#1

"I guess you could say that, but that would be mighty suspicious. However, since I haven't seen a girl in four months who hasn't tried to eat me, I'll take your word on it, Ellie. Call me Metro."

Metro held out his hand and shook it, his grip firm and even, keeping the interlocked hands neutral. Neither hand swayed to a side for a few seconds to give anyone any power as Metro watched Ellie through the darkened tint of his mask. She searched for human life and found a scarred visor of kevlar. He searched for the truth and found a scarred mask of flesh and bone. At least they were on even ground. He let go of her hand and looked around. And then down at her bulging rucksack on the ground. And then up at her face. "What are you looking for? You ain't starving this side of August. Go easy on that stuff, and you ain't starving the far side of September neither. Just having a little gander?" Metro asked. 

For the past 6 months Metro had been living hand-to-mouth. He hadn't had any supplies to store away, and so there had been many a day when he could feel the warm rush of death envelop him, only for the covers of endless sleep to be cruelly yanked away from him and reality come crashing down on him like a house of cards on top of a seesaw attached to a unicycle in the top floor of a wooden skyscraper in an earthquake. 

"Are you travelling with anyone? I'm... uh... I've not actually talked to anyone in four months, and he was trying to steal my food and stuff that would be better repressed. Oh God, this is like tryna get a date before the Zed's happened. Can we tag along with each other? I got enough bullets and stuff, and you are evidently capable enough, but you got the food. I figure two eyes, no [i]four[/i] eyes, are better than two eyes, even though we both ain't died yet, so that's like a... uh... a bonus or something." Metro stopped talking. He was rambling. She was cute, not much over 18 he reckoned, but still cute enough, and he was 23, so probably a little too old by quite a few people's standards, but it's not like it would be the end of the world or anything (Metro giggled in his mind at the pun). He shook his head to rid the thoughts. But as she was the only unhostile woman he had seen in such a long time, his mind wandered to unsavoury places, places that couldn't be visited if he intended to live any longer. Or at least she seemed unhostile. If she cut off his legs and drowned him in his own blood before carving out his pecs like a fillet and dining like a princess, he'd know she was a bitch.

" I got three rules though. Numero uno, don't talk about Fight Club. Nah, I'm kidding, but you gotta be honest. Honesty is like the oil in a machine, helps things run smooth, keeps the surprises the fuck away from me. Numero dos, it's about survival of the group. I help you and you help me. Numero... treeeee...? Three. Number three. I had a number three... Fudge knuckles, I forgot it. That seriously rendered this situation vastly less impressive than I hoped. Damn. Anyway, it's you an' me against the world kiddo, how 'bout it?"