Raackman - After Cracks in the Earth

>You inspect the old vending machine as the light inside of it barely flickers
>Oh yeah
>There they are
>You haven't seen any of those in a LONG time
>It's a few packs of some old chocolate chip cookies among other sweets
>Gilda's gonna love this
>You unstrap your large hiking backpack and set it on the ground
>All you need is your old rock pick...
>You quickly find it and drive it into the glass of the vending machine and it shatters, exposing the sweets
>Even though this building has already been marked, you didn't see the Vending machine until just then
>You check the labels of the plastic covering
>They only expired a few months ago, nice
>You place them somewhere into your pack and stuff your rock hammer back in as well
>This is the advantage of getting out of the safe zones
>Anything you find is basically yours
>Although you're also supposed to leave caches out here somewhere near any markers
>Gilda handled this building for you
>You walk back down the dirty, dust filled hallway that leads to some stairs
>This used to be an office complex, before "they" came from underground
>Long story short, horrible monsters came from underground and slaughtered most of the human population, save for a few
>You and most of your friends were lucky enough to be missed by their sudden conquest of the surface
>Most of you friends, anyway
>You never saw Fluttershy when they were confirmed to be in the cities
>Likewise with Rarity
>Pinkie managed to survive, right now she's a nurse in a the safe zone you live in
>Just getting people to smile nowadays seems to be tough, even for Pinkie
>Applejack also lived, and even now she helps a lot with growing crops
>Twilight also managed to survive, and has helped quite a bit in terms of practical and medical assistance
>She's pretty good at teaching others
>Sunset also is doing fine, she has a job like you and Gilda, doing recon outside of the safe zones
>As for Rainbow...
>Poor Rainbow died of Dysentery only a few weeks ago

>Gilda was quite saddened by her sudden death
>Well, crushed is more fitting
>Applejack was likewise devastated by her loss
>At the time, Gilda was already your assigned partner, but she lost the will to leave the safe zone with you for a while, so you convinced her
>You just told her that Rainbow had to go and make sure that those monsters found their way to hell
>That cheered her up a bit, enough to get her to go with you out into the dead cities
>You reach the bottom of the long stairs and see Gilda waiting for you by the entrance
>"Hey, you sure took your sweet time getting here, what's up?"
>You shrug nonchalantly
"I had to double check something, thought my Geiger counter was ticking."
>She slightly rolls her eyes
>You can't help but smirk a bit
"Well, on to the next one."
>She nods to you as you both begin walking
>You look up at the building you were just in as you walk out
>Even though it's slightly tilted, it's still standing, therefore, it's safe enough
>The only requirements are that it's safe to be in, no radiation whatsoever
>No more worries about getting attacked by the under-worlders
>What ended up saving humanity was a nuclear warhead right in the heart of their home underground, which ended up killing the hive mind they were operating on
>Every single one of them everywhere supposedly died, but the military isn't taking any chances
>So that's why they have scouts like you, to make sure it's safe to start moving out of the safe zones
>They want it to be organized and with as little confusion as possible, that's why you're marking buildings and putting caches out here
>You and Gilda have gone through about ten buildings, with only two of them being unsafe because of some fallout
>Every step you take echoes quite a lot, since there are no other sounds to drown out any that you might make
>You take a look around and notice that it's much darker
"Hey Gilda, do you think we should make camp somewhere?"

>She looks over to you and shrugs
>"Let's check out one more building, then we can call it a night."
>You nod and scratch your head
"Which one should we start with?"
>Both of you look around
>Most of the buildings around here don't seem to be intact
>"How about that one?"
>You look over and see Gilda pointing somewhere
>She's pointing to the nearest one that is mostly intact
"Alright, we'll check it, if it's no good, we can just go back to one of the marked ones."
>She nods to you again
>The both of you walk over to the building
>Both of the neighboring buildings to this one have collapsed, but this one seems to be just fine
>This one looks like it has plenty of rooms
>You and Gilda walk into what looks like a small lobby, with an elevator shaft just in front of you, and a flight of stairs next to it
"I'll take the upstairs, as usual."
>"I'll look around here and the second story."
>You begin walking up the stairs
>The walls seem to be in decent condition, and the paint doesn't seem that faded
>You make it to the second story and quickly recognize the layout
>This is an old apartment complex, nice
>Each story has three neighboring rooms, and each one seems to still have the front door in the doorway
>You continue up to the third floor and try the nearest room
>Still locked
>You try the other two, they are also locked
>Might be able to break the knobs off with your rock pick
>Actually, Gilda might have a crowbar with her
>You continue up to the fourth floor and check the rooms once again
>Also, all locked
>Great...
>When you get to the stairs that lead to the fifth floor, you encounter a pile of rubble blocking the way
>Well...
>Guess you'll have to go back down
>You turn back and descend to the second floor where you meet Gilda
>She looks to the stairs behind you
>"Find anything good?"
>You shake your head
"All the doors are locked, I was wondering if you have a way to open any of them."
>She smiles a bit as she drops her pack