Aftermath

Riley-

I crawled out from my usual spot and blinked as the bright sun blinded me for a moment. I looked back at the cardboard box that I slept in and frowned.

Dumb piece of crap.

I sighed and looked out at the gray landscape of the world. Good luck finding any food today.

One kicked over trashbin had been my source of food for a month now, but when I went up to it, the bin was empty of anything edible. I pushed back a loose hair from my head and looked up at the sky. What am I going to do now?

I walked back to my carboard box and folded it up, preparing to wander around till I could find a new trashcan. I looked around and found a dying tree. Taking a glove off my hands, I flinched first at the sight of them, I put the hand on the tree and absorbed what energy was left. Good, that should give me enough strength till I can eat again.

Clark-

I looked up at the cieling of dirt high above me. I hated it. I hated the dark and wanted to be back on the surface. I couldn't even remember what the sky looked like.

But this was all going to change. I smirked and kept walking to where the next mercenary meeting was being held.

Yes, this is all going to change. Today was the day.

Diana-

I awoke to Cronus's bustling about, sniffing everything. His black and white tail wagged happily and he panted on and off, depending on whether or not he had picked up a scent. I crawled out of my little sanctuary and looked around at the remains of the world. I turned to the pile of rubbish I called my 'home'. It used to be a regular little building, but one wall had been completely blown off, the top half of the other wall was gone, and the ceiling had collapsed, so it was sort of like a tent. I slept on newspapers and scraps of cloth. Cronus was perfectly happy sleeping in the moist dirt beside me, so I never looked for anything for him to sleep on. He ran to and fro, smelling everything there was to smell. I smiled and even laughed a little. He perked his happy little head up and ran to me excitedly.

"Hi sweetie," I said to him as he jumped at me.

'Hi, Diana!' He cried excitedly.

Being able to communicate with animals using plain English was going to be hard to get used to, but it made things nice.

"What are you sniffing for?" I asked him.

'Nothing,' he replied. 'And anything, at the same time. I'm hungry. We need food. I'm gonna go find food.' With that, he scampered off, following his nose to any food he could smell.

Cronus was such a funny dog. Sometimes, I couldn't help but wonder what his I.Q. was. He wasn't the brightest animal some of the time. I followed him around as he peered into every garbage can he came across. The idea of eating garbage was not at all appealing, but Cronus and I were both starving.

As we walked, we eventually came upon a group of people pointing guns at an innocent-looking boy, pleading for them to put their weapons down. Cronus looked on alertly, but I watched with curiosity and anticipation, wondering all the while what would happen next.

---

Kara

I saw the dog first. Not a bad looking dog really; black and white, a strong looking specimen really. The blond haired girl who came waltzing up beside it worried me though. HQ had said this area was deserted. I cleared my throat to get her attention and said, " Who are you?"

The girl jumped and the dog narrowed it's eyes at me. It growled low in it's throat. Damn mutt growling at me. 'Oughta shoot it right now. "Ummm, I'm Diana," she said cautiously and I sighed. This definitely wasn't good. "What are you to doing to this kid?"

What we're gonna do to you if you don't leave us alone. Honestly I couldn't understand my conscience sometimes. Yes I'm a merc but still! Sometimes that little voice just pops into my head with the rudest things. "Taking him into custody mam," I chirped, "please let us do our job."

Recognition slowly dawned on her face. Kinda slow ain't she? Don't be mean to her. Her dog snarled and took a stiff-legged step forward, hackles raised. Out of the corner of my eye I saw one of my men turn his M-16 to the pretty dog. I raised one finger, stopping it in its tracks. "I suggest you leave now mam," I said softly, "because my boss is coming and he's not as kind as I am."

The girl opened her mouth, to say what I'll probably never know, when the whole world erupted into gunfire.

In case you guys didn't see the edit I made to Diana's profile, Cronus is a husky ^^ Thought you should know so you don't have to call him 'dog' and 'the black and white dog' There's a pic on Diana's profile Also, lol, when I mentioned that it was just a "boy", I was kinda hoping someone might insert their character in there, so...I guess it's not too late If anyone wants to do that...

Diana-

They were a shady bunch, no doubt. I could tell from the beginning that Cronus didn't trust them. I couldn't entirely say that I did either. They freaked me out, a lot. With their guns and rude remarks. Then that guy aiming his gun at Cronus. That didn't make him too happy.

'Try it, buddy. I dare you,' he threatened. 'See what happens.'

I tugged ever so gently on his ear to get him to stop saying those things. Not that they could hear him. His bright blue eyes glanced quickly up at me, then back on the group standing before us. As I opened my mouth to tell them that we were just looking for food and that we'd be off, gunshots erupted around us. Cronus's head shot up and I backed up slowly.

"We're going! We're going!" I shouted. "No need to shoot!"

The gunfire died quickly, and out of the smoke that emerged from the guns stepped a boy, about my age. He looked at me disapprovingly and I took a couple more steps back. Cronus didn't bother with him. He stuck right by my side and simply stared at him.

---

That'd by Seth, I believe ^^ If that's alright

~Rayne

Post people, post!

Seth

Holding the shotgun loosely at my side, I pumped the slider and chambered a new bullet, dispelling the empty shell out of the side of the gun. I rested it on my shoulder, my eyes diverting to the dog that glared at me from the girl's side.
Dogs couldn't be trusted in this landscape. The radiation had effected them in a morbid and highly dangerous way. They became savage, more intelligent, hunting humans down in packs and killing them with a poisonous, radioactive bite.
I waved my free hands to my followers behind me, and they all lowered their weapons.
"What are you doing with a dog? Are you in your right mind?" I shot a dissaproving look at the animal, which scowled at me as if it knew what I was saying.
"What do you mean?" the girl replied innocently, continuing to back away. This struck suspicion in me; could she be a mercenary? No one should be trusted now. Heck, I didn't even trust my own followers. It was strange how the fallout had affected me; everyone I saw became a potiental threat.
"You've never seen a dog affected by radiation before? Many rarely do, I'll grant you that, but the ones that do usually don't live to tell the tale."
She said nothing to that, backing up further at a faster speed, falling over a rock and landing on her back.
With a roll of my eyes, I strode over to her and ignored the dog's warning growls, lifting her up by the hand and setting her on her feet again.
"M'name's Seth," I said to her, "We are the resistance against the underground."
"Diana," the girl said after some hesitation.

**Mad_Moo, bonniebabe said there's no resistance. It's survivors against mercenaries.**

**I know, but Seth leads a kind of rebellion against the underground. She said that was cool.**

Lol Diana's a bit of a klutz, isn't she?

Diana-

A resistance. Well, that explained the guns. But they thought Cronus was mutated in some way? How did that work?

I glanced down at him. He was eyeing Seth suspiciously, but had stopped growling. "I found Cronus in the rubble of a collapsed building. He was unaffected by the radiation, so don't worry. He's just a regular dog. Of course, he understands English, which means he is either a really smart dog or that was the bit of radiation that got to him."

Seth looked at me strangely. "And what about you?" He asked me. "How were you affected?"

"I can communicate with him," I answered, pointing at the ever alert husky at my side. "But that's all. I'm not mutated in any way," I said slowly, looking over my hands and arms.

"What are you doing in the open?" He asked, or more, snapped. "Do you have any idea what the mercenaries would do to you if they found you out here?"

"Mercenaries?" I asked him. He rolled his eyes. "You mean from the Underground City? Well, I don't expect that they'll be coming out any time soon. Besides, we just came out to find food. Neither one of us have eaten since just before the blast, and we've been hunting around for garbage bins, looking for food that may be untainted. Sorry if we interrupted anything," I said after a bit, nodding towards the boy who still had his hands raised in the air.

Seth nodded with acknowledgement. "Just watch your back. The mercenaries won't show you any mercy if they find you."

I nodded gratefully and pulled Cronus away.

Kenji

I wasn't really watching as the girl and her dog backed away, but suddenly I had a thought, Surely we can't leave a defenceless person out here on her own? Can we? "Wait." I said quietly, I rarely talk though when I do, people tend to listen. "Will you be alright on your own?" I asked her.
Seth looked at me with an expression that somewhat resembled astonishment and guilt. "That's right," he said, "we can't just leave you out here on your own!"
The girl looked at us suspiciously and looked at her dog for advice. I sighed and walked slowly towards her. I took of my bag and searched inside it, "Here," I mumbled, handing her a packet of crisps and a bottle of Pepsi. The girl snatched the supplies quickly; she was that hungry.

*Sorry for really bad comment but I had no other ideas on how to introduce Kenji*

Diana-

I felt my face grow hot as a result of my blushing. "I'm sorry," I said to him. "I didn't mean to snatch it. I just--"

"I understand," he said with a half-hearted smile.

"How do you plan to survive out here on your own?" Seth asked me.

"I - I don't know. I figured Cronus and I would just spend all our time in our little sanctuary that we found. Why?"

"The mercenaries will kill anyone they find out here. They won't give you the opportunity to explain that the little bit of radiation you were exposed to didn't make you dangerous. They feel that any amount of radiation exposure is too much." Seth glanced down at Cronus. "They'll kill him too."

Cronus whimpered a little. 'What??' He asked, startled.

I rubbed his ear gently, calming him down. "Then I guess we shouldn't take any chances," I said, a hint of hopefulness in my voice. "Do you have any suggestions?"

Seth and the boy looked at each other, then back at me.

So sorry 'bout that! I got a short memory so I kind of forgot that Cronus was a huskey But now it's all good. Also peeps, Raylyn's making an appearance so that's why it's in italics. ^^

Raylyn POV

One second stupid Kara was telling that girl to beat it and the next all hell broke loose. Not that it was much of a concern for me. I reacted by taking over that wimp, plopping on the ground like a bag of wet sand, and then I high tailed it out of there through the smoke, diving behind a small pile of rubble. Not that it was easy thanks to those freaks of nature shooting at every freaking moving thing. I had to shove a couple of those little cannon fodder guys aside so I could get to my shelter unhurt. Not that I can say the same for them; shot in the kneecaps and thighs, half dragged and half crawling to who- knows-where. Honestly the govt couldn't pay me enough for this job.

"- mercenaries will kill anyone they find out here.," a voice, one of the rebels most likely, said. "They won't give you the opportunity to explain that the little bit of radiation you were exposed to didn't make you dangerous. They feel that any amount of radiation exposure is too much."

Damn. Blunt much? Coulda sugar coated it by saying that us mercs are trying to make the f*cked up world a better place...by getting rid of people like you.

"They'll kill him too," the deep voice finished and the huskey whimpered. I didn't risk discovery by peering over my shelid. Being outnumbered has it's disadvantages after all, even if the element of surprise is on the good side.

"Do you have any suggestions?," Diana asked and that's when it started; my vision began to blur. A perfect time for Kara to come back isn't? Inwardly I sighed and crept away as softly as I could, back to HQ.

Riley-

I stumbled around trying to find a new garbage can. I passed a toppled over building and- to my surprise- a ttrashcan. I ran over and kicked it over. I was so hungry.

I saw lettuce, tomatoes, a half full bag of potato chips and other things. Jackpot! If only I could find some new shoes.

As if the world read my mind, I looked by the building and saw an empty pair of sneakers. Yes! I reached over to grab them when a human came out and looked at me furiously.

"What are you doing?" he asked. My eyes widened and a tried to crawl away. Something sounded like metal scraping on leather and I was soon staring at a sword stuck in the ground in front of me. I looked up.

"I-I didn't mean anything. I was just looking for-"

"Trouble, that's what you were looking for. Get out!" The guy kicked me and I stumbled before regaining my feet. Someone giggled by the building.

"Leo, can't you ever be nice?" she asked. I turned around and saw a blonde girl walking forward with the shoes. She crouched down and offered her hand. It was a good thing I had my gloves on because I took it.

"Sorry about my brother. He's a bit paranoid," she laughed. I couldn't help but look at her weird. She smiled. "I'm Emily and this is Leo. What's your name?"

"Um... Riley."

Arrow


Arrow stared at the footprints in the sand. He'd been pointlessly following them in hope of maybe some shelter or water. Or perhaps to even eat the person who was also lost, God knows, it would be an act of mercy - if anything.

The glaring heat beat down on his skin, going straight through the little cloth he had managed to salvage from his house. Sweat glistened on his forehead and a bit trickled into his eye.

"Well, at least thing's can't get any worse . . ." he muttered, his mouth dry. He slapped it open and closed wondering if any saliva would form. He was sadly disappointed. The harsh winds began to pick up and before Arrow knew it, in the lone secluded place he walked was surrounded by a small sand storm.

"I had to say it . . . Just had to . . ." Mumbling, he stumbled through the lacerating sand particles travelling at whiplash speed and fell nicely down a steep hill, to land in quicksand.

"The footprints are gone. I'm as good as dead - at least it's not raining."

As he sunk slowly into the quicksand he gazed up accusingly at the sky, "What? No storm to prove me wrong?"

He shook his head in disdain, and folded his arms, as if berating the sky for doing something bad, "Well, that's just disappointing. You'd think the Gods would be angrier at a guy who killed his own sister."

He raised his eyebrows up and quickly glanced at the sky, as if checking to see if the sky would react to his taunts. A smile formed on his face. A strangely weird smile, which, in normal terms did not match the current situation he was in.

A shadow closed upon him, the coolness settling in as the sun no longer burnt his skin. Sheilding his face from the sun directly behind the person, he sneered, "Oh, a prince in shining armour to rescue me."

A hand reached down to him. Arrow stared it at for a second, then grabbed it and stealthily pulled the person in. He turned to the person and smiled, "That'll teach you to look down on me."

"Now, time to get out." He frowned then grabbed at the quicksand at an alarmingly fast rate, slowly drawing him closer to the edge. It looked almost as if he were swimming. But how does one swim through quicksand?

Arrow pulled himself out and wiped away the substance, "Well, I can't eat you now, but thanks for the entertainment."

Then he began to walk away, "Can't believe that there's still someone like that now. Just helping just like that."

A tree resting nearby drew his attention, and so did an electric cable. Arrow let out a tormented moan, "Fine then I'll do it. But this is for you, sis. You wouldn't have let this person die here."

Acting fast Arrow tied the cable tightly around the tree and threw the other end into the quicksand. The person readily grabbed it and began to pull themself out.

"Hope you're satisfied, sis. I'm not doing anything more than that."

Arrow turned his back and began to walk away, when the person tackled him to the ground.


*Hey, anyone up to take this place ^^*

~Naome~

“You saved my life, thank you, even though.” I said cheerily, smiling down at the man I just tackled.

“Funny way of thanking me.” It was then that the branch that had been threatening to break for the past hour and a half finally broke and landed directly where the man had been standing. He merely blinked. I got off him.

“Of course, you did pull me in, so you deserved that.” I calmly walked over to where I’d put my bo staff and picked it up. “I’m Naome.”

Arrow


He stared at her, contemplating her cheeriness. The thought of eating her drifted across his mind momentarily, but he dismissed it. His sister wouldn't have been happy with him if he had. Then he frowned, his golden eyes glistening, "Sorry, what was your name?"

"Naome." she replied, playing with the staff in her hands - tossing it back and forward, from one hand to the other.

Arrow kept his eyes downcast as he spoke, "Naomi?"

"Naome, e, not i." A bit of frustration cut through her voice.

"Not much difference, you know? I'm calling you Fi." he began to walk off. Flicking up what was left of his hoodie to shade his face he strode towards something unseen. Naome rushed to catch up.

"Fee?" the anger in her voice was almost entertaining.

"F-I. No e." A teasing smile drifted across his face. Then suddenly it washed off, as if her were reminded of something that would never allow him to smile again. He turned his back to her and began to walk faster.

She had to run to catch up, once again, "Hey, you! Walk slower!"

Arrow began to run, "You're better off without me."

Naome caught up and firmly gripped a hand onto his shoulder. A grimace formed on his face and he sneered. He stopped suddenly, digging his feet into the sand and bent over. In a random act of uncontrolled vertigo, Naome flew over his back and landed on the ground staring up at him.

That was when she noticed his eyes, 5 seconds. Golden, 4 seconds. Beautiful, 3 seconds. And as beautiful as they were they were also amazingly dangerous, 2 seconds, Arrow's most expression-filled, heart-wrenching warning came to late, 1 second, "Don't look!"

The next second, 0, she envisioned every horrible thing she had ever done. Felt the guilt for doing it more than tenfold. Her hands began to shake and her body started to convulse, as if in an seizure.

The staff she had been grasping, as if it were the most precious thing in the world to her, fell out of her hands and dropped to the floor with a gentle thud. Arrow shuddered and stepped over her. 5 seconds.There was a twist to his mouth that usually suited someone who had eaten something foul. Tears rolled out of her wide eyes.

The expression on his faced was disgust, plain and simple.

4 seconds, He stared at her for a second, and she wondered if he had seen all the bad things she had done. Could she perhaps delete his memory of her? She didn't like to do that.

"Maybe, I'm better off without you." he muttered, 3 seconds, disgust clean cut in his voice. Her acts made his seem almost . . . forgivable. The smile on his little sister's face as he had used gentle fist technique on her to end her life made anger rush back up.

What he had done was unforgivable. As was Naome's.

2 seconds, Suddenly, the anger intensified. She had left all those children to die, when she could have had a choice to save them. That act alone made his clenched fists quiver with the need to be used. The perfect place to hit her was like a target printed in his mind. Arrow knew what was happening. 1 second, his tenseness suddenly released, then his whole body went loose.

He took a deep breath, turned around, 0, and then smiled at the girl in seizures on the ground. Sand had managed to get into her mouth and drool seeped out. A picture worth a million words.

Or perhaps just one.

Food.

Arrow's mouth began to water as he stepped towards her.



*And Arrow can only see guilty memories when he has eye contact with that person. If they stare into his eyes for more than one second they are immediately trapped in a torrent of reliving the same horrid memories again and again until he deems it necessary to stop. The one thing about using this power is that his conscience comes back for just five seconds before the power activates and five seconds afterwards - then he is completely cold again.*