Stage One: Hope in Darkness

Trapped and Traps (Annabelle)

Climbing across rooftops, making my way farther and farther from the rippers. It was exhausting, and Hannibal grew heavier the longer I carried him. My muscles were screaming in protest. Ignore them.

The rippers were multiplying. More arrived, they were setting up camp. More than just some temporary rest area. They had claimed one of the old buildings. Cleaned it out, at least of walkers the day I saw a ripper with a mop was the day I would admit I had finally lost my mind and had started to hallucinate.

I paused on the rooftop I was currently on. My breaths came out fast and hard, my legs felt like jello, I couldn't afford to stop running. I pull my rifle from my back, with some difficulty thanks to the hundred and thirty pounds of wiggly fur also strapped to me. I looked down my scope, following the sound of vehicles and explosions. Their camp was in one of those glass highrises at least twenty two blocks away. Not far enough. No matter how bone tired my body was, my mind screamed at me to run. Keep running and never look back.

The camp had lots of windows to peak into, good for me. At over a thousand and five hundred feet I watched them. I could see them come and go, they were sending out search parties. They had only been here for a couple hours and they were this organized. He was on their heels, I would work fast too. I was in a bad spot here.

I pulled the rifle back onto my back. I needed to get further away before setting up to watch the shit show unfold. The more rooftops I crossed the more I saw them. Traps. I glimpsed them as I crossed roofs, through the small gaps into the alleys. I even had to avoid them as I crossed the rooftops. Someone had spent quite a lot of time setting these up. Normally I would avoid an area like this, it was clearly claimed by another survivor. Right now though the more of those traps I put between me and the rippers, the safer I felt.

The rippers were not the cautious type, they lumbered about as if they themselves were walkers. Plus some of these traps were expertly made. More than one had nearly gotten me. A survivor with a very different kind of training, and a whole can of crazy, had made these. It was slowing me down, every step had to be taken with extreme care.

Still, the security they promised was well worth the trouble. The rippers were bound to set off the traps. Alerting me, and anything else, of their presence. Hell if I was lucky the traps would take them all out. A particularly sharp one caught my eye. Lots of knives.

If the rippers had set up a camp and were sending out parties then they must have a perimeter around the city set up. They hated when their victims escaped. I had to get out of the city. The rippers may have been watching the outskirts of the city but they would be sloppy. I would have to watch them, wait until they made an opening. That would take time, I needed to scout the area.

I found a building with part of the windows blown out. I was on the fifteenth floor. No more. I can't keep going. My hands shook violently as I unstrapped Hannibal from me. My legs gave a sigh of relief as their extra burden was lifted. Hannibal was full of energy, he nipped at my fingers playfully as I brushed behind his ears. At least one of us is. Hannibal would keep watch, I had trained him well.

My rifle found its way back into my hands. I laid flat on my belly and propped my rifle barrel up on my bag. My perch granted me the perfect view of the rippers camp. On what looked like the tenth floor of their building they moved around in the fading light.

The survivalist had been through this building with a fine tooth comb. The whole place was littered with traps, both noisy and deadly. A small base of sorts had been set up on this level. A cot and a lock box were pushed over to one side. They were caked in dust. No one had been up here in quite awhile. Good news for me. Didn't bode well for the survivor. No one left supplies behind unless they had to. A zipline connected this building to one down the street. great for a quick escape if any of those traps went off. Thank the lord for crazy survivalists.