Avoiding the Beach
Apr. 14th, 2017 02:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
i_ship_itDodger was actually kind of angry. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was. Getting out to the beach had been a nerve-wracking nightmare, and now that she’d finally made it, someone else had immediately moved in and chased her out. She didn’t have the time or the supplies or the intel to figure out where else she could go. She hadn’t been able to gather up enough of a surplus to just start wandering and count on finding her next meal. She hadn’t been able to sit down and objectively consider her next options. She’d been run out, with nowhere to go, and no plan for what came next.
As soon as the door opened back to the lifeguard station, Dodger grabbed up her things and ran for the door as fast as she could. She didn’t want to wait around to see what would come next. She had her bag, and her baseball bat, and could only hope it would be enough. But the more time Dodger spent on trying to find any supplies, the more clear it became that her new competition hadn’t just moved in. They’d always been there. Everything was picked completely clean. There wasn’t anything useful left, forcing her further and further out. But further and further out from the beach was just going further into the city, and the city wasn’t a safe place to be. Too many places to hide, both for people and monsters. And mostly cleared out, because this is where all the people were, when people were still a thing. She got by on next to nothing - a bag of stale dog food to nibble on, and what little fresh water she could collect. But her water collectors seemed reluctant to gather too much moisture from the air, which she chalked up to being surrounded by hot concrete that kept the air around it too hot for moisture to condense properly.
She was going to die a slow and painful death if she stayed in the city. If she went back to the hills, it would be a quick and messy death. With not many other options, Dodger admitted that she had to go back to the beach and figure out something there. For a few seconds, she convinced herself that those guys only hung out at the lifeguard shack, but she knew that wasn’t right. They’d been gone for too long during the time she’d been staying there. Either they were out gathering supplies, or they had several bases. Where the other bases were was anybody’s guess. But if they had other bases, it meant that there was a chance they’d be gone again. This time, she might be able to grab a few supplies to get her stocked up, and then…
And then north, probably. The weather would probably be a little more hospitable if she managed to just get closer to the bay. She couldn’t imagine that San Francisco would be any better off than LA, but at least she might not be struggling for water.
Dodger made her way slowly back toward the pier, not sure if she was more afraid of what she might come across before she got there, or what she might find when she arrived. She didn’t want to get there all at once, because if she had to leave in a hurry, she wanted to have some supplies on her, to take as she fled north. She stopped in every building, checking every cupboard and closet that looked like it might have been overlooked, and found nothing. She was so busy with trying to find something more than Kibbles n Bits that she didn’t notice the sky getting darker, or the wind picking up until she felt the first drop of rain on her face. There was a brief moment of panic when she realised what it meant, followed by an immediate scramble to find something she could put out on the sidewalk while she hid inside. Inside what looked like some sort of small office building, Dodger found some old paint cans that had been left out from a halted renovation. She had enough desire to not die from some stupid paint poisoning to peel the thick layer of latex paint out from the inside of the can before leaving it out to fill up. It probably still wouldn’t be safe to drink, but she’d at least have water that she could boil later, once she was out of the city. Water in a paint can would be heavy and cumbersome, but she didn’t know when the next time she’d find water would be.
The storm came in off the ocean, blowing rain in almost sideways. It didn’t take long before the paint can was blown away as well, taking off down the street before Dodger could even get up from where she was resting in the corner. So much for that idea. Maybe those guys at the beach would have had the same idea. And maybe she could catch them off-guard, and introduce them to her baseball bat before they knew she was there. Two against one wasn’t exactly a fight she was looking forward to, but it was an option to consider.
By the time the wind started to die down again, night was falling, so Dodger stayed where she was. What was one more night in Santa Monica, when she didn’t even have a plan formed? Really, it was one more night to try to form a plan. But by the time she woke up the next morning, she was no closer to that goal than she’d been the day before. Her only idea was still to go try to raid the guys at the beach, and take off before they could catch her. This time, she didn’t waste precious minutes checking out buildings she knew would be empty. She made her way straight to the beach, stopping only to collect little bits of water where it had caught in convenient puddles in awnings and debris on the street. She made good time getting there, but she wasn’t at all surprised by the sight that greeted her. She couldn’t see one of the guys from the street, but there was someone out on the pier, moving in and out of view behind the rides and buildings. From the distance, she couldn’t tell what he was doing, except that he looked busy doing it.
She considered running away right then; damning any potential supplies and making her way north on what she already had. She knew she could probably find a little more up in the hills, as she passed over them. But curiosity got the better of her, and she moved closer instead. The guys had done a good job at clearing out a solid line of sight from the edge of the pier, making it difficult to find a good place to hide as she inched slowly closer and closer. It soon became clear that even with the open line of sight, the guy up on the pier was too busy doing whatever he was doing to bother keeping watch. He probably thought they had the whole area to themselves, and they probably did until Dodger moved in. She’d been in their shack, and it was too well-stocked and put together to be a contested spot.
Dodger still couldn’t see where the other guy was, so she decided to make her move. If the guy on the pier was busy doing something, then he was probably doing something useful, with something of value. If he didn’t have his buddy with him, she could probably take him out and steal whatever he had, and be gone before his friend noticed. She readied her baseball bat and began moving purposefully toward the pier. She made sure her steps fell as quietly as possible, while still moving as quickly as possible. Even as she made it onto the pier, it was clear she hadn’t been spotted. She peeked around one of the small kiosks that dotted the pier, disappointed but not exactly surprised to see the line of fishing rods the guy was working on repairing. Useful, but of no value to her if she was going to be heading north.
She must have made a noise without realising it, because suddenly the guy looked straight at her. Rather than going with her original plan to take him out, she turned and ran instead, now just hoping to put as much distance between them as possible. She got two blocks away before she realised that she wasn’t being chased, but she still didn’t stop. She got two more blocks away when she realised she was being chased, but not by anything human. She heard the growling first, and turned to look back at some malformed hell beast with glowing yellow eyes and too many rows of teeth. A baseball bat would do nothing against it, so she screamed and ran even faster, trying to weave around parked cars and between buildings. She twisted and turned and went in so many circles trying to get away from the creature that soon she forgot which way she was even going. She needed to find some way to put some distance between herself and the creature, so she could lock herself inside a building or a car until it got bored and went away. But it was too fast, and every evasive trick she had up her sleeve fell flat, with the creature being able to match her every move.
Not sure what she was doing, Dodger found herself running back toward the beach. Maybe with two more people to distract it, she could increase her odds of getting away. When the beast snarled and snapped at her, Dodger screamed again and swung her bat blindly. She didn’t dare look behind her, because she knew she’d lose speed, and then it would be game over.
Suddenly, the snarls and growls turned into an unearthly yowl. As Dodger kept running, she realised that the sound was getting further away, and only then did she dare to look back. The beast had an arrow sticking out of its head, though it didn’t seem to have done anything other than piss it off. The beast swung its head and thrashed its front claws to try to remove the arrow, but when that didn’t work, it resumed its chase. Dodger tried to run even faster, but her diet of dog food nibbles and almost no water was starting to take its toll. Everything hurt, and she felt sick, but she couldn’t slow down. When she felt something on her shoulder, she screamed again and tried to pull away to get enough distance to swing her bat again. But it wasn’t another beast. It was the guy who had found her last time – Mark – and now he was pulling her out onto the beach and back toward the lifeguard shack while his buddy fired another arrow from the pier with a scary-looking hunting bow. With that thing behind them, Dodger didn’t argue about where she was being taken. She tried to keep up with Mark as best she could, but her tired muscles and the damp sand had other ideas. Still, they made it inside, and Mark slammed the door shut before pulling his machete off his belt. Dodger watched the machete, not sure if it was meant for her, or for the beast should it make its way in. Just in case, she rushed to the other side of the small shack, putting more than enough distance between them to get a good swing in if he got too close. But he wasn’t watching her. He was looking out the window at what was going on outside, and was quick to step out of the way when his buddy rushed in. After that, they barricaded the door with a heavy board that looked like it was there for exactly that purpose, and both watched out the window while the beast howled and shrieked over its new porcupine look.
“Well, that thing’s not going away any time soon,” Mark declared.
“Nope,” his buddy agreed.
Dodger watched both of them, realising she was now locked inside the shack with two guys that were both quite a bit bigger than she was, with a machete and a freaking bow and arrow. Her baseball bat really was not going to be much help in this situation.
“So. What now?” she asked cautiously, ready to take a swing all the same.
Mark shrugged and put his machete back on his belt. “You hungry? I caught a shark yesterday. It probably won’t keep for very long.” He looked back out the window at the hell beast. “It’s probably what attracted ugly, out there.”
“Uh,” was all Dodger could say. It was the last thing she had expected to hear. “Okay.”
As soon as the door opened back to the lifeguard station, Dodger grabbed up her things and ran for the door as fast as she could. She didn’t want to wait around to see what would come next. She had her bag, and her baseball bat, and could only hope it would be enough. But the more time Dodger spent on trying to find any supplies, the more clear it became that her new competition hadn’t just moved in. They’d always been there. Everything was picked completely clean. There wasn’t anything useful left, forcing her further and further out. But further and further out from the beach was just going further into the city, and the city wasn’t a safe place to be. Too many places to hide, both for people and monsters. And mostly cleared out, because this is where all the people were, when people were still a thing. She got by on next to nothing - a bag of stale dog food to nibble on, and what little fresh water she could collect. But her water collectors seemed reluctant to gather too much moisture from the air, which she chalked up to being surrounded by hot concrete that kept the air around it too hot for moisture to condense properly.
She was going to die a slow and painful death if she stayed in the city. If she went back to the hills, it would be a quick and messy death. With not many other options, Dodger admitted that she had to go back to the beach and figure out something there. For a few seconds, she convinced herself that those guys only hung out at the lifeguard shack, but she knew that wasn’t right. They’d been gone for too long during the time she’d been staying there. Either they were out gathering supplies, or they had several bases. Where the other bases were was anybody’s guess. But if they had other bases, it meant that there was a chance they’d be gone again. This time, she might be able to grab a few supplies to get her stocked up, and then…
And then north, probably. The weather would probably be a little more hospitable if she managed to just get closer to the bay. She couldn’t imagine that San Francisco would be any better off than LA, but at least she might not be struggling for water.
Dodger made her way slowly back toward the pier, not sure if she was more afraid of what she might come across before she got there, or what she might find when she arrived. She didn’t want to get there all at once, because if she had to leave in a hurry, she wanted to have some supplies on her, to take as she fled north. She stopped in every building, checking every cupboard and closet that looked like it might have been overlooked, and found nothing. She was so busy with trying to find something more than Kibbles n Bits that she didn’t notice the sky getting darker, or the wind picking up until she felt the first drop of rain on her face. There was a brief moment of panic when she realised what it meant, followed by an immediate scramble to find something she could put out on the sidewalk while she hid inside. Inside what looked like some sort of small office building, Dodger found some old paint cans that had been left out from a halted renovation. She had enough desire to not die from some stupid paint poisoning to peel the thick layer of latex paint out from the inside of the can before leaving it out to fill up. It probably still wouldn’t be safe to drink, but she’d at least have water that she could boil later, once she was out of the city. Water in a paint can would be heavy and cumbersome, but she didn’t know when the next time she’d find water would be.
The storm came in off the ocean, blowing rain in almost sideways. It didn’t take long before the paint can was blown away as well, taking off down the street before Dodger could even get up from where she was resting in the corner. So much for that idea. Maybe those guys at the beach would have had the same idea. And maybe she could catch them off-guard, and introduce them to her baseball bat before they knew she was there. Two against one wasn’t exactly a fight she was looking forward to, but it was an option to consider.
By the time the wind started to die down again, night was falling, so Dodger stayed where she was. What was one more night in Santa Monica, when she didn’t even have a plan formed? Really, it was one more night to try to form a plan. But by the time she woke up the next morning, she was no closer to that goal than she’d been the day before. Her only idea was still to go try to raid the guys at the beach, and take off before they could catch her. This time, she didn’t waste precious minutes checking out buildings she knew would be empty. She made her way straight to the beach, stopping only to collect little bits of water where it had caught in convenient puddles in awnings and debris on the street. She made good time getting there, but she wasn’t at all surprised by the sight that greeted her. She couldn’t see one of the guys from the street, but there was someone out on the pier, moving in and out of view behind the rides and buildings. From the distance, she couldn’t tell what he was doing, except that he looked busy doing it.
She considered running away right then; damning any potential supplies and making her way north on what she already had. She knew she could probably find a little more up in the hills, as she passed over them. But curiosity got the better of her, and she moved closer instead. The guys had done a good job at clearing out a solid line of sight from the edge of the pier, making it difficult to find a good place to hide as she inched slowly closer and closer. It soon became clear that even with the open line of sight, the guy up on the pier was too busy doing whatever he was doing to bother keeping watch. He probably thought they had the whole area to themselves, and they probably did until Dodger moved in. She’d been in their shack, and it was too well-stocked and put together to be a contested spot.
Dodger still couldn’t see where the other guy was, so she decided to make her move. If the guy on the pier was busy doing something, then he was probably doing something useful, with something of value. If he didn’t have his buddy with him, she could probably take him out and steal whatever he had, and be gone before his friend noticed. She readied her baseball bat and began moving purposefully toward the pier. She made sure her steps fell as quietly as possible, while still moving as quickly as possible. Even as she made it onto the pier, it was clear she hadn’t been spotted. She peeked around one of the small kiosks that dotted the pier, disappointed but not exactly surprised to see the line of fishing rods the guy was working on repairing. Useful, but of no value to her if she was going to be heading north.
She must have made a noise without realising it, because suddenly the guy looked straight at her. Rather than going with her original plan to take him out, she turned and ran instead, now just hoping to put as much distance between them as possible. She got two blocks away before she realised that she wasn’t being chased, but she still didn’t stop. She got two more blocks away when she realised she was being chased, but not by anything human. She heard the growling first, and turned to look back at some malformed hell beast with glowing yellow eyes and too many rows of teeth. A baseball bat would do nothing against it, so she screamed and ran even faster, trying to weave around parked cars and between buildings. She twisted and turned and went in so many circles trying to get away from the creature that soon she forgot which way she was even going. She needed to find some way to put some distance between herself and the creature, so she could lock herself inside a building or a car until it got bored and went away. But it was too fast, and every evasive trick she had up her sleeve fell flat, with the creature being able to match her every move.
Not sure what she was doing, Dodger found herself running back toward the beach. Maybe with two more people to distract it, she could increase her odds of getting away. When the beast snarled and snapped at her, Dodger screamed again and swung her bat blindly. She didn’t dare look behind her, because she knew she’d lose speed, and then it would be game over.
Suddenly, the snarls and growls turned into an unearthly yowl. As Dodger kept running, she realised that the sound was getting further away, and only then did she dare to look back. The beast had an arrow sticking out of its head, though it didn’t seem to have done anything other than piss it off. The beast swung its head and thrashed its front claws to try to remove the arrow, but when that didn’t work, it resumed its chase. Dodger tried to run even faster, but her diet of dog food nibbles and almost no water was starting to take its toll. Everything hurt, and she felt sick, but she couldn’t slow down. When she felt something on her shoulder, she screamed again and tried to pull away to get enough distance to swing her bat again. But it wasn’t another beast. It was the guy who had found her last time – Mark – and now he was pulling her out onto the beach and back toward the lifeguard shack while his buddy fired another arrow from the pier with a scary-looking hunting bow. With that thing behind them, Dodger didn’t argue about where she was being taken. She tried to keep up with Mark as best she could, but her tired muscles and the damp sand had other ideas. Still, they made it inside, and Mark slammed the door shut before pulling his machete off his belt. Dodger watched the machete, not sure if it was meant for her, or for the beast should it make its way in. Just in case, she rushed to the other side of the small shack, putting more than enough distance between them to get a good swing in if he got too close. But he wasn’t watching her. He was looking out the window at what was going on outside, and was quick to step out of the way when his buddy rushed in. After that, they barricaded the door with a heavy board that looked like it was there for exactly that purpose, and both watched out the window while the beast howled and shrieked over its new porcupine look.
“Well, that thing’s not going away any time soon,” Mark declared.
“Nope,” his buddy agreed.
Dodger watched both of them, realising she was now locked inside the shack with two guys that were both quite a bit bigger than she was, with a machete and a freaking bow and arrow. Her baseball bat really was not going to be much help in this situation.
“So. What now?” she asked cautiously, ready to take a swing all the same.
Mark shrugged and put his machete back on his belt. “You hungry? I caught a shark yesterday. It probably won’t keep for very long.” He looked back out the window at the hell beast. “It’s probably what attracted ugly, out there.”
“Uh,” was all Dodger could say. It was the last thing she had expected to hear. “Okay.”
