Perfect Ruin

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    Selina looked around her and sighed. This city was so dismal sometimes. The people here were the last dregs of humanity holding onto a mere pittance of an existence. Sometimes she wondered what the hell the point of it all was. She honestly had no idea what kept these people running around in circles the way they did, pretending like their existence actually mattered.


    Selina knew the only reason she kept going was for her mother, and she would find her one day... or her body. If her mother had died, would she bury the woman and move on? Continue on in this wasteland until Selina too died at the hands of her fellow humans, from the Rot, or from some other natural disaster yet to come? Or would Selina choose to die on her own terms by the side of the woman who'd raised her?
She honestly hadn't decided yet.


    Perhaps they all had a mother or a sister or a loved one to care for, or someone they owed. Maybe that's why they pressed on so recklessly. She laid her head back against the crumbling wall and stared up at the rotting ceiling. She knew some pretended to have some grand purpose, but she couldn't imagine what that would be. She'd heard talk and she could understand what they said, but she couldn't comprehend it.   

    Selina sat up against the broken wall, hiding herself from the view of those who happened to pass by. She'd just needed some time alone, and she'd stumbled upon this wreckage a few years ago. Not many ever came out this way, and she'd often used it as a place to gather her thoughts. It was random and the place was abandoned, but that was the nice thing about it. The building should probably be condemned for how worn down it was, but she didn't care. 

[Jude Walsh]

Jude had a small group of employees who were most likely more loyal to her parents and brother than they would be to her, but they loved the Walsh farm and they wouldn't have continued with her if they didn't believe she could do as good a job as her parents and brother did. They wanted the farm to thrive just as much as she did and for that, she was grateful they stayed.

These people were also of the mind that they should open a permanent store to sell their produce and so there she was, in the city, scoping out potential buildings for her to appease the masses.

She chanced upon a building that looked like a hazard just waiting to happen but it was a good distance to and from the farm and it looked a good size to house a permanent store. She took out the notepad and measuring tape she had brought with her and started to measure out the potential space.

Jude didn't realise there was someone already there until she turned a corner and found a brunette in a pile of rubble. She raised an eyebrow before going back to measuring the place. "I hope you don't intend on making this your home."

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    "Perhaps, depends on how much you pay me to leave," she responded immediately with a teasing smile. The woman who'd pulled her form her thoughts was definitely attractive, and though Selina couldn't reliably guess her age, she'd say the woman probably wasn't too much older than she was. This wasn't Selina's home by any means, but she would feel almost sad if someone claimed it for their own.

    Selina leaned back against the wall, studying the woman as she worked but refusing to move an inch. "Why? You own the place?" she asked, as she'd never seen anyone around here before, so she'd just assumed it was completely abandoned. That there was someone here at all was a surprise, much less someone who looked like they were scoping out the building. 

    Her eyes lingered slightly longer on the woman's form than was polite, but Selina was interested. Besides, the stranger was invading space she'd considered to be hers up until a few moments ago. Not that she would ever presume to really own anything in this run down town, but that was a focus for another day.

[Jude Walsh]

The response she received from the woman who looked to be considerably younger than her made the blonde smirk. Just what she needed, a sarcastic vagrant. She was trying to imagine if she could actually afford to put in a second level. The question that came next surprised Jude. She didn't think these people would actually care to even ask in the first place.

"I might."

Came the response before she caught a glance at the other woman staring at her. She went about measuring again before calling her out on it.

"It's not polite to stare. Or didn't your mother teach you that?" She asked without turning to the person she was speaking to.

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    Selina paused at the woman's response. So she didn't own the place. If she did, she would have had grounds for accusing Selina of trespassing or some other shit. Selina sighed as she crossed her legs in front of her. She wouldn't move even if the woman asked her to, as she was feeling slightly more contrary than normal.

    At the question, Selina's expression briefly hardened before she laughed it off, "Well, not quite," she admitted. The fact that her mother was a hooker hadn't exactly meant that she was brought up with manners. Though, her mom was strict about a few things regarding manners towards other women. "And I didn't think politeness was that much of a concern anymore... or at least not for those of us who can't afford it," she added with a cruel smile.

[Jude Walsh]

Jude gave a non-committal sound from the back of her throat, almost as if to say: I thought so. She finally turned to face the younger woman with a raised eyebrow. "Vagrants can't afford to be polite now?" Jude asked, her slightly raspy voice lilting in a question, although it was more rhetorical than anything.

"I would say take a picture..." her voice trailed off before she turned back to her measuring. "Don't get too comfortable here, sweetheart. It might be off the market soon."

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    Selina laughed at her question and despite it's rhetorical nature, answered anyway, "Not unless there's some profit in it," she admitted with a shrug. She could be perfectly charming when she wanted to be, but right now, she had no desire to kiss up to this woman, or make things easier for her. 

    "Sure, I would. If I had something to take it with," she replied with a slight smirk. Apparently the lady at least had a little humor hidden underneath all that blonde hair. "Why would you be interested in buying a place like this?" Selina asked, hoping it was just a passing fancy of the woman's and nothing more serious. 

[Jude Walsh]

Jude raised an eyebrow, surprised at the answer from someone as young as this woman looked. Clearly she underestimated her.

When was the last time she saw a camera? She'd read about them in books but she had yet to come across one that wasn't damaged. The humour was still there because yes, Jude was still capable of making jokes.

"And who exactly are you to enquire about that?" She asked, making her last measurement before putting a tick on her notepad to keep this building in view.

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    "The building's current inhabitant," Selina responded with a wry smile. "Also called Selina," she added with a playfully mocking bow of her head. She didn't feel like she had anything to lose by giving this woman her name, as Selina didn't get the feeling the blonde would care too much.

    "And you?" she asked in turn. If the woman was planning on buying the place, that meant she had a good bit of money, but she didn't seem like she was completely upper class either. Selina wasn't poor anymore, but she still held onto some of the mindset she'd had when she was younger. 

[Jude Walsh]

"Someone who might have a lot more claim over the rubble you're currently sitting on once the papers have been signed." Jude answered without missing a beat. She walked over to where she had come from and said over her shoulder.

"Think it would be best for the both of us if you're gone by the end of the week, though."

And with that, the blonde woman left the premise.