She glanced warily around the room taking in her surroundings. There was a boarded up door behind her as well as a few windows. To her left, there was her guard, snoozing in a fold up lawn chair. Her gun was no where to be seen, but she saw that the guard had a long, deadly looking knife sheathed in his belt.

Behind him was a door to somewhere. It had been closed most of the time, and appeared to be useless to the scavengers. They were holed up in what appeared to be some type of warehouse building, but she wasn't completely sure. In front of her cage, there was a half wall. The top of it had been glass, but the glass had been smashed, and dangerous pieces littered the ground. Jagged edges of the intact, remaining glass stood proud, gleaming dully in the little light that leaked into the room. Next to the half wall was a door, which was opened more times than not.

She had been working on trying to crack the four combo lock they had on her cage for the past hour. Her guard had fallen asleep then, and it was her chance to get out. Every unnatural noise had her freezing up and scanning the room.

She brought her attention back to the padlock. 1765? No... 2022? No... She slumped her shoulders in defeat. Think. Think. What could the combination be? Something important to them? Something important... She perked up at the thought. The apocalypse had allowed them to act the way they do. If it hadn't been for laws, they couldn't do this without getting in trouble.

She tried again with the lock. 0719. She gave the lock another tug. She sagged in disappointment when it didn't give. But... The apocalypse? She thought back to her thought process. Maybe the day the government fell? She bit her lip in anticipation. 1022. She almost sobbed in relief when it pulled down. She carefully removed the padlock. She held her breath as she did so, hoping not to make noise.

Tugging the lock through the holes in the cage, she set it gently in the cage before pushing the cage door open. The hinges screeched slightly, but the noise seemed amplified with the stillness in the air. She sucked in an audible breath, squeezing her eyes tightly. The guard shifted in his seat, and her heartbeat stopped as panic rose painfully sharp in her chest.

A few agonizingly slow moments passed, and she peeked out to see the guard still asleep. She looked down at his knife as she crawled out of the cage. Placing her boots lightly as she stood up, she stealthily slunk over to him. She knew she'd need his weapon in order to get out of the building.

She slid in behind him, quickly wrapping her arm around his neck. She squeezed her bicep and forearm together, effectively closing off his carotid artery. She clasped her hands together before yanking his head towards her body.

Instinctively, his body woke itself up for defense. His labored, wheezing breaths disturbed the silent air; he clawed for her face. Getting a few scratches in, she winced, but stayed immobile as she counted down the second until he was knocked out. 4... 3... He reached for the knife strapped at his hip. Too late for that. 2... 1... His head lolled to the side; his arm going limp as he went unconscious. She held her tight grip until his heart stuttered to a stop, and his lungs quit trying to pump his body full of oxygen.

Bile rose in her throat, the acidic liquid burning. She swallowed it back down harshly, not enjoying the after taste of it. Guilt still constricted around her chest every time she killed a person in close range, but she was slowly becoming numb to the action. She stepped back once the body was balanced on the seat. The first thing she went for was the knife.

Upon tugging it out of his belt loop, she was able to inspect it more. The knife  had a serrated edge, and the blade itself was roughly six to seven inches long. The handle was plain, shiny black, and it had grips to ensure a strong grip. She rolled the weapon a few times in her hand to get used to the weight before tucking it into her boot hastily.

She hadn't gotten the chance to get a layout of the place. It was in and out the building with the cage covered by a tarp.

Leaving the back room, she found a sitting room on the other side of the shatter half wall. A few pieces of furniture remained; two armchairs with the stuffing spilling out at the seams. Rubble littered the floor, and spider webs clung to the corners. A long corridor led into another room. Light illuminated the cracked, brick walls. She lifted her leg, tugging out the recently stashed blade.

Stepping cautiously down the hall, she found four scavengers laying around a fire. On the farther end of the room, was a rickety looking wooden staircase. She cursed silently under her breath at the task at hand. Gripping the knife tighter, she moved lithely around the fallen debris towards her first victim.

She held her breath as she crouched down behind the man. Her heart rose into her throat, causing a painful blockade in the pipe. She had killed before in self-defense. At those times, she was able to wave away her guilt. The acts were written off as necessary evils. Killing them while they were unarmed and asleep seemed wrong.

She dispelled her thoughts, clearing her mind long enough to slide the sharp blade into the soft skin at the base of the skull. Little resistance met the weapon. Blood seeped out of the wound, and she fought the urge to gag. As the warm, dark red liquid spilled out into a pool, she pulled the blade out from the skull. At the sound of the suction, vomit rose in her throat. She tilted her face to the ceiling as she closed her eyes, swallowing harshly once again.

She breathed in as quietly as she tried to rid the feeling of blood from her body. She stood up, exhaling as she shook out the feeling she had gained. She made her way from one person to another, sliding the now dirtied weapon into the skulls of other human beings. She couldn't help the disgust she felt in herself.

They captured you. They would have eventually killed you. You were bait. You could have died. It's self-defense. She let her thoughts murmur in her head as she finished up the last guy. She collapsed back into a corner, dry heaving for the most part. Her stomach didn't have anything aside from the scarce water they gave her and a piece of stale bread.

She sat against the dingy wall, catching her breath with her eyes closed.

Her heavy panting slowly started to reside after a few minutes, and she opened her eyes to take in the room. A glint caught her eye near the campfire set by the men. She left the knife behind in disgust before heading towards the dull shine. Tucked under one of the dead men's pillow was a handheld gun. She could recall at least two men were still left in the group of scavengers. Lifting the smaller gun in her hand, she was disgruntled at how much lighter it was compared to her usual weapon.

She glanced over at the stairs. The last two are probably lookouts on top of the buildings. She turned the safety off, gripping the handle with both hands. She crept quietly towards the old, worn staircase. Keeping the hand-held gun pointed towards the ground, she ascended the stairs. At the top of the stairs, was a large wooden door. She reached forward, pulling the handle down. The door swung inwards, eerily silent considering that it had more than likely been unused for a while. The door led down a short hall which ended in an steel door.

She sighed in exasperation as she inched towards the door. This one had a knob. She wrapped her fingers around it, twisting to the right. She began to push it open, wincing at the screeching the rusted metal released into the still night.

At that moment in time, she realized she didn't know whether or not the gun even had ammo inside of it. Swearing mentally at her own stupidity, she dashed quickly out the door. She let it close behind her as she sought out temporary refuge behind old wooden crates. She took out the magazine, spilling the bullets into her hand to count. Five. Well, shit.

She loaded the gun back up before peeking around the crate. She could see the look out from the building investigating the door. She bit her lip before crouching and making her way to the opposite side of the crate. The man started making his way around the corner. In the light of the moon, she saw her stolen gun glitter before disappearing in the shadow of the building.

She followed after him, darting in and out of cover. Before she knew it, she was within ten feet behind him. She knocked the bunt of her gun against the wall, causing the man to whirl around.

"Boo," she said as he reached to pull her gun over his shoulder. She raised the handgun expertly, firing off two shots in his direction. A bullet hit him squarely in the forehead, causing him to collapse to the ground. With the sounds of the two non-silenced gunshots, she was sure the other look-out was alerted. She scuttled towards the fallen scavenger, unstrapping her weapon from the body. She sighed in content as the familiar weight was once again in her hands.

A gunshot responded to her's, a bullet hitting the roof a few feet from her. She jumped into action, making around the corner of the building she eliminated the sniper would be at.

She shrunk into the shadows, lowering her body to lie on the ground. She propped her gun into the crook of her shoulder, scanning the nearby buildings in through the scope.

Not finding anything, she contemplated whether the other look-out moved, or was hidden in the shadows. She closed her eyes, evening out her breathing to slow her heart rate. You'll be fine.

Opening her eyes once again, she lowered her cheek onto the gun once more to stare through the scope. In the dark of the night, she wasn't able to make out the look-out. She squinted her eyes, hoping to use the moonlight to spot a gleam from the scavenger's weapon.

Eventually, after a few more minutes of quiet, another gunshot echoed out into the silent town. She heard the bullet dig into the roof, but it wasn't on the side she was on. She belly-crawled in the shadows close to the wall.

She peeked around the corner to see the light of the moon reflecting off the scope of the gun. Her problem was that the sniper had picked the side where the roof's ground was basking in the moonlight, illuminating everything that crossed the expanse.

She shrunk back behind the wall, glancing over at the vent that protruded from the building. I could use that as some sort of cover. She mused to herself. Picking up her gun, she slunk behind the vent. It was still covered by shadows, and was hidden behind the wall. But, if situated correctly, she would be able to angle towards the look-out.

Once in position, she sighted down the scope, picking out the scavenger once again. She breathed in deeply, bringing her finger down to the trigger. Exhaling, she closed an eye, squeezing the trigger mid-exhale. The shot ricocheted into the open. She squirmed backwards, covering herself by the vent and shadows. She held her breath, waiting impatiently for a reply back. Anxiety coiled around her stomach, rising to constrict around her heart and lungs, seizing her chest.

There's no fucking way I shot him on the first time. Even though it was risky, she got up. Bringing her weapon with her, she tentatively stepped into the moonlit area. With her guard up, she stayed still, staring in the direction of the sniper. When nothing happened, she took slow steps towards the building the man had resided. Still, silence ensued.

"What the fuck," she breathed out. She trotted towards the other structure. Laying her gun down on the roof, she got up onto the lip that jutted out. She bent her legs, springing from her building to the one her opponent was on. She grunted as her hands latched onto the building, holding up her weight. Her feet kicked futilely a few times before they found a place to rest. Pushing up, she landed at her destination.

She was shocked to see her enemy face-planting the ground, surrounded in his own blood. Kicking the guy's side, she found out he was completely dead. Stepping over him, she grabbed his gun, checking it over. She whistled, wondering to herself where he had gotten it. She threw it back over to her other gun before making her way over as well. Picking up a weapon in each hand, she started back down the stairs. I'll go find the rest of my things in the morning. I'm so fucking tired. My bed is calling my name.