[center][i]Joseph[/i][/center]

The streets are desolate and empty, a hollow husk of the old world. These piles of cars, these corpses that were strewn around the entire city, and the occasional bullet casing all told a very grim tale. The all powerful repossession agent that was mother nature gave humanity a very rude awakening. The soft pillow of industry was pulled away from us, with the firm, supportive mattress of agriculture following close behind. Chaos came next, but after that, peace, at the cost of at least a few hundred years of scientific progress. A sad tale, but not one to get caught up about. Survival and adaptation were more important than anything in this environment, and that meant focus.

It was now that I realized that throughout my period of recollection, I halted and allowed myself to be exposed. Not good. I scrambled for cover, diving behind a red automobile, it was tall enough so that my body was relatively well protected while I crouched there, at least from one direction.

What a daft move I had pulled. Risking my life just to reminisce about the past. I toyed with the idea of taking out my rifle, but that would probably have made the situation even worse. Having out such large weaponry gives me confidence, confidence that my body can do more than it really can. Such feelings cause me to not think my actions through, and to be much more aggressive, leading to me taking many more risks. Risks than can kill me. For a while now, I have really only relied on my machete, due to its reliability in combat and its capabilities as a melee weapon. Granted, this weapon only really allows me to fight from a more defensive standpoint, but I would suppose that's the advantage: to not fight unless you need to.

Soon, I stood up to survey my surroundings. It was strange, there was no real signs of zeek in the area. But, really, who am I to judge. This really helps my chances of survival, but I'm still wary, as no signs of any zed could be the result of a sweep by other armed survivor, a threat far more powerful than any zed that I have faced.

I made my way down Shuter Street, quickly and methodically moving from car to car, in order to stay protected and minimize the chances of me getting spotted by anything, or anyone. Soon, I found myself on Yonge Street, right in front of one of the biggest shopping malls in Canada: Eaton Centre. Naturally, I had to be wary, as once crowded places like this could have borne witness to a slew of different conflicts, and could even house a stronghold of (potentially) well armed survivors, or, perhaps just as terrifying, a horde of zeek waiting for their next meal. As I entered the parkade, I noticed one thing: It was really, really dark. Unfortunately, I didn't come equipped with a flashlight, so I hade to work with any sunlight radiating from either outside the parkade or from inside the mall. It was then that I realized I had no idea why I even came to this mall. Risking my life on a whim, I first wanted to just leave right then, but then I realized, I could use some new clothes.

Fortunately, I couldn't make out any zeds standing around me, but that sure didn't mean that there weren't any crouching or prone, so I kept a firm grim on my machete. Soon, using the parked cars as cover, I made my way into the mall, but then I notices something: there were two people, women, most likely, in an empty store a ways away from me.

"This might get interesting," I whispered to myself, quickly ducking behind cover once I noticed they were both armed. I took out my G36 and loaded my STANAG and chambered the round.