𝐋𝐔𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓 - c. grimes

B R O K E N S I L E N C E

The awful sound of the growling and clawing was easily blocked out as the girl sat there on the floor, watching the blood seep through the wooden floorboards. The ringing from the gunshot still taking up most of the sound she heard as her heart raced. She slowly stood up, backing away from the body as she grabbed her bag off of the counter.

"Come on." She whispered, patting her leg. Seconds later, a dog began following her quietly out of the house.

━━━━━━ 𖥸 ━━━━━━

It had been two years since the dead began walking, and it had been a long two years. Releasing a sigh, the girl wiped at her face in attempt to get the blood of the undead off of her cheek. She wiped the blade of her knife on her pants, giving the blade its shine once again. She stepped over the body of the dead freak she had just killed and continued walking with no destination in mind.

She stepped over branches and twigs, hearing the soft snaps and crunches under her shoes as she didn't bother to try and stay quiet. She rubbed at her neck as the sun beat down on her and her backpack began to grow heavy on her shoulders. Thankfully, the sun was beginning to set. She looked around to see that she was surrounded by perfectly good trees for climbing.

She found one with seemingly sturdy branches and tucked her knife into the side pocket of her backpack before she gripped the tree trunk. She hoisted herself up and grabbed onto a branch, the thick bark clawing at her calloused hands as she climbed. She climbed until she was sure that she was high enough, but not too high incase she were to fall.

She took her bag off and positioned herself to be sitting with her back against the tree trunk and her legs dangling on either side of the branch with her bag resting against her front side. She didn't have to worry too much about falling asleep and falling from such a height, as she never really slept anyways.

"How far out do you plan on going?" A man's voice asked. Startled, the girl began looking around, trying to find the source of the noise. "As far out as we need to." Another man replied, his voice sounding gruff. Depicting the general direction they were coming from, they were getting closer to the girl.

She quickly, yet quietly, put her bag on and began climbing down the tree. She winced as twigs snapped when she landed safely on the ground, quickly taking her knife out. She could hear as the two men stopped talking, noticing the sound.

Personally, she hadn't run into many people since the outbreak, but she's witnessed some dark stuff and the heinous acts people would commit against other people, not just the undead. It wasn't that she didn't like trusting people, she didn't like people in general and what they were capable of now. What she was capable of now.

"Is somebody out here?" The first man's voice called out. She held her knife tighter, not wanting to risk moving and drawing more attention to herself. "You don't have to be afraid." That's very convincing.

She could feel them growing closer, but they moved almost silently. Any noise they were making, she couldn't hear over her racing heart. "It's just a kid." The gruff voice from behind her called out. She immediately swung her left arm around with the intention of killing, or at least hurting, the man, but he was quick to grab her wrist, stopping her midair.

He had dark, greasy hair that stuck to his neck. His clothes were also dark and he carried a crossbow at his side. She pulled her arm from his grasp as the other man approached. He had brown, curly hair and wore dirty jeans and a button up with the sleeves rolled up. She took note of the gun in his belt. "You don't have to be afraid." He repeated, holding his hands up to show they were empty and he genuinely meant no harm.