[indent][indent][indent][indent][img]https://i.imgur.com/pPHKbQD.gif[/img][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent] [center][sup][color=#c3aca4]________[/color][/sup][color=dcd1d5]◆[/color][sup][color=#b7a19a]_______[/color][color=#aa9790]_______[/color][color=#9e8c86]_______[/color][color=#91817c]_______[/color][color=#857772]_______[/color][color=#786c68]_______[/color][color=#6c615e]_______[/color][color=#605754]_______[/color][color=#534c4a]_______[/color][color=#474140]_______[/color][color=#3a3736]_______[/color][color=#2e2c2c]___________[/color][/sup][/center][indent][indent][indent][indent][indent][indent][sub][color=dcd1d5][color=4e5057][i]Just one more. . .[/i][/color][/color] One more step; one more shuffling tread against a desolate cold, toes rouged and bloodied, flesh scorn rough and pleading against frigid bone as they sunk, ankle-deep, into a bank of snow. Ice forged a rigid path along abused skin, veins sluggish in their endeavor and pallid hues drained of health and parlor and [i]dead[/i] against a pale hued mound of slush that gave way under the slightest pressure. Exhales rattled against heaving lungs, a stack of ribs against ragged sacs of oxygen expanding full and fluttering upon wheezes and shuttering breaths of pain, exhaustion, and flagging pulls of warmth that failed to surface upon parted lips. Hooded gazes implored the heavens above to yield solace, redemption, a savor in the yearning for a ray of light to descend upon her in fiery tongues of heat and comfort. But only grey skies greeted pale steel, azure undertones swept under a carpet of silvery tones framed under capes of lashes, delicate sweeps of a butterfly's wing that rested against flaking cheeks of cold bitten skin, falling into surrender. [color=4e5057][i]Just one more. . .[/i][/color] How long -- [i]how much longer[/i] -- it was a mantra that pooled through ragged thoughts torn and ruined, each end scattered upon a paranoid consciousness that broke upon every flickering shadow banked upon the desolate world and haunted through a soul rigged to panic at the slightest approach of sound. How long had she been walking now? Minutes, hours, days and unto weeks? Time here held no grounds and it melded seamlessly against the horizon that hazed with both ebonies and greys into a muddled gradient of visual despair on what should've been a calming ambiance. However, the endless frost that swelled between the massive structures of mega-regions was anything but and protruding glaciers of obsidian rock often hindered her path, reflective like glass. She palmed over such an outcropping, slivers of black mercilessly gouged through her flesh, pricking her fingers and slicing beneath her nails, keratin easily conceding to the sharp reproach and assault of repetitive scarring and old wounds that had yet to heal. Miniscule lesions and violet blossoms decorated her from fingertips to wrist, lacing upward along delicate arms and slid around wounded elbows that fell against the rock, she winced, chapped lips peeling back over her teeth; small hisses floating against her throat raw and aching and sputtering into small whimpers as she hoisted over sheer faces of sediment with immense difficulty. It was if a tool had cleaved through these rigid boulders, scattering pebbles that [i]tinked[/i] like shards of glass against her barren legs, shins knicked with red, scarlet tears and smudges of crimson ringed in harsh sapphires of bruises that constantly adorned her frozen skin. She slid, slow and precariously against a sloping facet of the obsidian rises that felt queerly warm beneath the pain that seared her skin and the wind that howled and tore through her tresses, curtains of flaxen hair spilling across her brow and quivering shoulders as she hunched forward. Her fingers, though frigid and her bones aching terribly, curled along her arms and rubbed them vigorously for warmth. Her breath plumed white upon her pouted grimace and she curled inward against another onslaught of wind that sheered through gaps in the glaciers of rock and the fabric of her dress tainted in muddied snow and shorn, her skirts nearly shredded and where lace one decorated the hem, had long been used to bind the worst of her injuries. Browned and bloodied, now dried and flaking upon the once delicate fabric bound along her hands and feet and circling her left thigh where a long, horizontal cut had begun to fester. Red splotches surrounded her wound, signs of infection reining into place, and bearing incredible sensitivity when she applied the slightest pressure, once again checking her binding. Blood wept to the service, oozing in forth in squeamish display and causing her grimace against the onslaught of pain rolling through her nerves in flames of anguish. It was sharp and relentless, waning only when she rolled her weight away from her wounded leg and struggled to stand, favoring her left side and limping across banks of snow, fresh blood now left in her pitying wake. She had previously been joined with a caravan, a meager group of six that piloted older, more archaic models of transport attached to sidecars and built upward with tarpaulin pulled taut around dangerous displays of metal that adorned the faces of their vehicles in both means of intimidation and defense. Pleading her way to join their travels had been achieved by pitiful eyes glossy in tears and painful innocence that shined beneath layers of steelish azure in those glassy depths, something that had been lost to many generations and lingered in only so few. Something that pinged in her voice and her plying bargaining and promises of being kept out of their endeavors had done something to the guide of their caravan, allowing her to bunk among them as a passenger and even as something as an ally. When her name had been told in relief tinged whispers, they had donned her in the moniker of Eve, allowing her name to something simplified and yet endearing in both acceptance and welcoming graces. That had been nearly three weeks ago. They were dead now. Or so, she came to in the conclusion of their sudden disappearance. She had been left behind, or they had been spirited away from the hotel by someone -- or some[i]thing[/i]. They had only permitted a few days of rest and amplifying supplies and exchanging their wares and cargo in a city -- a name that eluded her memory, as her mind held little else save for paranoia, pain, and fear -- somewhere south of Cascadia. What little belongings she had possessed then, had been stolen along with their lives. She, Evelina, knew little of navigation and only by the trickle of conversation between those that handled the steering of their direction and planned such upon roads labeled by both letters and numbers, had assumed that the California regions were somewhere below, if she only kept traveling south, escaping the north as a refugee sanctioned from The Agenda. Many plights and attempts through the [i]SCS[/i] had left her without allowance and homage, her very utterance of calling even perplexing to those that had denied her requests for some form of charity through welfare. Either her parents [i][for she had to have some, didn't she?][/i] had never registered her through the Social Credit System, or she was now what someone once labeled as a fluke, a glitch in the system that praised and boasted stability in the face of technology that was ever-expanding; dipping into means of mind, body, and soul. Flesh traded for integrated steels and plastic, warmth exchanged for unyielding cold, and blood a currency of conspiracy to youth and immortality of the rich. Eveline gasped, a fresh bout of agony lancing from calf to thigh, her muscles bundling and coiling tight from the cold, her strength waning into a void. Somewhere in the distance, she heard the rumble of the road, never venturing towards but always keeping near, she avoided public transit and left the crossing asphalt to those with the means. Taut and unbearable, she fell, relinquishing herself to the snow for just a moment and then longer... No. She had to keep going -- Something trilled in the distance, a sharp, rolling crescendo that pealed through the winds and slid around the obsidian rocks she had mounted previously. Eveline stilled in fear as the sound reached forth and mercilessly cinched its way around her heart, her fists curled against her breast and she nearly succumbed to from the nightmarish wail that followed suit. They had spotted her. Who [i]they[/i] were though evaded even her knowledge, only that she had been running from them for so long. And she was so very tired. Very tired indeed. Evelina panned one lonely glance upon the breadth of her shoulder, peering through strands of tangled curls of ashen blonde, hoping against hope that the wind was merely jesting with her addled body and mind. That there weren't shadows dancing against her treads and hazing over the blood she had lost, fresh and so bright against the white of the snowfall. Metallic twinges suddenly coated her tongue and baited her breath in harsh, rapid pants of adrenaline that prompted her to bolt suddenly, a howl scattering among her thoughts, reigning forth from the pit of her despair and nightmares and sounding from a hellish maw of a red beast galloping after her very soul. She ran upon the slopes that led to the road, falling, scraping her bruised knees further, fresh rivets of crimson pooling upon her palms and nails cracked, sheered, bloodied and clawing desperately against rock that too peaked around the edges of her salvation. She could hear now, instead of wails of bloodlust and death, the heavy treads of those that chased her endlessly. Though how many now haunted her painful steps, she knew naught, only that if she were ever caught they'd snuff out her life that this world refused to acknowledge. The past yielded such knowledge from the endless pain they bequeathed and forced upon her, the terrifying images and plagues of monsters that canted behind her eyelids and yowled for her flesh. She cried, a pitying sound of relief, as the road came into view, obsidian slivers clinking down the banks, falling against boulders as she hoisted herself up on the edges and fell graciously to the asphalt upon the heels of her palms. Her knees followed once again and bore the impact of her weakened state as shrill whimpers boiled from her lips, bone sheering against her flesh as fresh tears broke from through her lashes, the edges crinkled in anguish against the sudden lance of heat that assaulted her frigid skin. [color=4e5057][i]Just one more. . .[/i][/color] She rose upon a gulp of air, her ribs protesting, lungs aching, her body upon the verges of allowing an eternal rest -- it hurt so much. She spared only a fleeting glimpse into the void at her heels, panting, her chest heaving and then there: two men stalked her path, coming upon her like specters from her waking nightmare of this hellish reality. [color=4e5057][i]Just one more. . .[/i][/color] With all the strength she had left, though little of it there was, she bolted down the road, eyes of grey and blue and pale misery shining upon her desperation and once more hoping against hope that the sounds of her pursuers were not as close as they suddenly appeared to be. [/sub][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent] [center][sup][color=#2e2c2c]___________[/color][color=#3a3736]_______[/color][color=#474140]_______[/color][color=#534c4a]_______[/color][color=#605754]_______[/color][color=#6c615e]_______[/color][color=#786c68]_______[/color][color=#857772]_______[/color][color=#91817c]_______[/color][color=#9e8c86]_______[/color][color=#aa9790]_______[/color][color=#b7a19a]_______[/color][/sup][color=dcd1d5]◆◆[/color][sup][color=#c3aca4]________[/color][/sup][/center]