Chapter one

Drip. Drip. Drip.

It was always raining in Seattle. It was one of those universal truths, like knowing the sun was going to come up, even if you couldn't see it. This was Seattle, so it was raining. The old building, like most of them in this part of the city had been condemned long ago, so the steady drip of water into her scant sanctuary was unsurprising. Nor was the smell; the Barrens had a particular oder to them, although she had not previously ever needed to be made familiar with it. She was finding the experience educational, but she wasn't certain she wanted to be educated.

Pain wracked her body, distracting her wandering mind from its explorations of its surroundings, and a ragged gasp escaped her. She knew enough to know she was feverish, and that the wound was probably going septic. She clutched the gun to her, as if it could symbolically free her from the trap of her own diseased body, the way it had from the prison of a more concrete nature.


This is it, God's calling me to answer for the dead guards.

Her thoughts were bleak, when they came at all beyond the haze and the wracking pain and trembling. She vaguely knew that if she didn't get up she was going to die here. Her body ached for the dripping water, fouled by its filtration through the softened roof. Even a stupid soft corper knew that drinking the rain water would kill you. Sulfuric acid was an unkind taint to the city's precipitation, and it had been for a long while. Angela ran her dry tongue against the top of her mouth and over cracked lips. Her skin felt like it was on fire, burning, burning, fevers she knew. She often experienced reaction fevers after they had-

Her thoughts abruptly stopped as she heard a shuffling outside the broken door, and she held her breath. No, no mistake, there it was again, the floor creaking as something walked across it, someone. Were they here for her? Was it just one of those chipheads, looking for a safe place to slot up, gangers?

Her questions didn't remain unanswered for long as thin gnarled fingers wrapped around the door and pulled it open. Horror clawed its way up out of her chest, to her throat- though what should have been a scream as she beheld the gaunt and sightless figure sniffing at the air, its lips barely hiding the rows of sharp fangs in its mouth, came out as a whimper, her attempt to bolt upwards, and point that gun, that symbol of her freedom at it, resulted in pain wracking her body and darkness veiling her eyes as colours shot through her mind. The thin asian girl child collapsed on the floor.

The ghoul who had found her hovered over her body. If he did nothing, this one would be dead soon. Close enough to it now that the smell from her seeping wound at once nauseated him and made his stomach tighten with the hunger that his kind could not deny. Thin fingers attached to almost skeletal arms reached out and carefully picked her up. There was little to the small female, almost as thin as himself. He carried her, effortlessly to the door, clutching his find against his chest as he scurried out of the building and into the night.

It was a smell that first penetrated the warm comforting darkness that she floated in. Her mind lagged in identifying it, as it tugged at her senses, familiar, filtering into those half formed thoughts that weren't quite dreams, as fragile as a snow flake meeting warm breath. It probably would have taken longer for her to waken if her heart hadn't begun racing when her brain finally realized what she was smelling. Adrenaline shot through her and she started to sit up. Antiseptic. She was - no. Pain jarred through her, and she fell back, eyes opening ,closing, blinding by an over head light, dizzy. Panic made her breathing harsh, and she heard an alarm going off somewhere, she moved a hand. She could move.. she wasn't bound. Hands gently restrained her now, and draped a blessedly cool cloth across her forehead and eyes. She hadn't even realized she'd cried out, but her throat felt raw, and she swallowed. A glass was brought to her lips, and she drank greedily.

"Shh, shh." The alarm was turned off, and the cup drawn away from her lips as it emptied."You're safe." The voice was masculine, it- he sounded concerned. Something about not being able to place the voice made her relax a little. Irony. There was more safety in strangers, than voices she knew.

"Where-?" At least she started to ask that, the broken croak that came out of her that came out of her throat startled her into stopping while she swallowed a few times.

"Questions later, you need rest." His tone was firm, gentle, professional.

"Wh-" oh. The water had been drugged. Soft warm blackness enveloped her mind again.

A slender gloved hand checked her pulse, and glanced over the small biomonitor, satisfied with what it read now. The ghoul rocked back on his heels and considered the girl quietly. Well. She was going to make it, she was out of the danger zone.

Now what the hell was he going to do with her?