The light outside had no mercy on the cameras inside Yan's glass eyes. As soon as he stepped out, letting the light wash over his figure, his eyes blinded. This was the first time outside, he’s never been here after the world’s end and now that he is, he wishes he’s not. The lights down the neighborhood where he spent his years at were down, littering the path ahead. Buildings lining the street stood empty and ashen, their windows broken clean. Their insides all looked the same from below, gray ceilings, gray skies.

It was light outside but no sun was present in the cracks of the clouds. The blue skies were somewhat visible and it made him at least a little bit hopeful. If after seven years he is able to make out the blue skies, there might be time when humans can rule the Earth again.

Yan decided to start his journey going down the street. He had passed this path a lot of times before it collapsed like this. He wished for the suffocating LED lights and loud murmurs from passer's conversations. Yan walked down the street in a moderate pace, not rushing over the fallen city lamps. He watched clouds of ashes rise when he took a step off what seemed to be a path. A path made out of footprints of other robots that passed by. The city’s end was near, they didn’t live in the city center but still had trouble getting over traffic anyway. The shops and houses got scarce and more dead end streets appeared on every corner.

The city of Miledew stood isolated on the map and never formed big agglomerations. This was a refreshing thing from the life with his past owner whom he remembered bits about. But he knew he city there wasn’t as breathable as the city here.

Rustling and shaking of metal got him from his ‘thought’ as he turned both ways. As he looked, he saw a big garbage dump on his left. The rattling came from there.

A fellow robot? Very few animals lasted in this climate and being it’s 7 years after the disaster, most of them starved to death. But then again, what worth did a robot have of a garbage dump?

Getting closer as his investigative side said, he neared the source of the sound. He kept quiet and tried to see if he could see anyone from any angle possible.

No one?

The rattling stopped.

Coming closer to the dump, a pair of bare legs in the air grabbed his attention. As much as he expected this to be human legs, he had no idea which sane human would go head-first into a garbage dump. Especially in the apocalypse.

Was the robot out of battery?

Something was off about it.

He stood quiet in place. It seemed like quite some time passed as the first movements of the what was now sure a robot began. The robot seemed to be pulling itself out of the dump in a slow pace. Yan turned his head the other way seeing the first signs of bare skin. When he took care of his first owner, he thought of this as normal. It was also a custom at the factory. But he found himself looking away from such sight after his upgrades and living with the new owner.

He was about to peek out to see who this robot was, but a sprint followed by clicking was the only thing he caught. He watched as a long fur coat ran out of sight between the tight alleyways after the dump. He didn’t even have time to yell out to this person, as they were gone with the mist in an instant.

Rita was full of adrenaline. Going into an abandoned town which was sure to have a gang to get some clothes was ridiculous for so many reasons. First off, others already broke all the displays. The clothing she could use to warm herself was nowhere in sight. She was head into a garbage dump trying to find hidden treasures.

Finally, at last! A big enough fur coat. But as if misfortune wasn’t enough today. Steps in her alleyway made her body stiff as she stiffed any movements made. She felt as if she was being stared at. She scrambled out of the dump, only to come face-to-back of head to a black-blue haired robot. She shut any voice that could come out of her voice box. She draped the big coat over her back figure and started running. She was risking injury running in the club-issued heels. But they were still somewhat bound to her being. She guessed it would be quite a hassle to take them off before seeking some shelter. Rita ran for quite some time, until she was back in the deserted wasteland between two places. She stopped there and put the newfound coat on in full. It was so much better than the worn out one from the club. Thank God.

Well, she changed her clothing. But how about shelter?

Mission two: find shelter.