A wastelander in another world (F for any)

[Soveliss]

Kathy had been hiding in a ruined city, a small crow landing on her shoulder, bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds, holding a Bizon in her hands. Fun fact, crows could mimic human speech like these colorful birds called "parrots" that supposedly existed before the war could, and thus mutated genius crows (like her best friend Kruk, which apparently meant "crow" in a language from a far away country) were fully capable of speech, and thus she had listened to the recon report. It wasn't good, the city was surrounded by these "Humanis Pudicitiae" fanatics who made a mission to kill her just because of her cat ears, she could neither take them on nor sneak away this time. She wasn't an "impure human" because of her ears dammit!

"That bad huh Kruk? So save for a miracle, I can't escape..." Kathy finished dressing her wounds, and removed the silver cross around her neck to give it to her best friend. "They don't know about you Kruk. You can escape and save yourself, no sense in you dying here. It's not like you can save me. Remember me okay?" Kruk shook his head. Mimicry or not, it took crows effort to speak, since they didn't have vocal cords. "You're staying with me until I die?" Kruk nodded. "Even though you're taking huge risks?" Another nod. "Fine. Let's see how many of these thugs I can take down with me with one full mag. But when it's clear I die, just escape and tell the tale. Deal?" Kruk nodded, and whispered in her ear. "Kill at least twenty of them. And I was happy to have been your friend." Kathy nodded, and gave a weak smile.

"There is fresh blood over here, she's in that house!" An explosion, and heavy acrid black smoke came filled the air from the room below her. Black powder. Lots of movement and yelling. "We checked the ground floor, she must be on the upper floor!" She had stayed clear of the staircase, and she had been right, as explosions came from the top of the stairs, as well as thick black smoke, as walls got peppered with shrapnel. When you have grenades, even improvised black powder grenades, you use them to clear staircases. She could hear the thugs closing in... And the world went white...

Kathy woke up in a nice comfy bed, tired, hungry and thirsty, as she could see the soft light of the setting sun from a window... "I expected our savior to be taller. And more muscular." Another reply came fast. "Size isn't everything you dolt. And just look at the crow. That crow is obviously a familiar, and size matters even less for wizards..." Kathy tried to get up, only to be gently pushed back. "Easy there kitten, you were pretty hurt when you got there." Kathy's ears twitched as her fist clenched. Only slavers ever called her "kitten". "Where is my friend, and where is my bizon?" A young man in a strange... She didn't know what these old robes from old monasteries were called, but he wore them, replied "You had no livestock when you arrived, and when you asked about your friend, were you talking about your familiar? The crow wearing that strange silver cross?" Kathy nodded. "We've been feeding him treats when he arrived, and all you had on you is in the next room. You can have it all back on two condition." Kathy sighed. "Which are?" The reply was fast. "Condition one: you eat a good meal, drink a healthy amount, and get a good night's sleep. With all the blood you lost, and all that lead in your flesh healing you was a nightmare I'll tell you that. Condition two, we are dealing with a large demonic onslaught, and we need help. At least hear the king out about the help he needs and the compensation you may get from him. You don't have to accept, we don't conscript people, but you have to at least hear him out before I give you your stuff back and send you back to your world. You'll be right back where we grabbed you from with only a few hours gone if you refuse." Surrounded by nutjobs who will not give up the chase and are convinced I'm still in that wrecked city they cornered me in. That's a weird way to not draft people you have there. Kathy sighed, keeping her dark thoughts to herself. "Well then, I hope you enjoy this meal, sorry this is just a bit last minute, we had to hurry up when you arrived injured." The young man lifted a covering from a bowl and came the sweet smell of... Potatoes? Chicken? Mead? She had been given chicken, carrots and potatoes soup, with garlic bread and mead? Was that a plate of cheese? "Eating or drinking any of that comes with no strings attached, right?" The young man smiled. "Well, you will have to do me a favor in exchange, and that favor will be having a good night's sleep so that you don't end up dying from exhaustion after I spent so much effort removing lead from your body and restoring all your lost blood and damaged flesh. Deal?" Kathy nodded. "Deal." And Kathy eagerly dug in her food and drinks, as she could hear wings flapping and feel a familiar crow landing on her shoulder. "They seem really honest Kathy. It's clear they want some kind of favor from you, but it's also clear they will be upfront in their dealings. People say a lot of things when they think only a pet bird will hear. Though apparently only wizards have pet birds, which they call "familiars", and wizards seem to be what the local language call people who still are educated. Still pet birds are common enough they really know how to feed them, they gave me many tasty and healthy treats." Kathy smiled. "Thank you Kruk. I would have died many times ago if it wasn't for the intel you keep giving me."

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So yeah, typical Isekai story were it not for the generic protagonist being replaced by a wastelander with a knife, a Russian SMG she can keep well fed with hand loaded black powder rounds (said SMG being her "Isekai cheat"), and a radically different outlook on life compared to the generic Isekai protagonist being contrasted with a local guide.