{Markus Byrd}
21 || Male || Loner
Location: Just outside the city, south || Mentions: none, open

Markus sighed as he made his way across the barren landscape, squinting slightly as the sun made its’ way out from behind the clouds. Even though Markus was used to the sun, it was still a rare sight to see nowadays. After the take over of the Zvir, there were very few humans to take care of everything. With no humans to properly watch over the rates of pollution, and definitely none to slow it down, the skies had become a nearly permanent grey. The air had become hard to breathe, and so it was not often that Markus would go on long journeys. But he needed supplies from the city, even though there was little left. What he was mainly after was new knives, as his had started to become dull, making it harder to get food and defend himself.

His thoughts were disturbed as a caw was heard overhead, and the flapping of wings came closer. A three eyed crow landed on his shoulder, Markus responding by patting it. ”Hey girl, spotted anything?” he asked, stroking her beak. She let out one caw in response, which Markus had taught her meant ‘no’. Two caws were for ‘yes’. He smiled. He was grateful for how smart crows were, and how Akumu seemed to understand basic commands and words.

The city was now coming into view, and Markus rested his hand above his eyes to shade them from the sun to be a better look. An idea popped into his head. Before he acted on it though, he scanned the environment around him to make sure there were no Zvir or other potential threats. He turned his head towards Akumu. ”How about a race, Akumu? Loser has to find dinner tonight.” Akumu let out two caws, accepting the challenge. She took off, flying towards the city. Markus was left standing there dumbfounded for a moment before a smirk grew on his face. ”Hey! That’s cheating!” He yelled after his companion, who simply looked down at him and let out a long caw, mocking him. Markus couldn’t help but laugh, picking up his pace. He definitely didn’t want to have to find dinner tonight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{Nate Bardell}
27 || Male || Gang member
Location: West end of the city || Mentions: none, open

The sound of rapid tapping could be heard as Nate tapped his finger on the table he was sitting out. He was bored out of his mind. Another meeting for what the gang needed to do today, to either kill or loot anyone they came across, gather supplies, look out for Zvir, yadda yadda yadda. He knew the routine. After all, he was one of the first to join The Abandoned. A gang that was made up of people who were left for dead by cowards who only cared about themselves. Even though they were a group, The Abandoned still had little trust for one another, and definitely no trust for other gangs, groups or loners.

Nate was glad once the meeting had been dismissed, and he had been given his task for today. “Scout the area” said his boss. Granted, not the most exciting job, but at least he only had to deal with one person today; himself. He grabbed his gun and placed it in a front pocket on his leather jacket, easy to grab in case of hostilities. Nate then reached for the axe he had been lucky enough to find in his shed before he fled from his home. He made his way out of the building that the gang had been calling their home for the past year. It would never really be home to Nate. Home was with his family and friends, all who had either been killed by Zvir or turned into one themselves. Nate felt rage boil inside him as he remembered one of his so called ‘friends’ that had abandoned Nate when he hurt his leg. “It’ll only slow me down” she said. “You’re probably not going to make it either way” she said. Well, look at him now. He wasn’t exactly thriving, but he wasn’t dead either. And that was an accomplishment for Nate.

Sunny Adams
Female || 23 || "Abandoned" gang member
Location: Northwestern city || Mentions: Nate Bardell; open

Sunny sat perched upon a crate, legs swinging absentmindedly in front of her. A hand missing its pinky idly played with the dying remains of a cigarette butt. A remarkably non-mutated insect gave its last breath as a thumb smushed it into the wood. An awkwardly sized blade was pulled from somewhere within a duster and sharped with a stone for only a few seconds before being returned to its sheath.
Sunny was paying attention to the meeting - she really was! - it was just that she had already received her assignment and she was eager to go about actually doing it. While she had the utmost respect for her boss, sitting here and listen to him rattle off the day's schedule was absolutely, mind-mindbogglingly boring. She knew it was necessary, of course, and she would defend these meetings with vigor should anyone ever challenge them, but that didn't mean that they were fun, or even interesting.
Thankfully, it didn't take too long for their boss to wrap it up. When he did finally dismiss them, Sunny jumped to her feet, making sure she still had all her valuables on her person before moving at a brisk pace towards the room's exit. She, along with two others, had been instructed to go find food as a group, whether that meant hunting or looting or stealing. The Abandoned weren't too low on food at the moment - at least, they had enough to last a couple of days - but since it (along with shelter and weapons) was one of the greatest commodities of the current new age, there was no harm in collecting more. That was, of course, relying on the assumption that there was anything more in the city to find. Most goods had already been picked over by the various gangs or were deep in Zvir territory, and the non-mutated animals generally lived along the rivers. Maybe they'd get lucky and find a loner who was dumb enough to come within the vicinity of the city, though. It had happened before.

As she made her way out of the building, Sunny took notice of one of the other gang members - she wanted to say his name was Nate - skulking off to go do whatever it was he had been assigned to. She was pretty sure their boss had given him the task of scouting, which seemed perfect, considering the fact that Sunny was pretty sure she had never actually seen him interact with anyone else of his own accord. Really, that just wouldn't do - the whole point of being in a gang was to have strength in numbers, to have people watching your back. If everyone acted the way Nate did, they might as well be loners who happened to live in the same area.
"You sure you can handle that scouting all by yourself, Nate?" Sunny finally decided to call out, voice mostly friendly, mostly teasing, but with somewhat of a mocking edge.

⇺ [ Tobias Ahlström ] ⇻
28 |:| Male |:| Loner
Location - City |:| Mentions - None, Open

He woke to the sound of growling, his senses rushing back to him in a jumble of fear and confusion. Tobias tensed, the only movement made being to push his glasses further up his nose as he searched for any signs of danger. The room was empty, dull light seeping in through the cracked windows and casting a pool of gray across the floorboards, motes of dust visible floating in the air. The growling came again, but it sounded distant this time as if whatever had made it was moving on. Tobias let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding in, collapsing back onto the old couch he’d fallen asleep on the previous night.

Rising into a sitting position a minute or so later, he runs a hand through his unruly hair, eternally unhappy with the state of it as he moves toward the desk where some papers lay scattered across its surface. He examines them quietly for a moment before sitting in the chair in front it, opening a drawer and pulling out what appears to be a half-eaten granola bar, peeling away the rest of the wrapper to gnaw at the remains. He was running out of food and the knowledge he would have to make a decision soon weighed on him heavily.

Across the papers he’d created a crude map, documenting everything he knew about the city, the wastelands, and the camps that lay between them. It wasn’t much. He was relying mostly on second-hand information from other survivors. In the three years since the fall of humanity, he’d never left the city. It felt safer here, familiar. Zvir were everywhere, but surely even more lurked in the wild world beyond the city’s walls? With the rise of so many gangs and the Zvir popular only continuing to grow, Tobias had concluded it was finally time to go. He had little interest in joining any of the gangs, and he doubted they would have someone like him regardless.

Hopefully, somewhere out there, he would find other people like him — people who wanted to continue living and help others do that too. Abruptly, the growling returns, closer this time, and he tenses again. Not daring to move an inch, his gaze turned toward one of the windows, and he spotted a pair of icy blue eyes staring at him. Despite the animal being one he recognized, Tobias felt uncertain whether to welcome her and sadness threatened to overwhelm him. He met the young pitbull six months ago, and what a delight it'd been to find a non-infected puppy. He'd grown to miss the company of a good dog. Disaster struck three weeks ago when a Zvir bit her as Piper rushed to defend him. It was only a matter of time before she started showing signs.

Nothing about her was different yet. She was the same size as always, covered in sleek silver and white fur. No extra limbs were poking out of her, but her behavior had changed. The once enthusiastic, playful dog had grown aloof, her stare soul piercing and eerie. She would wander away for days on end but always returned to him. "Welcome back Piper," he greets her with an uneasy smile. For a moment her composure breaks, her tail wags, and Tobias is reassured that at least for now, she’s still his dog and not another mindless beast.

He moved toward the front door, opening it to allow Piper access. Rather than come inside she pointedly sits in the doorway, head tilted. It was about time they get going, Tobias relents. He quickly packed what few belongings he still owned into a small bag, slinging it over one shoulder before leaving the bunker. Perhaps someone else could make use of it now that he wouldn’t be.

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⇺ [ Lin Fāng ] ⇻
20 |:| Female |:| Abandoned Gang Member
Location - City / West End |:| Mentions - Sunny, Nate

Fāng could barely hear anything above the pounding of her own heart as she streaked across a shadowed street, jerking sharply around a corner as the beast pursuing her snarled in frustration, its jaws snapping on empty air. Figured the moment she headed out alone, she would have the misfortune of encountering a Zvir. Umber eyes searched urgently for anything she could use to her advantage, and she settled for the rusted fire escape she could see spiraling up the side of a nearby building, racing toward it as quickly as her legs would allow. The lower half of it must have fallen off at some point, the lowest step several feet above ground level.

She put on a burst of speed before bending her knees and launching herself upwards, her fingers grasping the lowest bar of the ladder. The motion swung her toward the building and Fāng grunted as her body collided with the brick wall, nearly losing her grip and falling to her doom. The Zvir came barreling down the alleyway after her, its hideous face tilting back to stare up at her. The creature was a dog at some point she reckoned, a bulldog if she had to guess, considering its flat muzzle and the copious amounts of drool dripping from its lips.

It growled, showing its fangs, and she returned the favor, baring her teeth at it in a silent snarl before pulling herself up and hooking a foot on the first step. Soon enough she was standing on the first level of the fire escape, clutching the railing with shaky hands as she caught her breath. "So glad I work out," Fāng murmured to herself, almost humorously. It was doubtful she would have been able to pull that off otherwise. She watched in amusement as the Zvir tried to reach her, never able to leap high enough to so much as graze the ladder. As large and imposing as the beast was, it was quite bulky and possessed rather short legs.

"Better luck next time fella," she calls down to the Zvir with a dramatic wave of farewell before climbing the fire escape to the top of the building, ending up on the roof. Her near-death experience was apparently not enough to deter her thrill for danger as she took off running again, making a clean leap to the next roof and then doing the same with the following building as she made her way back to gang territory. Eventually, her energy began to wane, and she slipped into the apartment complex she landed on next through a broken window, promptly passing out on the dusty couch before waking again an hour or so later. At this point, she had probably missed the meeting, but hopefully, someone could fill her in, and she wouldn’t get in too much trouble if she brought home something good. For once, Fāng was glad she’d left Eclipse at home. She wasn’t confident that escaping from the Zvir would have been such a clean getaway with her beloved cat in hand.

Making her way down to the ground floor, she walked the rest of the way back home when she noticed a few silhouettes in the distance. She made her way over to the group, recognizing Nate and Sunny before long. "Hey!" She greeted them as she came skidding to a halt in front of them. It’s clear from a just a glance she had gotten herself into some sort trouble. Her face and hands were smeared with dirt, a hint of dust still clung to her clothes from her impromptu nap, and her hair, pulled back into a trademark ponytail, is a frazzled mess, stray strands having come loose and sticking to her forehead. "What I miss?"

✢Morgan Melendez✢

23||Female||Abandoned Gang Member||Location:City/West End|| Mentions:Sunny, Nate, Lin

The tan girl made her way away from the meeting. Her assignment being to scout out new territory and to collect items and food on the way. Of course the gang didn't really need it but they had to assert their dominance someway. She yawned and looked up into the somewhat cloudy sky. Seeing the sun was a miracle and Morgan was glad for it too. She unzipped her jacket to let some sun seep into her exposed stomach. Looking left and right she spotted a small group of other gang members and made her way over. She didn't want to be awkward but she also didn't want to go against her code of never talking first. She picked up her pace and jogged over to them. Instead of talking, she instead waved and hopped from foot to foot. Their pace was slow for her. She liked to go fast and get things done so she had as much free time as she could.

She usually slept in an old house with a basement. She had found a key to the door in one of the rotting wardrobes and found the place quiet comfortable. She could lock it and hoard as much stuff there as she wanted and considered herself extremely lucky to have found it. She liked to go scavenging and found cool old trinkets that many others wouldn't think mattered and kept them in her area. She had had many run ins with Zvir before and usually escaped with minor injuries. But sometimes she broke a wrist or two from quickly climbing