Mackenzie hefted her backpack, taking a moment to appreciate the reassuring clack of the few cans it contained and the friendly midmorning sun that kept the zombies off the streets. She continued up the deserted street, her pace relaxed but her gaze continually roving across shop fronts, alleyways, and rooftops, squinting as she walked towards the sun. During the day, it was your fellow humans you had to watch out for; depending on who you met, you might be in for more trouble than you'd find with the zombies. She attempted to keep an ear out for suspicious sounds, but the tinnitus always made that difficult. [i]eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.......[/i] She swore softly to herself, half out of frustration, half just to pass the time; cursing was an art in which all tradesmen were quite skilled.

Her trusty spear served as a pretty good walking stick, its leather-wrapped end softly saying [i]tung, tung, tung[/i] as she progressed up the street. Up ahead a decrepit spire distinguished itself from the surrounding flat brick and shingling: a church? As she approached, she remarked that the building itself, while obviously falling apart, had a reasonably well-kept fence around it. Upkeep meant inhabitants, which might mean trouble. She was about to double back when she locked eyes with a young man who appeared to be inspecting the fence. [i]Shit.[/i]

She couldn't see very much of him, just what was visible through the fence. Since he'd already seen her, though, Mackenzie figured she might as well test the waters. And a fenced-off church was more easily fortifiable than most of the buildings she'd seen on her trek today... She nodded at the man. "You look like you could use some help with that fence."