Arden flinched at the sudden sound of music and Alex's raised voice. "Yes, shouting will help. It's not like we just watched a loud noise draw the biters away or anything," she said, her voice dripping with venomous sarcasm. "How could more loud noises [i]possibly[/i] bring them back?" She shoved her knife back into it's sheath at her hip and turned away, raking her hands through her hair almost violently. She took a few deep breaths, wondering exactly how her life could go so wrong in just ten minutes.

She bottled everything up, stuck it into that dark place where she kept all her fear. She could scream and cry later, when she left these two jokers in the dust and found a nice cozy ceiling to hide herself in. Of course, it wasn't like she had an iron will. She'd probably punch that Matt guy until her begged for his mother. And she'd also beat herself up. How could she have been moronic enough to forget to lock all of the windows?

When she opened her eyes, she was laser-focused on one thing: escape. She kept two bags handy for bugging-out, and she climbed up the nearest bookshelves to retrieve them. She shoved aside the panel and grabbed the bags. One of them was small, a messenger bag that could carry a surprising amount with enough thinking. The other was a large backpack that held just about everything someone on the run would need. Food, water, first-aid, spare clothes, and a spare knife. Finally, she tugged her gun from it's shadowy space and slipped it into the messenger bag before the others could see it. She wanted to keep that secret.

When she hopped down, she didn't even tell the boys she was leaving. She just turned and headed for the back of the library, assuming they'd follow her. They seemed like sheep to her. Thoughtless and scared, looking for a shepherd to guide them. Good luck finding someone like that. All the important people had holed up in bunkers or died like animals. And everyone else was crazy or hungry for brains.