Post by Anh on Mar 14, 2013 17:29:12 GMT -5
When she’d gotten to the edge of the river, she’d considered turning back. Inside the city were humans, and likely vampires, and perhaps other things beside – all dangerous in their own way. Yet, she knew what waited for her if she turned back. Endless desert, sand, wind, and nothingness punctuated with only brief trickles of life. The City, for its perils, was the only place left where she could regain some semblance of a meaningful life, instead of a listless existence.
Even undead, she didn’t fancy swimming through freezing waters. She walked north until she found the signs for the Lincoln Tunnel. As she passed beneath the great stone edifice she had to shrug away a shiver at the eerie emptiness of it. She’d never been to New York before the angels, but she’d seen it in films. Bustling people and bumper-to-bumper cars… Seeing it deserted felt surreal and wrong.
Inside the tunnel wasn’t too bad. Dark and quiet and seemingly-safe. It hadn’t even begun to leak or cave in! She might’ve tried to stay the night there if it weren’t such a thorough-trough.
The other side wasn’t what she’d been expecting. Even at night, she’d thought this last bastion of life would have someone milling about on the city streets, yet she encountered no one. She could smell them, faint scents at least a day old, but apparently the residents were quick to retire once the sun went down.
Anh wandered almost in a daze, taking in crumbling buildings and metal skeletons. She found herself wishing she could have seen it in its heyday… These idle thoughts consumed her until something more interesting – and much more pressing – distracted her. She could smell wolves. Wolves everywhere.
Anh froze, sudden fear gripping her. She immediately turned and all but ran south. She kept going, putting the scent to her back, her pace increasing with distance. Then she was sprinting into a copse of trees, which turned to grass, and then benches and sidewalks.
Anh slowed her pace, coming to a halt and taking in her alarmingly verdant surroundings. It was a park! A nice park with living trees and tall grass and little ponds. Anh gaped. It’d been ages since she’d seen a real, green park.
And then she was laughing, indulging in the pure giddy ridiculous relief of the moment. Maybe coming to The City had been the right call after all.
Even undead, she didn’t fancy swimming through freezing waters. She walked north until she found the signs for the Lincoln Tunnel. As she passed beneath the great stone edifice she had to shrug away a shiver at the eerie emptiness of it. She’d never been to New York before the angels, but she’d seen it in films. Bustling people and bumper-to-bumper cars… Seeing it deserted felt surreal and wrong.
Inside the tunnel wasn’t too bad. Dark and quiet and seemingly-safe. It hadn’t even begun to leak or cave in! She might’ve tried to stay the night there if it weren’t such a thorough-trough.
The other side wasn’t what she’d been expecting. Even at night, she’d thought this last bastion of life would have someone milling about on the city streets, yet she encountered no one. She could smell them, faint scents at least a day old, but apparently the residents were quick to retire once the sun went down.
Anh wandered almost in a daze, taking in crumbling buildings and metal skeletons. She found herself wishing she could have seen it in its heyday… These idle thoughts consumed her until something more interesting – and much more pressing – distracted her. She could smell wolves. Wolves everywhere.
Anh froze, sudden fear gripping her. She immediately turned and all but ran south. She kept going, putting the scent to her back, her pace increasing with distance. Then she was sprinting into a copse of trees, which turned to grass, and then benches and sidewalks.
Anh slowed her pace, coming to a halt and taking in her alarmingly verdant surroundings. It was a park! A nice park with living trees and tall grass and little ponds. Anh gaped. It’d been ages since she’d seen a real, green park.
And then she was laughing, indulging in the pure giddy ridiculous relief of the moment. Maybe coming to The City had been the right call after all.