Loner 1:1:Svetlana Umbagog Arrival

"You’ve just entered Umbagog. How did you get here, and why did you bother coming in the first place?"

Svetlana was moved out of her father's place (a bunker at this point, as he had sold their home to help pay for the construction) and renting a room in Berlin, New Hampshire when the Wendigo epidemic started to spread. When things got bad in her area, she packed up her xtracycle, hooded Marcel, and headed out up Route 16 hoping to find a safer place to stay while the government got everything under control. Her father's bunker, built on a small parcel of private land just outside Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge, was the safest place she could imagine. However, Svetlana was not keen to stay with her father. She could only assume he was as fixated on his crazy survivalist lifestyle as ever.

As Svetlana traveled, it began to sink in that there might not be a government clean up. She heard a snippet of broadcast on a discarded radio that described chaos as far reaching as Los Angeles... and possibly further. It was hard to tell; the signal was choppy and the voice sounded like an amateur recording.

The early stage zombies Svetlana met on her way up the road were no major threat. She had her crossbow. But when she stopped to bathe in the Androscoggin River at one point (having lit a fire to warm herself afterward, which probably signaled the predators), a roving trio of human marauders attacked and almost managed to catch her. This incident shook Svetlana more than the zombies did; humans weren't supposed to act like that. She started avoiding any sign of other living people, and took up talking to her disinterested hawk Marcel to keep herself company.

Nearing her destination, Svetlana found the remains of two men she recognized as members of her father's Preppers Society, and pieces of a carcass she was certain belonged to her father--the fingers wore his wedding ring, and his favorite cap adorned part of a skull. She pressed on, not sure what she would find at the bunker when she actually got there...

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So this is Svetlana's arrival at her father's bunker, which will be her "base of operations" in Umbagog. The damage looters have done to the place is going to require lots of trips to town/bartering in search of food and supplies, which will give me opportunity to have her interact with other characters. Look at the bright side, Svetlana--fixing up the bunker is an awesome interior decorating opportunity!

Comics really aren't my forte. I feel like I need practice on everything--layout, consistency, drawing people & expressions, digital inking & coloring. Not to mention this sequence has absolutely no plot, so why even make it a comic? My future Umbagog challenges (slowly in progress now!) will be digital paintings, but I was impatient to finish something sooner for the group, and traditional media (like this inked comic) lets me get art done during the small breaks in class/work throughout the day. Since this turned out rather dissatisfying, I think I'll stick to sketching during breaks in the future, though I still need to practice comic format if I ever want to improve. Critique/tips for next time are appreciated.