(Untitled)

[dearcomrade]

Eva had been inhaling noxious fumes and nearly gagged herself awake.

God, how long had it been? Her hair was sticky with sweat yet her skin cold. Her eyes met a low, sagging ceiling and a dilapitated fireplace. Everything here smelled like somewhere familiar with an additional 10 years or so of rot. Her boots scuffled in what looked to have been at

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[dripsocold]

It's not very pleasant, is it?

There must be a manhole around the corner up there, because there's a thin mist rolling along at ground level.

And then a small figure tentatively walks out into the open, looking around as though just as confused as Eva. She has her arms wrapped around herself. Her hair is in damp strings around her face.

Eva's presence causes a startled jump. Then the little girl smiles, very tentatively, cautiously keeping her distance.

[dearcomrade]

Out of instinct, Eva reeled back on her heels and held the Mauser out at arm's length. The child made her heart stop and for a moment she was catching her breath. If she could see her face and pull back her hair, she imagined the child was a beautiful girl.

"H-hey.. You live here? What are you doing out here?" Eva asked calmly. Realizing it was only a little girl, Eva lowered the gun and straightened her posture. Kneeling at the girl's height while keeping a good four feet distance, she repeated: "You live around in this place?"

[dripsocold]

The gun gets a terrified reaction. That white mist? There's suddenly a lot more of it, although it's hard to tell where it just came from. The place is creepy and ruined, after all. The little girl, suddenly a lot harder to see, ducks behind a piece of broken stall wall.

Then she peers back around, shaking her hair out of her face to see, as Eva speaks. A droplet of water runs down her cheek.

There's no answer to the first question. The second gets a frown, and for a moment she just stares around at the marketplace. Her thin hands slide around her arms again. Then she looks back at Eva at the third question, and slowly shakes her head.

[dearcomrade]

Eva pinched her nose against the stench of rotting meat.

"Not a big talker, huh?" Eva smiled and spoke softly, hoping to lighten the mood just enough to get her to respond. She could just barely see the outline of the girl's face in the darkness. "It's okay, neither was I when I was your age." Eva took baby-steps in kneeling position towards the girl, all the while wondering of anyone else like her lived around these parts.
A gentle hand came to rest on the girls shoulder, hoping to elicit any kind of responsive behavior without scaring her away.