Andorra walked casually, well, the closest thing to casual she could manage, keeping her head bent down just in case someone else did walk by. In the few years she had lived in the downtown area, since the initial shock of the Breach had calmed, she had only had a few unintentional run-ins with other human beings. Out of the handful of them, only two had been violent, one of which had left a giant scar stretching diagonally in between her shoulder blades, from the bottom of the left to the top of right, and it, without stitches or treatment, had kelloided as well, so the scar was not only shades lighter and visible on its own, but it was raised from the rest of her skin by a good couple of centimeters. Excluding the two physical encounters, the others had simply walked past her without making eye contact or had asked where she was staying, in which case she would lie and say she was just passing through, making up some grand story of a search for a utopia she had heard of through the grapevine. A few more words would be said, occasionally she’d have some sort of trade for supplies with them, “good luck”s would be exchanged, and she would never see that person again. It was simple. Sad, sometimes, but simple.

The sound of spinning tires, multiple sets of spinning tires, made her freeze in her place. She hadn’t heard vehicles in this part of town for at least a good year. Sometimes she could see someone on a bike riding down the street in front of her apartment complex, but that was as close as she got. Instantly her legs were sprinting into the closest alley, thankfully it was beside her destination of the coffee shop, and she rounded the corner behind the building just as the vehicles rolled closer. She dived in to the abandoned building through a glassless window and darted behind the overturned counter. From her vantage point she remained hidden, but could see through a few bullet holes in the counter top. Things downtown had gotten pretty crazy after the outbreak, so the location being the site of some sort of shooting wasn’t a surprise.

“Sonofabitch,” Andorra murmured through nearly closed lips. She made sure to control her breathing, she didn’t need to give herself an anxiety attack, and watched a few vehicles slowly inch by, a couple of soldiers walking alongside them. The brunette let out an almost silent string of curses her mother would have washed her mouth out with soap for and her hand reached into the back of her jeans, pulling out her pistol just in case. She knew if it came down to it of course she would be outnumbered, but she had smarts and a will to survive and that had been enough. So far.

Her fingers skittered over the keyboard of her phone, which she had fished out to make sure April hadn’t called. “MILITARY” she sent to Stefan, pushing the phone back in to her pocket and biting down on her slightly chapped lower lip. She checked her gun, made sure it was loaded and the safety was off, before crawling backwards. Her foot hit a floorboard that was just slightly poking up, it wasn’t noticeable just by looking and usually she covered it with some piece of furniture or debris. She spun around, small hands grabbing on to the edge and lifting up. She held the dark wooden board up with one hand, straining the splinters fighting to keep it held down, and snatched out the small briefcase resting inside, turning it sideways and wiggling it to fit it through the opening.

When the Breach had begun her parents had been quick; her father had gone out to loot, being a tough man with extensive combat and weapons knowledge, and had gathered money and the weapons he could and stashed them away. Her mother had gathered food, what supplies she could, and began her attempt at recruiting others. They had wanted to make a break for some far off island that was barely inhibited, but due to the navy having control over all ports, their plans were changed and it was to an old apartment that an old friend had given them a key to. Andorra still had everything her parents had gathered tucked away in the coffeeshop. Money was useful now, her father had planned ahead it seemed, as it was hard to come by and more valuable than other. Money essentially equaled life now.

The slim girl turned the dials near the latch of the case and spun them so they read 2715, making the lock click. She flipped open the latch and quickly counted the rolls of money just in case and grabbed one of the two resting hand grenades. A gal had to be prepared, she figured.

Angry bile rose in her throat and her light hazel eyes narrowed. The military had claimed this area unoccupied and to be left alone. No patrols, no inhabitants. However orders had changed and Andorra was left between a rock and a hard place. She didn’t like surprises, not even for her birthday when she was six and thought everyone was planning to send her away when really they were planning her party. If the military intended to stay, she couldn’t. She’d have to move herself and April, which was extremely dangerous. Not only was Andorra wanted for her immunity, but she would have to transport April, who was infected and pretty far along too.

For a moment Andorra tried to think of some sly phrase to whisper as she made her great escape, but she came to a blank and grumbled incoherently as she locked the briefcase, knowing she wouldn’t be able to return to this coffee shop again, and tucked it under her arm.

It was that moment that her phone decided to ping, and not quietly. Her eyes widened and she was paralyzed for a millisecond before she grabbed the phone and slammed it against her hip bone in an attempt to shut it up. Thankfully it worked, but she could see one of the soldiers stop in front of the main door of the shop.

“Fuck it,” she mumbled hoarsely and ran as fast as she could in her crouched position. This time she stuck to back alleys as she tried to navigate back to the apartment as quickly, silently, and stealthily as possible. Her phone, still clenched in her hand like it was a life line, vibrated, somehow she had triggered silent mode, and she clicked a button on the Blackberry like device, holding it to her ear.

“You cannot just send me something like that and not explain,” Stefan barked harshly. He never yelled at Andorra, but she could hear the fear in his deep, velvet voice.

“They’re here. They’re downtown, why are they here, Stefan,” she whisper shouted into the palm sized gadget. Her words were choppy as she ran and tried to breathe, making sure to not the grenade fall from her hoodie pocket or the briefcase fall from its squished position between her chest and arm.

“The military? I don’t know, I wasn’t informed of a patrol or anything,” he answered and Andorra could hear his footsteps in the background. He, too, was running, and probably towards her apartment.

“Don’t come here. If they catch you, you’re dead,” she demanded, noticing the slams of her feet on the concrete sounded like the beat of a long forgotten song. She couldn’t place it and the brief distracting thought made her almost lose her footing.

“Too late, I’m going up the stairs now. I wouldn’t leave you alone anyways. Or April,” he added at the last second. Long ago he thought he loved Andorra, more than the way he actually did. But the riff of unexpected feelings had almost been the tear in their friendship and he came to his senses quick enough.

“Be careful,” she whispered into the phone as she ran and clicked off, set on getting to April. She didn’t even notice the movement in the building she passed, the figures in the upstairs windows watching the street as closely as she was.


So maybe Stefan had stretched the truth, just a little bit. He had to, really. He wasn’t actually going up the stairs to protect April, not just yet, though he wished he was. He was in reality still a bit of a distance away from Andorra’s apartment, but he knew he had to convince her that it was too late for him to turn around and save himself, which he wouldn’t have done anyways, but Andorra was much too stubborn at times.

“Fuckfuckfuck,” Stefan uttered, his deep voice seeming slightly deeper in his whisper. He glanced left and right, noticing no movement. His leather jacket billowed behind him, all of a sudden much too hot for comfort, but it wasn’t his primary concern.

He was only on the edges of downtown, he had probably just missed the military convoy Andy was apparently witnessing. That part, Stefan gave himself credit for, he hadn’t lied about. He knew mostly everything that went on, in every branch of the government he worked for. He knew about the experiments, the military launches, all of it. Or at least he was supposed to. He didn’t know how he could have missed the memo on that one, but it had somehow blown right past him. When he got back to work, if he got back to work, he would make sure to get to the bottom of it. Coming up with a reason as to why he even found out about it would be a challenge, but he would face it head on. He had to.

His fingers slid over the touch screen of his phone, sliding through the contacts at rapid speed. He tried two different associates, but neither answered. He needed answers and it greatly angered him that he wasn’t receiving them, especially when his best friend and her sister were in danger. Though he was good at keeping in his temper, at letting things go and being rational, much different than Andy, who went with her gut instinct every moment, when he did let it out, it wasn’t pretty. Kinda like the Hulk.

His heart was beating much too fast for comfort and he slowed for a second, only to reach out and punch the outside of the building directly to his left. He barely registered the pain in his hands as the skin over his bronze knuckles ripped open and blood rushed to the opening like zombies to raw meat, but the tiny bit of recognition fueled his adrenaline and soon he was sprinting again.

Past memories flickered through his subconscious as he ran. He remembered his father training him, making him run every morning before the sun itself had even woke up. They would run through the still sleeping parts of town until every building blurred into the next and the streets all seemed the same. Stefan could almost hear his father screaming in his ear, letting him know that if he gave up he would be absolute pathetic scum, even more so than he already was. Stefan had ran, he had ran and ran, imagining the ground beneath him was his father. The harder and faster his feet fell, the better.

Snapping out of his brief flash back, Stefan skidded into an alley, knowing that if he got caught, everything was compromised. He wasn’t supposed to be far from the base at any time, no matter what. The scientists were supposed to go to work, research, go home, research, and repeat. Sleeping and eating were barely factors. However Stefan’s rank had allowed him more wiggle room, which he used much to his advantage. He didn’t have to explain his every movement to a superior, and he was often sent out on expeditions with the soldiers, either to gather data or just for more muscle power.

As he passed alleyways and streets, he thought he spotted a figure that seemed to be waiting. Not for him, obviously, but for someone. His curiosity got the better of him and he slowed, keeping a suspicious eye on the tall figure a good amount of yards in front of him. He had gotten closer to downtown, and if this was a soldier he needed to know if he would be a problem, even in the future. He made sure to keep his well built figure hidden behind the adjacent building, only one half of his face peeking out.

Stefan watched for a good few moments, but the man, it was a man he was sure, he could tell by the build and stance, apparently was waiting for something far behind Stefan. This mystery person didn’t seem a big enough threat, and so Stefan began to sprint off, knowing he had to make up for lost time. He swore the figure turned just as Stefan did, but he contributed it to paranoia.

It was in that moment, as the paranoia inside him rose in fatal waves, that Stefan wished he believed in a god. He had lost his faith long ago, though a part of him was sure he never really had a lot to begin with. He wished he believed in something to pray to, in some masked supreme life force that would make sure everything was going to be just as long as Stefan prayed. But this was a near helpless world now and if there ever was a god, he had long lost his faith too.

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