Alice in the Zone: Tragedy

More about Alice in the Zone: Tragedy

Base image created with SDXL 1.0 + some inpainting
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DISCLAIMER
I don't know if this might be too... graphic for some. In that case I apologize and recommend not reading the following text.
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It had been a sunny day until sometime in the late afternoon when an emission occurred, followed by a sudden change of weather. “How can it be snowing this time of year?”, a confused Alice wondered. “This is not uncommon after a blowout”, the stalker replied, pulling her coat tighter around her body, “whatever is causing these emissions, they sure make everything go haywire. Problem is, we can’t risk getting lost or snowed in in the swamps, which means we’ll have to spend the night here. Dammit, I don’t like this, we’re too close to the car park… well, we don’t have a choice. You go gather as much dry firewood as you can while I’ll find us a decent spot out of plain sight to set up camp. Go on, we need to get this done before nightfall!” Alice complied, having learned not to doubt her mentor’s instincts.
She had been at it for a while and had already gathered a sizeable bundle of sticks and branches, when she heard three sounds cutting through the eerie silence in rapid succession: a growl, a shot… and a scream. Without hesitation, Alice dropped everything she held and ran headfirst back through the undergrowth, brambles and vines tearing at her clothes. When she finally burst out of the bushes onto the clearing and saw the source of the commotion, she felt like someone had punched her in the stomach. There was Katja… and a rout of boars, tearing at her like she was a puppet. With an almost inhuman cry, she drew her pistol and charged at the mutants, her desperate screams almost drowning out the noise of the gunshots.
When one of the beasts got hit in the shoulder it immediately retreated towards the forest, with the others quickly following it. Alice ran the last few meters to her friend, dropped to her knees and started shaking the lifeless body, silent tears running down her cheeks. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no… come on, wake up, wake up, wake up!!!” But she quickly realized that it was too late. Just as sudden and unexpected as fate had given her a helping hand and a shoulder to lean on, it had taken it away. And she didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye… such is life in the Zone.
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PS I know it says "bandits" in the prompt and not "mutants", but I changed my mind. Sue me!