Concrete cracked as she hammered it with her fists, forcing her fingers into the crevices and tearing her way from beneath the earth, stone falling from her grasp as she pulled herself up to the surface. Dirt fell from her hair and clothing, and she brushed it from her tunic, combing her fingers through her hair. Dark eyes carefully scanned her surroundings, heightened senses picking up on nothing more than strange sounds and smells she didn't recognize. Looking around more, she didn't recognize her surroundings either. Of course, it had been over a century, but more had changed than she could comprehend.
Slow, careful steps carried her forward, her senses primed for any danger. What she saw was stranger than anything she could have anticipated, and she realized then what very little remained of familiarity. Even the ground beneath her feet didn't feel the same, never mind the chill of the concrete.
Her gaze traveled her surroundings, lingering on all she didn't recognize. There were dozens of machines neatly arranged where she found herself, and she didn't bother getting closer to discern anything else. Understanding would come in time, but instinct superceded, and it had been far too long since she last fed. After meandering until she found the ramp that led aboveground, she stepped out into the cool night air - and for the first time, undeniably, into an entirely new world.
Again she forced herself to ignore the newness of it all, focusing in on the one thing that hadn't changed: prey. There were far more secluded places to hide away while drinking from someone, and that made her hunt all the shorter. Stepping out from the shadow of the parking garage, she began walking down the sidewalk to...somewhere. She doubted very much there were any others of her clan so far west, or that there were many of them besides. Their numbers had always been plentiful, but as she'd witnessed before going into torpor, the years were not kind to her people - and that didn't seem to have changed.
All of that left her with not much of anything in terms of resources or connections, but one as old as her didn't survive so long without reason. As always, she would find her way. No doubt it would take far longer to orient herself in this new world, but that didn't mean much. She was here now, and little else could change that. Perhaps later she would return to the northeast and familiar territory, but she needed connections first.
So she kept walking.
Slow, careful steps carried her forward, her senses primed for any danger. What she saw was stranger than anything she could have anticipated, and she realized then what very little remained of familiarity. Even the ground beneath her feet didn't feel the same, never mind the chill of the concrete.
Her gaze traveled her surroundings, lingering on all she didn't recognize. There were dozens of machines neatly arranged where she found herself, and she didn't bother getting closer to discern anything else. Understanding would come in time, but instinct superceded, and it had been far too long since she last fed. After meandering until she found the ramp that led aboveground, she stepped out into the cool night air - and for the first time, undeniably, into an entirely new world.
Again she forced herself to ignore the newness of it all, focusing in on the one thing that hadn't changed: prey. There were far more secluded places to hide away while drinking from someone, and that made her hunt all the shorter. Stepping out from the shadow of the parking garage, she began walking down the sidewalk to...somewhere. She doubted very much there were any others of her clan so far west, or that there were many of them besides. Their numbers had always been plentiful, but as she'd witnessed before going into torpor, the years were not kind to her people - and that didn't seem to have changed.
All of that left her with not much of anything in terms of resources or connections, but one as old as her didn't survive so long without reason. As always, she would find her way. No doubt it would take far longer to orient herself in this new world, but that didn't mean much. She was here now, and little else could change that. Perhaps later she would return to the northeast and familiar territory, but she needed connections first.
So she kept walking.