A ginger woman with medium length hair ran through the snow, freckles sprinkled on her cheeks, her hazel eyes displaying panic as she heaved heavily. "Fuck!" She cursed.

  Margarita ran through the snow. Her footsteps awkward and clumsy as she tried her best to run through the thick snow. The cannibals were far from this area so it was fine to run in the open like this.

  "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Why do I have to be so clumsy! Dimitri is definitely going to kill me!!!" Her face paled as she pushed the fence's gate open. She ran inside the house. As soon as she walked inside she almost tripped over something and a tin can fell from the counter. Margarita didn't have any spare time to care about that.

  She ran for the kitchen and searched the cabinets. "Where is it?! Where is it?!!" She rummaged through the cabinets. She found nothing. Margarita groaned in frustration clutching her head. "Where are the bandages!" She screamed as she ran up the stairs. She tripped a couple of times but she caught herself and continued.

  She ran into the bedrooms and looked under the bed. "Yes!" She screamed and swiftly snatched the bundle of bandages and ran off. She exited the house and ran through the streets of the town. Occasionally tripping and falling. The sacks she had with her she left at the house. But that didn't matter now! She had to go save Erika!

  "Erika! Hang in there!" Margarita gritted her teeth and hissed as she saw the store they broke into in the distance. She ran and slammed her shoulder into the door, stumbling onto the floor as the door snapped open loudly. Margarita fell to the floor, the bundle of bandages falling in front of her.

  A hand swiftly snatched the bundle of bandages from the floor as Margarita looked up at the person standing in front of her, a panicked look crossing his face. "Rita! Stand up we need to help Erika right now!" He stretched a hand out towards her. Margarita hesitated before she took his hand and quickly stood up.

  "What's her state? Is she any better?!" She asked aloud as the two ran towards a collapsed figure. It was a younger girl. She was Erika, a 19 year old survivor who was now breathing heavily as she had a large gash in her leg. "Oh god... I'm so sorry Erika..." Margarita fell to her knees next to Erika and bawled her eyes out.

  "It's fine... You didn't mean it. Right?" She looked up at Margarita with a smile. Though, her lips trembled in pain which only made Margarita's heart sink even more with guilt. "I'm really sorry... I didn't see that cannibal... If I did I could have done something about it. And you wouldn't have been hurt..." Margarita's tears flowed.

  "Dimitri..." Margarita turned towards the man her face ugly with tears and the exhaustion brought upon them by this apocalypse. Dimitri, the person who's led them all the way to this point. He was the reason for their survival. They used to be colleagues in the same work place before the apocalypse happened.

  They all worked in the same defense plant. A factory dedicated to manufacturing military weapons. They were particularly in charge of manufacturing military vehicles like tanks, jeeps, trucks and the likes. Their defense plant actually collapsed during the meteor strike. They were one of the lucky ones who were outside the building on a lunch break.

  They ended up staying together in a building until all communications were cut and the global winter hit. The trio survived by scavenging and spreading out through the town to look for supplies to eventually return to their base. The house that margaret went into was just one of the spots they used as a temporary base because it was far from the center of the town and it was pretty much clear of cannibals.

  Margarita relied on the two a little too much, and often did she feel like she was third wheeling on them. As the young two were actually a couple. Dimitri and Erika were in a relationship even before the apocalypse happened.

  Margarita stuck with them, and for the most, they were the reason that Margarita survived till now. She didn't know how to scavenge properly, she was often times corrected by Dimitri and got a bad scolding despite being older than the boy. Margarita did not look like it, but she was 31 years old while Dimitri was 21 years old.

  Dimitri took in a deep breath as he tieghtened the bandage around Erika's leg. "It's fine..." He exhaled slowly as he focused on tying the bandage.

  Margarita's heart sank even further in guilt. She gritted her teeth as she clenched her fists. "I can't... I'm sorry..." She muttered under her breath.

  Erika just forced a smile. "I said it's fine Rita. I'm really okay. This'll heal eventually. And the cannibal is gone, Dimitri got rid of it." She placed a hand on Margarita's shoulder and squeezed gently, trying to reassure her.

  Margarita felt pathetic. I'm older than her yet look at me... Rellying on these two... I... I can't call myself an adult... She covered her face in shame. Sobbing won't help out now. I should find some way to help them... "C-can I help you with anything, Dimitri?" She asked, stuttering out as she tried to fix her expression.

  Dimitri stayed silent for a few moments, checking on Erika's condition. "There isn't really anything you can help with... If only you could use your brain for something other than fixing trucks..." He said in an even tone, whispering the last part under his breath.

  Margarita didn't hear the last words as she wiped her tears. "I... I'm sorry again..."

  "And I told you it's fine, Rita." Erika said giving her a firm look. "I should have been the one to watch out for that cannibal. Hey, I found a manual on the Sukhoi Su-27. I'll give it to you so you can study it. I know you're really into that stuff, maybe you can pass the time with it later." Erika gave her a warm smile.

  Margarita's heart swelled, warmth spread through her cold body as she shifted her gaze down again. She's so nice... "A-ah... Thank you Erika. I'll-"

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  "No..." Dimitri cut her off. "We'll use that book as fuel for fire later so we can keep warm just in case of a blizzard." He said simply, turning to give a long look to Margarita that conveyed something. Give us some space...

  Margarita's expression fell and she stood up. "I-I'll go get some more supplies..." She said as she stood up abruptly. "Y-you don't have to. Margarita. You can just stay here-" Erika stretched a hand out towards Margarita only for Dimitri to cut in. "You go do that. We still need a bit more food. And try to look for medicine, this injury might get infected..." He said as he placed a hand atop Erika's.

  Erika had a conflicted look on her face before she shook her head and turned quiet. Margarita stared at the two for a few moments. I'm... not needed here. They probably want to talk privately... "Alright... I'll do that."

  Margarita said before she moved. She stepped out into the biting cold of the outside. Margarita was quite the short woman. She was about 5 feet tall. That sort of was the reason she never got into a relationship. Men didn't like short girls. They only liked tall women. She exhaled slowly. Her breath coming out as steam, showing the degree of coldness in the air.

  She turned around. "I got the bandages to Erika... I should go search some other stores. Maybe I'll find some medicine." She said as she walked. Her gaze darted around the large street. It was completely empty and full of snow. The cannibals were closer to the center. But the center was the place where most of the supplies were at.

  "Should I risk it?" Margarita spoke aloud, swiftly shaking her head right after, dismissing the idea. "I can't do that. What am I thinking? I'll just get myself killed..." She sighed as she walked. He kicked through the snow. "Ugh... I had to run all the way back to the house... I'm actually so dumb for leaving the bandages there... I should've brought them with us!" She clutched her head.

  "Oh wait... I left the supplies back there. I should head back there and see if the supplies are still there..." Margarita glanced over at the end of the street. "This is actually pretty nice weather..." She looked up at the sky. There was barely any wind and snow just fell slowly. A few months back, this statement would have been ridiculous.

  But now, it was absolutely reasonable to anyone still living. On her way there. Margarita thought back to before all this happened. To the time before the apocalypse...

  It was such a peaceful time... Well peaceful wasn't really the word. Politics were still on fire and there were consiperacies about biological research happening in secret labs. Margarita didn't have any business in that. She just wanted to get by. She was one of the only female engineers on the team and she was proud to say confidently that she was one of the best.

  Erika wasn't an engineer like Margarita, instead she was from management and she managed their finances and delt with numbers along with her team. Dimitri, well he was an engineer as well. He was still a newbie back then. Margarita as his senior showed him around a little.

  As a female engineer, Margarita often faced some looks and even questions to her capabilities. But she always showed them by displaying her skills and knowledge in engineering. Margarita's life was good. Back then when all that mattered was how good she was at vehicle maintenance and manufacture... It was a simpler time to now where she has to use her non-existent survival skills to scavenge for supplies.

  She relied too much on the couple to survive. Margarita would have probably long since died because of her lack for survival skills and her innocent easy to exploit personality. She was painfully aware of how naive she socially was. She had been used several times before. Her co-workers would often stick her with the bill whenever they went and she couldn't even decline...

  That wasn't all, they would often use her for favors or pin the blame of an error occuring on her. 'She's a woman sir, you can't expect us to not make a mistake with her on our team.' 'Sir, what can we do. Margarita hit the wrong button.' 'Margarita made a mistake in the assembly.' She was notorious for her skills. So the blaming often didn't work. But there was one superior...

  Even in university she was exploited by her classmates. Extorted for notes and pocket money just because she was smart. And the way they would go about it gave Margarita no other way than to just hand them over.

  She shook her head, dismissing the memories from her mind. She didn't want to remember... But, in conclusion, she was just a push-over.

  Lost in her thoughts, Margarita hadn't realized it when she was already at the front door of the house. "Ah... I'm already here... What was I here for?" She tilted her head to the side, a contemplative look crossed her face. "Oh, right. I needed to get the supplies I left here back..." She stepped inside and noticed the tin can on the floor. "Huh? What is this?" She reached down and picked the tin can up, there was a string attached to it.

  "I'm sure there wasn't something like this here before..." She sighed as she threw the tin can away. "Doesn't matter. I came here to check on the supplies..." She skipped the steps upstairs. Then, she walked over to the room that she left the bandages in. "Huh?" Margarita furrowed her brows.

  "Where are the supplies...?" She glanced around and even looked under the bed. The darkness under the bed was staring back at her, almost mocking her for her predicament.

  There was nothing. Margarita, slightly confused walked out of the room and started looking for the supplies. The kitchen, the bedroom, the bathroom and even the chimney. She didn't spare a single room. "...Where are the supplies...?" She asked noone in particular. She stared blankly into the air as the realization sunk in... "WHERE ARE THE SUPPLIES?!!" She screamed, a feeling of desperation clawing at her throat.

  "Where did they go?! I'm sure I put them right here!!!" She clawed at her face as she sunk to her knees.

  "I can't! I can't lose them now! Dimitri is actually going to kill me!" She stood up and ran out of the house. She threw her gaze around and then she realized it. "I... I don't know where to look..." A look that reflected despair flashed across her face. "I... I need to tell the others..." Margarita's eyes widened before her hand flew to her own cheek, slapping herself.

  "You idiot! You can't do that! What are you going to tell them? That you lost the supplies Dimitri and Erika worked hard on gathering? They'll actually kill you if you do that! Think about how Dimitri would react, how Erika would be disappointed!" She screamed aloud, seemingly scolding herself.

  "But if I don't do that... What else am I supposed to?! How the hell am I supposed to get out of this shit?!" She cursed as she clutched her head and fell to her knees in the snow. "I can't do anything fucking properly! I'm such a pathetic, useless weight!!!" She screamed as she hit her own head with her fists.

  Then her expression changed abruptly, her face contorted, changing to a serious one. "I need to do something..." Margarita stood up, realizing that just cursing at herself wasn't actually going to do anything. She bit her lower lip. "But what do I actually do? I lost the supplies... Wait a minute. I'm sure I put the supplies in that bedroom..." One thing Margarita was confident in besides her engineering skills was... Her memory.

  "I am sure I put them there... How could they disappear without someone moving them?" She pinched her chin and frowned. "... Someone moving them..." She had dropped the bags right next to the bed. And adding to that the weird string thing with the tin can... She was sure of her memory, there was no way she would have misplaced the bags.

  She also noticed something else. Margarita had closed all the cabinets inside the house, so just finding them wide open then was... It was just another reason to suspect the worst. Her eyes widened gradually as she realized. Her lips quivered as her knees trembled, threatening to buckle over and fail her.

  "We were robbed..."