In this day and age, Hell seemed to be empty. All of the demons were here, roaming the earth without so much as a second thought. The living dead became a commonality, much to Lilly Caul’s dismay.
Once, she had been with a group. Now, she sought out isolation. Alone, there was no room for betrayal or deceit. She relied upon herself since that was all she had going for her, really.
The scenery blended and merged together, all transforming into a bleak shade of grey—all muddied and faded around the edges. Cities weren’t safe. Neither were the suburbs. She already had the misfortune of running into bandits. Rather, she encountered what they left behind. Nausea bubbled in her gut at the bitter memory. Her lips formed a scowl.
Shouldering her rifle, boots clicked across cracked pavement. The road was a jagged mess. Weeds sprung up from out of nowhere. With a raised brow, a peculiar image came into view. The smoke crept into her lungs, causing her to cough and wrinkle her nose from the vile scent.
At first, she watched from afar for a few minutes. Finally, the brunette had the gall to approach the scene. It was some… Aircraft. Nothing she had ever seen while working on base. Confusion made a mockery of her face. She leaned forward, spying a bloodied figure. A nudge with the tip of her boot confirmed that he was still alive.
An irritated sigh breezed past her lips once she reached for the stranger. Her hand wrapped around his upper arm. With strained breath, she began to pull.
A sudden, sharp tug at his shoulder roused him from his unconscious state. Nausea swept over him as he groggily opened his eyes. One hand shakily rose to touch his face; as far as he could tell, his mask was (somehow) still intact, the hardened surface unblemished by the crash.
With a strange mixture of a sigh and a groan, the former tyrant allowed his hand to fall limply by his side once more as the figure dragged him away, uncertain as to where he was going. Any semblance of strength he'd had previously had been expended on ensuring that his mask hadn't been damaged; now, his body remained perfectly still, his muscles screaming in protest with the slightest bit of movement.
Strange green clumps atop long brown structures swayed in the wind as he moved along, his custom blue suit dragging across the ground beneath him. They didn't have anything like that back on Pandora, or even Tantalus. Sure, they had similar plant-like lifeforms, but nothing quite like that.
Eventually, he was dragged into some sort of dark building. Lights were a rarity within; a dim bulb hung in the middle of the ceiling, lazily illuminating the small room. A thin sheet covered a cot in the corner. The hell was this -- some kind of shelter?
A groan breezed past his lips as he lifted his head, finally noticing the large chunk of shrapnel protruding from his midriff.
"O-oh... ohhh-ho, god..." he rasped, his voice hoarse from lack of use (which, in itself, was a miracle, considering how talkative the CEO usually was).
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