Raven stepped away from four dead Raiders in front of her and moved towards the makeshift cage. Her boots walked lightly on the concrete floor as she approached, her remaining drone hovered at the entrance of the store, keeping watch. This cage, fashioned from butchered metal grocery carts and anchored with lengths of steel rebar, was a crude but effective prison. Inside, eight women sat silent, their eyes sunken, lips cracked, skin clinging too tightly to their bodies. Raven raised her rifle, aimed at the rusted padlock, and fired. Bang. The lock expoded open with a sharp screech and fell onto the floor. The chain holding the entrance closed fell to the ground with the lock.
Raven slung her rifle to her side, secured by its shoulder strap, and reached up to take off her helmet. As it came off, her long midnight-blue hair spilled down over the black shoulders of her shadow assault armor. Her skin looked flawless a sharp contrast to the carnage around her. Raven's emerald green eyes met the looks of the women still frozen in disbelief. Raven tilted her head slightly and watched their expressions shift from fear to stunned awe. One of them mouthed something silently, and Raven caught it with a glance: "Is it too late to get your number?"
A small smile touched Raven's lips. "Sorry, ladies. I'm already taken. Even if it wasn't exactly my decision," she said quietly. "I'm a one-woman kind of gal."
She gestured behind her. "Now come on out of there. There's food and water over there never mind the bodies. Get something to eat you before you collapse."
They hesitated for only a moment before crawling out, still weak but alert. They stepped over the corpses of the four men Raven took down earlier, barely registering them. This world no longer allowed time to mourn or wait. Instead, they moved toward the folding table stocked with unopened packs of bottled water and sealed protein bars. They tore into the plastic with trembling fingers, eyes wide as they tasted real chocolate for the first time in days. Chocolate covered protein bars.
Raven followed behind them and rested one hand casually on the table. "Don't eat too much at once," she said. "After starving this long, if you eat too much, and you'll puke everything back up. Pace yourselves. There's plenty here. These assholes have enough to last days."
Her voice was calm but firm, and the women obeyed instinctively, slowing down as they ate. The initial rush of desperation faded as their hunger was replaced by the felling of a full stomach.
Outside, Raven's drone picked up motion. Its lens moved and zoomed in until it focused on a large woman approaching the store with two others at her side, both holding small handguns. The trio moved cautiously. Raven recognised the cheese powder stains on the large woman leading them.
With a thought, she activated the drone's external speaker. "Momma Jean," her voice echoed from the flying drone. "It's me—the woman from earlier. I've got survivors for you inside. Come on in. Don't worry. The Red Blood Raiders are all dead."
The woman looked up at the drone, blinking. Then she nodded and spoke to her companions. They entered the store a moment later, stepping over bodies without a word.
Momma Jean's gaze swept the interior until they landed on the table, on the group of women now slowly recovering. Her eyes narrowed, then widened in surprise as she spotted familiar red hair among them. "Amber?" she called, voice suddenly hoarse. "Is that you? It's me, Momma Jean! I'm so glad you're still alive!"
Amber looked up, tears already filling her eyes. "Momma Jean?" Her voice cracked. "I didn't think I'd see you again. I missed you so much."
She stood too fast, nearly stumbling, and Momma Jean caught her in a powerful hug. The two women held each other tightly, tears slipping down their cheeks, neither letting go.
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