Anna left the store with her items and a bike, feeling slightly nervous. Although she has all she can have for survival, preparation is a constant. She can't have much, or desperate people will try to steal from her. She can't have too little, or she will become hopeless. She can't go around unprotected, or she will be unable to protect herself. It is a balance that may be impossible from the start. Having thoughts like this run through her mind, she muttered to herself.
"Wow, the world I knew truly ended, though I'm even more of a pessimist." (Anna)
Pushing what is now her bike, Anna walked till she was far enough away from the haunting remains of Walmart. Looking around herself at the silent but not truly empty street, she stopped. She stood still before taking a deep breath. She lifted her leg over, and onto the bike with a gentle plop she rested herself on the cushioned seat of the bike. Reaching down, she looked at the odd contraption she put together to pull her supplies. Behind the bike, she had tied a shopping cart full of everything she had grabbed. It had been strapped together with paracord while all she could think was that this was a bad idea.
"I can do this... I haven't rode a bike in eight years. It shouldn't be hard. There is the line just like riding a bike." (Anna)
Pressing the petals down as she rode down the road, balancing on the bike with the shopping cart strapped to the back. The cart being strapped to the back of the bike was horrible. The balance wasn't right, although she had gotten the hang of riding the bike in just a few rotations of the petals. What upset her was that the cart had no sense of direction as she pedaled the bike, so it forcibly kept pulling her off to the sides instead of going straight. Anna stopped a few times to see if tying the cart's front to her handlebars, but that made it hard and practically trapped her. Then, she tried to have the cart turned the other way so that she could tie the handlebar to the bike instead of the front. Still, that didn't work as well. It came to a head when Anna nearly stopped traveling and was almost ready to give up and make her apartment her temporary base of operations until she found a way to transport everything safely.
"I need to find a way to get this all around." (Anna)
No internet, technology, or anything using any power worked anymore, so that Anna couldn't look things up with the touch of her finger. She quickly went to Walmart because it was the largest shopping center closest to her apartment. She rarely went anywhere besides visiting her doctor, grocery shopping, and paying her bills. She had spent all of her time at her apartment. She didn't have a job because she was living off her inheritance. She also didn't have to worry about debt from medical bills because of the government and the later-on disability paychecks she received monthly. So, if anything, she is pretty much a hermit. She had no friends or family that could make her interact with others, and there was no one she tried to connect with after the incident. She doesn't know others or the place she lives in. Right now, she can count the number of people she interacts with on a repeated basis on one hand, and none of them are interactions on a personal level. Having them all be for professional or required meetings.
"I suppose I no longer have to worry about or bother attending any more doctor visits." (Anna)
A morbid, almost self-deprecating laugh almost burst from her lips before it was quelled as she spotted one of the shadow creatures that she had killed earlier that day staring at her from an obscure part of the alleyway: drool and blood pooling from its mouth. However, the blood was not green like its own.
"Creepy fucker." (Male voice)
BANG!
Anna heard the man's voice just before the sound of the gunshot rattled her teeth. The creature she had her eyes on now had a large hole in its head that entered and exited from its skull, causing Anna to see through it to the brick wall just behind it. It had stood there for a couple of seconds before crumpling to the ground. Brain matter and green gore coated the sidewalk of the alleyway as Anna turned her head to look toward where she heard the man.