[sylvanSpider]

The outside world was void of voices, replaced by the sound of twittering songbirds and the various insects that made their home on the western coast of Canada. The chitter chatter of the city felt so far behind them, though Aren could see the wall from where they were standing. They were in a completely different world than the one Aren had grown up witnessing. Human remnants remained in the form of ruins; moss-covered cars and crumbling buildings stood as a decaying testament to Nature's victory over man.

Aren followed his red-headed guide with a watchful eye on their surroundings, though he knew if anything lurked, Ian's trained senses would be the first to pick it up. Still, one couldn't be too careful. The peace, after all, was deceptive. With no humans here, Nature hummed in Her placation – the men were, for the moment, in no immediate danger. “It sounds to me like you had a case of the allergies,” Aren said, casting a glance in the direction of the city walls. None had seen them come out, but he knew the consequences for leaving without a clearance was dire.

Aren stayed relatively quiet as Ian explained his previous exploits into the wild, nodding along though he knew that Ian couldn't see. “It'd be what I'm looking for, yeah. Samples are the main thing I'm after. If I can set up shop somewhere outside the city, someplace I can keep my microscope, that would be amazing. I don't...I don't want to bring my samples into the city if at all possible.” Of course, by the time they got back to the city, he would have had the samples neatly pressed into a slide, sealed shut, but if anyone found out he had it, it would be the end of his stay in the city.

He froze seeing the fallen soldier. Their conversation, previously the only sound set apart from Nature, now fell silent and the soldier's rest went once again undisturbed save for their own prying eyes. The twittering songbirds, the chirping insects, those were the noises that surrounded this man in death for the past several days, and likely what he heard in life as he loaded the chamber and with trembling hands placed the barrel in his mouth. Aren swallowed, looking at the gun in his hand, then to his other hand resting on his chest. There was a small white square poking up from under the man's palm, and Aren assumed it was a photograph of a loved one, or maybe a letter. He wasn't going to find out.

Aren's hand immediately went to his gun and he pointed his in the same direction Ian did when the person that revealed himself was not a Runner, but another uninfected human. The name Mavrik must have meant something to Ian, but Aren didn't want to see any unnecessary bloodshed so he stepped between them, holding his hands out, “There's no need for any of that shit, ya hear me? We don't need to kill anyone that's not threatening us...” Brown eyes went from the pathetic excuse of a man before him to the green eyes of his guide, “Just leave him be. I dunno who this Mavrik guy is, so we can't help you there. Seems you've been left behind, man. I'd suggest going back in and forgetting whatever stuff it is you're talking about, just like they forgot about you.”

Aren cast a somewhat pitied glance at Mavrik's guy before following his redheaded guide and once he saw the tension leave he tossed his head in the direction they came from, “The fuck was that about?”