Out from under the rock (Marcus)

[Silk Sanada]

Silk sat on her bed, pen in hand and the sound of it scratching rapidly over the paper could be heard. She hadn't left her room really in months. The newspaper that had Leon's picture and his obituary sat on her bed. It looked as though it had been read so much it was about to fall apart. Her window was shut as always, the curtains closed and candles lit around her room. Though the world had gone to hell outside, she had no idea. She didn't know her lights had ever gone out or that the water in her house had stopped working. She didn't even know Barker had won. After the news about Leon she had locked her self up in her room to focus on her book and take her mind off of the passing of her friend.

It didn't work. She still had dreams about Leon, about Tenchi and about all her other lost friends. Though the dreams weren't really good. For her they were more like nightmares. She had dark circles under her eyes because she worked on that book 20 hours every day. Then an hour went to sleep, an hour went to actually eating and doing what ever else she had to do to keep her room neat though that too failed. Mostly, when she wasn't writing, she would just lay in her bed looking at Leon's picture. As she scribbled down the last sentence for her book she would sigh and stare at it. That last dot on the white page telling her she had come to the end of her focus point. Finishing it was bitter sweet but all the same the Silver haired spanish girl would leap from her bed and run at her door. Her foot would slam into it and snap the frame around it as it flung open.

"MARCUS I FINISHED IT!" Silk belted out at the top of her lungs. When Marcus didn't come running she looked around confused. "Marcus?" She ran towards the guest room figuring he was hiding there and didn't want her to know. That door was kicked in too. Only she didn't find him there. The next 15 minutes were spent with her running through the house, only a button up shirt covering her torso and black silk panties covering her lower half. Her silver locks were messed up and splayed out in every direction as she ran from room to room kicking the doors in. "Marcus! Marcus! Marcus! Marcus!" There was no reply and as Silk left the kitchen where she had been so sure she would find him a bit of sorrow touched her.

The idea that perhaps he left because she hadn't been around entered her mind. Aiko and Bandit sat silently watching her as she ran around like a mad woman and in the moment of her sorrow Aiko would bark, wag her tail and hop in a circle next to the back door that lead to her backyard. Even Bandit was meowing rather annoyingly and Silk would walk sadly to the door. She wrenched it open to let them out and both animals bolted. Silk would follow them with her brown eyes as she hadn't had a need to wear contacts. Soon her eyes caught sight of a big metal thing. Yes thing because she had no idea what it was. Next to it, tinkering away was Marcus.

She blinked. There was a moment of registering that it was him before she ran screaming into her back yard and chucking her manuscript for her book at his head. "MARCUS YOU DICK!" Was what she screamed as the thick manuscript flew at his head.

[Marcus Prasad]

Another day, another burst pipe in the water main. A Project that was months in the making, Marcus had set about scavenging for scrap metal to create an extensive fresh water system using above ground pipes that connected the water lines from every house on the block to create massive gardens as well as turning the houses into impromptu greenhouses. All designed for one purpose.

Food.

Marcus knew He, Silk and the pets couldnt live on meat alone. He would need to find a way to grow his own crops. Living in the grey zone, it didn't take long before he found the house under seige from roving bands of thugs and bandit gangs. After a heated fight that took a week before the dust finaly settled, Marcus found himself completely alone in the neighborhood as everyone else had either died in the crossfire or had abandoned thier homes entirely.

Abandoned thier homes. Well if Marcus was going to have blood on his hands, what better way to wash it all off than by keeping himself busy growing, tinkering and cultivating. It's funny actualy, how Marcus' love of fixing bikes was able to translate to spot welding pipelines together and rig up an electronic box that controlled the water flow in each piece of property. To be honest it involved more trial and error than anything else.

Another new thing was the fortifications. To ensure that the block was easier to defend, Marcus had spent his time not working on the pipeline to putting up Scrap metal roadblocks and walls as well as turning the rooftops of houses into guard towers with no real ladders. One would have to be a hell of a climber to enter these guard towers.

After fixing three leaks with duct tape and metal riggings, Marcus finaly got to his feet and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand......

"MARCUS YOU DICK!"

......Only to suddenly pitch forward as something heavy with sharp corners konked him in the back of the head, driving his noggin into the pipe infront of him which busted a seam sending a jet of water right into his face. Sputtering and swearing a blue streak, the man acted fast as he shut off the water flow with a quick twist of his wrench.
After taking a moment to collect himself and wipe clean his face, Marcus snorted air from his nose in a fit of anger and turned to the source of the projectile.

"Silk?"
Marcus asked increadulously. He hadn't seen her leave her room since......since......well, a long time ago. He furiously rubbed the back of his head as he regarded her.
"Finaly decided to join the world of the living eh?"

[Silk Sanada]

Granted the boy hadn't seen her in a while but the questioning tone he took when saying her name got an eye twitch from the silver haired woman. "Who the hell else would it be? Fuckin' Mary Poppins?!" She said rather annoyed. She had just watched water shoot out of a pipe and hit him in the face when his head smashed into it. She pointed at the pipe. "What the hell did you put in my back yard?! I go away for..." She paused. The days ran together for her. She didn't know how long she had been gone. "The hell is with the damn pipe of water in my yard!?" She said ignoring his comment about the land of the living. Not everyone was living and that is what drove her to go off into her room.

Her arms crossed under her chest causing the button up shirt she was wearing to rise showing off more of her panties and her long legs. Shame? What shame? Silk never was one to have it and even though she might have been in a slightly depressed state of mind it didn't mean she'd cover up. Aiko and Bandit chased each other around Marcus. It seemed in her absence, Bandit had grown fond of the man, if only because he fed him. Aiko always liked Marcus so nothing had changed there. Silk looked around. Their neighborhood looked practically deserted and from what she could tell the pipe in her yard wasn't the only one. It connected to others that lead to houses on either side of her and lord knows where else. Instead of anger which usually covered her tanned face, worry settled there.

Her brows furrowed as she lowered her arms and turned around to look at the area around her from her back yard. "W-what the hell happened?" She asked clearly sounding confused. After all when she left, the world wasn't totally destroyed. It had only been the start. "Marcus?" She said keeping that confused but worried tone in her voice.

[Marcus Prasad]

For a moment Marcus left Silk to......adjust to her new surroundings as he reached down to give Bandit and Aiko a scratch behind the ears. The man had something of a truce with the little hellcat considering that Marcus was the only one left in the house to feed him and change his litterbox. Luckily this allowed Marcus to use Bandit as living artillery when the bandits came knocking. Aiko he never had a problem with. The little fox was just an affectionate bundle of cute.

"I guess I don't need to......."
He began before pausing as the hem of her shirt, clothing that was distracting him already, pulled up revealing some delicious looking cinnamon brown skin. It took Marcus a moment to realize he had his head tilted to the left.
"I.....Errrrr.....Anyway, Yeah. I can explain the Pipes!"

He expected another cavalcade of blows. What he got was something he had never seen before. Silk looking uncertain. Vulnerable even. He took a step toward her and nudged something with his foot. Reaching down, he picked up Silks Manuscript which by some miracle managed to avoid all the splashing water. Walking up to Silk, Marcus brushed grass off the cover and held it out for her to take back.

"Worlds gone to shit since you last been out and about sweetheart." Marcus explained. That's right! She wouldn't have known about much of whats had been going on since.....shit, since mabey even before he had even moved in.
"So we had to make due. Now the pipes? The pipes channel water to over 20 fruit and vegitable gardens on the block as well as provide us with relatively clean water."

"I guess I might as well start from the beginning. You might want to sit down for this hun. Ever since Barker had dropped the bombs and you went into exile, I've had my hands full just keeping this place in one piece while every Tom, Dick and Harry Fuck-you-up in the Grey zone made plays to eat up our real estate. Well the Neighbors got spooked and jumped ship so I figured now would be a good time to expand our influence so to speak."

Marcus shook his head as he realized he went off on a tangent.
"Wait, Ok so Barker has pretty much bent the world over and gave it the ol' heave ho. Society in general got dropkicked into Mad max Territory with some gangs out for themselves and other gangs trying to reassert some form of order. In fact I'm helping one such faction out at the moment. It's kind of complicated."

This was alot to take in at once, Marcus was sure. Worried he was overwhelming his Best friend with too much too soon, Marcus crossed his muscular arms over his chest and took a step back to give her some space.
"Look, Lets take this step by step. Which question do you want me to answer first?"

[Silk Sanada]

Marcus wasn't really all that bad in the feline's eyes. The cat just found it funny to harass him. Though the truce had been called and that was mostly because the feline wasn't exactly sure what was going on but when people threatened his owner and his home, well he couldn't let that happen. Being kind to the boy who was trying to protect the same thing he was, became easy in this instance. Aiko was just glad the two were getting along. It made better cuddle times especially since Silk had pretty much locked her pets out of her room. It had both animals worried as they hadn't really seen her that upset before.

Marcus prattled on about the pipes, a few things were mentioned about the state of the world now but Silk struggled to wrap her mind around it. For her it felt as though she took a nap and the entire world just went 'Quick, she's asleep! Turn upside down now!' She'd reach up and place her fingers on her forehead as she released a frustrated sigh. "You... I... I'm going to make some tea and you are going to try and explain this to me after I have caffeine." She would take her manuscript and look down at the cover for a moment. If what she understood was true, she just spent months... locked in her room writing a book that wasn't even going to be read, all to not focus on the fact that her friend was dead.

"Come on." She said as she turned and made her way back into her home, her hips still carrying that same seductive sway despite her hair being a mess and how exhausted she looked. Bandit and Aiko ran ahead and bolted into the house. "You can fix the pipe later." Silk waved her hand as if waving away the ruptured seam that she had of course caused. She would wander into the kitchen and would get out the many teabags she had stored in the cabinets. Her mind was still kind of reeling from the information she had taken in rather quickly from Marcus. His intentions were good and he was a sweety for having kept her house from falling apart while she was... indisposed, but in the end... Silk felt herself further away from the world than she had intended to be.

She would stop and look at her coffee maker that sometimes got used to make her tea. Then her eyes went to her stove. It occurred to her she had no idea if either thing even worked. She just stood there looking even more lost than when she had noticed how much the world around her had changed. "Marcus!... I don't... know what does what and what doesn't do what it used to do." She said sounding rather pathetic. A slight tremble in her voice gave away the fact that she felt like she was losing it. For Marcus, someone who had known her oh so well in high school, he'd know that tone rarely if never slipped past her lips and the fact that it was now... well it was clear more than just not knowing what was going on, was digging at her.

[Marcus Prasad]

Marcus shifted his weight on the balls of his feet for a moment before casting a final glance behind him, tossing his toolbelt onto a rickety wooden table that acted as a work bench of sorts. Well, at least she still had that swagger in her hips. That was always a good sign. Still, it surprised Marcus how upset he felt over Silks current state of mind. Seeing his best friend so way over her head like this was something so completely alien to the man. She always seemed so damn inflappable. Like nothing could get to her.

'Then again, considering what she had been through already. Damn Silk, this worlds seriously putting you through the ringer isn't it?'

A divorce, a miscarriage and now the world had been torn apart and partialy put back together? It must have been Leon's 'death' (Still in Denial) that put her clean over the edge. Leon was just as much a staple in her life as he was in Marcus' own.
He entered the house, running a hand through Bandits soft fur as he slipped his shoes off just as Silk began another small freakout in the kitchen. It took only a few steps before Marcus had closed the distance and stopped the frantic Silver haired woman with his hands on her shoulders.

"Ok, Silk?"
He spoke carefully, hoping to sound reassuring.
"Just chill out a sec. We still have power. Luckily we are close enough to the city grid, so everything should still work like it's supposed to. If it doesen't, just let me know and I'll go fix it ok? I kind of.....turned into a Mr. Fixit while you were working on your book."
Slowly Marcus guided her over to a kitchen chair and gently pressed her down to a sitting position before sliding his hands up to cup her warm cheeks.
"Wait here. Stay calm and let me make the tea mmkay?"
Marcus continued to speak with a gentleness that wasen't at all condecending and yet still held a hint of command to it.
With a crack of his knuckles, Marcus whipped himself into a hurricane of motion as he gathered and began to prepare a nice steaming cup of tea.

"So what DID you make you're book about?"
He asked, hoping he could distract her for a moment.

[Silk Sanada]

Silk would sigh as she was lead to the chair. To be honest she never felt this lost or helpless before. Not knowing what happened while she locked her self in her room had been the thing to make her feel the most helpless. Kind of felt exactly like when she left to deal with her grandmother and came back to Ianh's letter. She sat down and shook the thought from her mind. Marcus whipped around the kitchen as Silk put her head in her hands. Thoughts slipped in and out, nothing was coherent at least not right now. Lack of sleep had really gotten to her as well. Made it hard to focus, her brain felt like she was swimming in a sea of cotton. At the mention of her book she would look up and over at Marcus. "What? Oh... my book." She said before looking at the manuscript in front of her.

"Well... does it really matter any more?" A defeated smirk crossed her lips as she stared at it. "I locked my self away to finish it only to find out there is no point. The irony of that is kinda a kick in the crotch isn't it?" She let out a bit of a laugh at it and leaned back in her seat. Her hand coming up to brush her messy silver hair out of her face. The roots of her dark hair showing as she hadn't really been working on keeping her appearance up while working on the book. Her brown eyes moved from the book over to Marcus and she took in a deep breath. "Sorry... just.... haven't been sleeping well." She could tell Marcus was worried. A soft smile danced over her lips as she looked at the table thinking about it. "At least that hasn't changed..." She said to her self.

It was a welcome thought to think Marcus hadn't changed in her absence. She realized she had no idea what had become of Kazuya, though she supposed in the grand scheme of things right now that should have been her last thought. It wasn't like they had actually become anything after all, it had all been her wishful thinking perhaps. She'd shake her head. The silver haired girl hated how her thoughts jumped from one to the other. She had to focus! "S-so... Mr.Fix-it huh? Guess that means I have to move you from the attic to the guest room now." She smirked over at him trying to keep her mind from turning on her. Bandit would climb up into her lap and purr. Silk would reach down and begin to pet him. Aiko hopped around Marcus' feet.

"Were you two nice to Marcus? You better have helped." She said poking Bandit's nose as if he were a child. The feline just purred in response not having gotten attention from his beloved owner in a while. Hell she could put him in a ridiculous costume and he wouldn't complain. He was just glad to see her.

[Marcus Prasad]

Marcus chuckled to himself as he put a pot on to boil. Silk wasen't the only one who had barely gained more than a few hours of sleep a day. Working around the compound (Because in all honesty, that was exactly what the neighborhood had become with it's concrete and sheet metal bastions) had kept him busy, as had his midnight recon missions throughout long beach and the periodical attacks by hostile bandit tribes has left him with precious little time to sleep. And yet despite the stiff movements of a man in desperate need of a good nap, Marcus carried with him a tireless quality that appeared as a fire that seemed to shine behind his eyes, or an aura of confident calm that radiated out from him.

On the other hand, Silk looked like a proverbial bundle of nerves made raw like bare electrical wires. Well, she just needed time to adjust, that's all. Silk was a big girl and no doubt would chaff at any attempts for Marcus to baby her anyway. Still, it didn't help that her body language pretty much screamed 'I could use a good hug right about now.'

Placing two cups on the table, Marcus poured the steaming tea before pulling up a chair beside Silk.
"Well if it doesen't matter anymore as you say...."
Marcus spoke as he picked the manuscript up and began thumbing through the pages.
"Then I guess you wouldn't mind me having a read then huh?"

Marcus mabey went through three pages before Silk made a comment about the guest room. Looking up from the book, the man crooked an eyebrow and tilted his head a tad.
"Whatever you want I guess. Not really picky either way though."
Suddenly a creeping smile would grow across Marcus' face.
"Besides, I figure setting you up with the best home base possible deserves at least sleeping at the foot of you're bed, if not directly beside it."
He teased as he continued to read, letting the warmth of the tea soothe his overworked mind.

For a while he would just sit there and read. A presence of strength for Silk to tether herself to. He would be strong for her now as she was strong for him back then. During the dark times. She was his best friend, his only true friend in this world gone mad. Once upon a time Marcus felt just as lost and afraid as she did, but in time he found purpose through the very skills he thought were useless before the great fall and thrived, no florished now in a way he never could before.

For Silk it would just be a matter of time. For now, Marcus would watch and see. Caring for the sole remaining link to his past in this city.

[Silk Sanada]

"Hmm?" Silk blinked a few times as she watched him grab up her manuscript. "Did you even read the first one?" She asked a bit of a smile crossing her lips. She knew Marcus well enough to know he was trying to get a rise out of her. She was just too tired for it though. As the tea was poured, Silk would place her hands around the cup feeling the warmth and lift it up to her lips. She was just about to take a sip when Marcus spoke about sleeping at the foot or beside her bed. Blinking she looked at him and stuck out her tongue. "Nope, you get the guest room. My room is far too messy to have any boys in there yet."

She would sip her tea which she was pretty thankful to have. Tea always did make her feel better. It helped warm her up and made her feel a bit more awake. She would watch him thumb through the book and sigh. "It's about what happened after I divorced Tenchi and what happened when I moved here." She looked over Marcus again. He looked tired himself. Perhaps she should take over a bit? Granted he is going to have to show her how to fix the pipes and stuff. Silk knew how to work on her truck and maybe a little tinkering with the bike he had gotten her but she wasn't Ms. Fix-it. She was always much better at wrecking things.

There was actually a chapter in her book dedicated to Leon and another to Marcus since they were the only ones from her past she talked to anymore. Well... technically, Marcus was the only one now. Though Silk counted her many dream conversations with Leon. Between writing and the nightmares... her nerves were shot to hell. She would take another sip of tea, Bandit still purring loudly in her lap and Aiko settled down at her feet. Silk sighed softly before setting the cup down and scooting herself closer to Marcus. She would settle her head on his shoulder and wrap her arms around one of his and just cling to him like that. He was really all she had now excluding her pets. Though she had gone through the only talking to them thing and didn't want to relive it.

"I'll start moving you into the guest room today. That way you have a nice bed to sleep in. Besides... it is better to have you down here than to have you constantly stomping up in my ceiling." She smirked weakly and closed her eyes. Her grip on his arm became a little tighter and she released a soft but shaky sigh.

[Marcus Prasad]

Silks notes did wonders in filling some of the gaps between the great fall and when Marcus first entered California. As she explained her book, Marcus would grunt an acknowledgement through his nose before flipping the page.
Reading the section on Leon was hard and nearly caught Marcus completely off guard. Silk had known Leon far longer than Marcus had and reading about him from her eyes caused grief to grip his heart tightly. His breath caught as a quiet sob nearly passed his lips before he flipped forward to the section he reserved just for him. There was just too much of Silks pain over Leon's death threatening to overload him. No, he would read that section in private.

His own section started at the point where he first dropped in on Silk here in Long Beach. He read mabey two or three lines before closing the book and putting it down. Something told him he wasen't quite ready to read it just yet. Something about it was just alittle too.....invasive. For now, he would contend himself with his tea.

When Silk clutched his arm, Marcus stiffened and waited for the blow, or the toss, or for whatever good natured injury the woman would inflict upon him. Alot of people always wondered why Marcus put up with Silks abuse, but the fact of the matter was because Marcus liked the fact that no matter how much he trained, how clever he was or how much influence he gained, there would always be Silk to ground him down and keep him from overstepping his reach or getting an infated ego. There actualy was a time where Silk WAS faster and stronger than he was. After awhile though, Marcus had outpaced her tremendously and yet just could not let go of the idea that she alwasy could kick his ass.

He needed something to humble him. Silk always seemed to oblige as well.

After realizing that the physical contact wasen't some sort of trap, the man leaned his head against hers and nuzzled her alittle. Silk always tended to react to physical contact violently, so it was nice to have a chance to just cuddle for awhile. His suspicions were correct, she WAS soft and cuddly.

"I'll start moving you into the guest room today. That way you have a nice bed to sleep in. Besides... it is better to have you down here than to have you constantly stomping up in my ceiling."

"Lucky i don't have much in there. Sorry bout the noise though, It's cause I walk heel heavy."

[Silk Sanada]

Well at least someone would read the stupid thing. Silk thought as she watched Marcus skim through the book. She went back to sipping her tea and didn't look over at him again till she thought she heard some sort of sound coming from him. Judging on where the pages split, he was probably near the section on Leon. She looked away rather ashamed that she had even expressed those emotions in a book meant to be published. It was like displaying her weakness for all to see, however... there was something oddly freeing about that. All her life she kept things bottled up and to her self. Then her first book came out and a huge weight of stress had been lifted. With this book though... it wasn't stress so much as pain that she had to rid her self of. Marcus put the book down and Silk would finally look over at him.

They were both being rather quiet but Silk was still adjusting to everything she had heard earlier. Soon she was clinging to him though. She had felt him stiffen and smirked a little. He was probably waiting for her to be cruel and punch him or flick him. She had a tendency to do that to him. "Yea yea" She mumbled as she held onto him. When Marcus finally relaxed and cuddled her back, Bandit suddenly became rigid. The feline's yellow eyes stared up at the boy holding onto his owner. Aiko looked up to catch a mischievous twitch of Bandit's tail. He may have called a truce with the boy, but that didn't mean Marcus could put his hands all over Silk. She was Bandit's human after all and no men were aloud to touch her with out penalty of being clawed to death. Aiko. watched Bandit's tail flicking and her own began to wag.

The feline's claws slid ever so silently from their hidden places on his paws and slowly the cat slid his paws towards Marcus. The feline intended to cut him and make sure that he knew who Silk really belonged to. Just as his little claws got to Marcus' knee, Aiko leapt up and grabbed a hold of Bandit's tail. There was a loud hiss as the feline was pulled down under the table. It didn't stop him from achieving his goal though. One of his claws stabbed into Marcus' pant leg and as the feline was pulled down, the claw dragged scratching through the pants but not ripping the material.

[Marcus Prasad]

"BANDIT!"
Marcus cried as he shot to his feet, completely ruining the moment. He just KNEW that damn cat wouldnt be able to behave himself much longer.
Well at least Aiko was still on his side. Then again the little kit was so friendly that it would take measures he wouldnt dare consider to make the adorable bundle of fur unfriendly.
Marcus sat down after checking to see if his pants were ok, apologizing to Silk for the sudden jump.
"Jesus, I wonder what got into the little furry bastard."

Checking the time, the man gulped down the last of his tea.
"Alrighty, bout time I start making the rounds. If you want, you can come with and I give you alittle tour of your new home base?"
He offered as he went to the kitchen door, pulling his flatcap off of a coat hook and planting it firmly on his head before unbinding his long dark hair and giving it a quick shake, letting the strands brush his shoulders.

[Silk Sanada]

When Marcus jumped, Silk nearly fell out of her seat since she had been leaning on him. She would peek under the table at Aiko and Bandit. Aiko happily chewed on Bandit's tail while the feline looked very dissatisfied with the fox. Silk blinked a bit before looking over at Marcus. "Oh I don't think he meant to... I think Aiko bit him on the tail and pulled him off my lap. He was only trying to stay up there." Silk said making an excuse for her cat. Though, she knew very well what the calico was capable of doing, She didn't think he would have clawed Marcus for no reason.

Silk would watch Marcus guzzle his tea down and then talk about making rounds. She was only sipping at her tea first and nodded her head a bit. "Mmhmm. Sounds fine with me." Though to be honest it was hard to believe that everyone in their neighborhood left. She would follow Marcus still wearing nothing but the button up shirt and her panties. It didn't even occur to her that she should probably change and actually put clothes on. She'd smirk a little seeing him let his hair down and a giggle left her lips.

"You look like a girl you know? Not a pretty one though." The long hair was something she would still have to get used to. She remembered it being short and kinda spiky when they were younger. Though.... seeing how they both have gotten older she shouldn't really focus on those old days now should she?

[Marcus Prasad]

"So says the girl who looks like she just walked out of a spin cycle."
Marcus fired back over his shoulder with a smirk as he made his way to the front door.
"Besides, if I was a pretty girl, then you would have alot more competition for the bathroom space darlin."
Alittle below the belt considering how threadbare Silk look and felt, but Marcus knew that the last thing she would want would be for him to treat her with kid gloves.

At the very least he decided to keep his mouth shut about the fact that he always thought she naturaly had silver hair.
As for Bandit......Well, he would deal with that later. Marcus didn't exactly buy into Silks explaination to the little hellcats behavior. Normally he would just wave it off, but the vibes of anxiety comming off of Silk was making him a mite touchy. As if he was gearing himself up to ward off anything that could make her feel worse.

Shielding his eyes as he stepped outside, Marcus walked around alittle out in the front yard before spinning round to face Silk with his hands out in a grand gesture.
"Silk Sa- Velasques! Welcome to your BRAND. NEW. FORTIFIED COMPOUND!"

The man braced himself for pretty much anything. If Silk thought her backyard was a bizzare alien landscape, then wait till she got a look at the front and how extensively Marcus renovated the area. THe Main street was blocked off at both ends by Sheetmetal walls reinforced with scrap car parts and other bric-a-brac Marcus could get his hands on. The entire area was also riddled with Frameworks and gantries that looked suspiciously like a training ground and obstacle course as well as supplying a method of climbing onto the rooftops of the houses which were also connected by Wood and metal bridges.

"Yeah those are guard towers."
He explained, pointing out the bizzare tall platforms that sat at each of the four corners of the block.
"They're..........not done yet. No ladders. If you want up, I'll have to carry you up."

The entire Neighborhood was transformed. Almost mutated from an average suburbia to something you would see in Mad Max.
And the one constant on the entire block would be the feeling of isolation. with no signs of life in the area but for squirrels and crows. The other houses were eerily quiet as well, giving off an almost haunted feel.

[Silk Sanada]

Silk would stick her tongue out at Marcus and follow him to the door. He was right of course. Silk would have taken horrible offense to being treated like a fragile vase. She is not, and will never be one, no matter how distraught she becomes or how much she looks like she is about to break. Handling her with care was a sure fire way to get your teeth punched down your throat. She would follow him out the door and into the daylight which she hadn't seen in a long time. She'd quietly hiss in pain as she covered her eyes. Not seeing the sunlight for months could make your eyes pretty sensitive and Silk had just found that out the hard way. Slowly her eyes adjusted and the pain slipped away like a distant memory as she looked around her neighborhood. At Marcus' introduction she'd smirk.

She had caught him almost using her ex's name at the end of hers and then he had quickly fixed it. There was a reason she kept Tenchi's last name. No one questioned her when she had to make a request of the company. It was a perk she wasn't sure she really needed any more. If the rest of the world looked like her neighborhood then that probably meant a lot of things were pointless by now. The silver haired woman would reach out with a slender tanned hand and pat Marcus on the head gently. "Good boy." She simply said with a smirk as she looked about. She'd move to stand beside him to get a better look of the area around her.

Having spent so much time cooped up in her room, to be outside again was rather nice. She'd stretch her arms up over her head, the button up shirt rising again as she arched her back and released a moan. Though the sound came from her stretching her back, it was amusing how close it was to being the sound of something else entirely. She'd slowly drop her arms to her side and turn around to look at the house of the man who always stared at her from his garage. "Hey... That guy left too huh? He used to give me the creeps big time." She said pointing out the house. She knew Marcus had seen him once or twice before she went into hiding in her room.

She didn't doubt that the man probably waited to see her emerge again. She shuddered at the thought of him sitting there day in day out waiting to just see her leave her front door. "Fucking creepers..." She'd mumble to herself.