Sorry to all of you waiting for me to update IAHF. I know I've kept you all waiting and I'm terribly sorry, but I'm suffering horribly when it comes to writing it and I need a mental break from it, so this little beauty is gonna be the story that I'll go to if I can't focus on anything else. So yea. :) Please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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"Khendra, we're low on water again," Cammy said as she took stock of all the items that we still had and for what we could possibly need. Looking over my shoulder at her from my seated position on the ledge that overlooked the entire road, my eyes quickly zeroed in on the two water bottles that rested beside Cammy and frowned. Those two alone could probably last us another day and a half. Two if we were lucky. But seeing as how we were leaving the city sometime today and would be heading out into the wilderness, we wouldn't be able to deduct how long it would take for us to find another water source and by the time we did find one, we'd probably be too dehydrated to really do anything. We'd be easy targets for any passing Biters.

"I'll go down into the store and see if I can find any more," I said, hopping down from my perch and crouching beside Cammy to take stock of what little that we had left. I was almost positive that I had seen more drinks in the freezers behind the counter, but I wasn't too sure. "What else do we need?"

Cammy hummed thoughtfully, taking in everything that we had. We seemed to be set on medicine. We had plenty of gauze, band aids, and a huge bottle of Peroxide that would last us for awhile longer until we found more in another town. Food seemed to be alright for now, but I was going to grab some more of the canned stuff that I saw last night just in case. Rather be safe than sorry. I was dismayed to notice that we were also very low on ammunition.

Seeing as how Cammy didn't know how to use a gun and I wasn't going to be teaching her anytime soon, I was in charge of the two semi-automatic pistols and the semi-automatic rifle that we had swiped from an unfortunate soul who had been mauled by Biters in an alleyway a week beforehand. There were two cartridges a piece for the pistols, though one was almost gone, and the rifle had a full cartridge, plus the bullets that were already loaded in it. I frowned. I'd avoided using the guns since figuring out that the dead are attracted to sound, but I found that just to prevent oneself from being surrounded by these things, shooting a gun was probably your only chance of surviving. Meaning it'd only be a matter of time before I'd have to use it. And I'd have to make the shots count or I'd run out of bullets pretty damn fast.

"Are there any gun shops nearby that you've seen, Khendra?" Cammy asked, noticing what I was looking at.

I shook my head. "I haven't seen any. I guarantee you that they'll be empty even if we did find one, though. Any smart person would've ran straight to a weapons shop the instant they found out what was happening."

Cammy snorted softly, not believing my last sentence at all. I playfully ruffled her hair and she hissed at me, swatting my hands away from her already messy, dirty curls. I stooped down to pick up my bag, swinging it over my shoulder "I'll be right back," I called over my shoulder as I removed my make-shift lock. Cammy's grumbles reached my ears as I softly closed the door and I couldn't help but giggle at her obvious disgruntlement. She may not be living in the most magnificient of conditions, but she was still a cute, innocent little nine-year-old, even if she was seeing things kids her age shouldn't be seeing till they were sixteen.

Checking to make sure that no Biters had entered the shop overnight, I slipped out from behind the door, skirting the fallen shelves and heading towards the freezers behind the counter. Hopping up and swinging my legs over, I ignored the cans and bottles of alcohol that still remained and grabbed the few salvagable bottles of water, eying the four cans of Pepsi before shrugging and grabbing them, too. No time like the present to enjoy pop, which was practically a luxury nowadays.

After stuffing the drinks in my bag, I hopped back over the counter and began picking up cans of food that still littered the floor. My nose scrunched up in disgust when I came across cans of dog food. I lightly kicked them away, watching them roll underneath fallen shelves before I continued to scavenge around for food. It'd be a cold day in Hell before I ever resorted to having Cammy, or myself for that matter, eat dog food because we were low on food. I was disappointed at how little there was, but we were lucky to have this much to last us. Unlike all the other poor idiots that were probably out wandering around in the world without food or water, Cammy and I were living the life.

"Stop being so selfish, Khendra. Compared to others in the world, you're living like a posh, rich kid. Learn to be thankful for the things that you have in your life rather than complain about what you don't have."

My hand froze above a can of carrots. My gaze narrowed and my jaw clenched tightly at the memories that suddenly began flooding my mind. If there was one thing that I didn't want to remember, it was having to listen to that woman anymore than I already have. Her lessons were nothing less than brutal and harsh. No. More like they were blunt and straight to the point. A no nonsense type of woman.

I snorted. That was an understatement of the century. She didn't take shit from anybody. Not even a mouthy, rebellious brat like myself could get away with anything. I couldn't sneak out of the house. I couldn't drink. I couldn't have anything less than perfect grades. I couldn't like anyone that was below her standards. She was practically raising the perfect clone of herself. And God damn, she very nearly succeeded until all this shit happened.

"I hope you rot in hell, you cruel bitch," I mumbled under my breath before shaking my head to get rid of my dark thoughts. I didn't want them rubbing off on Cammy and resort to her having a bad mood for the rest of the day. I glanced around, pursing my lips at the Biters that lingered outside, oblivious to the easy food that was but a few meters away from them. The sooner we got out of this damn city, the better. My nerves were already going haywire from being here for so long and possible scenarios where anything bad could happen were beginning to plague my mind again. We needed to leave. And soon.

Boom!

My eyes widened when a violent tremor shook the Earth, sending the few things that were still upright crashing to the ground as I dropped into a crouch, covering my head with my bag just as some of the shelves above me broke from the wall. I grunted when canned items fell on my back, hissing numerous times when sharp edges dug into my spine before rolling to the floor. I was foreseeing many more bruises on my back within the next day. Lifting my head enough to look around, I hastily shuffled behind the counter as a large group of Biters shuffled past, fixated on something in the distance as they completely ignored the things that continued to fall in the store.

I groaned softly, clapping my hands over my ears when they began to ring painfully. I leaned back into the counter, keeping the Biters in sight, even though my vision was complete shit at the moment. Nausea tugged at my stomach and I swallowed harshly when I felt stinging stomach acids begin to rise up my throat, shuddering in revulsion at the feeling. Locking my hands behind my neck, I took slow, measured breaths, counting to twenty in my head before I was well enough to stand up on my own.

Remembering that Cammy was still on the roof, I sprinted towards the door with the bag over my shoulders and taking the steps two at a time until I reached the top. Spotting her instantly underneath a large pipe, I tossed my bag to the ground just as she squirmed out from underneath her hiding spot and tackled me into a hug, squeezing my tightly. I rubbed her back as she shivered into my stomach, tiny sniffles being heard as she used my shirt as her tissue. I was probably going to regret it later, but seeing her moving and basically unharmed was a good enough excuse for me to just ignore the snot that collected on my shirt.

"Did you see what caused that explosion?" I asked her after a few minutes of waiting for her to calm down. She took a shaky breath, sniffling once before rubbing her eyes. Turning away from me, she pointed to something in the distance. A huge cloud of smoke. I could faintly make out the tell-tale signs of fire mixing in with the smoke, as well. "An explosion?"

"It seems like it," Cammy said, nervously wringing her hands together. She looked up at me. "Something must have caused that explosion."

I instantly picked up what she was hinting at. Survivors had to of caused that big of an explosion. There was no doubt about that. It made me question whether or not it was on purpose or if it was on accident, though my thoughts were leaning more towards the latter. Why would survivors give up a possibly secure place like that? It didn't make sense, but the explosion wasn't really what I was worrying about.

I carefully peered over the edge of the roof and instantly reared back at the Biters that were still going by. It didn't escape my notice how a few were even walking into the city and following after the ones that were aiming towards the other side of Atlanta. The problem here was that that explosion was loud enough to draw out every damn Biter in and perhaps a bit outside the city.

"I don't think those surviviors will get very far, Cammy," I said slowly, watching her eyebrows furrow. It pained me to see the hope that was beginning to slowly burn in her eyes again. I knew how deprived of human contact she was and I was forced to remind myself that Cammy wasn't me. That she couldn't go long without human contact like I could. "They'll have to be extrememly lucky to get out of the city before those Biters catch up with them. And that's only if humans are the actual cause of that explosion."

"But they have to be!" Cammy protested, lowering her voice when I sent her a sharp look. She motioned towards the smoke cloud. "Biters are too stupid to blow something up." Her face turned thoughtful. "Though I can see them killing themselves by stumbling upon a bunch of grenades, but I highly doubt that there were any grenades merely lying around. Humans, though..." A wide grin spread across her lips. "Humans are good at purposefully blowing things up! That explosion must have been caused by survivors!"

I had to resist a smile at her thought process. There were a bunch of loopholes in her statement alone and while I desperately wanted to point them out to her, I knew she wouldn't appreciate it and that it would only put her in a bad mood. And I didn't want to destroy the hope that I knew she was desperately clinging onto that there were people still alive nearby. But I already knew what it was that Cammy wanted to do and while I knew it would piss her off to be told so, her request would have to be denied for both of our safety.

"Your logic astounds me, Cammy," I said dryly, the corners of my lips curling when she glared-pouted-at me. I pulled her down to the ground with me, handing her the bag, which she instantly opened to go through what it was that I had found. She gave a happy cry at the cans of Pepsi, staring at them like they were candy. "Those are for later," I warned her, seeing the glint in her eyes. She scowled at me, but reluctantly looked away from the pop and began helping me with putting the things that littered the roof back in my bag.

My eyes caught the way her gaze kept going back towards the area where the explosion had come from and I had to repress a sigh. I also didn't miss the way she would throw little pleading glances at me, which I ignored to the best of my ability. Cammy knew that I couldn't resist her puppy eyes and it only made it harder for me to ignore her stares as guilt gnawed at my stomach when she would look away dejectedly.

She's just messing with you, Khendra, I told myself firmly, turning my head away from Cammy when she made to look at me again. Don't give her what she wants.

I made the mistake of looking over at her and cringed when I was met with her wide eyes staring at me innocently. Looks like I'm giving her what she wants anyway. I turned away again, zipping up the bag, cracking my back loudly before slinging my bag onto my shoulders.

Wait for it...

"Khendra?"

And there it is...

"Yes?" Please don't ask, please don't ask me, please don't ask-

"Can we go take a look?" God damn it...

I shook my head, making my way towards the door without answering her. I heard her spluttering, her footsteps running against the roof before she skidded to a halt in front of me, eyes desperate. "Why not?" She demanded. I arched an eyebrow at her tone, crossing my arms in an intimidating manner. Realizing her mistake, she apologized quickly and asked again in a more polite tone, knowing that I wasn't going to say anything until she lost her attitude.

Satisfied, I held up three fingers. "Three reasons. One," I held up one finger, "we don't even know if these people aren't going to shoot us on contact. We could be mistaken for Biters and they could react defensively. Or they could be one of the bad groups that we had encountered once before." I ignored the way Cammy flinched at the reminder and held up my second finger. "Two, I can assure you that that area is going to be Biter infested by the time we even get there. It's too dangerous. We'd be walking in blind, not knowing whether those people even lived. We can't risk it." I held up my third finger. "And three, what are we even going to do if we do go over there, miraculously get past all those Biters, and somehow manage to find survivors? People are scared, Cammy. They aren't going to be too fond of suddenly coming into contact with people they've never met before."

"But that won't matter if they're with a group!"

I shook my head at her again. "Regardless if they have a group or not, those survivors won't be fond of seeing us. We're strangers to them. They don't know anything about us. We know that we're harmless, but do they?"

I would be lying if I said that I hadn't gone over all the possible scenarios of finding more survivors in my head before. And let me tell you, the things I've imagined are not the prettiest. I'd only ever encountered one group since the start of the outbreak and they weren't the most pleasant people. And they certainly hadn't left a positive note behind when Cammy and I managed to get away from them. The thought of finding more people had me excited, but at the same time, I absolutely loathed the idea for fear that they would be like the last group. The two of us had barely gotten away and that was only cause we got lucky that a herd of Biters had shown up out of nowhere and began terroizing the camp. I didn't want to put Cammy in any more danger than I already had.

"But," I knew that Cammy was merely grasping at loose ends by now, and I knew that she did, too, and I let her wear her excuses thin, "what if they need help? What if they have children?"

The idea of Biters getting ahold of children had my thoughts coming to a screeching halt and an unpleasant shiver raced up my spine. Images of Cammy turning into one of those things filled my head and I had to forcefully shove them away before my thoughts decided to become too wild. I had only ever encounted one child Biter and it was perhaps the most tramatizing experience I've ever had to live through as I pulled a gun to his head and was forced to put him down.

"There's still the challenge of getting there, Cammy," I told her, reaching around her to open the door. She stepped to the side, watching me open the door with sad eyes. It killed me having to deny Cammy the one thing that she really wanted, but the risks were too high and I didn't want to give her false hopes that those people actually survived. "We don't have the ammo to waste getting over there and once we're out, we're out. That's the end of it." I gave her a pointed look, one which she shrunk under. "You can barely fight. You know the basics, but that's it. You aren't experienced enough to take on large groups of Biters. I can barely handle taking on five of them. If that doesn't say how low our chances are of succeeding, than I don't know what will."

Cammy stared into my eyes for a moment longer before she lowered her head in defeat and nodded her head. I wrapped an around her head and pulled her to my chest, whispering a quiet apology before she pulled away and waited for me to descend the staircase before following after me. I gave her a backwards glance, cringing at the broken look on her face before she noticed my staring and tried to smile at me. We both knew how fake the smile really was. Reaching the bottom, I only had to look up before a strangled curse left my lips and shoved a surprised Cammy behind the counter, thankful that she didn't make any unnecessary noises at my rough handling as I crouched before her.

My eyes traced the three Biters that had trailed into the store, their backs thankfully turned when we had come down from the roof. Cammy stared heavily at me, lips parted slightly as she breathed though her mouth quietly. I slipped my fingers towards my pant's pocket, feeling the grateful weight of my daggers inside. I didn't doubt my ability to kill these three. It wasn't going to be easy, but at the same time it wasn't going to be hard because they weren't paying attention and would be easier to deal with since they wouldn't be expecting me. However, I was reluctant in giving away our location and alerting any other Biters that were nearby that we were here as I killed them. It embarrassed me to admit it, but I was far from the silent assassin that I was trying to be.

For some reason, my heart began to pick up speed, adrenaline coursing through my body as my legs shook under my weight. I licked my lips, blinking rapidly and wiping away the sweat that had suddenly gathered on my forehead with the back of my hand. I was about to toss a dagger into the nearest Biter, a man wearing a business suit, when Cammy suddenly began tugging on my arm urgently, beckoning at something. A door. A back door to be exact.

Seeing that the Biters weren't coming anywhere near us, I quickly crawled over to the door, grasping the doorknob and turning it. I breathed a silent sigh of relief when the door opened outwards smoothly, not a squeak being heard. Waving at Cammy, she mimicked the way I had crawled over here in a less than graceful, but thankfully quiet way, and slipped outside with me right behind her, shutting the door softly behind her. I heard her sigh heavily and turned towards her, seeing the tension that had been in her body begin to bleed out when the alley we had walked into was Biter free.

"Come on. Let's get out of here." She nodded, grasping the hand that I offered her and following after me as I led her down a different route that would hopefully take us out of the city.

It turns out that the only way out of Atlanta was that road that was originally owned by the Biters. I blew out a frustrated breath, hitting my head against a brick wall. Sweat coated my entire body like a second skin as the Georgia sun bore down on us and I was quickly becoming disgusted with the feeling of my clothes sticking to me. I'd give anything for a shower right now. Cammy was waving her hand in front of her face, breathing heavily as she tried to get some relief. I handed her one of the bottles of water, watching as she eagerly snapped the seal. "Drink sparingly," I warned her. She gazed up at me. "That has to last us for awhile. Or at least until we find more. Don't make yourself sick because you drank too fast."

While she took tiny bird sips from the water at my request, though I could see how she craved to just dump the lukewarm water all over her head and bask in the short relief that the action would give her, I ventured a short distance away from her, leaving my bag by her side as I walked around the corner to look around.

The area was pretty much deserted and not a single Biter was in sight, which was a very reassuring thought. The amount of blood that was smeared across the walls and coating the ground had my stomach turning and I wrinkled my nose at the smell. The old smell of dried blood never failed to make my stomach churn. Something about the smell of dried up iron and water never really sat well with me. I took notice of how the sun wasn't as high up in the sky as it was some time ago and couldn't help the curse that escaped my lips. We had spent practically the entire day trying to get out of here and all we were doing was running around in circles. It irritated me that we were forced to stay one extra night in this damn city before we could backtrack towards the main road, but it was better than traveling around with Cammy at night where anything could sneak up on us.

Spotting a sturdy enough looking brick building that still had the doors intact, I snatched Cammy from her reclining position, making sure that she had grabbed my bag in the process, and leading her across the courtyard. Lightly pushing against the door, I was surprised to see not the inside of a building, but rather another courtyard. Giving Cammy a curious look, one which she returned, I jumped down from the edge, helping Cammy down since my bag was weighing her down and would make her landing louder than it should be.

We had only taken a few steps when growling reached us. We both stopped in our tracks instantly, listening intently. Cracking sounds could be heard and the sound of something being torn apart reached my ears, followed by more muffled growls. Cammy's face turned green and she swallowed thickly before grasping my arm in a death grip as we plastered ourselves to the brick wall, edging closer to the corner before I chanced a look around the corner, instantly pulling back for fear that I would be sick right then and there.

Biters. Quite a few of them. And they were feeding by the looks of it, too. I placed a hand over my mouth in a feeble attempt to cover my nose from the vile scent that permeated the air. The scent of decaying corpses, freshly spilled blood, and the scent of death that seemed to cling to the Biters like a second skin. It was a horrid combination. Cammy gave my pale face a terrified look.

She began mouthing to me, lips shaking as she spoke. "Are they...?" She made a face, turning greener and greener by the second. I nodded my head shakily. Cammy made a silent gagging motion, holding her stomach as she leaned over. I rubbed her back, looking around for a way around the Biters. Seeing an open door nearby, I decided to take a blind leap. Pointing it out to Cammy after she managed to contain herself, she gaped at me when I mouthed to her that we were going to sneak over there as quietly as we could without alerting the Biters that we were passing through.

"What if they see us?!" She mouthed in horror, eyes darting towards the area where she knew the Biters were enjoying their dinner.

"They shouldn't even notice us. They seem to be pretty occupied at the moment." Cammy gave me a disbelieving look, but followed me when I tip-toed out from around the corner and edged my way towards the door. My gag reflexives kicked in at that moment when the full smell hit me and I bit my lip to contain the bile that once again rose up my throat. Cammy's eyes were glued to the Biters, who remained oblivious to our presence. There was one scary moment where we both ducked behind a dumpster when a female Biter suddenly pulled her head away from the body before her, cloudy eyes staring ahead of her before she engorged herself once more on the body. I could practically hear Cammy's heartbeat in my ears as she contained her heavy breaths to the best of her ability and I wasn't doing any better, my entire body shaking with fear as I peeked from behind the dumpster to check that it was safe before we hurried towards the door. I only breathed steadily when I slipped through the door with Cammy right behind me.

That's enough excitement for one day...

"Come on," I mumbled. "Let's see if we can find a secure area where we can chill for the night."

Cammy looked back at the wide open door. "You don't think they'll come in here, do you?"

I glanced around the dark area warily, my mouth going dry when not even the sun could reach the deepest parts of this place. There didn't seem to be any Biters in here, but I didn't let my hand stray away from the dagger in my pocket. "They shouldn't, but we'll barricade the doors and windows when we find a place to sleep, okay?" Cammy nodded slowly, pulling her gaze away from the door as she followed me deeper into the compound.

We ventured further inwards, being careful to avoid stepping on the shards of car parts that littered the floor before we came across a sign that was hanging off its hinges. I tilted my head to the side, trying to read the words that were already fading away.

"We're in a nursing home?" Cammy asked curiously, reading the sign quicker than me.

"It seems like it," I murmured, looking around. That just made this place even more creepier. Sleeping in a nursing home was worse than sleeping in an abandoned house. "Stay close to me. We don't know what could be in here." I pushed open a set of double doors with Cammy's help, stumbling a bit inside when the doors just swung right open.

It wasn't until we stepped into the next room that my stomach finally lost what little control it had left and I was left a vomiting mess against the wall as Cammy gagged nearby, eyes widening in horror at what was presented to us. Bodies. Dead bodies. Everywhere. All with open eyes that portrayed what I assumed to be fear in their last few moments of life. The large circular table in the middle of the room was overturned and papers littered the floor everywhere, mixing in with the glass that hid deceptively underneath the papers. I didn't have to even think about who it was that could've done this as I coughed against the wall.

"What happened here?" Cammy whispered in horror, hands pressed over her mouth as she stared fearfully at the bodies. I was reassured when I saw that all of the bodies had bullet holes in their heads and that they wouldn't be reanimating into a Biter, though I was still struck dumb at the massacre that lay before us. I almost made myself sick again when I registered the thought that had just crossed my mind. Since when had I become so relieved at the sight of a dead body? My eyes landed on a kind looking old lady whose mouth was wide open mid-scream and I had to look away as my gut began rolling with nausea. This was horrible. Carnage.

"It looks like they were attacked," I stuttered, wiping my mouth. I crouched down beside a body, wrapping my fingers around a man's wrist. It was still slightly warm. "And it seems like we got lucky. This couldn't have happened no more than a couple hours ago."

"I didn't hear any gunshots, though," Cammy stated quietly, hovering close to me as she tried not to look around. I shook my head.

"I didn't either, but we weren't anywhere near this area when all this happened. This couldn't have happened no more than mid-late noon at best." I indicated the bodies. "Their skin's still warm to the touch. They haven't been dead long." Cammy whimpered, burying her face into my shoulder as I stood, standing up on her tiptoes so she could reach me as I pulled her away from the dead, ushering her across the room and up a set of stairs. We both ignored the doors that were wide open, only peering in briefly before moving on quickly when we saw more dead bodies inside. There was one room that I had noticed was a prayer room and the body of a dead man, whom I presumed to be the preacher here, was sprawled across the floor with still wet blood dripping down the wall. Cammy could only watch as I made a cross across my chest before bringing my hand up to my face with my palm facing the opposing wall, closing my eyes for a few seconds, and then moving on as if we had seen nothing.

I wasn't much of a religion-type of person. My family never really went to church and they only believed in what they wanted to believe in. While I did follow the first half of that philosophy, I still had half of my mind dedicated to respecting and following whatever rules God had given to us humans in the early times. I did believe in higher ups, but at the same time, I wouldn't be a full supporter unless I witnessed one for myself, which I highly doubt would ever happen. Though I was beginning to believe it more. The fact that the dead were now walking the Earth was definitely enough to make me rethink my thoughts on religion.

We finally found an empty room, throwing what little we had into a corner and proceeding to barricade the door with the bookshelf and the chair that were in the room. Once we were sure that the door was blocked off enough, Cammy went back to my bag to dig out our dinner while I stayed near the door, twisting and turning a few things before I was satisfied.

"Where's the can opener, Khendra?"

"In the very front pocket," I replied distractedly, giving our pitiful barricade another once over. The sounds of abused metal reached my ears and a humorless smile was on my face as I watched Cammy struggle with the can opener. She scowled down at the can, glaring at my hands when I tried to take it away from her to help her before she scooted away, determined to do it herself. She eventually got the can open some ten minutes later and I bit my lip to keep myself from telling her that she had been using the wrong side of the can opener the entire time.

I let her distribute the food into two bowls from my bag, giving her a dangerous look when I saw how she gave me more than was necessary. She smiled at me, munching at the peaches in her hands and humming in delight at the sweet taste. Shaking my head at her, I followed her lead, slowly shoveling the food into my mouth and letting my mood gradually become better as I savored the sweetness that was peaches.

It wasn't a fancy ass dinner, and neither was it very satisfying, but it was enough for both of us. Cammy and I had never really eaten much to begin with. Even before all this nonsense started, we never ate more than what we wanted at the time. It was mainly why our food was lasting us this long. We knew how to make it last, unlike some of the other survivors, whom I knew struggled to find enough to food to give them the energy that they desperately needed to survive. If I had my way, though, I would've gladly given away some cans to those that needed it more than us. Cammy would happily comply with my wishes as well, the need to help others always her first instinct.

It wasn't until the room began to steadily get darker and darker did I realize that the sun was finally setting and that the tall Atlanta buildings were going to be blocking what little sunlight was left soon. Peering through the boarded up window on the other side of the room, I was instantly blinded by what little part of the sun was still visible over the top of a building and pulled back, rubbing my eyes. Seeming to read my mind, Cammy handed me my bag and watched as I pulled out a small candle from my bag and a match stick, scraping the match against the ground and holding the new flame above the candle, filling the room with a sweet scent and a warm light that had Cammy leaning into my side when I leaned against the wall, sighing tiredly as she did so. I waited for her to finish her shuffling around before crossing my legs, tangling my fingers in her hair as she rested her head across my lap.

"It's cold in here," She said suddenly, a shiver following soon after. Shrugging off my sweatshirt, I wrapped it over her, tucking the sleeves around her neck to keep it in place. She turned her head to look up at my, tired brown eyes staring at me worriedly. "What about you?"

"I'll be fine," I insisted firmly, gently putting her head back down in its previous position. "Try to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us and we need to get up early to get a head start."

"Are you ever going to sleep tonight, Khendra?" She asked, yawning. "When was the last time you even slept?"

Almost three days ago. "I'll sleep eventually. Don't worry about me. Just sleep."

I found it endearing how Cammy was so worried about my health. Normally, it would be myself worrying about whether or not she was getting enough sleep, but now, it was like our roles were slowly being reversed. It didn't escape my notice how Cammy was trying to integrate herself in a more useful way ever since we had arrived in Atlanta. It wasn't big things. I flat-out refused to take her on raids with me into the deeper parts of the city whenever we ran out of something. Rather that it was the little things that she would do for me that I greatly appreciated. Carrying my bag. Taking stock of our supplies. Being a lookout every now and then whenever I had my back turned. Pointing out safer escape ways than the current one.

"She's a genius. Tactical, resourceful, and reliable. People flock to her by the dozens and are curious about her. She's useful. Very useful."

You got something right, you old bat, I thought, watching Cammy slowly doze off, her eyes fluttering closed. It was a surprise to everybody when that woman had named me her successor. Everyone had been expecting Cammy. Sweet, smart, loyal Cammy. But no. Instead, they got me. Disrespectful, crude, violent me. I questioned that woman's decision for the longest of times and it wasn't until later that I realized she had only picked me because of my age. Cammy had only been six when that woman had made the decision of me being her heir. I was at the ripe age of twenty-three. Still in college and still learning, while Cammy was only just beginning her schooling. It was only logical to pick the oldest over the youngest, even if said oldest wasn't what you would want as an heir.

I tiredly rubbed at my eyes, hitting my head against the wall, groaning as my mind buzzed sluggishly. God did I want to sleep. So, so bad. The thought of sleep was beyond tempting at this point and, glancing at the barricade and boarded window once more, I decided that maybe trying to catch a few hours of sleep would benefit me more so than it would for me to pull another all-nighter. I'd probably be in better condition if I did sleep, anyway. And it would ease Cammy's concern over my health if I told her that I had managed to get some sleep. I found that I could never lie to the girl. She always seemed to know when I was lying and it was the same vice versa.

Deciding to give in to my body's desire, I was close to passing out entirely when Cammy suddenly stiffened and sat up, looking around. I blinked my eyes open, twitching. "Wha's wrong?" I slurred, looking around the room. The candle in front of us was still burning brightly, though the wax inside was distinguishly fuller than it was the last time I looked at it. No more than an hour could've passed since I dozed off.

"I thought I heard something..." That instantly woke me up. I sat up straighter, pulling out a dagger and sitting still with my weapon by my side, ears straining to pick up anything. At first, I didn't hear anything and I was about to tell Cammy that it was merely a false alarm, saying that she had probably just been imagining things, when I heard it. Shots. Gunshots to be exact. My heart jumped into my throat.

There were people inside the building. People with guns. And they were possibly shooting at something downstairs.

. . .

. .

.

I like this chapter. I don't know why, but I do. So that's the second chapter. I hope it doesn't disappoint. Ignore the ending. I know it was rushed. My own impatience got the best of me...

Thank you for reading!