A head popped out from behind the crumbled concrete wall, green eyes warily scanning the street before stepping out and readjusting her backpack. Marissa itched her nose as she carefully picked her way to the edge of the pavement, stopping before stepping onto the rubble filled road. Her brown hair hanged over her shoulder in a loose braid but it didn't stop the little wisps from escaping the hair tie and itching her face as the wind gently brushed her face. She looked both ways before making a quick dash across the road, avoiding the potholes and rusted cars, headed towards the place where she wanted to go- the number one spot on her to go list for this mini shopping adventure. Not that she could call it shopping, shopping had become practically non-existent around two hundred years ago when there wasn't enough people who wanted to stay in the cities to run the shops and make the products needed to fill the stores. Now everyone ran on leftovers and handmade items. They were a very dark ages sort of civilisation, but with Twinkies and electricity.

Marissa ducked under an overgrown tree on the side of the road, cursing as her foot caught on the curb. She fell into the tree, wincing as the bark bit into her hands.

"That's going to burn later." She muttered to herself as she straightened and looked down at her hands. The sharp bits of bark had drawn a speck of blood. Quickly, Marissa wiped the blood off her hands onto her jeans, wincing at the pain of it. She looked again and her hands beaded again. Shucking her backpack, she dropped to the ground and worked quickly to pull out some gauze and tape that she brought especially in the case that that she hurt her hands and still needed to get things. The world was covered in who knows what, Marissa did not want to consider herself in the running for opening up her body to some sort of blood-borne disease to take residence in her. Not when she had things to do.

With a quick wash of her bloody hands from water in her water bottle, Marissa quickly wrapped up her hands and got to her feet, pulling her backpack on in a swift movement before heading straight for the building that had the words 'HARDWARE STORE' on the front in large, faded letters that made one have to squint to be able to read what it said. Marissa ducked through the open display window and dropped to the ground, a small noise coming from her mouth as she dropped heavily, her bandaged hands aching a smidge as she landed with her hands flat to the ground, knocking the wind from her as her knees pushed into her chest. Marissa's eyes stung as they watered and she blinked, trying to catch her breath as quietly as she could. Too much noise, she thought. Too much noise, have to be quiet. Her ears were still ringing from when she hit the ground but she lay pressed herself down so that she was lying flat on the dirty shop floor, bleached leaves crunching under her as she moved. She winced but stayed where she was and waited, getting her breath back and waiting to hear if anything moved outside the building. Marissa strained to listen for any outside noises besides the wind.

Quiet.

Marissa pushed herself slowly to her knees and sat still for another few seconds, heart pounding in her ears as she ignored the pain in her hands and slowly crawled behind the nearest tool stand. The stand gave her barely any coverage but at least if something had heard her and sniffed her out, she could use the shelf as a barrier and push it down to give her a small head start.

When nothing happened, no snivelling creature or curious human appeared, Marissa gave a small, quiet sigh of relief. It didn't mean she was in the clear but it did mean that she had a chance to get what she needed before someone else came along to fight her for it. Which almost always happened in these parts. Pulling herself to her feet, she winced as both her knees cracked as she stood. Marissa held on to the shelf and peered around it, trying to see into the darkening street. It was getting darker earlier now, quite inconvenient when things were less safe after dark. She chewed the inside of her lip as she thought. She would need to find somewhere to sleep again, tonight. There was no way she would be able to get home before it was completely dark. She wasn't that far away as she had already been homeward bound but distraction had gotten the better of her and now she had lost track of time and would spend another night in a dangerous area.

That seemed like a problem for later.

With her heartbeat slowing down, Marissa took her time moving around the shop, slowly walking around the shelving and quietly picked her way over to where the hammers usually hung. She knew she should really be rushing but there was no point in rushing now if it was going to be dark. She would rush when she needed too.

It was dusty in the old store, and it took her all she had to not sneeze when she brushed the shelf with her sleeve, trying to see what else had once been on the shelf. She scrunched her nose as her eyes watered but she didn't sneeze, much to her surprise.

It had probably been a long time since anyone had entered the store. As far as Marissa was aware, nobody from the small settlement she had lived in all her life had come into the city since the last lot of town elders had deemed it fruitless. Not that Marissa had listened to the declaration they had pasted to every wall of every house within their town. Despite the number of leaves and dust bunnies that were on the floor, there were no footprints to suggest any human life having visited the store. It would have at least been a hundred years since that had happened. It was a wonder to Marissa that there was anything actually left in any of the stores that now stood unmanned but there was and she always found something she needed, by some stroke of luck.

It had been a thousand years since the world had failed to end. Nobody knew why it had all suddenly stopped. The earth had been on fire, as the stories had told. Plagues ran through the land as people burned but didn't die. According to the history books and retellings, it had been a rather devastating time to be alive. Although each retelling was vaguely different- some discussing the differences in how it had happened and what had followed but there were two things that were consistently true: two thirds of the world's population had risen into the sky, saved from the hell that would be unleashed on earth as the trumpets sounded and the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse had ridden over the world, unleashing havoc. The second thing that was consistent was that the end of the world had simply ceased. Storms dispersed, fires suddenly died out and volcanoes that had been bubbling and exploding just suddenly stopped, the lava cooling and the mountains no longer smoking. The sun, which had turned a terrifying blood red, seemed to almost fade to a dark orange that had then continued to cast an ominous orange haze over the world. People started to get miraculously well after being on deaths doorstep.

However, despite the miraculous recovery from doomsday, the world picked itself up only to crumble back into its old ways again. With half the population gone, there was a lacking in necessary people to help make the world run smoothly. For the first 300 years, people got back to work, made a dent in repopulating, cleaned up the world in small bits and continued in a new, strange life. Production in food and life necessities continued. History, as always, is doomed to repeat itself. People wanted more. They turned on each other. Wars ensued. People died. Buildings fell. The world burned again.

But then again, as Marissa liked to remind both herself and everyone who decided to reminisce about something they weren't even present for, there is a thousand years of time difference between when it all happened and now. Who knows if it was all real? Anyone who would have been able to tell them was dead now. It all may have just been a giant cover up for the fact that nobody liked the way things were, went to war, killed almost everyone and then realised they were on the edge of extinction. Stopped the wars, got everything almost okay and then crumbled back into their old ways, leaving the last two, three hundred years to the current earths inhabitants to deal with the aftermath of nuclear/radioactive activity. Thus returning them to the dark ages. But with Twinkies (that never expire. Marissa always thought that was weird but no one could ever explain why they were always found in near perfect condition) and electricity.

So now Marissa Jackson explored and lived in this strange new environment with abandoned cities and settlements all over the globe and a wild unsearched city of wonders that she had yet to explore.

Not that she would- it was too dangerous to go alone.

Marissa grabbed a hammer from the shelf and balanced it in her hand and nodded, happy with the weight and the fact that besides a few holes in the wooden handle, it was in good condition. Unzipping her bag, she popped it in and zipped it up and quietly picked her way across the floor to the back of the store and knelt, grimacing as more leaves crunched under her heels. She didn't dare move as she listened for any movement behind her. When she was satisfied, she was in the clear again, she investigated the bottom shelf and sighed in relief as she reached in and grabbed a dirty container filled with nails. She popped them into her bag and then carefully got to her feet and walked back over to the store front, dodging a large piece of glass and launching herself onto the ledge, grimacing as she grabbed onto the side of the window and balanced on the ledge, cutting her bandage on her left hand on a piece of glass that was still lodged in the frame. She hissed and allowed herself to fall forward onto the pavement. Marissa looked down at the now cut bandage and could see blood leaking through the crack and seeping into the bandage. Just her luck, twice in one day. She was going to need something more than water to clean it to avoid infection. Marissa pressed her newly cut hand in her side and grumped to herself. Now it was dark and she was grumpy. Tired, hungry and in pain kind of grumpy.

Figuring there was no harm in heading in the direction of home and finding a place to stay along the way, Marissa headed south, moving quickly through the ever-darkening streets.

Night-time was not a time anyone would want to be out. Marissa didn't know what it was like anywhere else in the world but here, out in the remaining cities in the suburbs, animals ran the night like a mob boss runs a casino on a Saturday night. Animals hunted the night, and they weren't exactly the normal animals' people from the past were used to. Since the Rapture, animals had mutated. Not all of them but certainly a vast majority of them. Marissa had never seen any of these mutated animals ever but she had heard stories from people around town who had. Some had seen them up close, some had seen them from afar. Some had seen them, gone out to capture one and then never came back, thus cementing the conclusion for Marissa that she had no intentions of ever seeing one of these, making it her mission to it get out of the street and into a safe space before there was any chance of her to becoming fast food for anything that might be hungry for a late-night snack.

Ducking around a corner and walked down the street, warily watching the darkened streets for any sign of being followed. There was a crunch behind her, and she whipped around, her braid hitting her in the face as she did so, her green eyes wide as she tried to see where it had come from. She couldn't see anything. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she swallowed sharply, turning on her heel, she went into a jog, pressing her bleeding hand to her stomach as she sped down the street, dodging bits of litter and rubbish bins. Up ahead, she spotted a large building that could have once probably been a hotel. One of the windows at the top of the building was flickering from what Marissa assumed was a fire in one the rooms. Speeding up, she raced for the entrance, hand outstretched for the door. She slammed into the door and bounced back, ricocheting off the glass frame as she did so.

"What the hell?" She muttered to herself. She came at it again, hand outstretched and rattled the door. It didn't open again, and she scowled. As she pushed on the door, it squeaked on its hinges as she tried to open it. There was another noise behind her as she did this, causing her to turn around again, squinting as she tried to make out any shapes in the dark. Her heart continued to beat faster, and her breath quickened. The noise was getting closer, and it was a snuffling kind of noise, as though something had its nose to the ground. As she stood, frozen, two figures appeared in the dark. One indeed, did have its nose to the ground but the other was on two legs, surprisingly humanoid in form. When it spoke, Marissa's adrenaline began to pump as her body moved from freeze into fight mode.

"What have we here, Precious? A little girl, ready for snacking." Marissa pulled her bleeding hand from her stomach and scowled.

"Come a little closer and I'll show you who's a little girl, creep." She spat. The sniffling stopped and the more animal form looked like it was now looking at her. The humanoid figure looked down at its companion and muttered something. Marissa watched, hands raised in fists as the darkened area became light all of a sudden. She winced as the light hurt her eyes but she was barely given a chance to recover when the humanoid figure (whom she could now see and he was quite grotesque in appearance. Like if a human had affairs with a zombie and then failed to mummify it) flew at her, narrowly missing her face as she just managed to dodge. Instead, its fist got her hard in the shoulder, the force pushing her into the glass door. She gave a yelp in pain and her vision blurred as her head smacked on the hard doorframe. She had a moment to recover and could see that the light was coming from the top of the creature that had appeared with the humanoid, a light hanging from its head like a deep-sea fish. It was very canine in features, probably long descended from a border collie but it was meatier in appearance and his nose was more like a snout from a pig. It had tusks as well that looked like it would gore you and then eat your insides as a reward. Marissa didn't really want that. She liked her insides not being on the outside. The light was bright enough that Marissa could see both creatures and some of her surroundings. The darker it got around them, the more the light illuminated what she was fighting. She pushed herself off the door and took a few side steps, moving away but keeping both creatures in view. So much for never coming face to face with the creatures of the city night. Only she was determined to make it out alive.

"Bring it on, mummy." She hissed. Internally, she face palmed. Mummy? Really? The creature however seemed to appreciate the humour and pathetic insult as it gave a raspy chuckle before launching at her, mouth wide as it looked to bite her. Marissa swung out and punched hard, connecting with its wide jaw. It gave a yell as there was a crunch and its path was moved to her left. Marissa moved a leg out and swept it off its feet, causing it to smash into the ground. The pig dog light creature gave a snort and Marissa saw it paw the ground, ready to gut her. The man mummy waved a hand at the animal and it took it as a sign to run straight at Marissa. She cursed and spun to the side, tripping over the man but out of the way of the animal as its light flickered. The animal didn't have time to stop as it had too much speed behind it. Marissa winced as it crashed into a concrete pillar and watched as its tusks dug into the concrete, light dimming as it squealed out in pain. Marissa looked away from it quickly as it squirmed and looked back at the man she now was at level with on the floor. He hissed at her, spittle hitting her face.

"You'll pay for that!" Marissa scowled and kicked him in the face, aiming for his jaw as she wiped her face of his spit. Highly unhygienic. Very disgusting. His breath smelt like rotten meat. Probably because he was rotten on the inside. Very much past his expiration date.

It was time to rectify that.

He yowled as her foot connected with his face and she felt something shift as her kick dislocated his jaw. She scrambled back and got to her feet as kept her eyes on him. The other creature was still fighting to get free of the concrete. She looked over at it and an idea popped into her head. She needed a weapon.

Its tusk would be a perfect way to get rid of two problems.

The man was still howling as it got to its feet and came after Marissa, swinging its arms in blind rage and pain. Marissa ducked under its arms and aimed an elbow into his kidneys before swinging around and grabbing its head. She dug her fingers into his dislocated jaw and gave a yell as his bony fingers reached back and gripped her plait and tugged, pulling at her hair. With all her strength, she twisted the man mummy over her shoulder and he hit the floor, pulling her head with him. She let his head go and gave a sharp jab into his elbow, causing him more pain and he released her hair, pulling the hair tie out as she freed herself. Her braid came loose but she didn't care as she swiftly (yet painfully) headed towards the pig dog and grabbed it by the tusks and pulled. It squeaked in pain as she tugged again and its head came free. One of the tusks was splintered, completely useless. On the other side of its face, its tusk was hanging by a bloody thread. Marissa put a hand on its tusk and placed a foot on its body. The thing was dazed so was barely able to comprehend what happening when Marissa gave a sharp pull. The tusk came free and the creature screamed in pain and bolted, knocking Marissa off her feet and leaving her dazed on the concrete, staring at the now dark sky. As the creature had run, the light had disappeared. Marissa pushed herself to get up, the mewling sound of a monster in pain enough to remind her that her job wasn't quite done and that it wasn't quite sleep time yet. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she could see the shadow of the man on the ground but he was hunched now, pushing himself to his feet. She squinted her eyes in the dark and barely managed to lean backwards as he reached out at her, cool metal slicing against her cheek. Great. Now he was armed. Marissa took a step to the side and got a better grip on the sharp tusk in her hand. He was armed, but so was she. With a cry, Marissa leapt forward and met his upraised arm with her own, grabbing him and pulling him forward. She smashed her forehead into his face, smashing his dislocated jaw. She felt something break and a trickle of blood ran down his mouth. He was disorientated but still trying to stab her as he cleverly chucked his knife from one hand to the other and drove it upwards. It skimmed her jacket and Marissa twirled his arm behind him and pushed him forward. He turned just as gracefully as she had pushed him and threw himself at her. Marissa had no time to move, this time holding the tusk in front of her and felt when he fell on it. She grimaced as she felt the weapon push through him, tearing his insides until it stopped and the man went limp. The sudden limpness caused Marissa to fall, the man's weight exponentially more now that he wasn't holding himself up. She kept her hands on the tusk that was in him and gagged as his body fell on hers as was on the ground. Marissa waited to see if he was going to stab her but nothing happened. She couldn't hear or feel him breathing. Struggling, she managed to push him off of her and rolled him onto his back. Marissa breathed hard as she tried to catch her breath. She almost gagged as the smell of rotting flesh rolled over her and she turned onto her side and got to her hands and knees. She felt sore all over and it didn't help when she began to dry heave. There was nothing in her system to throw up but it made her feel a little bit better. Getting to her feet, Marissa felt her head rush. Blood poured down her cheek from the slice the man had given her and her body hurt. She was going to be black and blue all over. At least she had a good reason for it this time. Usually when she returned home bruised and sore, it was over a petty fight with some of the regular humans who wandered around and lived in the upper stories of this hell hole, scavenging for supplies. Now Marissa could say she had seen a creature of the city and a very disturbing human who smelt like the dead and looked worse than dead. At least he was actually dead now. With a shudder, Marissa went over to him and bent down. She yanked at the tusk that was in his abdomen and grunted as it didn't move. She tried again. Still didn't move. Clearly she was not destined to take home a souvenir of fight with two very disturbing creatures.

Turning back to the door, Marissa used both her hands to push on the handle and used the last of her energy and all her weight to push it open. Marissa, feeling quite out of breath from her fight and the effort of opening the door, stopped a moment and caught her breath and looked over the door. She frowned as she tried to see what was stopping it from opening. Giving it a very close, quick inspection, she took a deep breath and grabbed the handle of the door and pulled on the door, doing the opposite of what she had been doing previously. To her surprise, the door budged. She stared at in shock for a moment but then used all her weight to pull the door open, the hinges grinding as they took her weight. Marissa pulled it enough so that she could slide through the door and then slammed it closed behind her, using her weight once again to make sure it closed behind her. Nothing moved outside and she waited, wondering if the mummy man was just playing dead and was going to jump at the glass any minute or maybe the pig dog had an avenging companion out there. Nothing happened, the night remaining silent. Marissa released a shaky breath in relief. Pulling her bag so that it was in front of her, she grabbed the flashlight she held onto for emergencies and flipped it on and swung the beam around the hotel reception area. It was deserted, the couches looking like they were covered in a thick layer of dust, parts of the couches were holey, partially eaten by moths and age. Marissa limped through the foyer and headed for the stairs, aiming to just get to the first floor and a bed and probably something more to wrap her hand in. Her cheek itched from where the blood was still trickling from the wound. She needed to clean them all with something more than water but she knew that if she couldn't find anything in the rooms, she would be able to get it cleaned at home. She had gone years without getting an infection, maybe her body would fight one off a little longer. She edged through the first-floor door, her torch shining over the empty hallway. She closed the door as she walked into the hall and walked to the closest room and tried the door. It didn't open and she cursed silently and then tried the next door. This continued for another five minutes before having to move up to the next floor to try again.

She struck gold on her fifteenth room door.

Marissa carefully entered the room and walked through it. It was a mess, as she assumed most of the rooms would be, but she didn't fully care. The bed appeared to be intact, it didn't appear to have any nasty looking stains on it. She slapped the bed hard, wanting to dislodge any creepy crawlies or mice. Marissa did not feel like sharing her bed with anything on this night. Placing her torch in her mouth, Marissa sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled her scissors out of her backpack so that she could cut a strip from the sheet to wrap around her hands. Once she cut it, she tore off the old bandages she'd had on them and took a better look. Her right hand was no longer bleeding, just a few scrapes from the tree. It didn't look like it needed wrapping so she left it and looked at her left hand, which looked a little worse for wear. The new cut in it was deep but judging by the pain, Marissa was certain it hadn't done any major damage. Not that she would know but she could still wiggle her fingers, albeit painfully. She winced slightly as she attempted to tie it around her hand but couldn't properly tie it with her one hand and torch in her mouth. Giving up, she tucked the edge of the wrap into itself and then slid her backpack off her back and placed it on the bed beside her. She was surprised the bag was in one piece, not having noticed its weight as she had fought. With another look around the bed, she took the torch out of her mouth and hit the bed and the pillows a couple more times before resting back on to the bed and wrapping herself around her backpack. She shuffled around a little bit as she tried to get more comfortable without having the hammer and her other recently acquired items digging into her. She took a breath and closed her eyes, tightening her grip on her backpack as she felt exhaustion sweep over her. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and allowed herself to slowly fall asleep.

Sun shone through the tattered curtains and blinded Marissa as she started to wake up. She groaned and rolled over, turning away from the sun and curling into a ball, wanting to stay very much asleep and not get up. She stretched out her hand from her curled body and felt around for her backpack, which was still on the bed. She wrapped her hand around the strap and pulled it towards her and sighed, opening her eyes more so that she could see what she was doing as she opened her backpack and pulled out her water bottle and took a sip of it, her mouth feeling dry. There wasn't much water left in it but there was just enough. As she drank the water, her stomach growled. She dug into her backpack, grabbed a muesli bar, and sat up, blinking a couple of times as she had a head rush from the fast movement. Ripping into the muesli bar, she chewed on it as she tried to fully wake up, her head feeling as if it was stuffed with cotton wool. Marissa felt sore, her mouth aching as she finished her food and then rolled off the bed, getting to her feet as she shifted her weight as she shouldered her backpack and stretched, feeling her back crack as she did so. She was definitely bruised. The cut on her cheek wasn't bleeding anymore, having stopped sometime in the night but she knew without looking in a mirror that she looked terrible. She was sure her lip was split as well, not having felt that happen yesterday with the cut on her cheek.

Rolling her shoulders, loosening up the joints, Marissa took to looking around the room, she squinted as she tried to see if there was anything useful for her to take with her. She started opening and closing cupboard doors and drawers, grabbing random bits and pieces and shoving things into her bag. Marissa walked into the bathroom and scanned the countertops and grabbed what appeared to be a half empty toothpaste container with the label semi rubbed off. She opened the lid and sniffed it, the minty fresh paste hitting her nose. It was more powder than paste but it was better than nothing. Easy enough to rehydrate it. She pocketed it and then made for the exit, her backpack a little heavier with supplies than it had been previously.

She popped her head out the door and checked that the hallway was empty. Marissa did not want to risk the chance of running into any people. People these days had the painful tendency to want to take things that others had. Not everyone but Marissa had been in a few fights, her most memorable one being over a bag of fruit she had picked. The messiest one had been over a roll of toilet paper.

Ducking down the stairs, Marissa almost tripped as she lost her footing as she came to the ground floor. She grabbed the railing to support herself and came to a full stop. Marissa puffed as she tried to slow down her heart rate. Once she had done so, she slid out the stairway and zipped her way across the foyer towards the front door. She reached out a hand and grabbed the handle and pulled just enough so she could slide through it again and then pull it closed behind her, grimacing as she used her bandaged hand to pull it shut. It was exceptionally bright outside and showed her the aftermath of last night's confrontation. She gagged but refused to let her food come up, sheer determination and stubbornness stopping her from throwing up.

The man on the ground really did look like a dehydrated zombie who had been partially mummified, just without the toilet paper. He lay under the eaves in front of the door, spread eagled and broken jaw ajar. His clothes were tattered and ratty, barely managing to cover the bits Marissa was glad they did cover. His eyes were open, vacant and glassy as he stared into nothing. The tusk that Marissa had driven into his gut stood sharp, upright in the same way she had left it. She contemplated it for a moment before deciding against trying to take it out of him. The putrid smell of his insides and decaying flesh was enough to deter her from taking home her prize and proof that she had survived two very demented creatures. She did, however, bend down and pry his knife from his stiff fingers. It was a nice, if not slightly dirty knife that would be useful in self-defence. Marissa tossed it in the air and caught it by its handle. A little token after all.

The sun was rising high into the sky as she walked back through the streets of the small city, staying close to the buildings as she went, looking up to the sky as she went. The sky was clear, and the sun was hot. Marissa could feel her skin burning whenever she left the shade of the buildings.

"Only another few hours of this, Mar. Then you will be home. Then you can have a shower. Then you can be in bed again." Marissa muttered to herself as she walked.

A few hours later, Marissa walked past the boundary that separated that hell hole of a city from their little town. She almost physically relaxed, as she got closer to her home. She waved to a couple of her neighbours as she walked past them, her legs aching a little as she walked. A few of them gave her a nod, one of them looked like he was going to say something but didn't. That was probably for the best. Marissa was too tired to explain why she looked like she had been dragged through a very pointy, sharp bush backwards and then forwards again. She just wanted a shower and some food and her bed.

Her house was the one furthest from the street entrance, more secluded and quieter. Exactly how she liked to live her life. With minimal interactions with other people. Nice and peaceful.

"Well, well, well. Look who the cat dragged in. I was wondering when you were going to show up!" Marissa plopped up the steps, a very tired and sheepish expression on her face as she looked up at her best friend, who was sitting on the swing seat that Marissa had assembled one dull Sunday afternoon, legs folded underneath her with a book on her lap. Ellie Rae Johnson smile turned into a frown as she took in Marissa's appearance. She closed her book and unfolded her legs to stand up from the chair and met Marissa at the top of the stairs and wrapped her in a brief hug before pulling away and inspected Marissa's face, taking in the bloody cheek and bruised face. "What the hell happened to you?" Ellie Rae scrunched her nose up as she caught a whiff of Marissa. "Why do you smell so bad?"

"I got lost?"

"On the way to finding a shower?" Marissa swatted Ellie Rae's hand away and pulled a face at her. Ellie Rae pressed a cold finger to Marissa's cheek, feeling around the swollen cut. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up. I think I have some of that rubbing alcohol Arnie gave me a few weeks ago." Ellie Rae let Marissa go and she tiredly followed her friend into the house, sitting herself down on one of the bar stools at the counter. Ellie Rae disappeared into the pantry and came out with a large first aid kit. She placed it on the counter and opened it. She moved quickly as she pulled out the necessary items she needed. Ellie Rae eyed up Marissa's hand as she moved. "What happened?"

"Long, long story." Marissa said imply. She shrugged off her jacket and sighed as she cooled. Ellie Rae was dressed more appropriately for the unusually warm weather- a loose pair of shorts and a green tank top- something Marissa desperately wanted to change into after being in jeans and her black jacket. She knew she was sweaty and filthy. She launched into an abridged version of her story as Ellie Rae unwrapped and rewrapped her hand, cleaned the wounds and placed little strips on her cheek, keeping the cut closed. Ellie Rae listened as she worked, not batting an eyelid as Marissa finally stopped talking.

"You really do get into trouble out there, don't you?" Marissa shrugged as she flexed her newly bandaged hand. Ellie Rae grabbed a glass and filled it with water, handing it to her along with some pills that Marissa took gratefully and without question.

"It's not like I expected it. Usually I just see a few random people scavenging. This time was a whole new experience. I managed to get the things that we needed, by the way." Marissa started pulling everything out of the backpack. Spam, toothpaste, soap, the hammer and nails, batteries that somehow had not corroded after however long they had been sitting there for. Ellie Rae's expression was one of surprise when she saw the batteries and took them in hand and turned them over.

"You found batteries?"

"Right under a pile of mutilated Elmo toys." Marissa snorted. "I never want to see another Elmo again." She shuddered. Ellie Rae rolled her eyes and then scrunched her nose at Marissa, giving a rather pointed expression. "What?"

"You really do stink, you know?" Marissa sighed.

"I know." Marissa drained the glass of water before getting to her feet and stretched, wincing as her muscles ached. The pain medication would kick in shortly but there was nothing quite like a hot shower to ease the pain. She turned her head slightly when she heard an odd noise coming from their living area. Ellie Rae seemed unbothered, but Marissa noted her biting her inner cheek.

"Ellie Rae?"

"Yes Marissa?"

"Why can I hear a scuffling noise in the lounge?" Ellie Rae looked at Marissa innocently. She grabbed the glass off the bench and placed it in the sink to wash it.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Ellie Rae...." Marissa warned. "If there is another badger in this house, I swear I will turn it into a hat this time."

"You wouldn't." Ellie Rae challenged. Marissa took that as a confirmation of the fact that there was a new resident in their lounge. She limped towards the lounge are of the small house that she had adopted as her and Ellie Rae's home a few years ago. Carefully, she walked into the living room and started checking all the nooks and crannies of the room and stopped when she reached the corner where two of the couches met that created the perfect little hidey hole for Ellie Rae's independent animal rescue. Marissa stared at the evident but poorly concealed crate, which was clearly being covered by the multitude of pillows they had.

"Ellie Rae!" Marissa called as she pulled the pillows off to reveal what looked like a beaver but sounded like a hog. Its right leg was bandaged up and it looked like it had just woken up. Ellie Rae popped her head up so that she could see Marissa through the window. She smiled and gave a small nervous laugh. "What is this?"

"A beaver?"

"And why is it tucked away in our lounge?"

"I needed a nice place to keep it while it healed up?" Marissa put her hands on her knees and stared at Ellie Rae pointedly. This happened a lot. Ellie Rae was a real softie and when an animal needed to heal up, Ellie Rae would generally sneak it into the house, bandage it up and keep it for a few days while it healed. Marissa had lost count of how many animals their home had played hospital too.

"Just... Just make sure you clean up after it." Marissa sighed. Ellie Rae grinned widely and nodded. Marissa rolled her eyes and got to her feet, turning to the rest of the house.

It was small but it was home. One bathroom, two bedrooms, a kitchen and a lounge that suited them just nicely. Marissa sat down on the edge of her bed in her room and kicked off her boots, sighing in relief as the pressure around her feet was relieved and she was able to peel off her sweaty socks with a happy sigh.

From a pile in her room, she grabbed a clean pair of clothing and then opened her bedroom windows to let in some cool air. She went to the bathroom and turned on the shower, eyeing it warily. It had taken a little while for them to get everything in the house set up. Water had been an issue as the pipes had since corroded after having just sat for years of not being used. Marissa had to quite literally piece everything together like a toy set so that they could have fresh water in the house and be clean.

The next issue had then been power. Getting water heated, keeping the house warm in the middle of winter and being able to heat up food had been a major concern. The perk of the house was that it came with a fireplace. The downside was that someone had to clean the chimney regularly so that they didn't make any accidental roast sparrow for dinner. But one of the older neighbours had been able to give Marissa a plan to get power to house and had smartly utilised the water source to help power the house with a water wheel. And it was effective until it came to winter, and it snowed, and the water froze over. Ellie Rae had been the one with the idea to take a pickaxe and break the ice so that they would still have water and they used the fireplace to stay warm during the day.

Marissa showered slowly, relishing the hot water that poured over her skin and sore muscles. Her skin was peppered with bruises and her new bandages were soaked from her not covering them before getting in the shower, though she didn't care. Everything hurt and the shower heat was nice on everything that ached. She winced slightly as the water hit the back of her neck though, evidence that she had some sunburn on her neck. She finished in the shower and hopped out, wrapping her hair in a towel as she dried her feet on the foot towel. She dried herself off and dressed, exiting the bathroom as she picked up her dirty travelling clothes and dumped them in her room.