Welcome to Gaia! ::

The pungent smell distorted her senses for a bit, closing the manhole above her, then landing on the sewer’s moist ground below. She looked around, taking off her sunglasses, Marilynn taking in the tunnel's dimly lit setting. Brushing her hands together, she got some of the muck and blood off she had contracted from the ladder’s bars, and a run in with strangers from earlier, leaving a rather lethal and venomous Mari in the process. “Such [********] bullshit.”

She had left the CDC earlier, primarily from annoyance and desperation. Although she hadn’t been there for long, there wasn’t any word of Thomas’s whereabouts or well being while she was. The thought of losing him was a bit too dark, even for the hot-headed hitwoman. He was her only true friend left now in this world. Of course, she had Rani, too. But, the girl was so young, too young to be exposed to her own stories and thought process, even if in a rather gruesome world.

The sound of water under her shoes echoed in her part of the tunnel, as well as the filthy water running beside her. “Better not be any damn crocs down here,” an aggressive tone rang out, referring to walkers. She didn’t have a clue how sewers worked, but she would imagine it would be difficult for walkers to make there way in them, right?

After a few long minutes of walking, she heard screaming. Blood-chilling screaming, full of pain and beggary. She swallowed hard, as the noise seemed to bounce off the walls, filling the dark tunnels with a danger more pronounced than before. It continued for the seconds dragging on, as she made out she was getting closer to the noise. The moment she met eyes what laid before her, she stopped, widening to nearly size of saucers in horror. She had never seen such work in such a demented fashion up close. It was… it…

“Hello, Marilynn.”

“Drop your gun now!” “What the hell is it now?” Two men stood in front of the agitated, aggressive blonde, her posture stiff, her face scorning, “I said drop it!” She shifted a little in stance, lowering her pistol in her hand, “Any ‘please and thank you’s?” she said sarcastically, putting the gun on the ground, raising her hands in the air above her head. She had stuck to the side streets, and basically every pathway vacant of life. Of course, she had made a quick stop into a gun store, which had been picked clean. And, without fail, the moment she had started in a main street, she was now projected into a barely-planned hold up. At least she had gotten something, though. “Are you armed?” “I’m pretty damn sure I had two last time I checked,” she said sarcastically, a small smile on her face, but it was more of a taunting one than any other.

The two men were a bit away from her, them stopping to whisper to each other, until one began to approach her, her hands still in the air. Her eyes remained on the approaching one, him sticking his arm out, patting her down. His hand stopped, however, reaching inside of her jacket, pulling out a walkie talkie. “What’s this, huh?” She grinned shaking her head, as he turned from her, motioning the other man towards him. She still had her arms raised; watching as the man turned it on.

The two men spoke low again, as if trying to agree on some plan. After a minute of impatience, she lowered one of her arms, placing her hand behind her back, reaching into her pants, slowly pulling out a hunting knife. She quietly stepped forward, one of the men catching her, “Hey! What are you doing?” He snapped at Marilynn, as she quickly threw the knife into the hood of her jacket. She looked back and forth of both of them, realizing he hadn’t noticed what was previously in her hand. “My arm was getting tired while you two hens were clucking up a plan,” she said coldly, one of the men bringing his gun to her head.

After a moment, “What are we going to do? I think I can get Jay’s frequency on here,” “Yeah, no, go try it,” “Wait… hello? I think I’m picking up something. He—,“ blood erupted violently out of his mouth, the hunting knife’s butt sticking out of his neck, his attempted coughing becoming muffled from the crimson substance. She yanked the gun from the choking man, pointing it at the other shocked one. “Put the gun down,” her voice was astonishingly calm compared to the man, dropping his gun. His eyes were the size of moons, still looking at his past partner in crime, who had fallen to the ground, presumably dead. She knelled down, still keeping her eyes on the living man, taking the talkie, and switching it off.

Backing up, that’s when she noticed a red dot on the man, it moving rather slowly from his torso to his head. Her face twisted into confusion, until it registered. “Get down!” she yelled, lunging at him, knocking him to the ground, a gun shot following almost unanimously. Marilynn sat up, looking where the bullet had come from, before getting off of the man, beginning to break into a sprint. “Wai—,” “Get the hell out of here,” she called out, taking momentarily refuge into a nearby alley, her back hugging against the wall. She looked at the gun, now checking the ammo, to only see it was empty. She ran a hand through her hair, throwing it on the ground. Her silenced one was left on the ground, her knife lodged into a stranger’s neck; she was weaponless against the anonymous sniper. She peeked around the corner, the man was still alive, but he was… holding the other man close, not even attempting to run. But, it was then she realized what he was doing. The man looked of an older age, considerably more aged than the other. Yet, they both carried similar faces. It was a father and son. She had just killed his son in one of the most cold-blooded way without any warning, and in a world where being alone costed far too high.

She looked to the ground, pulling away from the sight, before leaning again around the corner. She was about to make a run for the gun as she stepped forward, inches away from her head a bullet had made contact with the brick wall, a puff of red dust and cement chunks making an appearance. Her body pulled away back to the corner instinctively, she pulled her hands over her head. “What the hell,” she muttered exasperatingly, her thoughts drawn in wonder. Had the world become so desperate whereas there would be random shootings? However, her naiveness would cost her in the near future, and it was only a matter of time.

Marilynn swallowed hard, running away from the scene, leaving the duo behind, and her gun. She was defenseless, as her expertise ranged with firearms and weapons. And, of course, she was in no condition to do any hand to hand combat. After a few blocks of covered running, she was exhausted, yanking up a manhole cover. It was still a ways off from where she had last seen Thomas, but she couldn't maintain running any longer.