---

"...♬ Tiny bubbles! ♬"

"Meifeng, be quiet."

The two girls walked alongside the seemingly endless road. With the only thing in sight being fields and fields of fucking nothing. Just desert. Meifeng wondered what made Cindy decide to take them this route. The road they walked alongside had an abandoned car or two, but they were long looted. The sun was coming down and the only thing on the two girls' mind was the setting sun. The last thing they wanted to be was caught out, in the dark, when the mist hits. So they needed to find shelter ASAP!

"I meeeeeeean..." Meifeng dragged out the word as she looked around. "We took a wrong left and ended up in the middle of bumfuck nowhere."

"Don't worry, I know where I'm going," Cindy said.

"Said the person that got lost during her land nav course, hehe."

"Meifeng, I'm starting to notice something," Cindy said as she turned on her heel at the middle part of this hill they were walking up. "You seem really blasé about everythin' that's been goin' on." She narrowed her eyes at Meifeng as she put her hands on the straps of the assault pack.

"So what's wrong with you, girl? Because something's got to be up."

Meifeng let out a puff of air as she rolled her eyes and looked off to avert eye contact even further. "Well, Cindy. My sister: missing. My mom: also missing. I'm pretty sure they're dead. Yeah. We're also probably gonna die before we find out. Some weird mist is gonna roll in and kill us." She sighed.

"So I'm just tryna just keep my mind off that as we keep pushing," Meifeng finished - well, sort of, she had something else to say. "And I need tampons like really badly. I feel like these shorts are gonna make the switch from black to red real soon." She gestured towards her black Nike shorts with the signature symbol asymmetrical on the one pants leg.

Cindy just shook her head, "I understand girl," Cindy started off, "Let's just keep moving."

They continue their way up the enormous hill until they reach the peak, but they see something that almost seems like a mirage in the distance.

---

---

Not another house in eyesight for miles, but it was huuuuge. It was the perfect place to stay for the night. Looked pretty intac-

"Get down!" Cindy whispered as she pushed Meifeng onto the ground.

As Meifeng was on her stomach, confused as to what was going, "What's going on?!"

"See them?" Cindy pointed at the people that were also approaching the house too that she spotted with her eagle eye.

"Looks like we're not the only ones with this idea," Meifeng said with a grin. "Let's get 'im! And don't give me that: "Let's avoid conflict" nonsense."

"Normally, I'd say let's let them have it," Cindy shook her head. "But, it's getting dark and I don't think neither of us wants to sleep in an empty car again."

But, little did they know there were more to this house than what met the eye.

Belen gave up looking at her phone hours ago. The only thing worth doing was play games and that got old fast. She's bored. Other than her ipod playing on the stereo, not a peep out of Gregorio or Cruz, the car was silent, the landscape was desert, sand, and red mountains. Fucking boring.

"Where are we going?" Her tenth time asking and they haven't given her an answer yet.

"Somewhere safe. Don't worry." Gregorio replied, his voice deep and gruff.

"I'm not." She didn't have a reason to. They always protected her and the rifles besides them, plus the trunk full of weapons didn't give her a reason to worry. "Nothing from mama?"

"No. Sorry."

She didn't expect there to be any word. She hasn't seen her in three days. No one answered her satellite phone. Her bodyguards weren't heard from either. So she's either alive or dead. Great. One of four people in her life that doesn't annoy her was missing.

They drove for a little while longer, before she saw a house in the distance. They were headed straight for it. "What the hell is that?"

"A pit stop. We can hull up here for the night, then continue to our destination."

She wasn't going to complain. The house was gorgeous, smaller than her mansion, but big enough to be comfortable that's for sure. They pulled up to the drive way. Her guards got out of the car with their weapons. She followed suit. "Stay in the car. We'll check it out. Make sure it's safe." Cruz tried to block her, but her gray LV sneakers already touched the red dirt.

"Oh would you look at that. My shoes are dirty. No point not walking around in them now." She hefted her travel bag onto her shoulder and checked Cruz out of the way. She kept her right hand in her bag, finger on the trigger of her gun. It'd be a waste to ruin her back with a bullet hole, but the element of surprise and all.

"Stay behind me." Cruz shut the doors, while Gregorio locked the truck, then they started towards the house. It was hotter than in San Diego. Her hair sweat out and frizzed up and it's only been five minutes. Great. Frizzy in this shit. At least she had the wherewithal to wear a bikini top and shorts. Cruz and Belen went to the front door, his rifle up and ready, while Gregorio went around the back. So far nothing seemed out of the normal. Cruz twisted the handle. It was unlocked. He waited and listened, but didn't hear anything on the other side, but that didn't stop him from slowly opening the door just encase. It let into an open foyer and a chandler above them. No one was around. Empty so far. Belen closed the door behind them. They heard a door open passed the stairs. They silently went passed and saw Gregorio checking the kitchen and living room. Nothing so far. It seemed the house was empty.

"Srta. Belen, wait here, while we check the rest of the house." Gregorio motioned to the couch. She was content to sit there and wait, they were inside now. Not too much could happen or sneak up on her when all she had to focus on was open layout. Not too many places for someone to hide if they missed anything down stairs. She sat on the couch with the back to the wall and kept her eyes peeled while she waited for them to finish the sweep.

Lena had been walking for hours...The sun was going down and that’s never a good thing. Especially not in the apocalypse.

She was traveling down an old road littered with ruined cars. Broken glass, stolen tires, burnt tires, you name it, it was there. She was weaving through all of them trying to keep herself covered. She hadn’t seen another living person in what felt like an eternity, but out here, the biggest threats are the ones you only see when it’s too late to escape. While working her way through the cars, she kept on hand on her best knife in case someone finally popped out. Lena was listening for any sort of movement as she moved, a can rolling around, footsteps, hell, a branch to break even.

Like usual, she had about 6 or 7 knives on her person, but her best was 9 inches long and nice and light for stabbing people. But it’s been a while since she got to fight someone, or even sleep. She hadn’t slept more than an hour or two in a while. She was used to it by now.

That was when she saw the house.

There wasn’t any other house out here for miles, so it stuck out like a sore thumb. It was big. Huge even. But the problem was the people that she could very faintly see moving around up there. Might as well give it a shot.

Another few minutes passed and she was finally at the bottom of the hill, a good 50 feet away from everyone else. She was slowly creeping up there to scope things out.

She could see two people, they weren’t the ones she had seen earlier, those people were armed. Lena wasn’t too far behind these two strangers, but it’d be best to stay hidden, so she didn’t advance any further. Thankfully, it was quiet enough - in the apocalypse, surprisingly - for Lena to hear what they’re saying to some degree. Something about a sister? She couldn’t make it all out very well. Oh well. Maybe this was the break she was looking for.

She kept her grip on her knife, and tried her best to not make a sound at the bottom of the hill, keeping her eyes locked dead on the two girls ahead of her.

Jane and Dean were both sound asleep, the latter out like a light as he'd drank too many beers to count. The situation they were in had taken its toll on the man. His wife, mother-in-law, and father-in-law were nowhere to be found. They had driven up to his in-laws only to find the place deserted. Maybe they too had fled, or so he hoped. Jane was disappointed, and bit her tongue hard enough to not cry. She had been rather quiet on their way to this new house they'd found. Dean, on the other hand, put up a brave front as he kept reassuring his step-daughter the rest of her family was alive and well. But once he told her to go to bed in order to hit the road in the middle of the night, he found some wine and despite not being his drink of choice, drank himself silly while barely able to walk upstairs and pass out.

A foreign sound made Jane gasp. She opened her eyes and sat up straight, what little light was left in the day barely illuminating the room as the girl scanned her surroundings. She had had a dream, a good one at that. She was celebrating her baby brother's shower. She'd finally have a sibling, and throughout the dream her mother and Dean were promising her they wouldn't love her any less or treat her any different.

There was another sound. Jane's heart quickened again, and she slowly pushed half of the sleeping bag off of her. Maybe Dean was outside. Or maybe it was someone else? She turned to her side and saw her step-father's still silhouette. They weren't alone.

"Dean, wake up!" Jane did her best to get his attention all while whispering. "Hey, there's someone outside!"

No response.

Jane sighed, crawling over to the corner where her stepfather lay. She grabbed his shoulder and tried to wake him, but he mumbled some incomprehensible nonsense and started snoring immediately.

"If this is how it's going to be you're in for a world of trouble."

The girl reached for the gun secured to Dean's waist. She would temporarily take it just to make sure there was no one outside wanting to look for trouble. She'd been warned, after all, that it was a possibility to come across others looking to do more harm than good, and she wasn't taking any chances.

Jane slowly got up and tiptoed her way to the door, freezing in place when the floor creaked underneath her weight.

"Jane, what are you doing up?"

The girl drew in a sharp breath, not expecting him to be up. "Shh! There's someone in here!"

"Wha--you sure?"

Great. He was drunk. That's why he didn't respond when she called out to him.

"No, I'm kidding. I'm going to the bathroom, just go back to sleep."

"Okay."

Jane didn't know whether she'd made the right choice or not, but being he was as drunk as she assumed him to be, she'd be the one to be taking care of him instead of the other way around. After she saw him turn away, she reached for the door to open it and slowly stuck her head out into the hall, gun in hand with a tight grip. Empty. Jane then was careful not to make any noise as she walked outside, her head on a swivel for any signs of danger.

---

---

If only Cindy had binoculars or a sniper rifle.

That'd make this a lot easier. Unfortunately, she doesn't have one - but all she has is her eagle eye. Cindy squinted as she looked at the group of three people - she guessed it was one girl and two guys. They rolled up in a vehicle... which kinda looked a bit more appetizing than the house at the moment. Cindy grinned as she looked at Meifeng.

"Those assholes have a car."

"Yeah."

"You thinkin' what I'm thinkin?"

Meifeng turned towards Cindy and grinned. "... Yeeeeeeeeeah! Let's smash and grab!"

"Follow me and stay low," Cindy said as she got up and unholstered her weapon and kept low as they quickly moved towards the house. Hopefully, they'll be able to grab the car before any of these people get the drop on them. Cindy, even in combat boots, was quiet. Her movements were deliberate and aimed to minimize the amount of noise that she made. It helped that the tan boots that she was wearing were rebook and lightweight...

... Then there was Meifeng making as much noise as a drunken bull in a China shop. Not really, but every noise that she made sounded like a gun going off. She put her hand up in a stopping gesture.

"What for?" Meifeng whispered.

"Ssssssssssssh," Cindy said, "Keep it down. Noise discipline."

Meifeng nodded her head as she unholstered her Remington. Though she wondered why Cindy got to use the gun with ammo. The two crept their way to their vehicle and Cindy wondered if they were dumb enough to leave the door unlocked. She pulled on the door handle as she hissed a curse word underneath her breath. If only they had a crowbar or something... Cindy knows how to hotwire a car, they just needed to get in. Cindy thought about their options...

"Hey, psst, I got an idea," Meifeng said quietly as she pushed Cindy away.

"... Huh?"

Once they were a good distance away from the car, Meifeng reached into her pocket and pulled out a rock the size of her fist. Cindy tilted her head. Why Meifeng was carrying a rock like that was beyond her.

"Okay, we'll get 'im out here and stick them up for the keys! And hopefully, they'll have tampons!" Meifeng said as she cocked her arm.

"Wait, no, Meifeng that's stupid!" Cindy lunged for Meifeng but it was too late. Meifeng had one strong ass arm and the rock went flying through the window of the car. There was an enormous crash as the car loudly beeped.

The two girls took off and took cover behind a rock.

"Meifeng what the fuck?!" Cindy said. "Nobody with a brain is going to fall for that."

Gregorio and Cruz did a thorough sweep of the first floor and turned up empty. They were half way up the stairs when the car alarm went off. They paused and shared a look. Obviously a trap by whoever was possibly in the house or someone that saw them roll up. Gregorio nodded for Cruz to check it out, he had to finish the sweep. Cruz went back down and peered out the window next to the door. Nothing other than the car wailing and lights flashing. He looked back at Belen.

"Srta. Belen stay put."

"Like hell I am. Someone fucked with my car." She stalked towards him, pulled her gun out, double checked the magazine and flicked off the safety lock. She reached out to open the door, but Cruz stopped her.

Cruz sighed, exasperated. "I'll go first. You hide on the porch and watch my six." He pulled the spare key out of his pocket and turned off the alarm, he opened the door, then glanced back. "Don't shoot me."

"No promises." She pushed his shoulder. "Go." She hid behind his bulky body and kept low. He stepped off the porch and she hid behind a pillar, gun out, and alert for anyone that might pop up. Cruz moved slowly towards the car.

Meanwhile, Gregorio continued upstairs, perturbed that Belen didn't stay in her seat. If he didn't love her and wasn't used to her hardheaded nature he would've quit a decade ago. He pulled a mirror out of his pocket when he got to a few steps from the top and crouched down. He stuck his hand out, angled the mirror down in the direction of the hall. No one. Then turned it around. There was a girl with a gun. She looked young. Teenager possibly and alone. An adult wouldn't let her go by herself, so either the adults are outside, she's protecting someone younger than her, or she's alone. The car stopped going off. Good. He'll hear anyone he might of missed coming. He pocketed the mirror, stood up, and quickly rounded the corner, rifle up and finger on the trigger. "Put it down or I'll shot." He slowly crept towards her, ready to down her if he had to. "Are you alone? Are your people responsible for the noise outside?"

---

Humming "The Lonely Road" by Green days for the umpteenth times of the day, Cheung Ji continued to trailing down the asphalt road, scavenging for some leftovers from the nearby cars. He needs foods and oil and stuffs to trade, stuffs that people would usually forget when the mists hit. Already and he had made quite some progress, two bottles of water, a bag of Takis, and some texas cinnamon buns. The expiring date for the texas cinnamon buns are maybe 3 days late but it is nothing. He had worse before. Promising for a new day, Cheung thinks while shoving the foods into his bag.

Still, there are vehicles that he wouldn't dare to scavenge due to a lack of people. Flipped cars, cars with burning smells, cars with something resembled a humanoid in them. Especially cars with corpses in them. Cheung Ji had heard of weird noises when the night comes, so who knows if those corpses gonna bite him and give him AIDS or turn him into zombies or something. So with those cars crossed out, there are still quite a few that he can scout.

But just as he was about to scavenge a white ford, the one that those child kidnappers usually use, for some extra rations, a noise rose from the top of the hill. Given normal circumstances, it would have been eaten out by the sounds of vehicles coming back and forth on this street. But these days aren't under normal circumstances now. Everyone is wack and the gas station is either burn to the ground or out of fuels. Everyone is dangerous and has guns. And if binging the Walking Dead series had taught him anything, it is that people are going to hurt you. Not Rick though. He is the protagonist.

So picking up his bag from the sidewalk and positioning his fire ax into a more comfortable grip, Cheung Ji decided to discover the source of this disturbance. If it is one of those marauders on TV, he had times to run. His "house" is only 2 miles down this road anyway. So it is better if he had some ideas for what is happening in the area. Or, if it is even better, he could trade some goods for some shaving soaps. Cheung thinks, his hands run over the prickling new mustache that is slowly forming around his upper lip.

"Yeah. Let's do this."

When the car began screaming, Lena quickly ran up the hill, out into plain sight with her hand on her knife, ready to pull it out.

Little did she know she accidentally right in front of Cindy and Meifeng.

“Uhh, hi...” She said as calmly as she could. “That’s weird, this doesn’t look like Disneyland, must’ve taken a wrong turn...” She tried to play off the fact that she just snuck up on literally everyone here. When the alarm actually went off, she turned her head towards the porch, keeping a grip on her weapon as she hoped nobody was about to jump out. “I didn’t come here to fight.” She told them. Lena wasn’t sure who was in the house, but they were probably armed.

Oh wait, there they fucking were.

Two people, a man and a woman, came out with guns. When all Lena has was a bunch of knives. Fantastic.

The figure rounded the corner a little too fast for Jane to properly gauge the situation, and in the blink of an eye she was facing a man with a rifle. Clearly, the pistol in her hands was no match. It didn't come as a surprise that the man started barking orders right away, though she obviously preferred words to bullets. But even though he had made himself crystal clear, Jane wasn't about to throw him her gun.

"We're good, you don't have to shoot," she replied, putting her hands at roughly shoulder level as she slowly knelt on her left knee to place the weapon by her feet. Just as slowly she got up, her eyes on the man the entire time. Jane didn't like being on the wrong side of a barrel. Dean had taken her shooting a number of times, and he always emphasized proper handling of a weapon so she was more than comfortable around one. This encounter, however, nearly made her heart skip a beat.

"No, I'm not alone. I'm here with my step-father who's not...all there at the moment."

In the room, Dean turned on his side to face the door. He was half asleep, although the chatter he heard coming from beyond the door woke him up instantly. He looked around the room, and uttered a curse word when he didn't see his step-daughter there with him. The man got up on his feet and walked towards the door, listening for a moment. She definitely wasn't alone.

"Jane, are you okay?" he called out while opening the door, taking a moment to process the scene not too far down the hall before seeing the answer to his question right in front of his eyes. Dean then acted on instinct.

"Hey! What the fuck do you think you're doing?" He aggressively moved in front of Jane, pushing her back with one hand to stand between her and the rifled aim in their direction.

---

Thankfully, the alarm masked Cindy's shouting but there was somebody who found their position. Some white chick that almost as tall as Meifeng!

“That’s weird, this doesn’t look like Disneyland, must’ve taken a wrong turn...”

They both immediately pointed their weapons at the girl.

"Hands in the air," Cindy said as she primed her pistol at the girl. She claims that she didn't come looking for a fight... but she isn't stupid. She knows better than to take stupid chances. Especially with weirdos that make jokes like that.

"Damn right you took a wrong turn," Meifeng whispered resisting the urge to pump her shotgun, "Now give me everything you own. Your weapons, your food, your clothes, and your tampons!"

Cindy looked at her blankly.

"... Unused tampons." She had to stipulate.

Cindy shook her head.

"Alright, I don't know who you are or why in the world you picked this rock over every other fuckin' rock here!" Cindy said, "But you better get out of here, now!"

It was kinda shitty of Cindy to do, but she was hoping that this girl would catch their attention. Because that was as good of an idea as any.

“Ok...” Lena brought her hands up over her head, including her knife that she had in the “slasher murder” grip. She couldn’t win a gunfight, she brought knives.

“Uh yeah about that, I feel you, but I don’t really pack those, they’re pretty much useless to me.” She said to Meifeng in a dead tone. For a wanderer armed with more knives that that shotgun had shells being held at gunpoint, she didn’t seem very scared.

“I’m just tryna find somewhere to not get eaten by cloud monsters, chill.”

Cruz and Belen heard shouting not too far from them. It like two or three voices. All feminine. Cruz looked at Belen, she shrugged and stood from her position, gun still raised. He nodded, and crept towards the sounds, Belen bringing up the rear like she was supposed to. There were three women, a black girl with an Asian girl, both of them had guns pointed at a white girl with knives. Cruz didn't know if they were all together and this was a ruse or if they were all enemies, but he didn't care. He'd shot them if he had to. Hopefully, Gregorio hurried up and came out to help.

"Put the guns down or I'll shoot. First the girl with the shot gun and my Srta. the girl with the braids."

Belen aimed her gun at the black girl, right between the eyes. A pistol wasn't as much of a threat if the shot didn't hit anything vital. She worried about Cruz and the shot gun though. He kept her covered, but it could blow a hole right through him.

"Do you know how much it cost? It's a 2021 model, brand fucking new. If you didn't look like gutter rats I would want compensation, but then I'd feel bad for squeezing you for the clothes on your backs."



The girl put the gun down. Good. She didn't fight him. He doesn't want to have to shoot a kid. He hated it. He made it half the length of the hallway when a man came out the room next to her, yelling, seemed slightly intoxicated, and covered her with his body. Jane. That's the girl's name. He pointed his rifle at her step-father. He was belligerent, which he understood. Let anyone try to come between him and Belen. He stopped in his tracks. He wasn't close enough to kick the gun away.

"Asking questions. I don't want any trouble and you've got a good kid there. I'd rather not gun you down. There's something going on outside and Jane says you have nothing to do with it. Is that true?" They better answer, quick, fast, and in a hurry. He needs to check on his companions.

---

Know what really sucks?

Having the worst-case scenario happen?

Cindy was hoping that they can either get the drop on them or they pass by. Of course, nothing ever goes her way. Never ever ever, even before the mist came she just had some shitty luck. They were so distracted by the girl that the owner of the car got the drop on them. She immediately whipped out her own pistol and Cindy hissed out a curse word.

"Put the guns down or I'll shoot. First the girl with the shotgun and then the girl with the braids."

Meifeng dropped her shotgun, followed by Cindy. They both raised their hands in the air as they stepped from behind the rocks. Meifeng looked at Lena for a second, before she got an idea.

"Look! We caught the vandal!" She pointed at her. "Get her!"

Cindy rolled her eyes.

"I mean this is all your fault," Meifeng looked at Lena.

"Meifeng, your stupid ass threw the rock!" Cindy said.

"Do you know how much it cost? It's a 2021 model, brand fucking new. If you didn't look like gutter rats I would want compensation, but then I'd feel bad for squeezing you for the clothes on your backs."

Meifeng rolled her eyes. This girl was obviously some rich upstart and she had to resist cracking a smile at her. In return, so she doesn't see that smile forming on her face, she turned her face away. For once she kept her mouth shut.

"Look, how about we give you all our valuables and we call it even?" Cindy immediately tried to barter... while it sucked it was the only way she could think of getting out of this.

"Nah, screw that," Meifeng said as she looked at Cruz and smiled at him. "Heyyyyy big guy, you look a little lonely." She said.

"How about you put that little pea-shooter down and I can keep you company? Not just me, but my friend here, too! You can have us both." She started, as Cindy's face got really red, "You know, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for you; an Asian, a white girl, and a black girl - all to yourself! It can be like a weird oreo."

Meifeng giggled.

"Only in the apocalypse!"

“Yeah I’m just gonna pretend you didn’t just say that and-“ Lena put the big ass knife back in its sheath and - wouldn’t you know it - she wrestled a smaller one out of her pocket, more for throwing than slashing. “-Here, fucko, catch!” She turned around and straight up YEETED the throwing knife as hard as she could at the guy with the gun, and she didn’t do it blindly either, she put as much power into that swing as she could but also maybe half as much control. She was hoping she’d catch the new guy off guard or maybe even hit him.

“Sounds hot and all but I didn’t come here for a a fuckfest, even if that’s what this is turning into.” She said half joking.

"What's going on outside? We've been in here sleeping-or trying to sleep."

Dean was relieved he'd been allowed to explain himself, not only for Jane's sake, but for his well-being also. Whatever was going on prior to his arrival, she'd handled herself just fine. Him, on the other hand, felt and probably looked like a hot mess. He chastised himself internally for his own foolishness. What would have occurred to the both of them had he not woken up? He needed to step up his game and put the bottle down, because he'd come very close to losing Jane and that was unacceptable.

"It's true, we've got no idea about whatever mess is out there. This place was abandoned and we made ourselves at home for the night." Jane had stepped out from behind Dean as she talked, the fact that neither of them had been shot putting her more at ease. "Were you followed? Because prior to your arrival, we've had no other interactions with anyone, much less run into any trouble-" Her tone wasn't accusatory, but she too wanted to know what was going on outside. Clearly, they weren't going to get any more sleep, but instead of talking about it they should go investigate.

"Hey, buddy, how about you put the gun down now, yeah?" Dean interrupted, making the suggestion while simultaneously feeling the side of his belt line, which led him to tense up when he realized he was missing his weapon.

"Did you take the gun?" He lowered his gaze to Jane, who in turn looked up at him and nodded.

"It's right by my feet. Clearly I couldn't do anything since the firepower wasn't on my side."

From an outsider perspective, the two seemed slightly annoyed just going by the way they were talking to each other.

"Yeah, I'll decline. None of you are my type." Cruz said. He wasn't put off by the girl's offer. The same was made to him during his service decades ago. People'd do anything to save their lives. He knew a few men that would take it in a heartbeat, but he wouldn't do it. It was his job to protect his country and now it's to protect Belen. Nothing would distract him from that.

He saw the girl pivot before the knife left her hand. He shifted to take the hit in the arm, because if he moved Belen would get hit instead. "Aw, shit." The blade dug deep into his shoulder, his grip on the gun loosened, but he didn't drop it. He just had to hold it with one hand and prop the butt on his shoulder to stabilize it.

Belen saw him get hit like it slow motion. Her heart stopped. In all the years he'd protected her, she's never seen him hurt. It was always other people that thought they could fuck with her that took the damage. Hell no. Fuck that.

"You bitch!" She stepped from behind Cruz and shot the white girl in the shoulder. The bullet cracked from the gun and echoed in the emptiness of the desert. An eye for an eye. She got close enough to be just out of reach for the girl and aimed at her head. "The next time you move it'll be between the eyes." She looked at the other two. "That goes for you too."

Blood ran down Cruz's arm. He was losing too much. Gregorio needs to get out here now. "I'd listen if I were you. She kinda loco." He motioned to the guns in front of the other girls. "Kick those this way. Don't need either of you doing anything else stupid." Out of his periphral vision he saw a girl a ways off looking a deer caught in headlights with a golf club in her hands. "You're better off staying there." He called.



"Someone sent off our car alarm. Just checking you two aren't in on it."

Gregorio was relieved they didn't have anything to do with what was going on. Now he can go help his compadre and Belen. He kept his gun up, but approached them and bent down for the gun while they argued. A gun shot rang out. He stuck the gun in the back of his pants.

"Stay here you two." He ran down the stairs and out the door, gun ready for a fight. Cruz was bleeding with a knife stuck in his shoulder and Belen had her gun pointed at a girl with a bullet wound. Now he knows where the noise came from. Good. They weren't dead. There were two other girls with their hands up and one more distant from them. He approached them, gun trained on the other two.

"You okay, Cruz?"

"Good, hermano. Crazy girl with the knives got me."

Lena dropped to the ground but still tried to play it cool, holding her shoulder like it was on fire. “Tu vamando al hospital hombre” she said in the whitest way possible, no accented words or anything. Of course the whole ting was a joke since there weren’t any working hospitals around...anywhere. “ She then looked at the person who was right in front of her. “Maybe if that guy didn’t point a gun at me, he’d still have feeling in his arm.” She said bluntly. There was blood seeping into her coat, and there wasn’t a lot she could do in this situation, but she just looked Belen straight in the face, a lazy smile on her face. “Oh, is that little thing for me?” She was a dressing the pistol’s barrel, which she was staring down.

It was pretty clear she didn’t care in that trigger got pulled. “Go for it, I’ll just start making weapons in the next life instead of this one.”