The End Days of Erida [JeopardizedJake]

[Deleted]

"Yeah. Let's get you to a car. By the way, any idea where we could go?" I ask her, beginning to walk out of the chapel, offer Ciara my arm if she needed it.

[Kynikos]

"I... well, what do you want?" She says, as you walk out the door. "I would advise sticking away from the towers - I was one of the last to abandon them. Not the last, because I'm not an idiot, but one of the last. Lot of radio chatter from the slums too and none of it good. Things got bad there." She pauses. "I'm assuming you're a tourist?"

You're outside and spy a several cars - several sedans, a truck, a bus, or even a convertible a bit down the street.

[Deleted]

I nod in response to her question. "Well damn, doesn't sound good in any means," I griped, not too happy with the news. "Sure there's not a better place than here that you know of?" I ask. I look around at the vehicles and decide that the truck would be the best option her. Large truck-bed for supplies if I were somehow able to keep it around and a lot of engine power. "Let's try this truck," I tell Ciara, helping her over to it.

[Kynikos]

"Truck? I mean, sure, I guess a moving car is hardly subtle but... hey, it's your call. At this point I've got nothing." She says. Working on hotwiring the truck, she replies. "I'm not sure any place is really great. Radio lasted a justa bit longer then internet, obviously, but that went down too about a day or so ago. We knew the slums were swamped 'ssentially, with gangs firmly pushing out any police presence and devolving into all out violence. The towers at the docks were the first ones abandoned so if I had to pick a place I emphatically don't want to be, it would be there. The northeast tower was still around by the time the radio failed, but ya know, we were up too and abandoned when the radio floundered. Not sure we can cut across the Kelani with this truck - I know one of the domes took out a major road leading across it and there were rumours that one of the others went down with how hard hit the centre was."

"If there's any place still safe, it'd be in the religious quarter." She says finally, concluding her statement. "But that's hollow, ya know."

[Deleted]

"Alright, that sounds like our best shot though. We'll head there if you're up for it," I decide, keeping watch with my pistol.

[Kynikos]

"Yeah." She stops for a moment. "If, you know, theoretically, someone start shooting at us, do you want me to gun it? Or try and take them out? I'm... not entirely sure how bullet resistant this thing is."

[Deleted]

"Probably not by much. I guess I'd want you to gun. Not sure we have the rounds to be picking fights right now. I don't think they'll last to long," I decide, scanning the streets again.

[Kynikos]

She begins to drive and the streets start whipping by. She's a fast driver, something that unsettles you a bit as she drives the truck in and out weaving through traffic like a demon. That's up until she slams on the breaks, right in front of a roadblock. Bright orange barriers are rolled out in the middle of the road. "What the fuck?" She swears after you both catch your breath. "Shit. This might be a trap."

[Deleted]

"Shit, you're right. Back us up," I direct her, rolling down my window and getting my pistol ready.

[Kynikos]

She swings into reverse and turns the truck around as fast as possible. She sends you absolutely hurtling down the other end of the freeway. "Where should I go?" She says, swerving through cars. "Destinations? Ideas?

[Deleted]

"It may not have been a trap... I feel like any goons would've opened fire immediately, don't you think? We could go back and investigate?" I suggest.

[Kynikos]

She slows down. "What other reason would the barriers be up? What would they be blocking? We probably turned around quickly enough to not have been shot."

[Deleted]

"Alright, if you insist, we'll go somewhere else. Isn't there a university or something? Maybe somethinh;s there?" I suggest instead.

[Kynikos]

"Yeah, plenty. Should I take us to a parking garage or something? Those would probably be abandoned." She mentions. "I can send take us to the big one, the country funded one."

[Deleted]

"That sounds like a good idea. I don't know how far off the university is anyway."

[Kynikos]

A short while later, you are parked in a parking garage for the University of Kelani. "I'm... not entirely sure what to expect, really. I've never been to here before. Didn't get the whole higher education thing." She says, shrugging. "Probably more people that want to kill us. The beasts in the jungle probably aren't mucking about this far into the centre but... do you have a gas mask?"

[Deleted]

"Yeah. Just one," I replied, taking it out of my bag. "There dangerous shit in here?" I ask, not knowing what to expect.

[Kynikos]

"Not sure. I know they hit the centre really hard, because that's where all the people are. Want to guess where there's a lot of people that would struggle to get away? Here. Especially with all the tight, clustered living spaces. Not saying it did... but I'd be a bit surprised if there wasn't something here. If that makes sense. I still have my mask, obviously." She waves her hand over the pouch where it is stuffed inside. "Your looks pretty old. Does it work?"

[Deleted]

"I've got three canisters for it, but uh, I don't quite know. Hopefully it'll do. Do you want to check it out?" I ask for Ciara's opinion.

[Kynikos]

She looks at it. "I have no idea, actually. Absolutely no idea. Mine's new, doesn't really uh... require filters. Well, it does but rarely. Not sure how long it'll last under permanent use." She shrugs. "If you don't feel confident about it, I can poke around and tell you what's going on and whether or not we should be concerned about it."

[Deleted]

"Nah, you're injured still. Let's go together. I don't exactly want to get jumped waiting here alone either, y'know?" I wager, slipping my gas mask over my head, properly adjusting and straps to fit my face. "Let's go," I say once my mask is fitted, heading to the door.

[Kynikos]

You both exit and leave the parking garage. All around you are buildings and the odd map, telling you which departments there are. Computers, engineering, medical, etc. Ahead of you lies presumably the campus park, of which there are multiple corpses strewn about and a statue half collapsed by rubble. "Bomb." Ciara says.

[Deleted]

"Shit. Let's get to the medical department. We need some better painkillers for your wound. The pain is slowing you down a bit, no offense," I tell her.

[Kynikos]

"Lead the way, cowboy." The medical department is one of the closer by ones, just a while down the street which seem relatively clear. You saw one person earlier out of the corner of your eye who presumably went into the medical building, but otherwise it is deserted.

[Deleted]

I head inside the medical center keeping an eye out for the man I previously saw. "C'mon, let's check some storeromes," I advice, knowing the medical supplies would be in there or the cabinets.