She tried her hardest not to sprint. That instinctual urge to either fight or flee lead her defenses to activate. She knew on the other side of that blaring stereo were more people than she could handle by herself. There was a street between her and the street her hideaway rested on. It was 40 feet of open space. This fact made her extremely uncomfortable, like thousands of ants crawling across her skin.

She took a deep breath. She felt the crisp air freeze her windpipe as she mentally prepared herself for the sprint. Breathing out slowly, she subtly peeked her head out from the cover of the house. The street were dark as ever, not even the moon resided in the sky.

She took off across the open stretch, pumping her arms as fast as she could as she tried to lengthen her stride. She could do this. Her heart leaped in her chest as she reached the sidewalk on the other side. Almost there.

Then it was like the universe laughed cruelly in her face. Tires squealed as they turned the corner. A few excited whoops invaded the air as the headlights slashed harshly across the scenery, landing on her. Her breath grew ragged, and her heartbeat doubled in speed.

Thoughts fleeted through her mind. This is the end. I'm going to die in this rundown town to scavengers. I'll be with my family again. I won't have to deal with surviving anymore. But I can't die. I'm terrified of dying. I don't want to know what the unknown is like.

The statements fired off like rapid fire as she tried to get to cover. The car stopped suddenly behind her; the tires left black skid marks against the gray road.

She made a sharp right, knowing if she rocketed straight for her hideaway that they would find her and her supplies. She hurtled over a towering wooden fence, wincing when she felt a sliver slide into her skin. One of the scavengers was a bit trigger-happy, spraying the wooden fence with bullets.

Her breathing became even more labored as she sprinted across the next street. She finally realized that the gun and backpack resting on her back were weighing her down as they roughly bounced with her strides.

Making it to the other side of the street, she quickly shrugged out of her backpack as she ran, tossing it by some garbage cans as she passed them. She met with a large, chain link fence. She tilted her head monetarily, silently accepting the challenge. She struggled to get her breathing under control. By now, she had been reduced to keeping her mouth gaped open as she sucked in the icy air.

When she reached the top, she attempted to jump over, but her foot snagged on an upper rung of the fence, and she went tumbling head first. She smacked into an overgrown bush, before rolling off it and colliding with the ground. Groaning, she lifted her head. Her vision pulsed dark slightly, and she slowly rolled over before crawling for the house. She say there for a bit, collecting her breath and trying to calm her swimming head.

After a few minutes, her anxiety spiked. Why weren't the scavengers there yet? She knew that wooden fence didn't stop them. Had she somehow managed to lose them? Her bottom had started to grow numb from the frozen ground. She stood up stiffly; her legs not ready for action. She made her way slowly around the corner, peeking around hesitantly to see if there was anyone on the street. She was about to go across the street; a plan in her head to loop around the subdivision before making her way back to her house. A brief moment before though, she had enough time to register the breathing behind her before something smashed into the back of her head, rendering her unconscious.

•••••

She wasn't sure what woke her up first. The fact she was in an uncomfortable sitting position? Maybe it was the sunlight invading her eyelids. It was more than likely the vicious, gurgled growls that faded in and out from somewhere around her. Her eyes opened slowly, and she glanced around half asleep. Her eyelids blocked half her vision, and the other half was fuzzed out by eyelashes.

Then something hit her, causing her eyes to jolt open. A terrified scream left her lips. Finally taking in her surrounding, she realized she was in a cage, dangling from two thick, silver chains. The chains were held up by an old billboard walkway. Below her was the pack of all five Blights, taking turns trying to jump up at her, hoping to snatch the cage within their grasps.

She reached instinctively for her gun, her heart freezing when all she held was open air. Taking in a deep breath and letting it out, she closed her eyes as she calmed herself down. Opening them again, she looked around for the gate. The normal lock on an animal cage had been rendered useless. Instead, there was a thick padlock with a four digit combination.

She tried various things, all of which ended in nothing. She sat back in the cage and sighed in frustration. The noises of the damned below her ceased. She looked down to see them all gazing in the same direction. Then like a battle cry reaching a crescendo, they all joined in on a high-pitched shrieking that one had started. They bolted off in the direction, almost like an unknown, silent entity had challenged their existence.

She blinked in confusion a couple times before jumping back into action and fervently working at the lock.

"Look-y look-y, Bill. The little fox is up!" called someone from above her. She snapped her head up and met the amused eyes of an older man. There was no telling how old he was. This world took the years away from someone faster than what it used to. His features were weathered from the days he spent outside, and his hair had taken on a silver look from stress. Next to him stood a guy with her gun strapped around his torso. She narrowed her eyes at the end of her gun peeking out before sneering at the men. The man with her gun lowered himself into a crouch.

"My my, when the boys gave me a gun and said they got it off the newest bait, I didn't expect this. You sure are a young, pretty thing. How'd you make it into this world?" he questioned. From the tone he had taken, she could only assume he ran the show.

"I'd think an old geezer such as yourself would know how sex would work," she spat venomously. The man chuckled with no humor.

"Now darling, you should learn to cooperate with your new buddies. Take her down." Her eyes widened at the order. She didn't notice any weapon on the other guy. She was surprised when he bent down to unclip one of the chains. An involuntary shriek left her mouth as the cage she was in swung to the right, throwing her into the side. Her eyes met the ground, seeing it at least fifteen feet below her now. This is going to hurt.  The second chain took a bit more effort to pull off its hold with her weight not distributed. Soon enough, the air rushed up around her. She squeezed her eyes waiting for the impact.

When it came, she attempted to scream in pain, but only managed a throaty noise. She sucked in the air that had been knocked out of her lungs. Coughing, she rolled over, groaning from the aching in her body. Shoes walked towards her cage and stopped a foot away from her. She glared up slowly at the man with eyes lidded with pain. Her mouth was twisted in partial disgust and partial agony. The leader smirked down at her, then planted his foot on the cage.

"Guess you should have been nice, Foxy."