Ketsa
The setting sun lit the sky up in a dull orange. It was a bleary, tired color, one that made Ketsa think the sun was glad to stop shining on the wasted earth. Ketsa understood the sun didn't truly stop shining on the earth, but it still seemed to be wearied of casting light upon the desolate Outside. Perhaps there were other, happier places for it to shine, like the Zones.
The stinking, stupid Zones had it so much better off than the Outside! The probably didn't actually stink, for one, and there was probably a lower death rate in them. That was probably one of the biggest differences between the Zones and the Outside. Ketsa couldn't imagine people in the Zones dying with the frequency they did in the Outside. And there were all the simple things like food and clean water that made life much more survivable. Even comfortable.
It wasn't like life in the Outside was without perks, though. Ketsa felt a bitter smile grow on her face. After all, the Outside had vicious animals that were definitely exciting to combat. Life was a struggle at best, and what was life without conflict? Best of all you were sickly and hungry most of the time. Who wouldn't want an Outsider's life? Ketsa couldn't help but laugh at her facetious thoughts. Despite the fact they were bitingly bitter it was awfully funny to imagine an Insider wanting an Outsider's life. She couldn't help but laugh. All her time alone had given a sense of self humor where the oddest things seemed funny. It was sad in a way, but it sure beat being depressed. An old saying said that laughter was the best medicine. This wasn't true, for laughter hardly helped heal gaping gashes, but it did help her stay sane.
A low rumbling noise made Ketsa jump. The noise definitely was not normal and sounded eerily similar to a growl. She felt her heart rate speed up and started to take deep breaths. She had to stay calm. She could not surrender to her power, unless it was proved that she needed it. The rumbling noise could be a number of things. There was no guarantee that it was a threat.
Still, it was best to identify it so she could know how to handle the situation. Ketsa started to walk in the general direction of the noise. It was a litle hard to tell where it was coming from, but Ketsa's life time in the Outside had given her more sensitive ears that a soft Insider would have. When she got close enough she identified some sort of vehicle. It was on tracks and strangely stopped. What was the thing that ran on tracks? A train? Trains were operated by the Zones, right? So if this was a Zone vehicle there could potentially be some good things to take from it. Food, water, medicine, blankets, and who knew what else could be in there.
Ketsa started to run towards the stopped train. If she got to it too late other Outsiders would have ransacked it already, leaving nothing for her. She wouldn't have blamed them for taking the best stuff for themselves, but that didn't mean she would let them without a fight.
As she came closer she saw that there were already people by it. Shoot! At least it looks like they hadn't gone in yet.
Someone was on the ground, flat on their face. Ketsa debated for a moment about whether to help them up or not. Eventually the want of a potential ally won over the dislike for touching others. Carefully, because this person could turn out to be a threat as much as they could be an ally, Ketsa reached out to give her a hand. "Need help? Do you want to see what's in the train together?"
There couldn't be any harm trying to be friendly. People usually responded well to kind words, although some were just as likely to try to take advantage of you. You really didn't know what they would be like unless you took a chance. Ketsa usually preferred not to take the chance, but now was different. There were survival necessities on the line.