Not too far off...
Nadezda Marinovic
Truth be told, it'd been Nadezda's first time this far into the city and likewise the first time she'd truly grasped just how, well, different this world was from her own. She'd hardly anticipated the extent of overgrowth that'd claimed the city, nor the structure of things themselves; the remnants of technologies she'd never even seen, echoes of technologies she'd thought she once knew, and now hardly had the time to spare a moment's care as she went about her task.
For, she had a mission, and though her eyes and thoughts were absorbed in every inch and cranny of the world that surrounded her, she pressed dutifully onwards without a second look. There wasn't time, she needed to get back to the others, needed to do what she must and get the hell out of dodge for all extents and purposes.
There'd been a reason she'd avoided the cities, or well, why she'd been told to avoid the cities, and it pretty much boiled down to danger potentially lingering 'round every corner. The larger cities were near overrun with Shadows from what she'd heard of things and though smaller parts like these would probably only have the occasional wandering band or so, even a single one of those things was far, far too many in her opinion.
In her entire, albeit very limited, time in this world, she'd only seen a single shadow and the experience had been quite...memorable to the say the least. Suffice to say, she was not looking forward to another encounter.
It was with this previous encounter in mind that Nadezda was intentionally all but crawling through an expanse of shrubbery and foliage, tucked away from sight along the avenues outermost edges. She might have been a coward, but by Jove, she was a stealthy coward...Or so she could only hope at least, truth be told she hadn't really the foggiest clue whether Shadows were sense based or just horrible psychic abominations that could sense one's presence regardless of preventive measures taken. Rather unfortunate lot, that. It was one of the many things she tried her damndest to avoid dwelling on...and of course now found herself thinking about regardless, luck being what it is and all.
Just get it over with and get out of here, get it over with and get out of here, she'd begun to unconsciously repeat the mantra as she pressed onwards, hands and teeth trembling so terribly as she crawled along. All this in the name of being useful, oh, if she died over this--well, actually, maybe it was best just not to think like that. She'd volunteered of her own accord after all, no one had truly forced her in any way, and it wasn't as though everyone else wasn't out and about scouring the cityscape for essentials too.
Besides, this had been her idea to begin with, a horrible, terrible idea that'd seemed much wiser at the time, but her idea none the less. The mass of clouds that blanketed the horizon in ribbons of white, coupled with the humidity and oppressive heat was an oddly pleasant reminder--despite the threat it bode--that they probably really didn't have the time to be searching as a unit though, and that her plan had in fact been at least in some way a good idea.
Micah had been the first to notice, remarking of the waves increased swell the previous day or so; to some degree she suspected he'd had his own suspicions long before he'd brought it to the groups attention, though, he'd been acting a bit...off even before that. When he'd actually approached the subject with them, his words had been much terser than usual, a feat even for him--and though she really couldn't make any definite claims to it, she'd suspected there'd been an ounce of...fear, perhaps was the word, as he expressed a desire to head inland. Apparently, a hurricane was imminent. Wonderful.
Though Nadezda had had at least a tad bit of doubt as to whether or not a storm was imminent at the time, she trusted Micah's experience far more than she did her own sense of weather, and the current state of the affairs seemed to support his words quite strongly now.
Looking down at the limited supplies she'd managed to scrounge up--a few water bottles and canteens, some dented tin cans hopefully of the edible variety, and a bunch of either terribly uncomfortable, deteriorating, or laughably small blankets--Nadezda couldn't help but wonder if they would actually be prepared enough...Hopefully the other's search had been more lucrative than her own.
Despite trying to remain on the optimistic side of things, her mind immediately drifted to a worst case scenario and how utterly, terribly, doomed they could be without the proper preventive measures. What if they really couldn't find enough supplies?--Micah and Lucien had been rather firmly against her idea to enter a fantasy, even if it was just so long as the storm passed, but the more she thought on it, the more she couldn't help but feel it was in their best interest. Especially with each passing glimpse of physical darkness roaming out of her peripheral.
It may have been safer to set up temporary shelter in the city as opposed to the ramshackle hut they'd previously been calling home, true, but that was like saying it was safer to sleep in the lion's den than to stay in a brush fire--yeah, it is, but you're still probably going to die.
One might call her, "ye-of-little-faith", but she was not liking their chances at all as of the moment. Way, waaaaay too many shadows for her tastes, she'd even glimpsed one inside of a house a few windows back and that seemed to imply to her that nowhere was safe.
With that thought in mind and no small sense of relief, the mint-haired girl found herself at the end of the boulevards expanse. Where therein she promptly pivoted 'round on her heel though to turn around. 'Till, of course, her damnable luck had it that a duo of shadows teetered her way, though in a daze and seemingly unaware of her presence--if fate had even an ounce of pity, she'd very much so like to keep it that way.
But, shit, the plan had been to meet back at the City's entrance sign she realized rather abruptly, eyes trailing back the way she'd came and over the teetering silhouettes. There was a good three meters or so distance between them, some sparse foliage growing as to hide her if she was feeling particularly daring, but for the most part it seemed a variable dead end. She'd been entirely unarmed save for a puny, half-rusted spade and somehow she doubted that would accomplish much against her foes.
But alas, that was a terrible idea if she'd ever thought of one, rather, she'd be better off continuing forward, down the forking path further up the road. Even if near everything in her dreaded the very notion of such a thing. She'd seen three, three shadows in total since she'd entered the city, her probabilities of survival seemed to be become increasingly smaller with each moment she stayed in this accursed place.
A deep sigh to calm her nerves before crouching low to the ground, glancing once, then twice back to where the figures had been before she makes the lunge, darting across the open expanse of street and straight into a thicket of ivy. For what seemed an eternity, she pressed herself as flat as humanly possible to the wall upon which she rested, alert for the slightest indication of a shadow's pursuit. Better to ere on the side of caution than become a frothing lunatic she reasoned, tentatively emerging from her cocoon of vines and foliage. For the moment the coast certainly seemed to be clear, best not to dally any longer than she had to, she silently assured herself, pressing further into the unknown.
She'd had a vague suspicion Micah would have to be somewhere along this route, but no real evidence upon which to base such an assumption. They'd separated so far back, at such angles, that the girl would hardly be surprised to find Micah at least a good two blocks or so away from where she currently was. It'd be just her luck too.
Slightly resigned to her fate, the mint-haired girl continued along her path rather uneventfully, only noting dully all future loot spots she'd have to visit if she came back this way. Or escape routes and quick hiding places should she need a quick retreat. Never hurt to be too prepared. She'd been staring down a particularly convenient looking fire escape down the road forking right along her path when the distinctive embroidery of Micah's robes caught her eye.
Halfway in the process of calling the elder boy's name, the bespectacled girl hurriedly choked back her words as another sight registered to her out of her peripheral. Opposite Micah, along the left path, she could make out the unmistakable sight of, well, color. From the look of things, the source was three boys and, from what she could make out of straining her eyes against the intermingling shades and hues of grey, their attention was focused on something just out of her sight.
The way the leading figure amongst them--a pink haired lad from the look of things--seemed to be holding himself, so tense and practically radiating apprehension as he motioned to the others beside him, left the girl with no small sense of unease though. Fearing the worst was just past her line of sight, Nadezda began to frantically motion for the priestly boys attention, flailing her arms like mad in about the only way she could think to do so. Any movements beyond that, say a step further or a rock thrown in his direction, she feared would bring the attention of whatever abomination lurked down the left path. She'd have to hope Micah would notice her flailing and interpret her motioning as a sign to follow, or could run fast enough to rejoin her should things inevitably turn sour.
She would--they would--have to deal with regrouping with Elara and Lucien later, quite frankly, she was just hoping they'd all manage to make it long enough for that to be a concern, honestly.