Quiet.

Crouching low to the floor and afraid, Lima is desperate not to make a sound. All around her, pieces of broken glass and other useless garbage lie strewn about on the floor of her hideout, each delicate item anxiously waiting to reveal her position. Danger is near, and she needs to escape.

It’s dusk. Steady winds have begun to chill the air. A few days ago, Lima had found this place and ventured in, hoping to find any useful supplies. Abandoned archaic dwellings are large and promising but fail to deliver. As with everything else, only ghostly remnants of the old world remain. With great effort, you can imagine the quaint farming town that it once was, a long time ago.

Lack of food, water, and a good night’s sleep forced Lima to seek refuge before continuing on her escape. According to her folded paper map, she’s only covered twenty kilometers or so, after fleeing her former homeland and arriving here, in what used to be known as Sweet Home, Oregon.

Need to get supplies, need to keep moving eastbound.

About an hour ago, Lima set out to rummage one last promising warehouse in town, scouring for anything that she could use or eat. Unfortunately, the large structure proved to be barren, forcing her to consider leaving asap to find food. But as desolated as it is, she has already grown attached to Sweet Home and its ruins. It provides her a calm respite from recent cruel memories.

On her way back from investigating the empty warehouse, Lima intercepted a wagon. Finding a common tool like this, especially with rusty variations found all over the old farming community, wasn’t a cause for alarm. However, the fact that this particular wagon had not been on the path towards the warehouse when she had initially made her way over, froze her heart solid and sent her reflexively down to her hands and knees.

With a flooding panic, she scanned her surroundings for any movement and waited still for several minutes. Finally, with a burst of decisiveness, she ran straight for her hideout. Having scurried fast but kept low to the ground as possible, she hopes to have remained undetected.

Please, don’t let me die in here.