Magnus Bane awoke to the sound of shuffling just outside his window. Accustomed to waking up at all hours of the morning anyway, he quickly grabbed his Swiss Army knife and held it with a firm grip in his right hand. He was ready to move quickly and attack if he had to.

The shuffling turned into rasps and growls. Forsaken. They must've found a way past his barbed wire fence that he had set up a few weeks ago. He hadn't checked it lately so god only knows what managed to get past it and into his yard.

He didn't dare move a muscle. The shuffling was still loud, meaning they were still near, and the window was open just a crack so Magnus could get some fresh air flowing around the room. Realizing now that anyone could've lifted the window up and crawled in, he swore under his breath angrily. Dumb idea.

When the rasps and growls faded away, he let out a breath of relief. Lately the zombies were getting active. He saw an entire horde walk through the town once when he was sitting on the roof of his house and to him it looked like they were migrating. It sounded ridiculous, but he knew what he saw. He even made a record of it in his journal. He kept a record of everything in his journal so if anyone were to find it after he died, they'd know his story.

The sky was slowly starting to brighten up. He could see the sun beginning to rise just over the tops of the trees as he climbed up onto the roof of the house he was staying in. Breakfast wasn't anything extravagant; it consisted of a small box of raisins and warm water. Not enough to curve his hunger but enough to keep him going.

He looked around the little town with the scope of his gun. He had no idea where he was and try as he might, he couldn't find any hint of what this place used to be anywhere. The bank, the library, nowhere. It was like when the apocalypse hit, all traces of this town disappeared entirely, taking its citizens and its history with it.

Finishing off his raisins and water, he climbed down and made his way towards what used to be the "shopping district" of the town. Small businesses like bakeries and little clothing stores were surprisingly still well stocked when he arrived here a month ago, with no signs of anyone even going near it. To some, this was paradise. Others it was hell.

First stop he made was a small brook that ran behind the bakery. He had tested it already to make sure it was fresh and disease free, so he filled up several bottles and put them in his bag. He occasionally came here to wash his clothes or take a quick bath but it was getting too cold for that nowadays. The temperature was quickly dropping and he needed to stock up on winter supplies.

Next stop was the clothing store. It wasn't exactly Abercrombie but at least it did the trick. Plus he wasn't exactly out to impress anyone with his incredible sense of fashion. He grabbed as many coats, sweaters, and shirts as he could (thankfully his bag was quite large for all these supplies) and stuffed them in his bag as well. He'd come back later for shoes and pants. He had more important things to pick up.

The bakery (called Sweet Treats, although there was probably nothing sweet about them now) was still fairly stocked up on food. This was the only place he hadn't gone through yet, mainly because he didn't think there was anything worth scavenging here, but today he decided to give it a try. No harm in going in to have a look around.

There were still many cakes and cookies and pies all wrapped up in plastic or inside boxes. Curious, Magnus opened up a box and nearly gagged in disgust. There was mold growing all around the pie and flies were starting to gather around him. This place had more than likely been abandoned since the beginning of the apocalypse and everything went untouched and wasted. Pity. He liked pie.

He moved on to the back room. Bags of flour, various bags of sugar, all kinds of pots and pans were all scattered over the floor. Careful not to step on them and make any noise, he tiptoed  around them and made his way to the back cupboards. There was a good chance they were going to be empty. But it didn't hurt to try.

They weren't. When he opened the cupboard doors, it was as if a choir of angels started singing as the inside revealed cans of imperishables such as peas, corn, canned soup and many other things he thought he'd never see again. He was even glad to see a tin of spaghetti inside and he hated tinned spaghetti.

Tossing all of the tins into a separate bag that he'd found at the clothing store, he carried it over his shoulder like a backpack. He'd found a nice haul today and he should have enough to help him get by for the next little while. Winter was coming and he still needed a few more supplies, but he felt that he had enough for now.

Winters were never fun. The days were short and the nights were long. Temperatures dropped well below zero and sometimes he couldn't find anything to burn for a fire to keep himself warm. Not that fires weren't a good idea. Sometimes they weren't. They often attracted unwanted attention such as Forsaken or other humans. Neither of which he wanted to come across at any occasion.

Back at his home, he dropped both bags to the floor, collapsing onto his old mattress. It wasn't much of a home but at least he had a roof over his head and walls that separated himself from the zombies outside. Besides. He didn't like staying in one place for very long. He'd be moving on soon anyway. There had to be a nicer place than this to spend winter in. There had to be.

Voices from outside grabbed his attention. It sounded like a deep male voice speaking. Moving his curtain to the side, he peeked out the window to see a small group of people wandering the streets. They had weapons and bags over their shoulders. Scavengers. Like him.

"Okay. We'll break into groups of two. Raj and Simon, you'll take that house over there. Izzy and I will take this one. We'll meet back here in an hour and move onto the other houses," ordered the tall one with black hair.

The young man with glasses raised a hand. "What if we get into trouble? Like we run to a Forsaken or something?"

The black haired man pointed to the glasses guy's gun. "You know how to use that, don't you? Or use your knife. It's quieter that way. Save your bullets for things that really matter. Like shooting a deer if you see one."

Deer. Magnus almost drooled at the thought of meat. Tender and full of nutrients and flavor....he'd have to keep an eye on this group. They looked like they knew what they were doing.

He jumped when the front door rattled. With literally nowhere to go, his only resort was to jump out the window behind him. So quickly opening it, he crawled out and landed on the ground with a thud. Just in time, too. No sooner did he land on the cold hard dirt, the door to the house opened and both the tall black haired man and the shorter black haired woman (twins maybe?) stepped inside.

"This place doesn't seem that occupied...." said the girl. Izzy, Magnus assumed. "How long do you think this place has been deserted?"

"I don't know. Years, probably. Since this whole mess started. Mom would've loved this place. She always did like small houses," said the tall man. Magnus truly did love the sound of this man's voice. It was so deep and rich.

"Alec, our mom would've never let us live in a house like this. We'd have it ruined to pieces," Izzy chuckled. "Do you remember when-"

"Watch where you're stepping. You almost tripped up over those bags," Alec grumbled. "Isabelle....I think there's something in those bags."

Dammit. Magnus mentally slapped himself. How could he be so stupid and forget the bags? Now these people were going to take what he worked so hard to find and gather with them when they left.

"Holy shit. Alec, it's filled with food. Look."

They must've zipped open the bag and saw the contents inside. Magnus could hear the clatter of cans on the floor and the surprised gasp of Isabelle at the sight of their newfound treasure. He gave himself another mental slap to the face for fucking up so badly.

"The other one is filled with clothes. I think this might belong to someone, Izzy," said Alec. Magnus almost wanted to shout out that it belonged to him but he kept his mouth shut.

"You mean someone's been through here?" She whispered. Magnus heard the click of the safety on her gun being turned off. "How recent?"

More shuffling of cans. "This can is empty. It looks like it was only opened a day ago. So I'd say pretty recently."

Magnus pressed himself against the side of the house when he heard footsteps. Looking up, he saw Isabelle with her head stuck out the window and prayed to God that she didn't look down where he was on the ground.

"Do you think they're still here? Or are they gone?" Isabelle's head was still out the window as she spoke.

"Probably gone. Maybe we scared them off when we were outside. Heard us talking and made a run for it." Alec must've picked up a bag and slung it over his shoulder. "You carry the one with clothes. I got the food."

"What about the rest of the house? Are we going to check it?"

"Forget it. This is plenty considering this is the first house we searched. Let's go see what the others came up with."

Their footsteps moved away from the window. Once Magnus heard the front door close, he slowly stood up and peered inside. No one was there so he crawled back in through the window. Both bags were now gone but thankfully they didn't find the loose floorboard where he kept his ammo and knives. Grabbing those (as well as grabbing another bag in one of the bedrooms to put his ammo in) he quickly went out through the window again and like a ninja, made his way to the front of the house.

The small group had gotten back together in the middle of the road and Alec was showing Simon and Raj what he found in Magnus' house. Simon looked very impressed while Raj proudly held up a map. The team looked pretty satisfied as they made their way to the neighbouring houses on the other side of the street. Magnus watched them as they went inside his "neighbor's" home, weapons raised in case any zombies were inside. He would wait for them to come back out before making his move.

As he sat and hid behind the oil drum, he recalled seeing that same group yesterday as they raced towards the chain link fence. Alec, the tall black haired one, was trying to get everyone over the fence when the one with glasses (Simon?) threw up and grabbed the attention of the zombies. Idiot. There was no place in this world for weak people like him. It was survival of the fittest now. The weak were extinguished and the strong prevailed. That was the natural order of the world these days.

Magnus was on the ground for hours until the group made their way down the road again. He heard their voices as well as the rattle of a shopping cart being pushed down the road. When he looked, they had a lot of items stacked inside it. Their bags were also bulging with things as well.

"I can't believe we found this much stuff today. Why didn't we hit the houses before?" Simon said rather gleefully. Obviously he was proud of today's haul.

"I just assumed the stores would have more. Clearly I was wrong," Alec shook his head. "I don't think we can take the cart with us. It'll attract too much attention with the noise."

"Then how are we supposed to get all this home?" Isabelle moaned. "Unless we make two trips. Bring so much home then come back for the rest."

Alec ran a hand through his hair. From where Magnus was sitting, he looked flustered as he tried to figure out how to do this. "Wait here. I'll be right back."

He ran off towards the shopping area, prompting Magnus to wonder what the hell he was thinking. There was nothing in town that would help them bring their findings home-

A car pulled up around the corner and the group all looked at in shock. Alec was seated in the driver's seat, parking next to the group and their treasure.

"Alec. Where did you get this car?!" Isabelle hissed. She sounded half mad and half relieved.

"I saw it yesterday behind the old auto shop. Figured it might still work so I hot wired it. May need to find gas for it though. Siphon it from other cars along the highway." Alec popped the trunk and began to stuff it with their supplies. "Toss it all in but leave the cart here. We can't take it with us."

They filled their trunk before closing it and climbing inside. If Magnus wanted to follow them, he'd have to act now. So while they were distracted with something inside the car, quickly ran over to the trunk and opened it just enough for him to slit open the large bag of rice with his knife. He prayed the group didn't notice that the trunk was ajar and then he raced back to his hiding spot by the oil drum.

Alec said something to them but Magnus couldn't hear what due to the windows being up, but they soon drove away with the bits of rice leaving a trail behind them. Magnus couldn't help but smirk to himself. They were going to lead him right to their little hideout and he was going to take back what was his.

"Like leaving a trail of breadcrumbs," he mumbled to himself as he hoisted his weapons bag on his back and followed his clever little trail.