Undiluted sunlight poured into the room through the broken door, causing everyone to squint severely, multiple people crying out in fear. Lifting a small hand, Grace curved it like a visor, offering some reprieve from the harsh and unexpected light. Slowly, ever so slowly, all eyes adjusted and everyone could see. All were still for a moment.
Grace stared, blue eyes wider than they had ever stretched, filled with astounded awe. No one had made a move to leave yet, and so she decided it was time. Stepping forwards with a hesitant gait, the young girl placed a firm foot on the threshold, holding her breath needlessly before taking the final step.
She was outside.
Imagine the most beautiful and prized possession that you have ever laid eyes upon, and then try to think of something that means more to you on every level. That is what she felt in that one spectacular moment, everything finally coming together, dreams of long ago coming to life in the stooped, ragged backs of stone towers that stood vigilant guard over their Shelter. In the near distance, trees, actual trees, grew into a sea of verdant green, a color hardly ever seen in the bland halls of Shelter Everest. Grass grew in rough patches between the stone littered ground, earth firm but giving beneath her shoes, much different than cold cement.
Grace realized she was still holding her breath, and released it in a loud exhale, opening her mouth to allow more air into her lungs. It was fresh, crisp. It tasted nothing like the air pumped repeatedly through filters that the people below so treasured. If only they could all come up here.
That exact situation was shoved back into her mind with increased clarity at the sounds of shrieking and running footsteps from the room. Whirling around with adrenaline already coursing through her veins, the short form of Grace worked it's way through the fleeing crowd back to the room which everyone seemed to be desperate to escape. Pushing past the last person, sparing a moment to watch some of them continue running towards the forest, she peered into the shadowed room. Immediate regret followed that decision. Laying on the ground in limp heaps were three people, one a man, one a child not any older than herself, and one an older lady. Horrid burns and boils marked every area of exposed skin, foam leaking from the corners of lips, clouded eyes staring but unseeing.
Dead.
Without even a chance.
So it was true, not everyone could live up here because of radiation.
Grace moved back, eventually pressing up against the firm rock wall of the mountain base. Inclining her head, locks of raven hair falling into her eyes, she stared in wonder at the mountain range that stretched forever upwards, barely visible white capping the peaks. She wasn't sure what caused white to grow on things, but maybe it was just an outside thing. A hand on her shoulder surprised her, making her jump a little. Shooting a glare over at whoever had touched her, the anger melted away replaced by a questionable look. Holli stood nearby, hand still clutching onto her shirt, electricity gun in the other. The knife had been hidden in some pocket or other thing. The older girl strode off in the direction of the others, who had been steadily streaming towards the forest aside from the rebellious few who were either too scared to move or who thought the mountains were survivable. Allowing one more glance to her previous home, Grace scuttled after Holli, hoping the other wouldn't mind her presence. She didn't have anyone else to follow or stay with, and Holli seemed... Not friendly exactly, but accepting.
--- Time Span It Takes To Enter Forest Passes ---
Wrinkled, brown leaves crunched underneath her feet, making satisfying noises that she couldn't help but enjoy. Holli might be getting annoyed with it, as she kept sending looks back at her with unreadable emotions, but that was understandable as every time there was a particularly large pile of leaves, she would make sure to stomp on them all. Grace didn't give a flying crap though, she was outside, and she would enjoy it before... Well before she died. She knew she was small, more vulnerable than others, did not have a mutation or power yet, and was younger therefore less useful. At least that's how it was in the eyes of others. She could fight pretty well, but she didn't have a weapon. Holli had allowed her to tag along so far which was great. But what would happen when the older girl tired of her antics? Of spending time with a child?
Shaking negative thoughts away with a forceful stomp on some leaves and twigs, Grace exhaled through her nose, wanting to talk to her companion, but not being able to hear what you said had consequences. She also couldn't read lips very well. Today was already a risky day, so why not?
"Holli? Where?"
She spoke two words, fairly simple ones, and they had clear meanings. She wanted her attention, and wanted to know where the heck they were going, because she had no clue where they were at this point in their journey. All Grace knew was that she was growing tired of walking, all surroundings remaining the same yet awfully colorful, and was curious about Holli herself.
The only response she got was a waving of a hand to be quiet and follow her. At least she wasn't told to go away. Concentrating on her steps again, crushing leaves with wild abandon, Grace huffed when she ran into the older girl's legs. Shifting backwards with a light blush over her cheeks from embarrassment, her hands were slowly raising to sign something to Holli, but they were batted back down, a fierce look sculpting her face that scared Grace more than it should have. Turning easily to whatever Holli was so fixated on, she was prepared to shrug it off as a quirk of the others mind, but instead ended up freezing in place.
Oh shit.
In the surrounding forest a large beast prowled, hidden mostly within the underbrush, the only visible appendages being occasional flashes of matted fur in the sun. It deeply frightened Grace, who still stood rooted to the spot, bandanna having slipped down to rest around her neck, mouth and nose visible. The animal continued it's circling around them, the glint of eyes now fixated on Holli, who had moved slightly to get a better grip on her gun.
The gun. It could probably kill this thing. The charge of electricity in there easily killed a human in one shock, but this thing was huge. It would probably take two. Her hands were shaking, and she didn't know what to do. She knew how to fight a person in physical combat, and a bit with weapons other than guns, but wrestling with that didn't seem like the best idea. The animal had frozen, focused solely on Holli, seemingly ignoring the hunched form of Grace, instead watching the movements of the girl warily. She was moving slowly, probably trying not to startle it into anger and action.
That thought had been wrong though, as Holli quite suddenly burst from her standing position, sprinting to the side and aiming the gun at it's head. Thundering steps shook the earth as it charged, maw parted in what appeared to be a fearsome roar. Thank the skies above that she couldn't hear it. Holli discharged the gun with precision, managing to actually hit the beast, now revealed it looked like a large bear which Grace had only seen one of in a story book, it's large mass crashing to the ground in convulsions as it was electrocuted.
Finally able to move, stiff limbs working once again, she ran over to a panting Holli, worried about the bear still lying there, the shaking having stopped the moment the gun withdrew it's tendrils. That was how those weapons worked, they had string-like things that launched when you pulled the trigger, and the ends had barbed tips so that it sank into fur, flesh, whichever obstacle. She patted Holli's arm, tugging on it for them to leave.
"It's fine. Should be dead now." She signed to Grace, trying to reassure her anxiety.
It didn't work. And for good reason too, as the second they turned away, it lifted back onto gargantuan paws, charging towards them once more. This time, it noticed Grace, who rolled in the opposite direction of Holli to avoid the crushing paws and jaws. The gun had been knocked loose from her grip while diving out of the way, and it rested on a bed of leaves, unbroken.
Behind the fucking monster.
A sharp, glittering object sailed past Grace's ear, impaling the dirt beside her. Holli's knife. Why did she give it to her!? Grasping the smooth handle, she yanked the blade from the ground, standing up and appraising the relatively long length of steel. Attention redirected to the bear, she exhaled lightly and took up a braced stance, expecting it to turn to her. It didn't. Instead, it turned to Holli, bared its elongated fangs, and proceeded to run at her, managing to catch her upper arm with a claw and causing the girl to spin over. Luckily out of it's destructive path.
By that time, Grace had already been running after it, having forgotten about the electricity gun, and after catching up to it, lunged underneath it's broad chest. In hindsight, it was an incredibly stupid move, especially leaving the gun behind and fighting a monster with a knife. Grace just flowed with the direction of the river. Meaning the river went upwards because that blade was thrust that direction with such force, impaling it's thick hide and becoming stuck in it's rib cage.
She got lucky. Without Holli, she would be trampled underneath those legs and eaten as a light snack. But, this girl who had previously been lying on the ground, wounded, had gotten up and shot that revolting thing with the gun at full capacity, full charge.
Needless to say, it died this time.