Into the ruins...

Eric woke up slowly and stretched his limbs. It had been a while since he slept out in nature and it felt refreshing. Well, except for the rocks sticking in his back all night. Sitting up, he looked around and saw that all of his traps were undisturbed and his belongings were untouched. Satisfied that he need not worry about anyone causing him trouble, he started to gather up his campsite. Once his sleeping bag was rolled up and he had packed everything neatly, he started to make his way back to his car. There was much to do today and the sooner he started, the better.

He slowed down as he approached the entrance to the city. It was a small enough place and far enough out of the way that they had erected a large metal archway with the towns name over the main road that connected them to the outside world. Of course now, that arch was gone and the town was essentially nameless. The information that the Resistance had received called it Fairport. It probably made sense when it was named and meant something to someone. But it confused most people that heard the name from the Resistance because it was not a port of any kind and why would you call your city "fair" instead of Greatport or Wonderfulport? Eric quickly shook those memories from his head and pulled his car into an alley way to try and keep it from getting looted. He grabbed his backpack and his rifle and started to walk through the city.

Now the "fair" was starting to make sense. He imagined what the city would have looked like before it was destroyed and...well it wasn't anything special. It covered a decent amount of land but the buildings were all small and spaced pretty far apart. There were a few taller buildings, maybe three stories tall, dotted around the middle of the city and Eric made his way towards one at random. The door was hanging on one hinge and had a large hole in the middle like someone entered with a large amount of ****. He slowly pushed the door inwards and it creaked something awful. The city was silent and it only got worse as he entered the building. Even with so many holes in the outside of the house, not much of the sounds of nature got in. It was almost eerie.

Then it got even more eerie when Eric heard a metallic tinkling coming from a room deeper inside the house. He quickly raised his rifle and slowly worked his way towards the sound. From the hallway, he could see a stovetop and some cabinets with the doors wide open. Some critter probably poking around for any last bits of food. But that might be good for Eric. If he scored a large enough animal, it could feed any survivors for a while and would win him some brownie points. He crept his way closer to the kitchen and checked the far corners for any signs of life. Nothing. He lowered his gun and got up close to the doorway, checking as deep as her could. Nothing. Then, in one smooth motion, he swung wide through the doorway and cleared the rest of the room...nothing.

Then the pantry door creaked and closed a little tighter. He lowered his rifle and brought his pistol up in front of his face for better close quarters shooting. He crept towards the door and saw it close another fraction of an inch. This wasn't a regular critter, he could tell it was a human based on the actions. He slowly pocketed his pistol and raised his hands slowly as he took a step backwards.

"I'm not here to harm you. I'm looking for someone." He spoke clearly and calmly, trying to not make anything worse than it already was.

"You've got a gun." A soft voice spoke from the small room and he could hear some difficulty in forming the words. "I was told to not trust people with guns."

Eric looked a little lower than he was as he tried to see anything inside the room. He finally saw the bright blue eye, slightly hidden behind a sweep of messy brown hair, and surrounded by pale yet dirty skin. He took another step back and moved to place his guns on the counter. As soon as he reached for the rifle, the pantry door shut tight.

"Easy now. I'm putting them down. I am not a threat. My name is Eric." He set the guns down on the counter louder than he normally would so this person knew he was no longer armed. The door opened slowly and a pair of those eyes under that messy hair leaned out from behind it. Once their owner was sure it was safe, she stepped out into the room.