7 days ago. Leaning back against the cracked concrete wall, Hausen ran dirty fingers through oily greying hair, idly scratching his itching scalp. His eyes burned with lack of sleep and every muscle felt strained to tearing. He was utterly exhausted. “We need to secure the entrance”, he croaked, his throat dry from breathing the constant dust of the wastes. Pulling a small flask from a threadbare thigh pocket in his ripped cargo pants, he took a small sip. It was almost empty. He thought back to the last time they had found drinkable water. At least five days ago, maybe six and that had been barely enough to fill their small water bottles. He did not want to think about the last time they had eaten and what that had been. In the darkness of the underground space he could just make out the other four shapes of his group, each collapsed against the corridor walls as he was. Hushed weary moans were the only sounds in the narrow space. He waited until the count of one hundred and twenty before using an old scratched rifle to push himself to his feet, gritting his teeth in pain as his seizing muscles protested. “Mirim, you’re with me. Let’s see what we can do. Everyone else, find what you can for supplies, then a space you can to settle for the night. You know the drill, build second barricade in view of the entrance in case the first falls and…” “…put a watch roster together, add you whatever time we want and then let’s get some damn sleep”. Hausen grunted, it was all he had left for humour as Felicia finished his sentence and then smiled thinly at him. He rubbed his eyes. He was so tired. “Yeah, then let’s get some damn sleep”. He gestured at the stairway at the end of the hall leading back to the upper level. “Mirim, let’s do it”. Something red leapt out of the wall cupboard when Mattaus opened it. The young man yelled in shock as he staggered back, handguns sweeping up instinctively. The red body exploded as multiple rounds tore into it from point blank range. The noise was deafening, like sharp cracks of thunder suddenly bursting in the small room. As the echoes subsided, he heard something moving behind him, something running towards him. He span and ducked as something came through the doorway and he fired again with each gun. Mirim and Hausen’s heads jerked at the sound of gunfire and they both stared back down the partially buried stairwell, knuckles white as grips tightened on their weapons. It had been faint, the sound barely carried to them, but they had only survived this long by being acutely sensitive to abnormal sights and sounds. The sharp discharge of weapons always got their attention. “I’ll stay. Get down there and see what’s happening” Hausen commanded bluntly. “We swept it. Place should be clean”. Mirim nodded and disappeared back into the darkness. “Mattaus!” Felcia shouted as she fell to the floor, concrete shards showering from bullets exploding in the wall where she had been standing. Bullets fired by Mattaus. She pulled her rifle and legs close to her body and rolled across the small room, slamming into the far wall. She looked up and stared into the barrels of twin handguns. Jaspiel had been right behind Felicia, both running towards the sound of abrupt gunfire in what should have been their safe place. When Felicia shouted Mattaus’s name and more shots were fired, he had thrown himself away from the doorway, sliding a few feet on thick dust before scrambling to a crouch, his back to the corridor wall. Movement in the corridor snapped his rifle up and his finger tightened on the trigger, his heart pounding. It was the way the dark shape moved towards him, the shape of the body that stopped him from firing. Barely. He had to force his fingers to relax and his arms to raise the weapon. Mirim had to close to within a few feet before he could fully see her. She mimicked his position against the wall to the other side of the doorway. “What?” she asked softly. “Mattaus” he whispered. Felcia struggled to breath. She could not think, she could not talk. She managed to raise her eyes away from the guns and felt her heart clench. Mattaus trembled, his entire body seeming to vibrate. His face was slick with sweat, but it was his eyes that terrified her. Wide and bloodshot in dark pits on a gaunt face, they were fixed on her but she was not sure that they saw her. They seemed unfocused, slightly glazed. She froze in his gaze, scared to move. “Mattaus?”Mirim called. Silence. She looked to Jaspiel who just shook his head. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, licking her cracked lips. “Mattaus it’s me, Mirim”. Silence. “It’s ok Mattaus. It’s only us. We checked, there is only us here”. Silence. “Are you there Mattaus?” The only thing that Mirim could hear was the pounding of her own heart. “Mattaus, I am just outside the door. I’m on the right side of the door as you look at it. I’m going to step into the doorway Mattaus. It is just me. I’m going to move slowly. Don’t be scared, Mattaus”. Swallowing, she edged into the doorway. She knew that if he fired she would not be able to save herself. “It’s me, Mattaus. It’s just me” she said as little by little she edged into the doorway, forcing herself to ignore the temptation to lean around the door frame. “It’s just me”. Slowly she shuffled into the doorway and could see inside the room. She found Mattaus aiming one handgun at her, the other trained on Felcia who cowered in the corner, eyes tightly shut. Mirim forced a smile. “See Mattaus, it’s just me”. Mattaus’s lips parted and he blinked once, twice, three times. He seemed to see the room for the first time and his gaze darted back and forth between Felicia and Mirim. Slowly, ever so slowly, he lowered his guns. “There, there you go Mattaus. It’s ok. Something just startled you. It’s ok”. Mirim moved slowly into the room. Mattaus nodded slowly. “I thought… I thought I saw…” He looked wildly around him, guns raising once again. Mirim froze. All he could find were splinters of red plastic and shards of wood from the destroyed cupboard. After a moment he lowered his guns, holstering each. He wiped the dirty, scarred back of one hand across his forehead, smearing dark muddied trails from eyebrow to hairline. He smiled slightly at Mirim. “Nothing”. Mirim forced herself to smile back. “Yes, it was nothing. Everything is ok”. Mattaus nodded and slowly walked up to her. She stepped aside and he walked straight past, one hand massage his temple. Mirim rushed to Felicia. The woman cried out at Mirim’s sudden touch. “It’s over”, Mirim said softly and pulled the other woman to her. Felicia collapsed into tears, sobbing uncontrollably. Hausen watched Mirim reappear from the underground space and lowered his weapon. He had been sure it was empty and without any further noise after the initial shots, trusted Mirim to find out what was happening. Still, there was always the chance it could all go to hell. It always went to hell sooner or later. He moved aside to make room for her. Whilst she had been gone he had pulled nearby debris together to form a wall a few feet high around the entrance. “Mattaus almost lost it”, Mirim said in a weary voice as she knelt beside him. He nodded and turned away. The sky was relatively clear and a half-moon provided enough light to easily watch the immediate area. They were in the midst of some sort of settlement. Skeletal building ruins were everywhere, though it was impossible to tell if people had once either worked or lived here. “Everyone ok?” “Felicia is pretty shaken up. He almost killed her. He fired on her”. Hausen looked back at Mirim. “He’s getting out of control. It was a mistake bringing him”. “He is just tired, Hausen. This is the first rest for two days and we have only had a few hours at a time in the seven before that. Everyone is exhausted”. Hausen shook his head and returned his eyes to the rubble around them. “No one else is losing…” “They are going to unless we find a place to shelter soon”, Mirim interrupted. Her voice was low but there was an edge to it that grasped his attention. “We can’t go on like this. We need to find a place to rest”. “We need to keep moving”. “Someone is going to die if we don’t rest”. “Someone always dies”, Hausen replied bitterly. Mirim had no words for the blunt truth. “We can’t stop here for long”, Hausen continued after a moment. “We barely avoided that last patrol and you know how many there are here”. He looked away from her. “They are everywhere. We have to keep moving”. “There have not been as many as usual”. Hausen snorted. “There haven’t” Mirim repeated forcefully. “You know there haven’t. If it stays that way over the next few days and if we find a good spot then we should go to ground”. Hausen’s eyes tightened as he thought on her words. “Let’s see”.