I'm still alive" she let out half of a breathy laugh, finding herself enjoying the casual, and calm conversation with the male. It was nice interact with someone that wasn't trying to kill you.

"As I'm sure you're aware, being alone has it's pros and cons. The smaller the group, the easier it is to go unnoticed and stir up less attention and trouble. But at the same time, when noticed, it can lead to a pretty tight spot of a fight sometimes too" she commented. Now, the thought did cross her mind about them possible helping each other out and sticking together. But that built in nature she had of not trusting others got in the way a bit of her completely accepting such an idea. Though she had to admit, having someone to watch your back was helpful, and he was a good shot too, so it wouldn't be like she'd have to entirely worry about his ability to protect himself either. She didn't need someone that would just be another body she had to protect and would drag her down. But that didn't seem to be the case at all with him.

"Which way you heading anyways? I'm heading west if you want to tag along and are going that direction too, might as well" she offered with a shrug of her shoulders. It was an indirect offer. That way if either of them decided they wanted to part ways it wasn't like they officially agreed to stick together and help each other out in the first place. "I promise I wont try to shoot your finger off" she added with a light smile and hint of humor to joke a bit, before adding "or anything else for that matter."

 

[archur]

"It's a wonder how anybody lives out here in this hellhole of an earth." He commented grimly. Too many wars, too many differing opinions, and then the world started to feel the repercussions. "I still don't know why there's still people out here bent on self destruction, and the destruction of others." He grumbled to himself "Damn bot worshipers." He mumbled angrily, before having to bring himself away from the topic by actually listening to what 'Lila' had to say.

Nodding absentmindedly to her statement, he considered the options that came with traveling with her, until she literally listed them out. "If you put it that way, yes, other people can be terrible to be around." He remarked. But really, if she wasn't able to carry her weight, then sure, it would be terrible for one to have to hold the other's hand through everything, basic survival even. But he was assured that if she herself said that she survived for a while, she didn't really need his help, especially with that big knife she jammed into the creature's back. He imagined if that knife was any longer, if it would slide between his shoulder blades, pierce the spaghetti that was his nervous cord. Painful.

"Look, you wanna-" He quickly began before being cut off by Lila's offer to go out west. At first intrigued, but then finding himself snorting at her attempt at a joke, he began to cough and keel over from having not laughed in quite some time. Regaining some degree of control, he answered. "Sure, I wasn't planning to go anywhere anyways. Just don't expect me to be in the perfect position every time we find ourselves in trouble." He added, raising a finger in a mock accusatory manner. Smiling, he returned to the topic at hand.

"I suppose we'll be heading out soon enough. Have you got a pack? I've got some extra space in 'ere." He offered as he stood up, brushing himself off of the dust that had settled on him. "And by any chance do you know exactly where you're going? I haven't had the slightest idea since I left the settlement." He asked non-threateningly. "And it's been a few weeks since I've seen one."

 

[ChibiMonkey]

When she caused the male to snort out a laugh, Lila couldn't help but smirk a bit in amusement with herself at her successful attempt to get him to crack a smile and laugh even a bit. The fact that he actually took her joke and didn't get upset about it or anything proved to be further evidence that he would be a good companion to travel with. Not only in the means of his skill and ability to fight for himself, but also the fact that he wasn't all stiff and serious. It was hard in these times to be able to relax and allow yourself to joke and laugh...to, well, actually be happy, even if for a few moments. So it was good to see that. That despite the hardships of this world and what it threw at them...he was one of the few people who, while knowing how to be serious and handle a fight, also seemed to still retain some of his humanity.

Many people had lost theirs long ago. Either overwhelm with fear of the bots and falling to worship them, or those who simply lost all absolute hope in doing anything anymore, and even trying to survive. Yeah. He definitely seem like someone who she'd enjoy hanging around. It was a good thing too, since she didn't need any more reasons to be stressed and on edge when traveling.

As the returned to the topic of their travels and more specifically where they were headed, she shrugged her shoulders lightly. "I didn't have any particular destination in mind. Personally, I've been just about everywhere this side of land has to offer or show me. I'm just trying to head in a new direction, maybe turn up new things" she explained briefly as she nodded her head lightly at his question of a pack, motioning to her own that was slung over her shoulder "Thanks for the offer, but I'm good for now" she said, before she glanced to him recalling the injuries he received "How are your wounds?" she asked, not having caught how deep he they may have been so she wanted to make sure they weren't still bleeding or anything like that. "As for moving out soon...we can if you'd like. It might not be a bad idea to camp the night out here though, since we've already cleared it and secured the threats here. Unless you already had a place you have your camp set up at or something" she said with a light shrug of her shoulders.

 

[archur]

Noticing the pack she hefted on her shoulder, he breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't think he would be able to carry anything else with the wounds he was incurred by the beast. Shouldering his pack, he covered his wounds with the canvas of the brown pack and the fluffy cotton bedroll he usually found himself just laying on top of. However, his thoughts were pulled away with Lila's concern with his most recent wounds from the fight against the beast earlier. He shuddered at the thought, and reached around to touch the gashes in his shoulder. It stung with each prod, but he couldn't really tell how deep it was from a visual perspective. Brushing his finger across the surface, it seemed to be only a flesh wound, his blood already had coagulated around the wounds, so there wouldn't be any sanitation it seems.

"I'm fine. Just stings a little if I touch it." He inspected some of the other gashes with his hands. "I've got thick blood." He added. Seeming to remember something, slipped both his arms out of his pack's straps and set it on the ground. Rifling through the pack, he plucked a leathery bag out, a little drawstring bag that seemed to hold more weight than it really had. "So, I've been looking for somebody to recognize what this thing is, and what the hell it can do. You've been around probably, so maybe you might know." Reaching his hand into the small pouch, slowly drawing out a metallic object. A little panel of sorts full of buttons, wires. The wires themselves weren't all there, as if they were branching off to something it should have been connected to, panels that were half torn off, but yet read 'Revocorp' in weathered text above a similarly faded green screen.

"I have no idea what this is, but I fished it off a few guys. It says 'Revocorp', so I figure it must be of some importance." He shrugged. "I know it might not be important, but I thought it was cool." He set the damaged device gently on the ground, then looked up to Lila.

"I dunno if we should stay or not. You can check my wounds better than I can, but if you figure i'm fine, we've got a walk ahead of us. I'm not afraid to tough anything out anyways." He gave her a thumbs up. "I'm a hardy individual I would think."

 

[ChibiMonkey]

Asking about his wounds from the multi-legged beast, she nodded her head a bit as he said he was fine and had thick blood. She wasn't sure if he was being honest, even if he himself didn't know it. She wouldn't be surprised if he was just trying to act tough as to not show a sign of weakness. After all, signs of weakness toward someone could easily spell your own death - even if they agreed to stick together and help each other out for now, they still had only just met and with reason there was always any level of uncertainty with an unfamiliar individual.

He seemed to prefer to keep moving on though regardless, and she smiled a bit as he commented about being hardy and enough to tough things out if need be. "Alright, fine then" she agreed with a shrug "As long as we find somewhere relatively secure to camp the night out, I don't care where that is" she said. She didn't like just laying out in the open, as she felt it left her vulnerable in the rare hours of sleep she was able to get.

Standing up, she set her bag down for the time being as she rounded over to him, patting his non-injured shoulder "Sit back down for now though, I want to check your injuries first. Wouldn't want you dragging me down" she spoke, the last line spoken in a light and joking tone, showing that she was only messing with him and didn't actually think he would. But if they were sticking together now, his health mattered to her and would effect her, just as her own health would effect him as well. She wanted to make sure he really was fine to be hiking along.

As she was looking at his shoulder, she noticed that his blood indeed already start to clot around the opening of the wounds to keep it from bleeding out, which she supposed was good. Hopefully it wouldn't get infected or anything. As she was looking at his shoulder standing behind him, she watched as he mentioned something and fished through his bag before pulling a device out from his bag and asking if she knew what it was. Furrowing her brows, she held a hand out to take it and look at it more curiously "Hmm, can't say I do" she spoke as she handed it back to him, staring at it a bit longer "I wonder what it connects too" she said, since that much was obvious that it was connected to something "My guess is it looks like the controls for some larger object. What that would be though I have no clue" she said with a shrug of her shoulders before stepping away from him "Your shoulder seems fine enough. We'll just keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't reopen or start bleeding too much."

 

[archur]

"Alright, alright." He confirmed. "I'm sure that I won't drag you down. Probably." He was sure that his own health was fine enough to walk and snap off a shot with any meaningful accuracy. He assured himself that he would be fine for at least another few hours before he would need to worry about anything like infection or internal bleeding or anything along the lines of that, hopefully. He stretched his shoulder back, a slight popping noise coming from it. He grunted a little as he did, swinging his arm backwards, then stretching it over his head, doing the same for the other shoulder.

He stretched his hamstrings by reaching down to his toes, then stood up, collecting his device and placing it back into his bag. "And anyways, I'm sure we'll find somewhere to sleep. Probably." He shouldered his pack, most of its contents within it. He strapped his rifle to the side of the pack, and in his side satchel. He readjusted his mask once again, making sure that the tubing was secure and he could turn it on should it come down to the wire.

"We're off to the races then. Take whatever, and let's go. We've got daylight to burn." He began to leave, only before he stopped himself at the door, propping a hand out and leaning on the frame. He felt something rising from his stomach, and before long he ripped of his hat and raised up his mask, a greenish bile emerging from his mouth. This was not part of the plan. Beads of sweat dripped down from his brow to his chin, and his body felt like it was kindling for an inferno. All he felt was natural to do was pull up his sleeve and wipe it off with his arm. He poured a little of his water on his arm to wash it off, and rolled back down his sleeve.

"I'm fine." He slid down his mask again, and picked up his hat from the floor. He dusted the hat off, and firmly screwed it back onto his skull. "Let's go. We can eat and walk until we find some sort of campsite we can hang around." He stood on his own two feet without the support of the frame anymore. "Don't. . . Don't worry about me. I'm well enough to walk and shoot, and that's all the really matters."

 

[ChibiMonkey]

She shrugged her shoulders lightly "Never know" she commented casually. Currently, no, she didn't see him as anyone to worry about or that he would drag her down or anything like that. But nothing was ever a guarantee in this world and she knew that anything could change in any given moment. For now, everything seemed fine though, even after she checked his wound out, which the blood had already started to dry up over and everything. After approving he seemed to be fine, she stepped away from him and picked her own bag back up.

She'd already grabbed what she wanted from the site, and was all set and ready to get moving out, seeing as he equally seemed ready to go and keep on moving. He did have a point, as they still had a few hours of daylight left, they might as well make more progress in their travels. But it's not like they were traveling to any destination in particular, or had a schedule or place to be or anything. So it wasn't like it mattered all that much either.

As she stood back up straight after grabbing her bag and brushing herself off, she glanced over to Arty to see him doubled over slightly, holding himself against the wall as if he was trying to steady himself. Frowning a bit she furrowed her brows "Hey, are you-" she started to ask, before he was already throwing up and she grimaced a bit at the sight. After a minute or two he just stood back up straight and brushed it off as though he was fine, and she sighed a bit heavily at his stubbornness.

"Alright. No." she stated simply and firmly with a shake of her head as she walked back over to him "You're injury wasn't bleeding anymore so that was a good sign. But now with you getting sick I'm not so sure. If it got infected you shouldn't be having a reaction to it this quickly....but still, we can just wait here for a bit. It's not like we're in a rush to get anywhere right now anyways. Even if we don't stay here for the night, you should at least sit for a bit to make sure it's not something that's going to get worse" she stated as she motioned for him to sit back down.

 

[archur]

"Fine, fine." He grumbled, backing away and sitting behind a wall directly next to the exit. He took a deep breath, his throat burning from the acids that had forced itself up his esophagus. He was annoyed that the two of them weren't out walking. He just wanted to go, keep moving, he didn't want himself to be an open target. But more than he was annoyed, was surprised. If he were in her shoes, he would've left this sick bastard who by chance saved her life. He shrugged, partly in response to his own thought, and partly to get the pack off his back.

"We can waste time here for a little bit." He groaned as he shifted into a more comfortable position. "But we're going in the morning. Better than to dilly-dally I say." He was impatient, and reluctant to admit that his stomach felt like somebody took a sledge hammer and beat him silly with it, but he knew that he probably needed some form of rest, even if it did mean that he needed to sleep. But sleep was for the weak. "I call first shift." He unstrapped his bedroll, and rolled it out onto the ground. Standing up, he began to drag one of the empty wooden crates out into the open, and beat it with the butt of his gun almost unsuccessfully, breaking the crate into smaller pieces, shards of wood flying everywhere, namely into his face. Thankfully, he wore a full covering over his body, and just about most anything could splash against his face without phasing him.

With a bit of hesitation, he struggled to gather the pieces that had flown off, having to crouch to do so. He dumped his cargo into a pile, and lit a match. 12 left in the box. Placing it on a particularly dry piece of wood, the fire slowly crept up through the fuel and to the rest of the broken crate. Satisfied with his work, he slowly lowered himself onto his bedroll. "I can take first shift if you want." He almost immediately stated, clear on his intent to 'tough it out.' "Or we can talk. I dunno. The sun might be setting, but we're still awake, and we're still strangers. Might as well get to know each other if we're going for a walk." He suggested.

He drew his legs inwards, placing his arms over his knees. "So... Uh... What do you want to know about me? I've got a few questions lined up for you myself of you want me to go ahead first."

 

[ChibiMonkey]

She was glad he didn't seem too hard to convince to rest for a bit, and she relaxed with relief that she wouldn't have to be putting together some factual argument about all the reasons he should rest before they head out so soon. Despite his tough demeanor and front he put on, she was glad that he could listen with reason and she moved back away as well once he moved to sit down against the wall. She moved herself back away from him and sat down on an old box, watching as he seemed reluctant about waiting around, but willing.

Aside from being glad he would stay put and rest, she was still actually worried about his health. She doubted it was from an infection, since it wouldn't have physically taken effect to him with those symptoms yet, not to that extent, even if his wound had gotten infect. And when she looked at it, it appeared to be alright as well, aside from the typical muscle pain and soreness he probably felt from the wound.

She was sifting through her bag for some food when he mentioned how they were definitely going in the morning, and she just nodded her head in agreement "Morning. Got it" she agreed, not having a problem with it. Especially since she was running low on food anyways and would need to stock up on more within the next day or two. She watching him set up the fire as well as claiming first shift, and she simply nodded her head "Fine, Mr. Macho" she teased lightly with a smirk as she took a bite of her food "Do you have food? Perhaps you should eat something and you'll feel better" she suggested. If he didn't have any she'd be nice enough to share some of her own supply, especially if they were traveling and working together now after all.

As he brought up them talking a bit and perhaps becoming more familiar with each other, she shrugged her shoulders lightly. "Well, I already know more about you" she said since he'd already briefly explained the history of how he lost his finger and events revolving around that "So I suppose you can go ahead first and ask away if you'd like" she said as she set up her own section to sleep in, which consisted of blankets of sorts, not an actual roll-up sleeping mat or cot of sorts like Artyom had.

 

[archur]

"Figures." He reassured himself. He stared upwards as he imagined his first question. After a minute of thinking, he sat up a little, his hands on his feet. "How'd you get here? I mean, why travel alone? I'm sure you've got your reasons, and I'd like to hear them." He leaned a little farther back on his roll, the gravel still poking through the layers of cushion he laid out. Still sucks to have to have this shitty, shitty cushion, but it's better than laying on the ground. As he was thinking about this, his hands worked on their own, unpacking one of his incomplete MRE's. Everything, like it said on the tin, was Ready-To-Eat, so just as he opened the packaging, he readied his canteen, half empty.

He peeled open on of his drink mixes and dumped it into his water, then unwrapped his 'Hash Brown Potatoes w/ Bacon'. T'was a meal ready to eat alright, and he dug in slowly. He barely was able to put forkfuls of the damn thing into his mouth, and he would have to take a sip every other bite from the salty preservatives that kept it safe (hopefully). A piece of toast came with it, and a little snickers bar was wrapped up as well. This would ought to fill him for the rest of the week.

"Hey, uh, thanks for sticking around." He said as he began to eat. "I would've left this wreck a long time ago if I were you."

 

[ChibiMonkey]

As he asked how she came to be traveling alone as well, she honestly wasn't all that surprised by the question. It was fair enough, and she had already come to know why he himself was traveling alone, so she expected a similar question directed to her at some point.

Shrugging her shoulders, she spoke up in answer to his question "Can't say it's much better than your reasons. I used to travel with some people myself. Actually, I used to live in a secure village. It held off pretty well for a while. It had been standing since before I was born and continued as such until about five years ago. But these bots just kept getting smarter faster than we could. The village was blown up and destroyed while I was out with a couple others gathering more supplies that we couldn't grow or maintain inside. So that lead to myself and three others traveling on by ourselves. Eventually though some either grew greedy or careless, and in the end they died off. Either from bots or their own greed and confidence" she said with a shrug of her shoulders "That all happened within a year since the destruction of our village, so its been around five years I've been on my own. It just kinda stayed that way since. Until now I supposed" she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Watching as he pulled food out of his bag, she was relieved that she wouldn't have to share her own minimal rations with him for the time being, since she hadn't enough food for two for very long, considering she hadn't been expecting to team up with someone else that day, or anytime soon, really. She continued to eat her own food, before she finished and laid herself out comfortable on her cot of sorts, propping her hands behind her head to keep the rocks and debris from digging into her head through the blanket.

 

[archur]

"Huh." Was all he could reply with. He shifted in his bedroll as he finished his food. "I figure that you'd be. . . Dead, by now." He rolled his neck. "With a story like that. It pays to be cautious I guess." He placed the empty wrappers in the fire, the perfect garbage disposal. Finally, he rubbed his hands together and took of his pack, feeling as if he had a massive weight taken off his back. He watched as she settled in, and felt a little bad that she had to keep her hands under her head just so she would be comfortable. He frowned, knowing he couldn't do anything, and stood up for his first shift.

As he armed his rifle, he looked back to his companion, then glanced to his empty bedroll. "Hey, Lila, you can use my bedroll for tonight if you want. It's got a little more cushion." He suggested, before loading in another bullet. He looked outside of the ruin to the blasted landscape. Mountains, some petrified trees, and the still twitching bodies of the robots they destroyed earlier. Curious, he wandered over to one of the hounds. He looked down at the damned thing, kicked it once with a clank, and looked back over to the ruin, where his compatriot was resting. He saw the tentacle beast still laying on the ground, deactivated of course.

He walked over and flipped it to it's back, it's underbelly showing. Just wires and other exposed parts. Fiddling with the screws and bits, he tried to understand how the thing worked, or if there was anything still useful on it, wasting time until the moon would be high overhead.

 

[ChibiMonkey]

She couldn't help but let out a short scoff of what resembled something like a sort of short laugh at his comment of figuring she'd be dead after telling him what happened with her leading to her being alone. "Thanks" she smirked a bit sarcastically at his doubt of her ability to survive on her own like that. She wasn't offended by it though, more so just found it amusing, especially since he seemed to have agreed to stick around and travel with her. They made small talk for a little bit longer, before she decided to try and get some sleep for the night since he had first shift.

As she moved to lay down on her blankets, she shifted a bit to get comfortable, though propped an arm behind her head as she rolled over on her side, elbow bent with her arm under her head. She closed her eyes just as she was about to relax and get some rest, when she heard Arty speaking up. Rolling over slightly to look her head over her shoulder in his direction, she then glanced to his bedroll when he offered for her to use it. She paused a moment in thought, wonder if it was really alright. She had to admit his did have a bit more padding to it than her makeshift cot.

Moving to sit up a bit, she glanced over to him "You sure? What if you want to sit more comfortably at some point or something?" she asked, wanting to make sure it was really fine. Even if they had agreed to pair up and help each other out in this hellish world to survive in, they had still only just met. Seeing he seemed fine with it though after some assurance, she nodded her head "Alright...thanks. Feel free to use my blankets or anything if you get cold" she said as she moved over to lay down on his cot, which was a bit better than what she had "Wake me up when you want to switch watch" she said, before letting herself relax again and eventually where she fell asleep.