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3

Ari sat atop a hill looking over the small shanty town she was laying her head at currently. it had taken her three weeks to track through the deadlands from the last human settlement. Her group of 10 had started out moving from the west coast toward the east in homes of finding better hunting grounds. Something was stirring the wildlife up and it was beginning to get harder to find fresh, untainted meat. Ari crinkled his brows trying to think when she had not been on the move.

She could recall living in one settlement off the southwest coastline. She had loved it there; they had stayed there the longest. The breeze bringing in the saltwater to her lips on shore. The sound of the waves crashing. She felt so blessed. So happy there. She couldn't have been more than 9, maybe 10 years old when things changed. A group of scavengers had come in, many had but this group- they were something more. Her mother and father ran the local general store. Many scavengers, and traders would come in and that was how we were able to keep stock up. Her parents never had another child, so Ari was always alone or learning among the adults. It was a skill even at that young age she knew was vital. This group blew in late in the fall season. They were dirty, and sun burnt. They wore the stench of cheap whiskey on them like cologne. Their hair matted with dirt and who knows what. It was their teeth that Ari knew now as an adult should've been a warning. They were rotted, disgusting in their brown and black appearance. Her mother had reprimanded her for staring, but Ari's gut had told her not to go near the men.

"Howdy sir, my name is Cliff, my boys and I are looking for valuable trades.' Cliff asked. Ari's dad responded pleasantly, “My name is Adam. Nice to meet you, Cliff, we do have some goods available that are worth taking a look at. I have a carton of cigarettes, and several bottles of clean water if you would be interested?"

The men walked around the one room store glancing over the various items, but it was not what was on the shelf that interested them. Finally, one of the men asked "How much for the little one?" his voice was gruff. Making her skin crawl. A brief feeling of panic flashed through her, and she stepped back closer to her mother. “Kevin that isn't polite." Cliff mocked reprimanded. "Sir we are not in the human trade. My DAUGHTER is not for sell."

"My apologies, my men can get lonely out there in the wild. Not much couth, do you know what I mean Adam?" the man's buddy eyes glanced over at her mother, "Nor is my wife. What you can purchase is stock from the shelves, only." Adam placed his hands on his hips pulling his coat back just enough to show a gun resting on his hip. Ari had never heard her father address a customer as such. She had heard him get stern when someone tried to low ball, but not this. Cliff smirked. "Alright boys they don't have anything. Let's go." The other two men smirked the same protistic smile Cliff did and began to file out of the store. Kevin was even kind enough to accidently knock things off the shelves as he passed. The sounds of crashing grocers and the men's laughter filled the little room. Ari's father followed them out the door and as soon as the last one was through the threshold, he closed the solid wooden door. "Momma who was that? Why would they want to buy us?" Ari remembered asking. “Amy you and Ari clean up this mess, I'm going to lock up." Amy turned to her daughter “Don’t worry about its Hennie. Come on let’s clean up this mess." She busied herself cleaning up and for a few precious hours Ari's mind had been taken off the creepy man in her store.

After the events of the afternoon Ari's dad had chosen to keep the store closed for the evening so they called it an early day. The building had a single room downstairs for the store, and an apartment upstairs where Ari and her parents lived. Recently Ari and her father had converted the tiny storage area as a loft bedroom for her. She was lucky enough that her dad had kept the vent so the heat could escape but also so that light could trickle into her haven. She enjoyed the little space as she could close the door and feel like she had a whole room just to herself. Privacy so precious when you have so little.

It had been well after the moon was high in the sky when a Nosie from the front door woke the little family. Ari had been groggy, but she stirred enough awake to crack her panel door and saw both her parents had gone downstairs. She crawled out of her sleep area and peaked out over the railing to see those three dirty men standing the in the storeroom talking with her father. the men stood in a semi-circle around her parents. her mother was on edge watching them, but her father watched only their leader, Cliff.

"Now we asked kindly how much the girl was." Cliff spat at her father.

"I said she wasn't for sale either.' her father snapped. "Now get the hell out of my store, and do not come back!"

"I aint leaving till we get what we came here for." he calmly replied. Flashing his rotted teeth as his smile split his face. Her father drew his gun.

"Better know how to kill me boy." Cliff warned, his voice making his sound older than before. The blast from Adam's gun bounced off every wall in the small building. Ari covered her ears from the sudden noise. Cliff still stood, a hole in his right shoulder began to leak a black liquid. His shirt soaking up the blood as it spilled out. Adam's expression was that of shock. "Well damn boy I had kinda hoped you'd know how to kill me." Cliff laughed. In flash something silver went between Adam and Cliff. Amy screamed and in just seconds Adam was on the floor, blood pooling where he laid. Ari wanted to scream, but the shock was too much. No noise escaped her tiny throat. Her mother's scream did not last too long.

"Don't kill this one, we can still use her as a breeder." Cliff ordered. Amy struggled against the men as they grabbed her and began moving her closer to Cliff. He had pulled a jar out of his coat pocket. It was hard to see exactly what was in it because from a distance it just appeared to be some black liquid. But as Cliff pulled something from the jar it had a flimsy appearance. It moved, or maybe it swayed in some breeze. Amy's mouth was covered by one of the men's hands. Her eyes wild with fear, tears streaming down her cheeks. She jerked and tried to get away. 'Now pretty this won’t hurt.... too much. Then you'll be a good girl." Kevin turned Amy's head to expose her ear and Cliff set the black wiggling thing next to it. The creature crawled into her ear. Amy's muffled screams lasted only seconds. When she stopped Kevin released her and she dropped to the floor limp. Amy began some kind of jerking and clenching motions on the store floor before going completely still. Ari was certain she was dead how still she went. And then as if it was completely normal, she stood back up. her expression blank, blood trickled out of the ear the black thing had wiggled into.

"Ready to go?" Cliff asked sarcastically. Amy didn't speak but she walked out the door with them without so much as a glance back. When Cliff got Amy through the door, he tossed the jar back at Kevin. "Get the girl." he growled.

Reality snapped Ari out of her shock that night. She scrambled back into her hiding spot sliding the panel in place just as the boots thundered up the stairs leading to the apartment. There was nothing that would keep them from getting to her if they found that false panel. She scurried over to the vent her dad had left in place. She began to wiggle it praying to whoever was listening that it would not make a sound. It was loose enough she could dislodge it. As she pushed on it, she lost grip and it fell to the ground outside. Her heart stopped expecting a crashing sound, but thankfully it had hit a bush surrounding the house. She squeezed through the little opening and climbed onto of the roof. The night air was cold against her night shirt and shorts. she quietly raced across the roof to a nearby tree on the east side of the house. She didn't dare get to the ground for fear the men would be waiting. She could still hear them in the house looking and throwing things around. After some time they gave up their search and reported back to Cliff who stayed in the front of the store. "She aint in there." Kevin growled. Cliff looked on with distaste. "Alright let’s clean up." He handed Amy a lit torch, "My dear." Amy took the touch and walked to the building, no expression on her face. she reached the open door and flung the torch inside. She returned and stood waiting for her next orders. The torch must've landed on some bedding because the flames began to grow rapidly. Ari had to get out of the tree or rick dying in the flames. She shimmed down and crotched as low as she could, knowing the men would be looking for escapees. She waited one two heartbeats and took off toward the nearby woods. the third man, one she had not caught his name came out of nonowhere and tackled her. His breath was rancid. He licked her cheeks and it felt like sandpaper against her skin. She wasn't sure how, but she managed to grab a small knive the man had on his belt. They wrestled as he began to pin her down. She heard melt clicking and the unmistakable sound of clothing rusling. She swung her hand as hard as she could. The little blade fitting perfect in her hand, hit something hard and stopped moving. The man's eyes went blank, dark black blood began to dribble from his mouth. His weight pressed down on her. She wiggled out from him smearing his blood all over her top half before bolting for the woods. Once there she just ran. She ran for what felt like days.

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