Survival

The world had fallen into chaos... Friends and family turning on each other merely for the sake of survival and the world governments had collapsed after anarchy had consumed the populous. Nowhere was safe now and the battle between the militaries and civilians had left what used to be bustling cities and towns into barren wastelands of crumbling remains of normalcy.Murder and scavenging for survival were the norms now and the ones with more firepower were always the ones who seemed to get by the best. Nimah however, was a predator to the predators, a hunter of the hunters. This however, by no means meant that she was out to help others, oh no no, she was out for herself and the personal satisfaction of having what others needed and being able to take what she wanted. How did she do this? Cunning, patience and an overall ability to just be one step ahead at all times. Proper planning and preparation prevents piss poor performance was what she was taught as a girl and she took that to the extreme. For example, before all of this happened she had prepared a bug out bag and her arsenal. What did this bag and arsenal consist of? Her bug out bag contained the basics, ammo, basic medical supplies, her leatherman tool, compass, magnesium fire starter, and a metal canteen along with cans of chef boyardee... The chef boyardee is essential. Her arsenal? An SKS, Glock 23 and her tried and tested KA-BAR knife. Of course, she had some nice little attachments for these weapons, but they only came out when the time was truly nessecary, like the instance she was in now... Night had fallen, her eyes peering through the Vortex Razor HD AMG scope and her rifle resting on a chair that was about two feet back from the window. She was taught to never use the window sill itself as a rest, people could see the barrel sticking out and you would silhouette yourself in the window if you did that. The apartment building was medium sized... Twelve apartments, six floors, basement, made of brick, access to the roof and fire escapes, pretty standard really. She was up on the roof naturally, and the street stretched out about a good half mile before it reached a bend in the road. The road was lined with houses on both sides and she knew people, especially bandits, would be checking these places out. Bandits always had the best supplies on them, which is why she hunted them... She was in need of the better supplies, why would she go looking for them if she could just take them from people who gathered them for her? As her sights continued to scan a loan man had exited a house and was standing out front. A military style back pack upon his back with an AK-47 in his hands. Her first thought was ammo, AK-47s used the same magazines and ammo as the SKS so that would be a plus, but something wasn't right, he was just standing there. She waited, wanting to see if more people would come out and not a soul left that house. So with that, she took aim and slowed her breathing with controlled deep breaths. She could feel the blood flowing through her hand, into her finger tips, keeping track of her heart beat to make sure she would not squeeze the trigger accidentally through her heart beat. When she felt all was right she fired, the round exiting her barrel and striking the man right behind his temple but in front of his ear. His body went limp instantly, collapsing straight down like a rag doll while part of his skull on the opposite side had blown out. The flow of crimson from his nostrils had indicated to her that she had hit her mark, the view as clear as could be to her as well through that high powered scope... Only problem was, that was a short lived victory as five other men had left that house and soon were moving in her direction... " Shit... " Was all she said as they quickly made their way to the apartment building. She had since made her way down the ladder and into the building and quietly sneaked into one of the apartments on the far end of a hall way. She could see through the peep hole in the door and while they were searching, she was preparing her SKS and Glock. The Vortex sight was removed and a silencer placed on the end while the Glock was quickly inspected to see if all was in working order. Her heart was throbbing in her chest, her black MilPack was tightly strapped to her back and she gulped. She could feel the thud of her heart against her as it continued to rapidly beat. Sweat slowly rolled down her forehead and gathered in her brows, curving down her cheeks and off her chin onto the floor beneath her. Her steel toed combat boots hid the fact that she was shaking a little, the adrenaline surging through her made each sense heightened and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Eventually two had entered her vision and she gulped softly... She waited until they were completely adjacent to her on the opposite end of the hallway and she soon aimed, firing through the door and dropping them after about 10 rounds. Blood had splattered the wall and the door on the other side of them and she quickly opened the door, leaning over the railing and aiming as she slowly made her way down the stairs... The building was alive and her skin was crawling, for all she knew even the walls were breathing and against her. Her feline eyes had since slit, the hunt was on and now the group she was hunting went down to three men... She waited patiently on that staircase, soon hearing one of them yell up at the guys. When he received no response he made his way up, talking to see if they were there and she soon removed her knife from the sheath at her chest, save ammo, no point in shooting when you can just stab someone right? As the man passed her she crept behind him and buried her knife clean into the base of his skull, stabbing forward viciously and twisting to completely severe the connection between the brain and the spine. She had nothing to worry about with him now... The thing though, with stabbing someone... The blood rushes over your hands, you can feel the warmth of it on your flesh and you can literally almost feel the air leaving them as you do so... It is much more intimate than shooting someone, with a blade you it is like you can feel their soul leaving their body. The way they go limp in your hands, the way they slump back and go dead weight. It was a tragic but essential part of life now, it was killed or be killed and she would be damned if she was going to start playing the victim, especially now. " Two left... They are going to know for sure that I am aware of what is going on and they are going to be more diligent with their search since three more are dead... Fuck. " It was starting to get a tad claustrophobic, it felt like the walls were closing in on her as the adrenaline was still racing through her. She had remembered that there was still a fire escape she could use to leave, but the amount of supplies that were currently in the building was a tad too much for her to pass up. Her eyes closed, those giant Serval ears flicking as she listened and focused intently on each and every sound coming from the building. It is amazing what adrenaline can do to the body and it's senses... She could hear the pipes moving in the walls, the sound of water dripping in a sink two floors above her and the sound of... Clothing? Yes, it had to be, it sounded like fabric rubbing together which meant someone had to be walking or searching through something... She slowly made her way down the stairs and saw a door open. Her rifle was quickly slung over her shoulder and her pistol was drawn, approaching the door and slowly opening it, covering her angles. She saw one man aiming at the door and fired, striking him in the throat, however, the other man was behind the door and slammed it on her hand, causing her to drop her gun and she screamed in pain! She reeled back and kicked the door as hard as she could, knocking him to the floor. She went for her gun but he kicked it away before grabbing her by the legs and lifting her, slamming her to the floor. His buddy had quickly lost consciousness as he stumbled about holding his throat and had bled out in the living room. He was now rolling with her on the ground, trying to pin her to the cold hardwood floor of the apartment. He pinned her down and struck her in the face several times, even landing a solid elbow that cut her over her eye. Her blood ran down the side of her face and from her nose, she was shaken up surely, her vision slightly askew but she was still aware. When he swung again though she moved her head just in time, grabbing it with both hands she soon swung her legs up and one landed behind his neck and the other soon locked around her ankle, a triangle choke! Perfect! Those thick powerful legs started to squeeze, her core, her arms, which were now gripping the back of his head and her legs were straining. Her back arched to deepen the choke as he fought against her, moving to a hunched over position on his feet as she fought being lifted up! " J-just fucking go to sleep! Go the fuck to sleep! " She screamed out as she held on for dear life, her eyes closing tightly and she could feel the throbbing pain of being stricken so hard behind her eyes as they pulsed with such harshness that they felt like they were going to pop out of her head. She was starting to get lifted from the floor, bouncing herself back as hard as she could so she was tapping the floor with her shoulders! She screamed out loudly and soon he collapsed! She held onto that choke for roughly three minutes after he had passed out and soon let go, crawling back and laying on the floor, gasping for air and bleeding from the cut above her eye... " Thank you god... " She said silently, happy to just be alive let alone now having six bodies in total to check for well needed and, now, well earned supplies...