Anne emerged from her hiding spot, and she and Marcus followed after their leader as they began walking toward their destination.
Their footsteps echoed around them. As they traveled, the light dimmed as the clouds covering the sky thinned. Eventually, the three reached their destination without further incident, entering the abandoned storefront.
A handful of shelves lay on the ground, broken into pieces or tossed aside, while others remained upright and sturdy. Other items sat on top of these shelves or hung precariously between them. All the lights in the area were turned off, making it very difficult to see within.
Some lights did shine dimly here and there, illuminating patches of darkness, revealing food packaging, empty cans, torn clothing, and random bits of trash lying on the floor. Marcus groaned and started walking forward through the mess towards the front, scanning the shelves for items of value, with Anne and Seren doing the same.
"HEY GUYS, COME LOOK AT THIS!" Seren yelled. A door with a push handle instead of a regular handle caught her attention, and he grabbed onto it eagerly, pulling at it hard enough to snap it open. She and Marcus hurried to his side and gazed inside. Food and supplies that could provide sustenance awaited. "No way!" Anne exclaimed excitedly. The others nodded excitedly while grinning from ear-to-ear.
"I haven't ate for a couple days... I'm starving." Marcus moaned softly while rubbing his stomach. Anne agreed and rushed to one of the boxes, grabbing out an entire loaf of bread. She handed half to Marcus and the other half to Seren who took a large bite before letting out a happy hum. "Oh man! I can't even remember the last time I had a decent meal like this." He said happily.
Anne smiled shyly. She nibbled tentatively at her slice, feeling warm and content. "Wow."
After eating, the trio headed toward the back of the store, searching for anything useful.
They scavenged throughout the rest of the night, only finding more bare food packages, which the team packed into backpacks. As they were getting ready to leave, they suddenly heard the door of the supermarket open.
Immediately, the group grew tense and still, eyes alert and ready.
"Shit," Seren whispered.
"Do you think something followed us?" Anne asked nervously.
"I don't know. We must get out of here." Seren responded.
Marcus nodded, grabbing a nearby tire iron.
The steps of the footsteps continued down the hall as someone, or something, approached. The other members of their group tensed up as a lone shadow was cast upon the wall outside the doors leading out into the hallway. Seemingly, nothing had arrived yet, the creature stopped a few yards from the door.
There was only darkness around them.
Not daring to break the silence, they waited motionless, fearing the unknown dangers beyond.
After about a minute had passed, the sounds of breathing started echoing off of the walls, followed shortly after by low grunts and moans. "I know you're in here... you can't steal from us and expect to get away with it." A guttural voice bellowed from one of the aisles. The group stared anxiously toward where the voice had come from as it spoke, straining their senses.
"What the fuck is that!?" Seren whispered.
"Stay here, I'll go see." Marcus spoke quietly.
Before anyone could say anything further, the figure outside spoke again, "Let me handle these." He hissed to another invisible companion before letting loose a dark, distorted laugh. "Come out, little mouse, don't you want to play? Let's play..."
There was a hint of a challenge in those words, and it chilled their very bones.
"Who's there?!" Marcus spoke forcefully, gripping his iron tighter. The room suddenly became brighter as more sources of light appeared in the darkness behind them. Anne's body froze and stiffened in panic. "Aaaahhhh..."
The first thing her eyes saw as the light crept its way through the corridors and into their hiding place was a huge, muscular beast wielding a vicious-looking sword.
Behind him, four other men and women wearing hoods with metal masks covered their faces except for the mouths. They too held similar weapons, knives or swords, and they were waiting patiently as the leader stepped slowly and deliberately towards them. He held up his left arm with an outstretched palm, signaling the rest to stop their advance and wait.
This was not some ordinary street thug who'd wandered in; they were established raiders. Before he could swing at Anne, Marcus swooped in and defended her with his weapon, striking him squarely in the back and knocking the man forward into the aisle opposite him, landing awkwardly but not incapacitated by far, raising his head back up to reveal blood leaking from the side of his lip.
Marcus ducked underneath another swipe from behind and kicked his legs wide sending his attacker falling face forward as he rose up just enough for him to grab his shirt and drag him backwards, using the momentum to throw him towards the others in his gang who had now begun to run towards them. "This is not over!" The woman spat angrily.
"I'll take you all on!" Marcus commanded.
They needed each other, each one looking out for the other. "Just follow my lead and we'll finish them off one by one..." Marcus shouted confidently. He rushed at the leader swinging wildly at him forcing him backwards toward the open space beyond the shelves in his desperation to escape from harm's reach.
"Where do you think you're going?" Marcus asked confidently. "Fucker." He added in frustration as he saw the men standing directly in their path and blocking the doorway. Marcus barely managed to block a fist aimed at his chest narrowly missing a punch aimed straight at the abdomen, instead landing flatly against his leg. The man laughed menacingly before suddenly dropping his own sword and picking Marcus by his collar and shoving him away sending him colliding backwards towards the wall. "Now look who's laughing."
Marcus spat out blood as he brought himself back to his feet. "Good work Seren."
The taller male gave an amused chuckle. "What are you saying, what the hell did he-"
Seren had impaled the leader straight in the heart with a dagger, dealing a mortal blow. "You... bastard."
One of the masked gang members pulled out a gun from its holster at their hip and shot at the ground next to him. Seren dodged left, avoiding the attack aimed for his leg. The remaining four came charging forward screaming murderous insults at the wounded.
"I didn't expect you to be this good at fighting Seren." Marcus said sincerely.
Seren scoffed, "I guess working out every day has proved to be useful."
Marcus cracked his knuckles, his face stern as ever. "Come on you bastards, time to make you pay!"
"Nobody takes our shit and gets away with it."