[b]3rd Collab between Darkraven and AnriuSB, part 1[/b]

The crisp winter air tugged at her bones, the former blizzard conditions had settled into a strong snowfall. A menacing chill had penetrated her outer wear and crept beneath it into the sanctuary her bare skin resided. She dawned her hood and reached into her pocket out of habit. A few moments afterwards a pack of ciggarette's appeared from within her hands. She popped the flap and frowned slightly. "Fuck," she cursed under her breath as she retrieved the last ciggarette within the pack. She stuffed the empty pack back in her pocket and retrieved a single match from behind her ear. 

The woman took a long puff and blew the smoke into the air infront of her, drawing it out so that it almost seemed theatrical. Resting the smoke between her lips, she continued trudging ever onward. Beside her was a small child, looking to be nine to eleven years of age. The girl held a dead look in her eyes, following the woman in an almost mechanical fashion. The woman glance at her briefly, the girl wore a black winter jacket, given to her moments before leaving as nothing more then a passing thought. She then turned her head back to the dark expanse that greeted them.

Neither spoke, for there was no conversation to be had.

Neither smiled, for the situation held no joy.

Neither rested, for fear of the dead that roamed the night.

that was, until, the woman finished her last cigarette. The moment the used butt fell too the ground she began to whistle. It was a simple children's tune known as 'Row your boat', but to the woman it had great meaning, and held memories of happier times.

Valentina trailed behind the witch, and upon hearing her whistling, became confused, unsure whether to be afraid or... She knew not how else to feel. The tune to which she whistled sounded familiar, but the past had become a blur between what had transpired in the year, the miserable conditions in which she lived day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, and the ravages of time itself. Valentina was always looking at the woman's legs, like a servant waiting on instructions. She couldn't help but to steal a look or two at the woman as she whistled. The tune was buried somewhere deep in Valentina's memories, six feet under, and it could only dig up inch by inch.

The young girl held her new pistol nervously, waiting for the witch to set her loose again, albeit to do her bidding. She wondered what would be in store for her; she vaguely remembered the woman telling her that most of the biters had wandered away, but the girl knew that it meant more people prowling in the night, looking to snatch her away and... do things to her.

A few minutes past without incident, nothing changed, nothing happened.

and then..

The woman stopped whistling. 

Her hand shot infront of the child, stopping her in her tracks. "Wait a moment.." The woman spoke in a low voice, surveying the area around them. (response?) (if any.)

Valentina could not help but to suspect that everything wrong that could happen would happen. Backing away slightly, she bent a little low, afraid that someone might shoot at them, or that the woman might murder her in the middle of the dark nowhere. Shivering in the cold despite the black jacket the witch had deigned to give her, she waited for something to happen, and knew that she would have to dart away if something big happened. The pistol the woman gave did not contain bullets, and their silent, dreadful walk out, she had given her only one, which the child deftly fixed into the small pistol's chamber as a shortcut. It was a neat little magic trick Lieutenant Hugh taught her - it was something the soldier had learnt in a place he called West Point.

An eerie quiet fell over the pair as the older woman's keen eyes scanned the edges of discernible landscape. Had it been a whistle in the wind? The gravel under her foot? The sound of her own tune?

No, she had heard it.

It had been distinct, a shuffling of stiff feet, quick, but awkward. 

All she was greeted with now was silence however, that was, until she heard it. A dull moan, followed by a shrill cry. "Fuck" 

She turned to the child.

"Run."

And then she took off into the night, expecting the younger woman to follow.

Valentina was suddenly unsure of what to do. For a moment she contemplated running away, back to Dominic's Gas An' Go', to catch the man in there by surprise to steal back her things, and in another moment she thought about shooting the witch in the back, yet she was afraid of doing that, afraid of going back without the woman - the man seemed just as capable of killing her just like how the woman promised if she misbehaved. For another moment she was overwhelmed with the submission to just do as the witch told her to do. Plagued by decisions that she never had to make, Valentina did as she was told. It was the easiest thing to do, following what the adults said. It was just like school, and once again Valentina succumbed to it.

Valentina ran, following the witch, able to easily keep pace with her, as running was something she had been doing for months, other than hiding, stealing and killing. The biters screamed in their feeble but menacing way - even after so many months of dealing with them Valentina was still terrified of them, as she remembered very clearly of how her father was slowly, very slowly devoured by a sea of biters as he struggled hard against it. She remembered seeing people time and again slowly devoured in that way, and thought that biters were bad, more than bad, that they were evil, something that even the all-loving God would hate.

Even in the haze of panic, Valentina was still able to come around enough to switch the safety on her new pistol off, believing that she would need to shoot a biter or... someone soon.

The two reached a small building, Gary's Fi--ing St-p was all that could be made out of the worn sign on the door. Ivy pulled it open, finding it unlocked. She gestured for the child to enter. As she did she scanned the distance, [i] 7, 9, 13, ...21, a fucking lot [/i] Where had they come from? and why so suddenly? Ivy cleared her mind and formulated a plan. Directly next to this building was an apartment complex. She scanned the wall briefly, hoping to find some way of scaling it, but the curb of the shop roof blocked her vision. She cursed and stepped into the pitch black store confines, closing the door behind her.

She flung her bag over her shoulder and opened it. It took her a few extra minutes to find it in the dark, but soon her hands had wrapped around her prize, a small flashlight. She flicked it on for a moment, the light shining directly in the younger woman's face.

Valentina looked away from the light, shielding her face - the light was glaring, and she knew that it would take away her ability to see in the dark. It felt strange, running with another person again, almost working together. The young girl wasn't used to it anymore. She wondered what to do next, but couldn't figure it out. Instead, Valentina returned to doing things her own way. Hiding behind the closest store shelf, she began sneaking her way to the other side of the store, hoping to find a door that would allow her to leave the biters behind and escape. Yet at the same time she was more hesitant than usual, as things were no longer the same anymore. After taking a few steps, she looked back at the witch, half-expecting her to punish her for disobedience or give her instructions.

The moment their gaze's locked, The woman began spouting orders. "You, find a way onto the roof. This shop doesn't have a back door, and even if it did, I wouldn't trust it at this time of night. I'll work on blockading the entrance. She then went to work on one of the shelves, it barely moved with the strength she was capable of mustering up and she cursed at her weakness. "Fuck this," she announced, bringing her leg up and kicking the shelf slightly above its center. The thing rocked slightly, and that gave the woman an idea. She readjusted her postion and pushed the shelf from it's upper half with her shoulder, putting the whole of her weight into the movement.

After a few moments of stifled grunts, and determined pushing, the shelf toppled over on its side. It landed on the top of the shelf counter, successfully blocking the door with its weight. No sooner than it had fallen into place, did the sounds of fists beating from the other side began to ring throughout the small shop.

Successful in her own mission, the woman stepped to the back of the store to check on how the girl was doing only to find her missing.

In the meantime, Valentina did as she was told again. Quickly, afraid of both what was outside and what was inside, Valentina searched for a way up. When it became clear that her night vision was all but lost due to the witch's mistake, Valentina took out her own flashlight and started swinging it around the room, looking desperately for a way up as fists began pounding on doors and window. The store wasn't that big, so it didn't take too long before some stairs hiding behind the cashier counter caught her attention. Glad to find a way out, Valentina ran to it, and at the same time, could not help but to contemplate abandoning the woman behind out of fear, and decided that she would finally do it - Valentina was afraid that the woman would begin to really hurt her, as the others did. For months she avoided others for this reason, and Valentina wanted to do it again. Thoughts of whatever food and supplies she had scrounged up that the witch had forced her to leave at Dominic's Gas An' Go' were lost to impulse and her flight away from what seemed to be certain death at the hands of the witch.

Darting to the stairs, she looked back, afraid that the woman might be chasing her, but was relieved to find nothing. The cashier counter stood in the way, and the swivel door was locked, so she climbed over it quickly, her prepubescent muscles easily able to support her from months of threats to her life, and landed on the other side before ascending the steps, smiling, actually smiling that she would soon be free again from everything - the biters, the witch, only for the smile to fade, and her blood to run cold when she was greeted by a locked door, and the feeling of a hand on her shoulder.

"Good work, Dumbass..."