Hope you guys enjoy! Please toss me a review and/or PM me any suggestions you might have in the future. I plan on keeping this going as long as I'm interested in it, which I really am at the moment.

Chapter 2

Ringing. Nothing but mind-melting ringing permeated my conscience as Alice and I ran for our lives through the desolate cityscape. Alice fired over her shoulder as we ran, her bullets hitting nothing but air. We ducked into an alley in hopes of escaping whatever the hell was chasing us. Throwing our backs against each other's, we covered both openings of the alley. Our motion sensors were ultimately useless, picking up hundreds of readings moving every which way when we couldn't see anything but the stone and brick of buildings that towered over us. Fortunately enough, the ringing lessened and we could actually concentrate a little.

"What's our play?" Alice asked through panicked breaths.

"I don't know; stay here and try to wait it out I guess."

Nothing was happening, not a single thing moved other than us. After several long minutes, the ringing had completely ceased, and the radars only picked up our presence.

"I think it's over for now." I sighed. "You okay?"

"Besides needing a change of pants, I'm okay. You?"

"Same. Let's wait here for a little while longer, then we'll make a break for the suburbs. We're getting the hell out of this city."

"Agreed"

The two of us had only been able to relax for around twenty minutes before it started to rain. Being so deep into the city now, the storm blotted out any hint of natural light. The dead city moaned with each blast if wind. We moved from the alley into a neighboring building for shelter. A thick blanket of dust and filth covered every inch of the place, and the stagnant air tainted our lungs. Alice's chipper personality kicked in as we set up camp.

"Hey, I think I stayed in a hotel like this once, before the bombs."

"Yeah?" I questioned, "What was it like?"

"Well, the current decor pretty much describes the service quality back then." She chuckled, "The food was amazing though, they had row after of row of it."

"Oh God don't mention food right now." I laughed.

"Don't we have any? I thought we packed at least a day's worth." Alice inquired.

"We did, but I might have dropped it with my bag when we were running…" I unzipped my radiation suit and rooted through my jacket pockets "All I've got on me are two protein bars and a bottle of water.

"Damn, I'm all out." Alice admitted, "Oh don't give me that look. I got hungry on the walk here."

"We'll just have to ration it then. We'll eat a little in the morning, then I think we should go back and look for my bag."

"No freakin' way we're goin back there!" Alice snapped "we barely got out there the first time."

"Most of our ammo and all of our food was in that bag. Not to mention the map. We need to find it."

"Fine, but if I see any more Caspers, I'm high-tailing it out of there."

"Sounds good to me." I stood up and stretched, "You should try to get some sleep, I'll take first watch."

"With pleasure." And with that, she was out. I never understood how she could sleep so soundly regardless of where we were. I set up a rusty chair next to one of the front windows of the building and set my hunting rifle against the wall. I had a pistol strapped to my leg as well for emergencies. It wasn't in the best of condition, but it could get the job done.

I sat still for a long while observing the outside world. By and by a small rodent of some sort, no doubt mutated by the prolonged radiation exposure, would scurry across the street in a panicked frenzy as if the devil had its scent. I watched as massive bird-like creatures would glide low to the ground, patrolling for their next meal. One of them, to my surprise, landed feet from the window I was peering out of. It was perplexed my presence, and was most likely wondering what I tasted like. It tiptoed further with its beady eyes locked on mine. I very slowly moved for my rifle, but it caught the motion and quickly flew off out of instinct. It was an underdog, a scavenger, just trying to get by, same as us.

We had heard rumors of treasure troves of goods buried in the ruins of New York. With no paid work in sight and in desperate need for some quick cash, we set out for the Dead City. Alice and I had gotten ourselves into and out of some sketchy situations ever since we were kids, and thought we could handle ourselves.

After another hour or two on watch, Alice woke up and took over. I laid down and eventually fell into a light, dreamless sleep.

There you have it! Not as much action in this chapter, but I thought I'd flesh ot the characters a bit more. Character development is a good thing! I hope to write at least a chapter each week, but my schedule changes regularly so I'll do what I can. Again, give it a review or PM me with any suggestions!