A/N: Ended up going in a different direction for this chapter than previously planned but I think I like this better for her character development. To the reviewer Thian, I was wondering if you beta'd? I get you on the wkward wording and the long first chapter, I am currently revising that - although I lost the part I was revising and am now really annoyed and have to start over but that is besides the point - but I have my reasons for making the dream sequences confusing. I was hoping it was not confusing in an annoying, I-hate-this-story kind of way, though.

Chapter Four:
Down In It

All the world's weight is on my back

And I don't even know why

What I used to think was me is just a fading memory

I looked him right in the eye and said

"Goodbye."

An earthquake woke her up. As she became more alert, she realized it was not an earthquake, there several moaning creatures outside banging against the car she had tried to nap in. They were making her world toss and turn violently.

She heard the glass above her cracking for only a second before it shattered and pieces fell on her. Scrambling up away from the window, she found her gun and fired at it. It took five shots in the head before it collapsed and another took its place, reaching for her. She fired at them all but she could hardly see them in the dark.

How did they find me? She had not been making any noise or giving off an excessive amount of heat. Could these beasts track? It seemed impossible to her but she was not going to waste any time thinking on that at the moment and instead invested her time in shooting.

She had to change clips and she only had one left. More beasts had come to the window and the moment she gave them was long enough. Two clawed hands ripped the door off the car and tossed it away as if it were no more heavy than an empty carton of milk.

Her usually deft fingers stumbled and slipped with the clip now and she cursed herself. Only idiots panicked like this. She was not an idiot, how could she be the best if she crumbled now?

Just as she aimed, gunfire went off and the creature's head popped off only to reveal a human head underneath as it fell to the ground. The rear window exploded from what she hoped was simply a bad aim and she ducked down in her seat to avoid being killed by a potential rescue crew.

It took hardly a few minutes for the moaning outside to cease and be replaced by humans congratulating themselves loudly.

Poking her head up experimentally, she saw shadows and fires. Many fires. The shadows were talking and moving towards the car.

"Gotta be something good in here for them to be actin' all weird like that." A gruff male voice said to someone.

"Worked nicely for killing them all and not having them attack us back. Whatever it is, I suggest we rename it to 'Bait'." This voice was a little younger sounding but still masculine.

Gripping her gun, she decided to step out of the car before they found her crumpled up and looking defeated. That was not the impression she was to give anyone about her.

With calculated movements and grace she was accustomed to, she was out of the car and on her feat with her gun drawn at the shadows.

"Woah there!" The younger voice said to her side, and feeling silly she turned towards him. He looked to be in his early twenties. He was dirty and dressed in camoflauge but not in the way the military men were dressed. Still, she did not lower her weapon even as he held his hands up defensively, his own shotgun aimed up in the air.

She really wanted that shotgun.

"Drop yer weapon, girl." The older man spoke. Her eyes were adjusted to her surroundings now and she looked at the older man out of the corner or her eye. He had his own shot gun aimed at her and she knew at this proximity he really didn't have to be surgeon with it to do some damage.

They have the upper hand. She told herself and she accepted that and set her weapon down gently. But they will underestimate you.

The young one picked it up and she fought the urge to take him out with a swift kick to the head. The knowledge was at the edge of her memory but she did not release the lock on it, not yet. She had a feeling that she might want to see what these people were all about if they were not with the military forces she had been hiding from.

Of course, she knew relying on gut feelings would probably get her killed but no one was watching to judge how she survived. No one had to know her moment of insanity and weakness, did they?

"That isn't your jacket, is it?" the young one asked her and though it was none of his business she shook her head in reply. He smirked and it almost made her smile as well but she fought the urge and simply stared back at him.

"Come on girl. No more pulling weapons on us and we'll let you into the club." The older man said and lead her towards the fires.

She tried to shake her head and tell them that's where the beasts flock to but it just came out as a strangled groan. The men looked at her and it was then that she noticed others around her. Women and men alike, young and old and different races. She could look into their eyes and see how they thought of her.

She was a traveling loony in there eyes. She wondered how she looked now after so long in the wilderness. Not that the groupe of them were full of well dressed and clean shaven strangers but they were strangers with judgemental stares all the same. Even so, she was glad to see them. For too long she was staring at a face of metal or plastic, calculating tones instead of feeling them. Maybe they were not very smart for building their fires but they were human.

"Unless you wanna stay out here in the dark," a woman with dusty blonde hair said with a shrug. The woman shook her head and joined them.

They tried to start a conversation with her but her throat was still raw. After a while they gave up asking her questions, like what her name was and where she was from. Even if she could speak she would not be able to answer them.

They assumed she knew what was wrong with the world, why they were forced to hide like animals from the moaning beasts and the military men. She did not remember life before waking up surrounded by glass walls and a timer counting down to zero.

However, she was sure it had not been like this. She was sure it had been better.

...She was sure she had not been adopted as well. Almost positive but then there was so much more she was unsure of. So much more she wondered about in this world that she wondered if she wasn't made out of carbon and merely had a computer chip in her brain.

She pinched her arm and grunted at the sharp pain. Robots didn't feel pain, did they?

"Did you think you were dreaming?" The younger man asked softly as he took a seat on a cinder block beside her. His name was Jeremiah. She wondered who named him and she wondered who named her.

She shook her head.

"You've been alone a long time." Jeremiah stated and she nodded shortly. He was talking quietly to her, as if they were sharing secrets. She eyed his gun as he turned towards the fire. He was the one with the shotgun.

Concentrating very hard, she opened her mouth and he watched her curiously. It was sort of annoying how open he was with his feelings, how clearly they showed on his face. Didn't he know anything? Didn't he know they were out there, watching and judging? Calculating your skill? Testing your calmness when facing opponents? Why couldn't he just be his best?

Looking away with wide eyes, she stopped her inner temper tantrum. That was not calmness. That was not sanity.

"I have been alone for a very long time." She spoke the words quietly and softly as if to explain her thoughts to this man who could not know them.

"But you can speak. That's a... plus, right?" He asked.

She looked at him evenly, having schooled her features once more.

"You are very sweet." She stated and though her voice was hoarse she could hear the emptiness of it. Maybe she might as well be a robot. His cheeks began to color and she found it less annoying than his expression of innocent curiousity from before. She needed to change the subject, she needed to not find him endearing.

"I want your gun."

They had tried to stop her. She recognized that they were on the same side, however, and so she did not kill them. Some, though, were left feeling very uncomfortable and bruised a bit.

It was better this way.

She traveled alone.