The knife slipped cleanly into the back of man's skull, cutting off his sputtering and moaning. Shannon grunted as she pulled the knife free and pushed the corpse away from her. It fell into an empty convenience store rack, sending the whole thing crashing to the ground. Her adrenaline pumping, Shannon crouched over the corpse and gave it one more stab to the head. When she was satisfied, she let out a deep breath and stumbled backwards, attempting to wrap her head around what had just happened.

She could now only hear her own rapid breathing and the thumping of her heart inside the convenience store. She looked briefly around at all of the empty racks, the broken cash register on the floor, and the empty boxes of food. It all felt... strangely normal. This mess and disarray was the natural state of things now. Even the dead body on the floor. 

Shakily, Shannon stepped toward the blood.

She fell to her knees before the body of another woman. Her name had been Lexi. Her brown curls and tanned skin were now stained with blood. The woman who had the body of an Olympic athlete still clutched a police baton in her hands. Like so many others before her, the woman had been caught unawares by a monster and no weapon or amount of physical fitness could top a fit of carelessness. How could someone let their guard down in this new world?

As the shock began to ebb from her body, Shannon could swear she heard the echo of laughter. It took her a moment to recall that had been [i]her[/i] laughter from just a moment ago. It had been so rare for her to laugh nowadays, but Lexi had known just what to say to make her giggle. Shannon had found herself enjoying the other women's presence so immensely only after knowing her for a few weeks. Lexi had a talent for making others laugh that had somehow survived the apocalypse.

Shannon touched the dead woman's shoulder, suddenly knowing why she had died. In this new world, a talent like Lexi's didn't belong. The pair of them had been joking around when they entered the convenience store. They had been joking around, imagining things as somewhat normal. Lexi had a smile on her face right up until the monster bit into her neck from behind. Shannon had seen it too late and a shout of "Watch out!" had died on her lips. Lexi had been so surprised by the attack, the monster easily pushed her to the ground, where she hit her head and died. The monster had taken another bite out of the poor woman before Shannon could put an end to it.

Lexi was another name to add to the long list of people Shannon had been forced to part with. Just another name. A distant part of Shannon pained with sadness, but the girl who had seen too much in the last six months was growing numb. Lexi had reminded her of something important, something she couldn't forget again: Laughter had no place in this new world.

With a shake of her head, Shannon grabbed the dead woman's backpack and began to sort through it. She moved the little food and water the woman had to her own backpack. She considered looting the dead woman's clothing, but realized all she would be doing was amassing a bigger collection of dirty laundry. Besides, Shannon figured she was probably too skinny to fit into most of it now.

She began to methodically search the store, pushing aside boxes and garbage in an attempt to find something salvageable. She paused occasionally to rub at her eyes, trying to push away the incoming tears. It hadn't been fair for Lexi to die. Lexi, who had been a stronger woman than Shannon thought she could ever be. Nothing was fair anymore.

[i]I can't do this much longer.[/i]

A rumbling from outside caused Shannon to stiffen. It was probably a motorcycle, she recognized. A sudden urge to go outside overtook her; Her father had loved motorcycles and Shannon missed seeing them. Hastily, she grabbed her backpack and pried the police baton from the dead woman's hands as she went out the doors.

As she stepped out into the urban jungle, Shannon found that the rumbling had stopped. It was gone now, probably too distant to hear any longer. Gone forever, probably. With a sigh, the girl moved across the street, eyeing the other stores she would have to check out. She wasn't eager to continue her search by herself, but she knew had no other choice. As she walked up to the doors of the closest store, she paused at the strange sight of a male teenager looking out the store window. He seemed to be looking past her, Shannon realized. It was odd to see someone... what? Relaxing? Yes, she supposed it looked like that. It was entirely possible he was just another monster. Unable to say a word or bring herself to enter the store, Shannon simply knocked on the window, trying to get the guy's attention.