Whatever he said Samindi was not returning to the man and she would make sure she was not alone with Leonard again. She sighed as she turned to Callie, things had been looking pretty good for the past couple of days. Leonard knew how to scavenge, she was getting along with Callie and even Mattie had generally left her alone even if she didn't like her. Samindi was so disappointed. She knew she shouldn't get her hopes up, she could only rely on herself.

The buzz caused her to turn back to Leonard and she watched only a moment, confused as to what the man was doing. When she heard the gunshot and the blood flow from Leonards shoulder Samindi just ran. Callie, Mattie and them all were forgotten as she ran to the house, the safest place she could work out in the rising panic of the situation.

Samindi

Samindi breaks into a run. A moment later, she hears another gunshot. Now that she expects it, she can tell it's a significant distance away, well far from the house. Behind her, she hears Leonard grunt, and then a sound like a man hitting dirt.

She does not see Callie or Mattie; both are probably inside the house as she nears the door, she hears more gunshots, but these are from inside the house. She also hears screaming.

Samindi was about to enter the house when she heard the further gunshots and screams. She paused for barely a moment, changing her mind to run around the back of the house. Frantically looking for somewhere safet to hide.

She had no idea what was going on or why they were being attacked. Her only thought was to find cover and somewhere she could wait until whatever was going on was over.

Samindi

As Samindi pauses, she hears the screeching of tires from the driveway. Skidding to a stop is a hefty flatbed truck, so overladen with supplies that some tumble out of the bed to land in the ground from the sudden stop. As she moves to the back of the house, one door opens and a man with a rifle jumps out of the truck, followed by a woman.

There's plenty of places to hide behind the house, but Samindi has little time to choose a good one. She continues to hear screaming from within the house, but it's a struggle to make out any words.

Samindi

With her outdoorsman skills, Samindi picks out what she believes to best the best location to hide behind the house. Decorative flower bushes disguise a shallow but steep dip in the earth that, if she crouched, would provide both visual and solid cover relative to the house. It's probably her best alternative to simply sprinting away, which would get her away from whatever was happening in the house but make her vulnerable to the shooter that shot Leonard.

Inside the house, she can hear Mattie, Callie, and an unfamiliar male voice. She can't make out the words of Mattie or the male, but she hears Callie's panicked scream: "No, daddy, no, no, please!"

Between the car, the gunshots and the screaming Samindi was relieved to find a place that was relatively safe from all the chaos. The dip in the round was perfect for her to hide away in and Samindi wasted no time in jumping down and hiding. She tried to keep an eye on things from her covered position but generally kept her head low, heart pounding as her mind went over her options for getting out of this. For now she waited, until things had settled down there was not need to rush and do something stupid.

Samindi wasn't a hero and if Mattie and Leonard were scared of Callie's father then there was absolutely nothing she was going to do to help. It wasn't like he would kill Callie... surely.

Samindi

Samindi can see little from her position. She thinks she sees motion in one upper-floor window, but it is bright outside and dark in the house, so the sun's glare and reflected sky make it impossible to see any details.

As she watches, she hears an explosive gunshot from inside the house, followed by the sound of Callie screaming. She sounds terrified and hysterical.

Well, that was likely Mattie dead. Samindi looked around in panic, her heart pumping in her chest, she didn't have any great options. Just lay low while this all blows over and hope that nobody found her.

She remained where she was, staying low and hiding in the garden.

Samindi

Samindi hears more gunfire from within the house. As she watches, the window where she saw movement explodes outward, raining glass shards into the garden below. Through the now open window, she sees the back of a red-haired man. Shattering the window also allows her to hear Callie's panicked screaming much more clearly.

As Samindi watches, the man reaches out with one hand and grab something Samindi cannot see. At the same time, Samindi hears Callie shout, "No, no, no! Let me go!"

Samindi didn't want to move. She was scared. As the gunshots continued she remained hidden, barely risking a peek towards the house and the motion behind the glass window. She didn't like guns at all, and seeing Leonard shot right in front of her terrified her. She was only now starting to catch her breath and begin to think things through.

Who else was there? There were more gunshots after she guessed Mattie was shot, were they fighting amongst themselves? She guess that was Callie's father who grabbed the girl as she screamed 'No!'. That meant that she was still alive at least, perhaps if Samindi approached the house and announced herself she wouldn't be shot. He wouldn't shoot a girl surely? He had a daughter. She bit her lower lip as she considered the situation. If they just moved on and left her there it would be best, but if they decided to stay...

She could just take off now, she had all of her stuff with her, meager as it was, and could probably loot the RV for some more supplies. Callie would be fine, sure her dad appeared to be a murderer but he would keep her safe... wouldn't he?

Samindi remained where she was, keeping an eye on her surroundings and risking the occasional look towards the house.

Samindi

The man's back moves closer to the window.

"No, daddy, no, please!" Callie's voice screams desperately from within the room.

"It's the only way, Callie!" shouts a man's voice. "You've seen what it's like out there! That man your mother gave you to! What did he do to you?"

"Nothing! Let me go, please!"

"Don't lie to me! I saw the way he looked at you. And who is this?"

"I don't know! I don't know!"

"These are everyone that's left! Just more thieves, more murderers, more parasites! These are everyone left in the world! They're worse than the dead! There's else nothing else left, Callie! This is the way to keep you safe, Callie. The only way to keep you pure...my little girl."

"No, no! Please, daddy, don't do it, no!"

"Be brave, Callie. I'm here. I won't leave you."

Samindi hears more screaming as the man forces something downward, then points a handgun in its direction.

The gunshots quietened down but the screaming continued, it didn't sound like it was over yet.

Samindi frowned, was Callie's dad... oh. Maybe her dad was not going to be keeping her safe. From her position Samindi couldn't see much, but between her peek through the window and what she could hear the context of the situation was fairly clear to her.

She didn't want to remain any longer, whatever was happening inside the house would likely spill out eventually and she didn't want to be caught up in that. Samindi frowned, she should collect the food before she left but that meant getting to the RV but she also didn't want to get shot by whoever killed Leonard. Maybe if she moved carefully, kept behind things, she could make it to the RV and then get away from the house.

Samindi began to move, trying to keep behind cover as much as possible as she moved back towards the RV.

Samindi

Samindi hears a different man's voice through the broken window. "No! DOn't! Stop!"

The man doesn't stop. Samindi hears a gunshot - so loud it echoes - and Callie's screaming stops. This is immediately followed by several more gunshots in quick succession as the man turns to fire at something inside the house. The staccato ends after a couple of seconds as the man falls out of view.

Samindi moves towards the RV. As she does, she sees two things: a pickup truck, its bed loaded with supplies, much further up the driveway; an unarmed man kneeling next to the RV with his hands on his head; and a teenaged girl standing next to him, holding a knife in one hand and a rifle in the other, looking nervously at the house.

From the window, now out of view, she hears a woman's voice: [i]"Sid! Get in here, now!" The teenager seems to recognize it.

Samindi wasn't sure what to make of it all; her instincts said to keep moving, to just run and keep going until this was all behind her. Yet there was a woman inside, this girl out here who looked about the same age as her and the men that were fighting earlier. She could make a guess at what had happened, Callie's dad came with others and killed Leonard when she ran off. These others must have heard the gunshots maybe? Strange to be running into trouble, but from the looks of the truck they were pretty well equipped. Maybe they were a local group? A family? She did hear another man inside before the gunshots went off.

It was with some hesitation that Samindi continued on to the girl by the RV, she wasn't going to be able to get into the van without the girl seeing her. She didn't really have much choice, she wanted the food and still needed the medicine. She didn't like the girl had a gun so Samindi kept an arrow nocked but stepped out into the open as she made herself known to the girl. She wouldn't get shot, surely. She would rather run than fight but hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

Slowly walking towards her Samindi stopped a couple dozen feet away, "Uh... Hey." She was wide eyed, tense, like a rabbit ready to run if the girl turned the gun on her.

Samindi

As Samindi approaches, the girl gestures towards the man with her knife, then at the house. "Get - " Her voice comes out as a squeak, but she clears her throat. "Get in there," she orders.

It's only because of the time the man takes to get off his knees that Samindi is able to catch the girl before she disappears into the house. They are just setting off when the girl notices Samindi. She jumps back, then moves to position the man between Samindi and herself. For an unknown reason, the girl holds the knife out aggressively, but only holds the rifle in her off hand.

"D-don't," the girl says anxiously.

Okay, well at least the girl was a nervous as Samindi felt. Was that a good thing? What Samindi knew was a good thing was the rifle wasn't being pointed at her. She relaxed the bowstring and withdrew the arrow. "Don't what?" Samindi frowned, "Uh. Want me to follow you? I know some of the people in the house." She gave a wobbly smile she hoped appeared more confident than she felt. "I can help."

Not something she would have offered five minutes ago, but there were at least two women here including the girl and the gunfire had stopped. It did appear things had finally settled down. She didn't hear Mattie, but she already expected the woman was dead. She also didn't hear Callie or who Samindi assumed was the girl's father. Maybe there were more in this girl's group and they had everyone restrained?

Samindi

"We don't even know who the people in the house are!" the girl says defensively. She continues to watch Samindi suspiciously. "Why should we trust you?"

The man between the two girls glances between them, but his eyes settle on Samindi. He's between twenty-five and thirty, with stubble on his chin and his head. He has his hands up and doesn't look like he trusts Samindi or the other girl.

From the house comes another shout from the same woman. "Sid!"

The girl winces, then turns somewhat towards the house while keeping her eye on Samindi. "I'll be right there!"

She starts moving towards the house, watching Samindi warily. "Okay, come with us. Just don't try anything, alright? We're not stupid."

"Uh. The people in the house? It's their house." So technically that wasn't exactly true but it wa close enough, and Samindi wasn't going to worry about it with all the fighting that had been going on. "I don't know what's going on but you're not shooting at me so you're better than the others."

Samindi looked up to the house as the same woman shouted out. "Okay. Uh. Sid? I'm not gonna do anything." She made a very slow movement to lower her bow and put the arrow back in her quiver. "Nothing. Just want to see if they're alright."

Assuming things were calmed down and Sid let her Samindi would follow the girl to the others.

Samindi

"Okay, that's great. How about him?" Sid gestures towards the man. "Do you know him?"

The man looks fairly ordinary. He's probably somewhere in his thirties and wearing jeans, a pocket vest, and a ball cap. He glances between the two girls, looking wary but not hostile.

"Make sure he gets in the house and doesn't run off or anything, okay?" Sid says. "Or if you're gonna run off, don't screw with us. We'll screw back."

Sid backs up into the house, taking the rifle and knife with her. The man looks at Samindi expectantly.

Samindi shook her head ss Sid asked if she knew the guy. When she asked Samindi to get the guy inside and left herself Samindi protested, "Hey. Wait..."

She sighed as Sid walked inside and looked to the man, "Uh. Inside I guess." She motioned to the door and waited to see if he would move.

Samindi

"Aright," the man says. He turns slowly towards the house and starts walking, clearly making no sudden moves.

Partway to the house, he looks back over his shoulder at Samindi. "I don't know what he told you, but I did you a favour. Maybe you don't see that now, but you will, I hope."

Samindi frowned as they stepped inside, "Leonard? You shot him?"

Sure Leonard had turned out to be a supercreep but she didn't know if that meant he needed to die. She could have handled herself, she was she thought. She looked at the man, a bit more unsettled by him if he was the one who killed Leonard.

Samindi

"Was that his name?" the man asks. He watches Samindi's face with a grim frown.

"Yeah, that was me. I don't know what promises he told you, but they were lies, alright? Whatever he said to you, it was bullshit. I guarantee he told the exact same thing to everyone else."

He grits his teeth, then sighs, the tension leaving his body. "Whatever you gotta do to me, do it. Just remember what I said...and that none of it was your fault."

Samindi shook her head, "Wait. You shot someone you didn't know? Why? What do you mean 'wasn't my fault'?" He kept saying that...

She frowned, not exactly understanding what the man was referring to. "I dont think anyone's gonna do anything to you. I'm not. But..."

It finally dawned on her. The gunshots in the house, the screams. Samindi looked towards the stairs where Sid left. "Oh..." She looked back to the guy, "Wait here... please."

Samindi raced upstairs to see what had happened.