CONTENT WARNING: This story contains depictions of sexual assault and graphic violence.

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Lorelei’s footsteps echoed around the rows of half-empty shelves. Insects buzzed around the long-since rotten meats of the butcher’s section of the store, and the registers had all but been destroyed, devoid of any money, coins or notes. 

She walked down the canned food aisle, looking through the shelves for something at least somewhat stomachable.  

Canned pumpkin soup? 

Absolutely not. 

Canned corn off the cob? 

Sure. 

Canned spaghetti? 

It would do, she supposed. 

Taking about twenty cans of different products and stuffing them into her pack, she travelled down the rows into the snacks aisle, just in case. 

Nope. Empty. Just like all the other stores she had looted in the last sixteen months since the disease killed most of humanity. 

She rolled her eyes. Of course, in times like this, idiots would stock up on the things that matter the least. 

Her little sister would have to wait a bit longer to have chocolate again. 

With a sigh, she hoisted the pack onto her back and walked to the checkout area. She grabbed the barcode scanner, waving it like a magic wand over the groceries, and making a beep noise with her mouth. 

“That’ll be one billion dollars, ma’am. Will that be cash or card?” She said, lowering the pitch of her voice and speaking with a mock British accent. 

“Card, thank you! I’m rich, so I can afford it.” She pulled a credit card from her back pocket and tapped it on the dead reader, making another beep noise. 

“Thank you for shopping with us today,” she said in that low voice again, grabbing the bag and walking out of the store, waving goodbye to the imaginary cashier. The sun was about halfway done with its descent through the cloudless sky, and Lorelei had quite the walk to do to get back home. 

It was nothing she hadn’t done before. Just one foot in front of the other. 

She took one last look back at the derelict store, with its busted windows and destroyed neon signs, and took the first step back home. 

It wasn’t until the sun was just starting to dip beneath the horizon that she began to feel uneasy, like something was watching her. She looked over her shoulder, gripping her pack tightly, but didn’t see anything. She breathed gently out of her nose, trying to calm her nerves, and turned back to face forward. 

There was a man standing about fifty meters away from her. He was holding a machete, and the grin on his face was no less than horrifying. Lorelei stopped in her tracks. 

“What do you want?” She yelled at him, reaching down to her hip for the knife she carried with her. 

“Can’t hear ya!” He yelled back, gesturing with his hand. “Why dont’cha come closer? I won’t bite. Those two might, though!”  

She frowned, spinning around once more to find two other men creeping up behind her, both with rusty machetes in hand. Her eyes widened and she pulled her knife out, pointing it at the men. They just laughed at her. 

“Come on, now, nobody’s gonna get hurt! Not if you cooperate.” 

“Aye!” His partner chuckled, still creeping forward. “Whussa little girl like you doin’ out on the streets anyway? Dont’cha know it’s dangerous out here?” 

“Stay back!” She yelled, slashing the knife in a wide arc in front of her and backing away. The two men jumped back in mock fear, raising their hands and shrieking, laughing the whole time. 

She felt a man’s hand on her shoulder, and froze. She looked up to see the first man grinning down at her. 

“Been a long time since I’ve seen a lady. D’you know what that does to a man? Not seeing a woman for over a year?” 

“I’m fourteen, you sick fuck!” She yelled, swinging up at his face with the knife. He lazily caught her wrist, the knife inches from his neck. 

“Y’think that matters anymore?” 

He started laughing down at her, but his laugh was interrupted when a gunshot sounded from beside them, and his head exploded. Blood and chunks of flesh splattered onto Lorelei’s face as the man fell to the ground, barely recognisable with a hunk of mangled gore sitting atop his neck. 

Before Lorelei could react, a second gunshot rang out, and one of the other men screamed in pain, dropping to the ground and clutching at a bleeding hole in his chest, wailing and crying out. Lorelei wiped the blood from her face with the back of her hand and flicking it onto the ground, looking to the side to see who was firing. 

A young man was aiming a shotgun at the last asshole standing. He had black hair down to his shoulders, with a hint of grey mixed in, and he was wearing baggy clothes. He had bruises all over his face, and it looked like at least one of his teeth had been knocked out. 

“If you wanna live, run.” He warned the last man, who took that warning to heart, dropping his machete and bolting away through the streets. Lorelei took a deep breath of relief, her racing heartbeat starting to slow. 

“Thank you, mister.” 

“It’s no problem,” he said, slinging the shotgun onto his back and walking towards her. “Nasty people out here.” 

“Yeah.” 

“You by yourself?” 

She blinked, still cautiously gripping her knife. “Yup.” 

“Where you headed?” 

“Home.” 

“Hm.” He looked on down the road, as if scanning it for something. “I don’t think you should continue by yourself. It’s getting dark, more people like that could be prowling.” 

“It’s okay. I’ll be fine. I can handle myself.” 

“Why don’t you come with me? Stay the night at my place, and then you can go back home when dawn breaks.” 

She clenched her jaw, slowly edging away from the man. “No thanks.” 

He gave a small chuckle. “Listen, I know it can be hard to trust out here. But you’re going to have to trust somebody sooner or later.” 

“I said, I’ll be fine.” 

A flicker of annoyance crossed the man’s face. “Come on. I’m just trying to keep you safe.” 

“Leave me alone, please.” 

“Hey,” he said rather sternly, lunging forward and grabbing her arm. “I’m offering you safety here!” 

“Let me go!” She yelled, trying to pull her arm out of his grip, but he didn’t let up. He instead tightened his grip, so much so that it began to hurt. 

“I don’t understand why you won’t just come with me!” 

“Because fuck you, that’s why!”

“This would be far easier for you if you just behaved,” he growled, squeezing her wrist so tightly that she thought he might just break it. 

“Too fucking bad!” She screamed, letting her resistance falter and allowing herself to be pulled towards the man, barrelling into him and jabbing her knife upward, piercing it through his neck and into his bottom jaw. He gurgled with pain, finally letting her go and clawing at the wound, falling to his knees as blood flowed freely like a waterfall down his body. 

“Fucking bitch,” he managed to say through all the gasping and the bubbling blood, before falling sideways, the life draining from his body. Lorelei rubbed her wrist where he had grabbed her, gathering her bearings before kneeling down to loot his soon-to-be corpse. In one of his pockets, she pulled a few things out: a set of keys, a few rubber bands, and… a bar of chocolate. A little beat-up, but unopened. 

“Ah,” she exclaimed, a smile lighting up her bloodied and exhausted face. “Perfect.”