A soft rustle of the flora-decorated ground broke the dead silence of the wasteland’s few living forests. Various small critters lived in the area, and the disturbance of the living plants continued her path through the half-dead ecosystem, an orange-tinted ray of sunlight making the girl squint her eyes and then rub them. One arm laid still and limp at her side, carrying a small, ragged and rusty knife, with leather wrapped around the handle to bulk it for a better grip. A thin fishing line-like string laid tight against and across her chest, the hand-carved bow slung across her back, arrows in a brahmin leather quiver on her hip. Her backpack was falling apart, held together with duct tape, holding cans of food rations and purified water.
A rusted scrape. The sound of a boot against metal, Nikkole felt a pang of fear in her stomach, the sound louder than any sound of rustling, and she then heard a sputtering, sickening.. Growl, mixed with a deep cough. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw it. The rotting-flesh, sickening grey-brown skin, and the lifeless gaze. A feral ghoul, with more within the same area, noticed her. Nikkole didn’t even have time to sigh before she darted in an opposing direction of the ghouls, and through a clearing in the trees, she could see a gas station; A thought crossed her mind. I could hide there. Maybe they won’t get in.
The flooring of the surrounding area changed as she ran towards the seemingly empty building, from dead plants to dry dirt, kicking up soft clouds as she ran. When she saw an opening, constrasting against the metal-barricaded openings of the station, she quickly hopped over the ledge of it and in, crouching down to hide where she could not be seen. She did not notice the other habitant as she watched the ghouls. They began to aimlessly circle the station, before slowly moving back towards their home of the forest. She felt her heart beat fast against her chest, waiting until they were fully out of site.