..::The adventure of us - A new beginning::..
This roleplay consist of Vicky, played by Vickster and Icke played by Ickecakez.
If anyone wish to participate you need to ask through pm!

"Hush", I softly said with a finger in front of my lips as I turned to the guy behind me. I then turned my eyes back to the road ahead of me. The men with their weapons and evil looking faces were just about to pass us by and here we sat, crouching to the ground in the bushes, hiding. If you had told me several weeks ago that this would be me now, I probably would of laughed at it as some kind of twisted joke.

It had started to dusk on a sunny day, it wasn't dark yet though so you could clearly see ahead of you. From the looks of it, the time couldn't be past 6pm yet, but not so far off.

As the men walked further away I finally let the air out of my lungs, realizing I had not been daring to even breath the entire time. I turned and sat down on the ground with a groan, my feet severely hurt and my eyes felt tired. Wondering I looked up at you again. "You think its safe to continue?" I asked with doubt in my voice, my eyes carefully flicking out to the road again, to make sure no one really were there right now.

I looked down on my slim figure, as an elf often were I were too thin for my own liking really. My long hair brown were tangled up and messy, not its usual clean shiny way, but it did not bother me too much at the moment to be honest. The rags I wore were torn and bland. I missed the colorful dresses I had at home, but luckily these made it a lot easier for us to hide from the men who had captured us before. A lot of questions ran through my tired head and not many answers to be found. At least, we had managed to escape for now and I had to put all my effort in trying to focus on this fact. To stay free.

"How the hell did it come to this, I didn't do anything wrong did I?" I thought to myself, exhaled with a slight sigh, snivelled and gave my eyes a break from staring out through the bushes to gaze briefly on the skies above as if I expected them to counsel me in these rough times and actually answer my thoughts.
As my new-found companion hushed me I snapped out of my dreams and both my eyes and thoughts once again became fixated on the road that lied not more than a few meters from our hiding spot. I estimated it to be around 5 meters, as I somehow tried to plan how long it would take for us (or at least me) to run from this spot to the next.

If my friends would have seen me now, taking cover behind some bushes, dressed in rags they would've laughed their rich, snobby faces off. Sure, I was no commoner myself before this happened but I seriously doubt they would've even tried to understand. I mean, I had dipped my head in a shallow pool of mud to trade my glancing white/gray hair colour for a more natural one, for camouflage.
As the guards closed in on our position, I firmly pressed my back up against the tree and I dug my heels deep into the ground to keep myself there 'cause I knew if they caught us they'd take us straight back to where we had risked our lives to escape from... After they had tortured us of course.

As I began to hear the guards footsteps I just closed my eyes and wished they'd keep on walking. The fact that our living standards had been below human for a while had left me with a cold and as I counted the guards footsteps a thin line of mucus left my nose and dripped down on my clothes. Normally that would've bugged the hell out me but when push comes to shove you just kinda start shifting your priorities, you know?

I sat quietly watching the guy in front of me after I had assured myself there were no one nearby. Did he ignore me on purpose? I sure were not used to being left or forgotten. But I did understand a lot must of happen to him, just as they had happened to me so very quickly, without any warning. Were we at war? How could I not know that if that were the case? Thinking of what the people at the court usually talked about, I cant say I recall any such thing, so what was it then?

Pulling my knees to my chest and wrapping the long shirt around my legs, I thought of where to head now. To be honest, I wasn't even sure where I were at the moment and I had tried to keep an eye out as much as I could along the way.

"Hello?" I called out, I lifted a hand out from the warmth of my own body, waving back and forth. "Are you still there? As I did so, I noticed the red marks on my arm and held in a groan, hoping the rough treatment back at the camp would not leave any permanent marks. What would my father say to that? I sighed loudly.

As the girl tried to contact me, I didn't even look at her and with a whispering, fast and snappy voice I said "Yeah, hi there, how 'ya doin'?" and waved my hand a single time in her direction, with two fingers stretched in a very nonchalant manner. I don't know why I did it, I wasn't a rude guy normally but then again this wasn't a very normal situation to begin with.

After a minute of silence between the both of us, and making sure no one was around, I started feeling bad about my rude display. Not that I wanted to lose focus on getting away but at the same time I didn't want to lose my humanity and I found some comfort in that thought. So I sat back down on the grass-covered ground and again without looking at her I said - "Uhm, I'm sorry I snapped at 'ya there, I meant nothing by it and-" I didn't get any further because as my eyes finally looked up at her, she was just sitting there looking at her arm.

I moved a little bit closer and noticed she was looking at the big red mark on her arm. I thought I'd might try playing the sympathy-card and focus on the mark on her arm. "Oh, that's a nasty mark you got there... Does it hurt?". As I got no response, I got a little ticked off now that I had gone through the trouble of trying to talk like a normal person for the first time since before I got thrown in camp. So I snapped my fingers close to her ear in hope I'd break her zombie-like focus on the mark and make contact.

"Oh eh..." I stumbled on my words as I was drawn back to the present. The worry of my father will have to be put on hold for now, it wasn't even certain I would see him anytime soon. "No..." I responded quickly as I realized I was asked a question. "I can barely feel it" I lied. But I was not sure if the memory of when it was made hurt more than it did at the moment. It felt more sore than anything. And annoying. I tilted my head and gazed up the elven boys body.. from top to the feet and wrinkled my nose slightly. He stank! But it did hide him quite well. I'm sure he is from a finer family, thats something that dawned on me as I thought back on his behavior and words. No wonder he was so tense. Not to mentioned slightly rude. Maybe he thought I was beneath him? I felt tempted to ask what his problem was but forced myself to smile instead.

"You.. ehm.. got any ideas on where to head next?" I asked again, noticing how it got darker by the moments that passed. Spending another night outside was not so tempting, especially since there might be wild animals around.. or more guards, if you can call them that.. and the latter sounded more threating to me than the animals if I were to be honest.

"Oh, alright, as long as you're sure.." I said, not sure if I should think this girls pain threshold was really high, cause to me that mark sure looked painful. I wasn't without bruises myself though, my back must've looked like a battlefield from all the scars the overseers whip left on me. There's one along the left shoulder-blade that hurt every damned time I moved my arm.

I looked out through the bushes again for a while but in the corner of my eye I could see the young elf looking at me as if she was inspecting me. I felt like asking what she was doing, but I didn't really mind. In fact it was one of the few times a girl had really taken a good look at me, as far as I know anyway.

As my mind had been focused on where we should go next, answering the girls question should've been easy... But it wasn't. We were sitting along the edge of this park-area, I could see some broken down picnic tables a stones-throw away from us. And outwards there was a road and just on the otherside of that was a line of either abandoned or just run-down buildings. One of them didn't have a door, the other had some unreadable business sign on it and it kinda went on like that. I guess we were in the poor neighbourhoods of the city.

So I thought a bit for a minute, looked around, looked back at the elf girl and said - "Well, maybe we should try to head for those houses there, I'm just not sure on which one." I put an arm around her shoulder, put my head close to hers just so we could get the same point of view and pointed towards the houses. "Which one do you think is the best fr us?"

I smiled vaguely at his words, but decided not to say anything more of the marks that she was sure covered both of them, nor express the worry she felt about moving on with this escape. But no, its not like I would rather be back at camp. As I straighten my sore back, to see where he pointed I felt the ache in my back, my legs and head even more clear than before. Sleep.. yes sleep sounded nice.. Oh but wait.. did he say us? A light blush covered my cheeks as I swallowed.

"Which house..." I mumbled while trying to adjust my eyes for the distance that were between us and the house, while also having to do my best to not react to his arm around my shoulders. "I... a house with a whole roof?" I suggested, sure I am sure it wont rain but you never know.. "Maybe.. its better we go closer.. and maybe a house somewhere in the middle? I mean in case the men come back, we at least might have a chance spotting them that way and hide?" My lower lip trembled at the thought of that scenario. I really hope they wont come back here. Its been pure luck so far as to how we managed to escape. Well, at least most of it was luck.

"One with a whole roof, huh? Hehe, ok coming right up miss.." I said in a very light hearted mood, in fact I almost chuckled at the idea of the two of us looking for houses together at a time like this. But one of my words actually got me thinking - "Miss...What?" I thought to myself. Together we had, by some kind of miracle, escaped together and made it this far and yet I don't know her name. "Maybe I should ask... No, no I can't get too attached to anything right now" I thought, although it actually hurt me a little that I wouldn't let myself extend even such a basic question. Oh well... Priorities, right?

I shook off the thoughts and I got a little frustrated as my eyes scanned our options on the other side of that road we had been watching for some time now. There was no place that seemed better than the next, really. And we couldn't sit here much longer anyway, so I guess we might as well move out sooner rather than later.

Then I spotted it - A hide-away alleyway in between the broken down shop and the house next to it, surely there would be some place back there we could hide out in. Excited over what I had discovered I quickly elbowed the elf girl, whispered "Hey, you!" and once again assumed the position I had used earlier to show her the line of houses. "Look, there, that alley is perfect!" I continued, however this time I caught myself looking at the girl as I embraced her, even though it was intended just to show her. But still I took notice of the moment and my excited whispers silenced as I began to stare at the young, brown haired, green eyed and despite the dirt and bruises, beautiful elf...
As I realized what was going on I quickly swung my arm out and away from her, placed my eyes on the alley and took a quick step back. "Well, that was awkward. I really hope she didn't notice..." I confessed to myself in thought. However I would not let it get in my way, we had to move. So with a brave undertone in my voice I said - "Ok, get ready... On 5" And as I finished the sentence I took courage, grabbed the girls hand and dragged us both towards the other side of the tree where there was no bushes to hinder our run.

I quickly swallowed down the fear, anxiety and doubt I had built up since I spotted the alley and thus realized we would be leaving the relative safety of the bushes and cross that road which almost seemed to have gotten wider. With determination in my eyes I swung them constantly to our left and right to make sure we wouldn't be seen. I started breathing heavily, squeezed the girls hand and began to count. "1......2-"...

I tried not to trip as he pulled me up by the hand and took me out in the more open area. The feel of fear I felt only lasted about a second before I forced it down with a deep inhale.

"..3" I chimed in and gave him an encouraging smile and a squeeze to his hand as to say that I am with him.

I tried to process all the things he had just told me. An alley. So thats the goal, right? How hard could it be, lets just pray my legs wont bail on me half across the road! Would that not be too embarrassing. I glanced over to him. I wonder what he normally would look like? Judging from what I have seen too far, he was not one of the more heartwarming people I have met.. and was it just me, or had he been looking strangely at me? I bet its cause I must look terrible and at this moment I felt relieved there were not any mirrors around to show me that.

"..4" I continued. "We'll make it, I'm sure of it.." I added. "5..!"

Even though I thought I had braved up for the run we were about to make, I could feel those old familiar feelings come creeping back up despite me swallowing them down all packed tight in a lump just a few moments ago. Was I beginning to have second thoughts about this? Would we even make it? Would the girl be able to keep up with me or should I maybe be worried about keeping up with the girl? All these thoughts raced through my head as if they were going for the world championship but I tried just to focus on the numbers that we both sung out in harmony as we counted upwards.

"1" and "2" were a piece of cake, they didn't bother me at all. Even "3" had this feeling to it that was quite comfortable - It's not too late to back out, there's still time to rethink this. But then, at "4" everything took a 180 degree turn for the worse and it sort of told me that it was way too late to change your mind now, like it or not it was gonna happen.

"5"... Everything went silent as my feet, that I had dug down in dirt, pushed me forwards. I couldn't hear the critters and animals that sung just a second ago, I couldn't hear any of the city's ambient sounds, I couldn't even hear myself as my body and clothes moved. And even though my heart was racing and me squeezing the girls hand probably left it sore just as hers did mine, an eerie feeling of serenity both calmed me down at the same time it made me shiver.

I didn't really know what was going on as I seemed to lose feeling in my body. My bare feet clamping down on the ground, the girls hand, the wind.. None of it. It felt as if I was just being moved forwards by some force that I had no control over. It in combination with the silent serenity sort of made me think that maybe I was already dead, that a guard had spotted us and shot me down. And that's another thing - The run seemed to lake a lot longer than it should have. Had timed slowed down too? Ok, I must be dead.

It wasn't until a grey/brown brick wall appeared out of nowhere that I really got my senses back. It must have been some natural survival instinct that allowed me to understand that I should try to slow down and extend an arm to try and stop me from crashing head first into the wall. If that was instinct, me tripping, sending my head and arm crashing into the wall must've been bad luck. Once again I couldn't see, this time because the blow to my head had left me knocked out.

And so I ran, I ran with everything I was worth, barely feeling the stones under my feet and I was happy to see that the elven boy ahead of me didn't have any problems with keeping himself moving forward... at least that happiness lasted until the moment where I saw him dashing into the wall! I managed to break free, luckily and uncertain of what to do I carefully poked the boy with my foot. "Ouch.." I let out softly while kneeling down beside him, my right hand moving forward to check his pulse. "Phew.." the relief I felt, when I realized he was just knocked out, were tremendous.

I started to look around me, I must hide him, but how? Then I saw a cardboard box. Big. Most likely used in the past to store food or clothes.. well anything, it was broken but that didn't matter much, I folded it so it became flat and put it down beside the unconscious guy, carefully I then tried to move him up on the cardboard box, all of him didn't fit but at least the heavier parts of him did. I took another look around. No one in sight. Maybe the long run had been unnecessary?

I took his hands and started to pull him further in between the houses, at least now not all of his body would be rasped by the stones, since the cardboard did a somewhat nice job protecting him from it. "Oh gosh.. you're heave.. c'mon.. we have to get outta here.." I muttered, a little annoyed at the fact that I had to do more hard work than I already had the last days.. or was it weeks? I had lost track of time..

Darkness was my world now... At least for the minute or so I spent unconscious after being very intimately introduced to that brick wall. Not that I felt it while being knocked out but upon impact I had bruised the side of my forehead and elbow as well as caused pretty much my whole body to become sore as I had kinda turned to my side when that brick wall came running at me...

Slowly the darkness faded into reality as I little by little regained conciousness. Moaning and hurting, I tried to sit myself up against the wall but my hand slipped on the cardboard box the girl had placed me on when she tended to me. Not only was the cardboard box a bit slippery but I clearly was neither strong enough or had the balance to get up anyway, so I accepted my position for now.

"Comfy bed you got me there, babe. Thanks" I said to her as I spread myself out on the box and closed my eyes. And that's when it hit me - I had called this sweet elf-girl "babe". Fearing the consequences of my words I immediately sprung my eyes open and said "Uhm, no! I didn't mean that "babe" part, I just... I... Ugh, I'm sorry. Really, I am, I appreciate you doing this for me". I bet my face turned at least four shades of red, because not only had I insulted the girl but also made the lamest excuse for it.

But then I remembered where we were, or at least where I hoped we were. I forced my eyes open and began to look around. Either the trees of the park had began looking like walls or we were in the alley! "Hey, did we make it?!" I asked the girl but before even giving her a chance to answer I panicked and blurted out "We gotta get indoors or something!". Looking around I spotted a rotting door, very poorly nailed shut from the outside, and the planks that had been used was also rotting.

So I waved for the girl to come over and then pointed at the door and said - "There, we can get in there I think!". I tried to get up again, excited about finally getting indoors and away from the everything, even for a little while. But my body wouldn't have it and failed me again. "Argh... Hey.. Hey, girl, you gotta break open that door an..." I didn't get any further as a strange noise caught my attention. It sounded like some vehicle close by. "..And make it snappy will ya? Either get me up and we'll do it together or just hurry up and break it down yourself!"

I had managed to get the boy into the alley and let him rest next to a wall while I thought about what to do. My ears perked at the sound of him moving. I turned around and looked at him. He's waking up, I thought to myself and a vague smile, almost barely noticeable went to my lips. I was just about to fall down to my knees beside him and ask him to hush down and if he was alright when his next comment hit me... babe..?

It was good that he had his eyes closed or he might have caught my momentarily confusion and shock that so clearly showed in my eyes, but I quickly pulled myself together and went back to looking natural. "Oh.. yes.." I tilted my head to my right and put on a grin, a smile that so not did seem to match the situation we were in. "We made it.. so far". I just realized he had no idea of who I were or the status I held.. and to tell you the truth, that felt like a good change.

My smile subsided as I noticed the boy getting more frightened by the moment and again my ears twitched. Inside.. I looked around in a daze, realizing he might be too injured to do us any good. If he can walk inside after we manage to get the door up, I would be happy for that.

I ran away a few feet back along the alley and picked up a iron pole.. or some sort, maybe it had been a part of a chair or something, I didn't know, but maybe it would work. I ran back and I put one end into the crack by the door and started to pull all I could to try bend it up. I almost flew forward as one of the boards broke. Luckily, the door was so run down that it even fell apart at my meek strength.

"One more and I think we will fit through!" I said hopefully to the injured boy.

"That's it! Come on, you can do it!" I said in an upbeat manner to cheer the girl on. Considering her size and body structure she obviously had not spent much time doing physical activities in her life, so I figured some motivation would maybe get her to break down that door a bit faster. I figured the sooner we'd get out of this alley and under a roof of some sort, the better.

But despite her obvious physical disadvantages she really worked hard and put her back into it. I was impressed by how she had so ferociously busted pretty much half the door down and I was relieved when the first planks and a bit of the door came of, so jokingly I said - "Whoa, careful there kid, or you'll tear the entire house down!". I'm not sure if she appreciated my cheery comments but I felt that it did at least lighten up the mood and I thought that if we made a bit of noise to go along with that of the door breaking, maybe we'd be passed off as some drunks and thus be ignored.

But she wasn't the only one working hard, I was still struggling with myself to regain a vertical base. I had at least made it to my knees when the girl broke the planks. And I could see her getting ready for the next attack, so inspired by her hard work I had one foot on the ground and an arm against the wall and I pressed and I heaved myself up.
Staggering I moved towards the girl, put an arm around her shoulder, suggested we'd both run at the door and with our bodies connected, to increase our power, kick the rest of the door down. I looked into her eyes and maybe it was just me but I seemed to see a certain fire in her eyes. But longing to get indoors I broke my stare and asked "Are you ready?".

I gave him another smile, I really tried to look merry but under these circumstances that was a task not easily achieved. I had just started with another plank when I felt his arm on me, startled I looked up at him. Was there something in my face or did I imagine that he almost outright started? Nah... I'm just tired.

"Breaking it...down?" I asked distrusting. Looking his body over, bruises and all, it did not seem like a very good thing to do. "Hold on..! I am not so sure it would do you much.. ehum.. good right now?" me for one where happy to see his legs still worked! Thinking the situation over I figured maybe leaving some of the door there would be better. "You think you can get in if we get a little bit more of the door down?" I asked him. "Cause.. maybe it would be easier to hide in there if the crack weren't quite as big, don't you think?" I lifted my left arm to wipe away the sweat from my forehead. Oh how very ladylike!

Standing there with my arm around the girl, I had began staring the door down as if it was some old western gun duel. However, instead of tumbleweeds and cacti there were trash cans and garbage, instead of shivering men and women there were the rats and other animals rummaging through the garbage.

I was so ready to kick that door in the teeth... But the girl halted my thoughts as she scanned my body and laid out her suggestions and I was again impressed with her. This time it was her brains and not brawns that I took a liking to and thinking it over, It did make a lot of sense to keep at least some of the door up so we could close it behind us and cover our tracks.

"Yeah, you're right. Maybe if we take some of the bottom off, we could crawl right in... And we could take the plank bits and cover up the hole as well" I said, a bit ashamed of my rash thinking to break the door down entirely, what a caveman I must've seemed like... But then again, I had just hit my entire body against a brick wall, I think I could cut myself some slack.

"Well miss" I said and then paused because there it was again - Miss what? But then I continued - "You've done a good job this far, wanna finish it off or should I?". At this point I was half leaning down, almost dragging the poor girl with me as I still had my arm around her, but I stood myself upright to show her that I was up for it. Oh the charades we play and the tangled webs we weave.. Why couldn't I just admit that every bit of my body was hurting like hell and just ask her to do it? Was it pride that kept me back, maybe some kind of gentleman-style that shone through? Maybe I'll never know but there we stood and I was looking at her and awaiting her answer.

I looked over and felt sorry for the guy, he tried so hard to stand on his own, but it was very clear that the treatment back on the camp done some heavy damage. On us both, I might add. Mentally and physical, I was not sure which I had found worse either.

I felt my body soring, as if he were clinging to me. In reality it was not that bad, but I was tired and every little extra weight counted. I almost giggled at that, what if I had wore my heavy dresses?`That sure would of felt like a pain in my.. well you know. I was afraid of hurting his feelings, or manliness but I shoke my head no and started to do one more of the planks after gently pushing his arms of my shoulder.

"I do this.." I grunted and pulled and with gritted teeth I tried continue. "... and you owe me to check through the room once we get in, to make sure no nasty animals are in there.. deal?" and with that half of the board broke, with more of it to the bottom. "There... I think we can get inside... maybe do not even have to crawl." I looked at the crack of the once somewhat whole door and then at my skinny self. For me, this would at least not be a big problem I concluded. "So.. will you make the honor to go first...? Oh.." I hit my head dramatically. "Sorry, I did not mean to offend you.. Vicky o.. you can call me Vicky" I almost had said my last name but figured that is something I better keep to myself at the moment.

"Oh, well alright then, if you're sure" I said as she brushed my arm off from her shoulders. However I was almost a bit surprised because I thought for sure she'd let me help... But then again, in my condition who could blame her? I tried to pick up her emotions as she so strongly took on the mission herself. Was she mad at me because I didn't help (which was because of my condition rather than lack of will) or was it merely some strange display of actually being comfortable? Hmm, oh well, I thought and listened as the struggling elf girl laid out the deal.

"Hehe, sure thing, it's a deal. I'll make sure no harm becomes you, Miss." I said with my most gentleman-like voice and gave her a little wink. Was she one of those stereotypical girls that were afraid of mice or whatever? Not that it mattered, I was happy to help out especially now that she had not only agreed to open the door for us but also tended to me while I was out cold.

I sort of admired her as she broke the last pieces and thus allowed us to enter the house. And being in the gentleman-like mood that I was in, I didn't hesitate to accept the offer of being the first to go in. So I staggered over to the door, gave the girl a look as I passed her and complimented her on the good job. "Way to go... Vicky, was it?" I said with a honey-smooth voice, which was the way wrong approach as I really intended to hide my fascination of discovering more about this intriguing girl. I then proceeded to the door, put one hand on the frame and the other on the door itself, put one leg inside the crack, turned back to Vicky and said "The name's Icke by the way, pleased to meet 'ya. Now you stay out here for a minute while I check indoors" and then began squeezing myself through the crack. I had to crouch down a little bit, but with my leg indoors already I could navigate my body pretty easily.

Amongst all the pushing and squeezing I got an arm through and I was pretty much halfway there. However my rags got stuck on the doors broken wood, left a tear across my so called clothes and it showed a bit of my bare, sparingly white haired chest. "Damn" I went but thought I might as well continue, so I pushed the remaining part of my body through the crack which ripped my rags further to the point where most of my torso was exposed.
I fell to the floor of the indoors with a thud, ignored the pain for a moment, noticed my wardrobe malfunction and to spare myself of further embarrassment I tied the leftovers of the upperbody piece together to keep it from falling off completely. Confident that Vicky was alright outside, I began searching the room which seemed to be some sort of stock room of some sorts. There were two doors in there, one solid wodden labled "Storage" and the other had a glass window in it, but it was way too dirty to see anything. There were shelves all along the walls that was filled with boxes of various sizes and colors, a table tucked into the corner which was surrounded by a set of chairs and beside the table there was a counter with various kitchen things like a sink, broken plates, cups and on the floor there was a chest with a lock. I took a peek inside one of the boxes on the shelf and found a fine tailored skirt. "Whoa, I know who's gonna love this place, hehe" I thought to myself as my fingers touched the fine fabric.

I went back to the door, stuck my hand out the crack, waved Vicky over and said "It's safe to come in now". I continued to have my hand out, as I thought I might help her in.

Too busy when I worked on the door I never noticed the way he was looking at me, if I had maybe some of the emotions he would of felt at that moment would of shone through and I would of let him help. But as it was, I had done it. I brushed my hands off on my dirty rags and looked proudly at him. "Yes.. Vicky.." I replied with a nod with my head. I was not sure how to read his silky way of talking. Was he always like that or was he making fun off me for being a woman somehow? I was not sure.

"Alright.. I will wait out here.." and I realized I should probably address him as sir or mister, but I was way too tired to keep up with all the formalities the court sat up, besides, it was new times and most normal people don't talk like that anymore. At first I kept watching him trying to enter, hoping it was big enough for him to pass. It was then I noticed his clothes getting stuck and starting to rip, my first impulse were to fly forward and try help it loose, but before I managed to do any such thing, he seemed to just brush it off and continue. A hand flew to my mouth to keep in a gasp, he was almost naked, quickly I turned around with burning cheeks, leaned to the wall beside the door and looked out the alley.

"Out here, its clear.." I tried to keep my voice as stable as I could while talking to him. "How is it going at your end?" I called out, but not so very loud. I turned at his words and saw that his head already popped out. I smiled an excusing smile. I also hoped by the queen he had covered up before I entered. Icke, was his name right? I gave Icke my hand to have him help me inside now that he so kindly offered. I barely had to bend or kneel to get inside and I had soon managed to get through the crack. Trying to adjust my eyes I soon saw that this did not look like any ordinary home.

I sighed of relief when Vicky lent me her hand, I knew at that point we were pretty

much inside and at least in less danger than we were outdoors. So I dragged cautiously as I helped her get her in through the crack. Thanks to her small frame, she had little trouble getting in so my help was really not needed but I think it's the gesture that counts.

"There we go" I said and dusted her shoulder off gently and continued "That wasn't so bad, was it? Now, what I think we got here is some sort of back room of that shop we saw the front side of from the bushes, remember?" and walked over to the one box I had searched before, opened it and took the item out "Now... Look at this" I said, maybe a bit too loud as we had only explored this one, first room. I then handed her the skirt and if it was the first time I touched fine cloth, I gave it a little squeeze and feel before I handed it over.

"And there's much more where that came from" I said with a confidently toned voice, thinking about all the boxes that stood in the shelves, just waiting for someone... Someone like us, to open them and explore their insides, revealing piece after piece of fashionable clothes... However, going through the next box I discovered that it was empty. "Huh, odd" I thought to myself and went on to the next one.. "Nothing here either?" I said with my hopes for finally getting out of these rags and into something a bit more inconspicuous falling fast down to ruins. Almost panicking, I started ripping out box after box in one of the rows of shelves, only to reveal each one empty... Except for one, that contained a blue cloth of sorts.

Folding it out, I saw that it was some sort of headwear and it reminded me sort of like the ones the maids back home used to wear. Curiously I kept folding it back and forth a bit, I tried to figure out how to attach it to my head. All of a sudden a note came out and hit the floor. I picked up the old paper carefully as it was quite delicate and on it, it had some sort of code written on it, "1023" it said. It was probably some sort of store specific work-code to keep themselves organized. And under it, it said "Blue bandana, male model, size medium" and then some scratched off numbers I couldn't make out.

However I still couldn't figure out how to fold it right to make it stick right to my head. So I turned to Vicky and asked - "Mind giving me a hand with this? Or wait.. Maybe i should try to wash this dirt out from my hair first. Maybe later, ok?" I said and took it back and placed it on the table. "While I continue to go through these boxes, would you mind taking a little peek through the keyhole of that door?" I said and pointed at the one marked "Storage". "Don't worry though, I'll go in first if you still want, but just have a peek and lemme know if you see something"

I wrinkled my eyebrows at his last remark. Why did I have to go first? With a shrug on my slender shoulders I determined started to walk over to the storage door, turning my head slightly I looked at Icke. "Did you try to see if it were open already? The door I mean?" I also remember to add. "Sure.. I will give you a hand when you have had your hair washed, I always been rather handy with hairdo's."

Once I reached the door I carefully bend over to look through the keyhole and just as I had thought, it was dark and I could not see a thing. "At least.." I mumbled "it seem to have walls in there" and with that remark I glanced at the rather big hole in the door at our end. However it did not seem to rain anytime soon at least.

"You think they have water anywhere nearby?" I asked slowly and with a hint of disbelief, doubtful anything such as a functioning water system would be at work here.

I busied myself with the boxes, opening them, looking inside and tossing them became the routine as they were all pretty much empty. "Good, good" I replied, barely turning my head when Vicky said she'd help me out later on. While I was busy with the boxes I glanced over my shoulder as Vicky approached the door I sent her to look at, both because I was curious to what was behind it and also because I was worried about Vicky. Not that any particular harm could come to her from a keyhole but still, we both had to be careful.

"Walls, huh? Hmm, ok I guess we'll check out that room in a minute" I said, trying to figure out how in case it was locked. I didn't want to break it down, unlike the one we had gone in through this looked like a sturdy door and even if we did succeed it would make too much noise. Yes, we were inside but that didn't guarantee our safety.

I kept checking and tossing boxes, noticing Vicky was looking outside. Did she hear something or... Hmm, she better not be thinking about making a run for it and ditching me here, I thought to myself and kept an eye on the elf girl. My rather bumpy past had left me a bit paranoid and it showed by my cynical way of thinking. Although I tried hard to suppress these feelings and the thoughts that followed, about my life before this, my father, what he had done to me and what I had done to him... No, now is definitively not the time for this. I shook the thoughts away and continued with the boxes.

As Vicky asked me about the water I thought she was crazy. With these buildings being in the condition they were, most without windows, some missing doors, some even without walls... Why would any bit of the plumbing be working? "Well there's a sink right over there, miss Vicky" I said nodding towards the sink that this break-room was equipped with. Before I continued I made an intended prolonged pause, turned my head back to the shelves and their boxes, smirked and continued with a sarcastic tone - "..Why don't you have a go it? Maybe we can fill these empty boxes up with hot water and turn them into a bathtub."

I had just let another box fall to the ground and was on my way to walk over to the sink when this guys remark hit me and I stopped, turning my head back and giving him a long glare. "A bath? Oh aren't you funny, Sir" I said, but still intending to check the sink so I walked on. Once there I turned the handle and to my surprise it made a sound.

"Ewww.." the water that came out could barely be called water, since it was brownish with black lumps in it. "Just our luck" I muttered. Decided to let the water flow for a bit, in hopes it would clear up, I went back to a box and opened it. "Oh lookie here, I think this is.. eh... clothes?" and I held up a small white piece, which were a shirt but a lot more skimpier than I ever worn before. From were I came, big or long dresses and beautiful suits were more common.

As the reply to my comical remark landed upon my ears, I paused my search, put on a big smile and shook my head and then continued. "How could anyone be so naive that they could think there's even a remote chance the source of the water is still there, or in useful condition. And even if it was, the pipes were probably broken... Oh well, I'll let her have her fun" I thought to myself while my eyes came across this one box that were filled with hand-written receipts.

Guess the guy was desperate to keep the store open and make money that he even chose to not use the receipt-printer. But then again, I remembered hearing about the government pooling any and all resources of certain areas to restock their own so called "administration offices"... But it was really just a fancy word for "tax collectors", basically government-run mafias that put the squeeze on every smalltime business owner for every last credit they had. So they pretty much raised taxes on everything to the point where even the most common household items, in this case - Ink, became a luxury you could not afford. And if you got caught with an untaxed item, you'd be in serious trouble.

After snapping back to reality I heard and saw the black sludge flop down into the sink. It was probably one of the most vile and disgusting liquids I had ever seen. "Nice going, that will probably start to stink this place up real good in a minute or two!". I didn't say it, but I sure thought about it. But I could not worry myself about that right now, there's gotta be something in these boxes! And moments after the thought crossed my mind, Vicky exclaimed she had found clothes. My eyes opened wide and I almost threw myself off from the shelves and joined her in searching.

But just as I laid eyes upon the clothes she held up, there pipes started to rattle uncontrollably. I lunged myself over to the now rather unappealing sink and twisted the knobs to turn it off. Instead of turning the water off, I turned the knobs off. The rattling soon became volcanic, almost literally as the sink pretty much exploded and out came tons of the black mess we saw earlier. "Grab the boxes! We gotta get to higher ground!" I yelled and grabbed myself a few boxes and tackled the door that lead into the store itself.