Root assumes she's dead at first. There's quite a few reasons to draw this conclusion: her clothes are bloody but the wounds under them are closed up, scarring nicely already; the sky is cascading colors across the night, not just an aurora but a whole spectacle of the universe; and she's stuck in a frozen hellscape with the wind whistling past her. She finds Bear just as her fingertips start to fully freeze and the two things together convince her she is not, in fact, dead, or at least not in any way that matters.
She spends the next few days getting to grips with her surroundings, thankful she has Bear to talk to as she keeps up an occasional murmured stream of chatter. Root is a city girl but she grew up in a small town and she knows at least a few things. She has a knife and that lovely tactical shotgun she'd stolen off the police officer ages ago, though she quickly realizes she's going to need to conserve ammo, bad.
There's a tiny cabin nearby that's structurally sound enough to provide protection from the weather, and Root makes that her temporary base of operations as she scrounges around the area for supplies. She gets some better clothing for herself -- looking fairly comical bundled up in all these men's layers, but it keeps her alive, four pairs of socks on to make her feet fit into the work boots she found -- and she used her knife to cut up a the outer shell of a half-destroyed parka. She took the strips and some duct tape and made little booties for Bear. She has to make new ones every couple days, but his poor little paws need protection from the snow and ice.
Her cochlear implant is on the fritz the whole time. Her implant intermittently crackling and shrieking keeps making her wince in surprise, so she turns it off, thinking about how hard it's going to be to find a way to recharge it. More than once she's intensely grateful to have Bear, who has far more acute hearing than her even when both of her ears are working, and warns her of nearby threats. His presence seems to act as a decent deterrent to the wolves, too, at least for now.
Eventually she feels well equipped enough to leave her temporary base, and she suits up herself and Bear -- who's wearing a child's tattered down vest as well as his makeshift booties -- as she heads out, shotgun at the ready. It's slow going through the snow, and she really has no idea where she's going or where there even is to go to, but she can't stay here forever. There's very little food, for one thing.
When she sees traces of civilization -- smoke in the distance -- her heart lurches with painful hope, and she swerves to head right toward it.
[!]:./milton
She's pathetically relieved to find real shelter, fire and food. It's another knock against this being purgatory -- which truthfully wasn't her favorite explanation to start with; Root's a staunch atheist in technical terms -- and it feels very real, raw and desperate, to warm up and eat. Like she really is alive.
As a responsible dog owner, she takes care of Bear first. He's a beautiful and well-kept Belgian Malinois, highly alert and at attention in the circumstances, clearly working. He stays still and focused as Root removes his tattered child's vest she'd found in that first cabin, and then carefully cuts off the taped-up booties. She brings over a full bowl of stew and sets it unapologetically on the floor for Bear by the cot she's claimed, then finally says, "Ontspannen."
Bear practically crashes into the soup, sloshing it everywhere as he eats frantically.
Root lets out a long breath and starts the process of taking off the many ragged layers she'd cobbled together. Soon there's piles of fabric getting strewn across her cot and she's starting to reveal skin, stopping when there's just a tanktop left.
"Anybody have a comb around here?" she asks the room generally, voice pitched to carry and devoid of shame. Her hair is a disaster.
[!]:./crows
Once the immediate necessities are taken care of, Root sets off exploring Milton with Bear by her side. They're both in much better spirits having found something approaching civilization and other people, and Root isn't shy about poking her head into any given building, whether it looks boarded up or occupied. She can be found rather rudely pushing her way into buildings all across Milton.
Of course, she notices the crows. However effective her shotgun would be on birds -- ironically the intended purpose of a shotgun -- her limited ammunition makes her extremely reluctant to waste a shot when there's so many of the damn things around. So her mind turns to alternate bird deterrents...
She's acquired a horrifically ancient half-empty bottle of vinegar and is standing on the street, looking at it thoughtfully. It's absolutely vile.
[ ooc: Also totally happy to do the body swap prompt or anything else, feel free!! ]
Root | Person of Interest
Root assumes she's dead at first. There's quite a few reasons to draw this conclusion: her clothes are bloody but the wounds under them are closed up, scarring nicely already; the sky is cascading colors across the night, not just an aurora but a whole spectacle of the universe; and she's stuck in a frozen hellscape with the wind whistling past her. She finds Bear just as her fingertips start to fully freeze and the two things together convince her she is not, in fact, dead, or at least not in any way that matters.
She spends the next few days getting to grips with her surroundings, thankful she has Bear to talk to as she keeps up an occasional murmured stream of chatter. Root is a city girl but she grew up in a small town and she knows at least a few things. She has a knife and that lovely tactical shotgun she'd stolen off the police officer ages ago, though she quickly realizes she's going to need to conserve ammo, bad.
There's a tiny cabin nearby that's structurally sound enough to provide protection from the weather, and Root makes that her temporary base of operations as she scrounges around the area for supplies. She gets some better clothing for herself -- looking fairly comical bundled up in all these men's layers, but it keeps her alive, four pairs of socks on to make her feet fit into the work boots she found -- and she used her knife to cut up a the outer shell of a half-destroyed parka. She took the strips and some duct tape and made little booties for Bear. She has to make new ones every couple days, but his poor little paws need protection from the snow and ice.
Her cochlear implant is on the fritz the whole time. Her implant intermittently crackling and shrieking keeps making her wince in surprise, so she turns it off, thinking about how hard it's going to be to find a way to recharge it. More than once she's intensely grateful to have Bear, who has far more acute hearing than her even when both of her ears are working, and warns her of nearby threats. His presence seems to act as a decent deterrent to the wolves, too, at least for now.
Eventually she feels well equipped enough to leave her temporary base, and she suits up herself and Bear -- who's wearing a child's tattered down vest as well as his makeshift booties -- as she heads out, shotgun at the ready. It's slow going through the snow, and she really has no idea where she's going or where there even is to go to, but she can't stay here forever. There's very little food, for one thing.
When she sees traces of civilization -- smoke in the distance -- her heart lurches with painful hope, and she swerves to head right toward it.
She's pathetically relieved to find real shelter, fire and food. It's another knock against this being purgatory -- which truthfully wasn't her favorite explanation to start with; Root's a staunch atheist in technical terms -- and it feels very real, raw and desperate, to warm up and eat. Like she really is alive.
As a responsible dog owner, she takes care of Bear first. He's a beautiful and well-kept Belgian Malinois, highly alert and at attention in the circumstances, clearly working. He stays still and focused as Root removes his tattered child's vest she'd found in that first cabin, and then carefully cuts off the taped-up booties. She brings over a full bowl of stew and sets it unapologetically on the floor for Bear by the cot she's claimed, then finally says, "Ontspannen."
Bear practically crashes into the soup, sloshing it everywhere as he eats frantically.
Root lets out a long breath and starts the process of taking off the many ragged layers she'd cobbled together. Soon there's piles of fabric getting strewn across her cot and she's starting to reveal skin, stopping when there's just a tanktop left.
"Anybody have a comb around here?" she asks the room generally, voice pitched to carry and devoid of shame. Her hair is a disaster.
Once the immediate necessities are taken care of, Root sets off exploring Milton with Bear by her side. They're both in much better spirits having found something approaching civilization and other people, and Root isn't shy about poking her head into any given building, whether it looks boarded up or occupied. She can be found rather rudely pushing her way into buildings all across Milton.
Of course, she notices the crows. However effective her shotgun would be on birds -- ironically the intended purpose of a shotgun -- her limited ammunition makes her extremely reluctant to waste a shot when there's so many of the damn things around. So her mind turns to alternate bird deterrents...
She's acquired a horrifically ancient half-empty bottle of vinegar and is standing on the street, looking at it thoughtfully. It's absolutely vile.
[ ooc: Also totally happy to do the body swap prompt or anything else, feel free!! ]