The dark sky grew over the horizon, the last rays of sunlight bleeding across the sky in long streaks. Hannah sat on a short ledge, her legs dangling over the side. The small rock in her hand scratched into the crumbling concrete. Since most of the buildings had been destroyed when the whole shit show started. After losing her family, she tended to hold her possessions close to her, carving her initials into the rocks of the buildings they explored, after clearing out the creatures first. Hearing the depressing howls echoing from another building way too close to her, she got up, quickly making her way back into the building, where some of her group were waiting for her. After the first few explorations, they got the idea to just give her her time after they clear a building, taking what they can. Finding clothes usually wasn’t too difficult for her, she could fit into most women’s clothing, men’s clothing being a backup if anything happened. Grabbing her backpack from the ground where she had left it, she swung it over her shoulders, making sure everyone was still here, nobody seemed hurt which was always a good thing. “Let’s get back before it’s too dark”.

The group quickly left the building, keeping to the middle of the road, ensuring they were able to see around them, eliminating any chance of being surprised by anything within the buildings. They hadn’t explored too many of the buildings yet, only the ones that seemed to be in okay condition. Hannah had noticed that the buildings that were more destroyed than the others, tended to usually house more zombies than the others. Why that was, she had no idea. Soon enough, the building came into view, her eyes immediately jumping up to the windows, checking for anything wrong. There didn’t seem to be any issues, there never usually was, the building almost always had people keeping the place secure and safe from creatures. They entered the building, everyone going off to their spots they had claimed. The Leader of their group, Elijah, was sitting among a group of people, chatting quietly. Giving them all a small smile she continued on to her little corner. Most people preferred to stay in small groups within their groups, but she liked to be by a window. Putting her bag down, she grabbed the various cans of food she had managed to find. Food was becoming scarce, and whatever they could find was great. Taking them over to where Elijiah was sitting, she handed them amongst the group, it was their turn to cook anyway. There wasn’t a huge amount of them, about 15 or so. Everyone had their stories, but nobody tended to ask questions, most people were quite private about their lives before the world ended. That’s just how it was nowadays.

Hannah had been chatting quietly with Elijiah and a few others about their recent exploration, discussing what they found, the amount of infected they had come across etc. It was pretty standard procedure for anyone returning from whatever they were doing. They almost always had people coming and going from the building, whether it was for a patrol, searching for resources, just going out to be outside for whatever reason, nobody really paid much attention to who was inside or outside at a given time. Elijah could be strict at times, but he was pretty tolerant with that sort of thing. He trusted them all enough to let them decide what they wanted to do, and when they wanted to do it.

None of them had even glanced up when they heard somebody leaving the building. Although it was less common for somebody to have been leaving when it was already dark outside, they didn’t question it. As long as they were staying safe and doing what they were supposed to, Elijah didn’t really care much. Some thought it was irresponsible, but they weren’t children. They were all old enough to know what was a good idea and what wasn’t. Or most of them did.

Nathan was probably one of the less responsible ones. He did what he wanted and wasn’t one to think about what his actions did, how they affected others. Obviously he wasn’t going to go around boasting about things, but if his actions had a negative effect on somebody else, he didn’t really give it a second thought. When Nathan had heard the talking, laughter echoing through one of the buildings a decent way from his own, he frowned. Obviously there were going to be other survivors of the initial apocalypse, they had already seen proof of that. But knowing where they were, who they were, that was something new. Before he had the chance to think things through, he grabbed a rock, tossing it around the corner of the building he was hiding behind, praising himself when he heard the crack of the rock echo through the streets.

Soon enough, a young woman had exited the building, seemingly looking for the cause of the sound. Nathan grabbed another rocker, tossing it not too far from where he was standing, just around the corner of the building she came from. He smiled to himself, gently steadying his hands on the pistol he carried with him. The young woman had immediately looked towards the sound, walking cautiously over to where it was. She looked down at the rock, frowning, before glancing up, looking around her for a moment. Her eyes landed on Nathan eventually. He stepped away from the concrete wall and towards her. “Who are you?” he asked, holding the weapon steady at her, refusing to look away from her for even a second. He didn’t want her getting any funny ideas.

Before she had responded, he watched her hands reaching down, to where he presumed she was likely reaching for a gun. Without thinking, he instinctively fired two shots, watching her fall. Nathan’s face immediately fell, the loud bangs echoing. There was no way they didn’t hear it, if there was anybody with her. Looking around in slight fear, he saw movement at her building, and ran, trying to get back to his building before anybody had come out. Elijah would likely have known of them, hopefully not on a personal level. He knew if Elijah found out about this, he would seriously have some problems.

It had been quite some time since one of the men had left, but it wasn’t a reason to be concerned. Most people had decided to go and get some rest, as there wasn’t always a whole lot to be doing during the night. The nighttime was usually one of the most dangerous times to be wandering around outside. With the protection of the darkness, the infected were able to roam about as they pleased, which could cause some issues if somebody managed to get cornered or didn’t have weapons on them, which in turn caused a number of more issues within the group.

Hannah had been sitting on her bundle of blankets, messing around with a deck of cards she had managed to keep with her. They belonged to one of her friends, who had gotten infected, and she didn’t have any choice but to get rid of her. It was a fond memory of hers to have them with her, almost keeping them in her backpack at all times. She had just about decided to finally put them away and get some sleep when she heard voices from another room.

Confused, she had assumed that most people had already gone to sleep, but it wasn’t uncommon for people to wake during the night. Nightmares were pretty common for those who had survived, and everyone had kind of already gotten used to them. Some of the younger ones still struggled with dealing with them, but everyone did their part to help. Well, most people anyway. There were a few who just tried to stay out of everyone’s way, do what they wanted. Those were the kinds that irked Hannah the most. It was selfish and didn’t help anyone. There wasn’t much she could do about it, but she had a smart mouth and definitely didn’t hold back with the venom when somebody was acting like that in front of her.

Hearing the slightly agitated tone, she got up, making her way quietly over to where it was coming from. Looking around the corner of the wall, she saw Elijah still sitting in the chair he had been before, a man she didn’t recognize in front of him. Frowning, her eyes widened in shock when she noticed the clearly deceased body lying on the table between them. She heard Elijah’s voice, “Grayson? What happened?” Hannah stepped into the room, without saying anything, standing against the wall casually.

Hannah had noticed the other man, which she hadn’t seen before. Maybe he had just arrived or she wasn’t paying attention. Either way, not a huge deal. A small smile appeared on her face as she noticed the immediate increase of anger in the room. Obviously she had hit a sore spot. Although, she’d have been surprised if a dead wife wasn’t a sore spot. Glancing at Elijah, she took in the disapproving stare he was giving her. Maybe she was going overboard but that was okay, it was fun.

Elijah hadn’t noticed Hannah entering the room, but as soon as she opened her mouth, he had a feeling this would only make things worse. He had known her for quite some time, a few years, but no matter how hard he tried, he hadn’t been able to stop the words that were inevitably going to come out. He knew she had a sharp tongue, but this situation would have gone a lot smoother if she hadn’t inserted herself into it. Eli, on the other hand, he hadn't seen much of his temper, but he already knew that something like this was bound to bring it out.

Things moved quickly after her comment for Hannah, her eyebrows raised slightly as she felt the cold ting of the blade on her skin. To her surprise, as noticed the other man immediately pulled him back away from her, hearing the blade dropping to the floor. By now, Elijah had jumped out of his chair, holding his hands up, shooting her a glare that only made her smile more. Hannah knew Elijah hated it when she got like this, but in her mind, that was his problem and it didn’t really affect her all that much what he thought, they were still friends.

This had started out just as a little bit of fun, but after his comment about her, it became personal. Her eyes stared at the man on the floor, her nails digging into the palm of her hand. Her smile dropped, unable to tear her eyes away from him. Elijah had noticed this, stepping towards Grayson. Offering a hand, he continued to glare at Hannah. He needed to find a way to fix this situation before it continued to escalate, he knew Hannah would. “Gray, you know I wouldn’t have done this, or let any of my people do this either” he told him.