Wheel Meet Again

[Nismo]

Yoshi

Yoshi lifted up the rag tied over her nose and mouth and sniffed the air as a gust of wind blew through the abandoned car plant. She was in the biggest part of the factory, the assembly line, a massive metal shed with doors at either end and rows of rusting robots littering the floor. Sunlight beamed through large windows set into the roof illuminating the dust and rust particles that drifted around the room. She hoped that the rag would stop the majority of the particles from reaching her lungs.

As another gust was sent through the building she paused and sniffed again, the smell of the undead would be easy to spot over the rust and oil of the plant, there was nothing - at least nothing behind her. She stepped over a fallen robot arm looking left to right her eyes darting around between peices of fallen machinery and discarded car parts. She was looking for a wheel, anything that would spin; it would be the final part of her greatest creation: a generator that would power the main buildings in Haven. She just needed that wheel.

Edging round a rusted chassis she continued her search. Despite the fact that wheels should be in abundance there seemed to be an alarming lack of them. Regardless, she continued onwards.

[Ekurian]

Magpie

---

Having entered the factory through an old air duct, Magpie slowly and quietly lifted up the grated covering at the end of the duct and moved it aside. Being very careful not to let it drop, he slid it up on top of the air duct. Dust billowed out from the air duct as he pushed himself out and onto the metal girders. He'd zipped and buckles up his jacket, so that the collar covered most of his nose and mouth- but he didn't really care about breathing in the dust. It wasn't like his cancer could get any worse. He had also wrapped his Raybans up in a cloth and put them inside his jacket, so they wouldn't get broken. Magpie loved his Raybans.

Sliding along the girders on his stomach, Magpie chanced a look down- and saw a figure walking through the factory. Shuffler? No, there'd be more of them. This person was moving too smoothly and quickly to be a zombie, anyway. Thankful for the shadows that were hiding him up there, he leaned down a little to get a better look at the person.
He could tell it was a woman by the way she was walking- but was climbing down and saying hi a good idea? Most people this far out would probably try to kill him on sight. Deciding to follow her and watch for a bit, Magpie pulled himself back up onto the girders and slowly pushed himself along after the woman. See what she's doing here first, he told himself, before you go an try and get yourself killed.

As he came to a slope in the girders, he tried to lower himself down, only to knock a loose beam off and send it crashing to the ground. He cringed as the noise echoed through the factory.

[Nismo]

Yoshi

Picking through the discarded car parts, Yoshi continued her search, oblivious to the man watching from above. Spotting a car with an open boot a couple of rows away, she skipped lightly towards it, avoiding the machinery in the way. She hoped that the spare tyres had been installed at this part of the production line.

Poking her head inside, she pulled up the carpet of the car's boot, there was a tyre in almost perfect condition. The moment was shattered by the echoing noise from behind her "Shit!" she muttered as she jumped up to see what was happening, doing this she smacked her head on the boot lid. "Shit! Shit! Shit! Shitty! Shit! Shit!" she exclaimed through her teeth. As she felt the back of her head, a small bump was appearing.

Ducking behind a robot arm, she looked towards the source of the noise and pulled the hammer from the back of her tool belt. A large beam lay beneath a cloud of dust. Following the dust cloud towards the roof she spotted a figure, ghost like in the shadows.

She knew that the noise would have attracted Zeds, but looking around there didn't seem to be any in the immediate vicinity. She returned her attention to the shadowy figure in the roof.

[Ekurian]

Magpie

---

Upon seeing- and hearing- the woman below pretty much almost shit a brick, Magpie winced as she also bashed her head. Since his attention was on her, he didn't notice that the beam he had his hand on was starting to bend outward.
Noticing that she was looking right at him now, Magpie decided the best thing to do was apologise for making her poo her pants. He was about to speak, when a loud creak emanated from the beam. It gave way, sending Magpie plummeting head first towards the ground, while shouting "Fuuuuuuuuuu-"

Just as he was about to finish his cuss word, he landed on another bent down beam. Coughing, he looked down at the floor. Realising that he'd just been saved from being a nice splatter across it, he let out a sigh of relief- only to fall off the beam and land flat on his arse.

"Ow," he said, getting up and dusting himself off. Magpie looked at the woman- who was rather alarmingly brandishing a hammer- and held out his hand, "Uh, hi. I'm Magpie. Nice to meet you. Please don't hit me."

[Nismo]

Yoshi

Yoshi attempted to stop the smile on her face and hid it behind a subtle smirk as she watched the man bump towards, and land, on the ground. Still wielding her hammer she stared at him as he introduced himself. "What the shit did you do that for, nearly bloody shit me self. Annnnd av got a farkin' molehill growing outta me head" She exaggerated whilst pointing at the protuberance.

Looking at the floor she let out deep breath and returned her gaze towards Magpie. "Ahem, sorry bout that, had to get it out ma system, nice to meet ya, i'm Yoshimi or Yoshi, whichever takes yer fancy." She paused "So what brings you out here, rarely see a friendly face this far from Haven." She still held the hammer in her hand unsure weather to trust the man.

[Ekurian]

Magpie

---

"I'd make a joke about tiny green dinosaurs, but I'm not sure if you'd get it," he said with a half-smile, keeping an eye on that hammer she was still brandishing. She seemed friendly enough, but Magpie had met enough people out in the Wastes to know that it could all be just an act. He began wishing he'd brought a weapon.

Magpie coughed, "Uh, looking for stuff. Yeah. I'm a trader with nothing to trade- it sucks. So I decided to come out here and see if the rumours of stuff just lying here were true." As he spoke, Magpie quickly glanced around the area for of a route of escape, or something to use as a weapon if this Yoshi decided to bash his brains with that hammer.

He was about to ask her the same question, when a horrible groan came from somewhere behind. Magpie looked over his shoulder, but through the shadows and dust, he couldn't see the zombie- or zombies- that had made the sound.

"Maybe we should continue this conversation elsewhere?"

[Nismo]

Yoshi

Yoshi rolled her eyes at Magpies Mario joke, "Yeah, I heard 'em all".

She watched him as he spoke, he didn't seem to pose any immediate threat and she lowered her hammer. As she finished tucking it into her belt the moan of the undead cut through the buildings dusty silence. She snatched it out again followed Magpies gaze towards the noise, sh could see shadows moving in the distance but it could be the light and the dust fooling her eyes. Her eyes flicking backwards and forwards she nodded "Yeah sounds like a plan". She turned and gestured away from the groaning, "shall we?" She said in a mock posh voice.