France sighed, running her hands through her hair in frustration. She knew it was bad out here in the wastes, but what the girl didn’t expect was the overwhelming solitude that had taken these lands. As far as the eye could see there was some revenant of the old world, leaving behind a mere shadow of what it used to be. The carcasses of cars, the ruinous buildings… it must have looked fantastic in its prime. Damn those Kollier bastards! Why’d they have to burn the world?!

Looking up, France struggled to look past the overcast to try and view the suns location, mostly because that’s what she’s been following for days now.  How long has it been… maybe a little over a week. Yep, west was a long road to follow, and it was unknown how much farther she’d be able to travel. All in all, things have been tolerable; there’s always a settlement every once in a while, and they might even be nice enough to let you in for the night. They may change their tune if the townsmen ever found out that their cities were being marked down on a large piece of paper, but if France was dumb enough to allow that, then her body just might be in a ditch right now. Thankfully, all the inns so far have been generous enough to provide their guests with privacy; after all, France has been a busy girl indeed. 

Across one big piece of parchment a path westward has been drawn, starting at Vault 117, New Kannon City. Charlotte was the first stop, those towering ruins beckoned like land to a drowner. Unfortunately, it wasn’t very fruitful. The settlement there had formed a cult who worshiped the woman it was named after, who they claimed was the queen of some place called Great Britain. France could only raise a brow at this, they were surely crazy. Charlotte was the warrior queen of Gailing who led her armies to ultimately conquer all 15 of the Barbaros Islands, as well as the most ruthless dictator the archipelago had ever seen. The cultists had failed to see reason though, and promptly chased the young woman from their walls. 

Thinking back to that, it was probably a bad idea to lecture individuals who worship mass murderers. Never the less, The Cult of Charlotte was added to the map. It was good to find friendly places like Ash Town after such a bad experience, and it will be mentioned in the notes that they’d make good trading partners in the future. They had the most delightful rodent medley there, the mole rat was so juicy and tender…

Feeling her stomach growl, France stops, removing her backpack and rummaging through it for a moment before pulling out a simple can. Resuming the forward march, she pops the top and brings the Pork n’ Beans to her mouth, taking a swig every once in a while to satiate her needs. While it wasn’t bad, the ancient foodstuffs could never compare to fresh eats, and it was a deep hope that there was a settlement nearby serving up a good Brahmin steak. 

Hoping to spot some semblance of humanity, she takes a moment to survey the landscape. Wrecked buildings, scrap, what looks like a supermarket, and… was that a man? It was brief, but for a moment France could have sworn she saw a figure before it dived behind a pile of refuse. Maybe he knows the way to civilization? With no regard to safety, she starts stupidly waving her hands in the direction of the hidden figure, walking in his direction and shouting. “Hey there friend! You wouldn’t happen to know how far off the next town is, would you?”