Hoard of Hell

2

The young woman woke up right as the sun was coming up. Call it a bad habit, or call it second nature. Lily was always happy to get up in the morning. Even if it was still dark out. Something her and men would disagree on regularly. A memory that always made her smile just the tiniest bit. Only a fleeting second, could you see it. Then it was gone. A quick flash of silver and metal on metal could be heard as she rose up from her makeshift bed. She really did miss the mattress at the hotel. Even the cot she used to sleep in back in the military. Now, missing that cot, that means that a very desperate person would take anything other then the ground. 

Taking the three dog tags that were hanging from her neck in her hands, she made a small smile. Every time she held the dog tags of hers and her men's, she felt like they were with her. The families decided to give her one of their loved ones dog tags at the two funerals. To give her something of theirs. So they were always with her. Something that made going day by day a little bit worth it. Even in this world. And that was saying a lot. Getting up, groaning as she did, she felt like an eighty year old. The wounds she had from Iraq, made things difficult. But, she didn't let them stop her from surviving. You stop trying, you die in this kind of world. Sure they were nothing more then scars, both physical and mental, but sometimes there were things you can't shake off. But, she has been told that, 'Damaged people are dangerous, they know how to survive.', a quote by Josephine Hart. A quote that her commander never let forget after a rescue squad found her half dead. Surrounded by the bodies of her two men. The third, nowhere to be found. But, that man was dead to her as far as she knew. 

Getting up and dressed, she continued to collect all of her belongings and put them in her backpack. Her weapons, on her body where they always are. "Time to move on.", she whispered to herself. Her voice hoarse from not speaking for so long. No one to talk to, no reason to speak. But, even with people around she was always the quiet one. Recently anyways.

Lily couldn't shake this feeling. Something that always meant that something was going to happen. It never failed to amaze her men or anyone that was around her. Whether it was bad or good. She didn't know. When it was going to show what was going to happen, she didn't know. All she knew was that she had to keep her guard up and her knife on her hip, in her hand. Continuing on her journey to who knows what, Lily continued thinking back to her men. Two who had her broken heart, and the odd man out, he was the one to break it into tiny pieces. But, that's a story for another time. 

The wind brought her a sense of relaxation as it blew her hair around. A simple joy. A joy that Lily has found that the simplest things can make any horrible day just a little bit better. As she continued to walk across the earth, the tick in her neck was still there. It was starting to irritate the poor woman, not knowing what was going to happen, only knowing something was going to happen. The branches swayed as the wind picked up. The quiet silence was suddenly interrupted by the sound footstep. Leaves crunching, twigs snapping. Crouching down in front of the bush, her camouflage making her blend in. It was a shuffling sound, so obviously not a rotter. 

Yes, she called them rotter's.  Make's sense to her. Rotting flesh and all that. 

Closing her eyes, she focused on her hearing. One sense that, to her, was better then her sight. The crunching of leaves and twigs got closer and closer to where she was hiding. Making sure she had a good grip on her knife, she waited until whoever this was took a couple steps from her hiding spot. Then struck. Like a snake after its food, She grabbed the back of the persons jacket, threw said person against a nearby tree and put her knife against the persons throat. A quick glance told Lily it was a man. Blonde hair, bright blue eyes. Only the look of shock that soon turned into anger. A machete on the forest ground, a knife on his belt that Lily quickly took out and threw onto the floor next to the other weapon.