"You make sure to come back before late afternoon!" Her mother yelled as she began suiting up for the hunting trip.

Abigail felt the edge of the knife, nodding at the way she could feel her fingerprint on her thumb. It was one of her most treasured belongings.

A grimace showed on her lips for a second. "It's not like she needed the knife anymore," Abigail growled at herself, remembering the body of the woman laying on the side of the road with an arm ripped off.

"I'm not going to become like that," She swore to herself, shoving her the bladed weapon into a hidden sheath in her left arm's jacket sleeve. Lifting up her left arm and rotating her hand, Abigail was satisfied with the weapon not impeding her movements.

Lacing up her boots, she finished up her outfit with a sword that was made from sheet metal found in a nearby home improvement store. Rodger's dad had helped formed the blade and attach it to a hilt. It didn't look like a sword in fantasy books but instead looked like a slab of metal where the end had a slant. There was only a single edge with the other side helping to provide sufficient weight to cut through objects.

Grunting slightly from the weight, Abigail grabbed the slot on the back of the blade to fit the weapon into the slot. A faint click was heard as it attached to the mechanical sheath. The blade tilted so that it was perpendicular to the ground before she swung it so the flat bumped against her back. Using a clip to secure the blade, she sighed as it was now distributed against the harness on the jacket.

"I just need to develop more muscles," Abigail sighed, thinking how the blade still felt a little unwieldy when she wielded it during practice due to the weight.

Flinging open the entrance flap, she saw that her friends were already waiting on her. Each of them with their weapon slung on them in various position based on their fighting style.

Sheila waved her hand at Abigail, looking excited about getting to go out of the community limits.

Abigail waved back and then turned to her mother, who was helping to get things ready for the next day. "Don't worry, mom. I'll make sure to make it back with plenty of time to spare."

"Who's worried about you?" Her mother sniffed, looking away.

Seeing her mother act in such a manner made Abigail sigh. Walking towards her mother, she gave a hug and ignored the grumbling.

From the faint quivering of her mother's body, she was well aware that her mother worried about her. Abigail was the only family her mother had left

As she pulled away, her mother whispered so only she could hear. "Please come back safely."

Laying a hand on her mother's shaking shoulder, Abigail said, "I love you, mom. I'll be back soon and you'll see all the game I bring back."

Not looking at Abigail, her mother merely nodded.

No words needed to be said, as Abigail headed over to where her friends were waiting. They looked excited for another hunt, which would get them away from their parents and let them be kids. Rodger elbowed one of his friends, joking about how many deers he was going to take down.

His sister next to him rolled her eyes. Helen smiled at seeing Abigail joining up with them. "My brother is insufferable," she said.

"I'm sure he's just trying to show off in front of our Abi," Sheila teased.

Judging by the surprised jerk made by Rodger, he had overheard what Sheila had said. His face turning scarlet.

Both Helen and Sheila laughed when they saw Rodger's beet red face.

"Okay, you guys. Enough picking on Rodger. Let's head out, considering how little time we have." Abigail reigned her friends in.

There were some last minute giggles before their group made their way out of the camp. With no official entrance, they just walked past the tents and made their way towards the main road.

Moving away from the camp was a strange feeling for Abigail. Glancing back at the safety of the community, she was once again reminded of how dangerous their mission was to gather more food.

They saw several men and women guarding the outer area, making sure that bandits or creatures stumbled upon them. Each one of them carried a spear and modified shield, with makeshift armor to protect their chest and head.

She waved at two women that were close by, as they passed.

They gave a nod of their head before going back to their duties, not wanting to be distracted. None of the guards ever slacked at their duties, especially with the knowledge that their oversight would lead to the death of family members.

"Please don't let any of those monsters show up," Abigail prayed to whatever deity was listening, knowing that even one of those creatures would likely annihilate their small group of survivors.

Finally making it past any signs of their home, their group relaxed and went back to their usual ways.

"You know, I think I might join up with the guards," Timothy said out loud.

There was a snickering before Liam walking next to Timothy said, "I'll take a hard pass. The training they do every day is not something I want to be doing. I'd rather stick to hunting and bring in all the meat."

"Like you know what it takes to bring in game," Michelle teased. "You've yet to bring in any animals back."

Huffing at Michelle's words, Liam retorted, "This time is going to be different. I borrowed some of my dad's tools and made myself a bow, and it just finished in time for this outing." He lifted up his recurve bow.

Abigail's eyebrows lifted in appreciation for Liam's choice. She knew that his father was a nerdy type that learned historically faithful techniques and how they were used. They would often listen to Liam's father tell them stories around the campfire about people called The Huns, causing trouble for some empire with a weapon called a Hunnic bow.

Liam was the only one in their group of friends who was skilled enough to use a bow. Whenever they went out to hunt, he would grumble about how he could do better with a bow, instead of using the typical spear.

"Glad to know that you were able to finish making that," Abigail congratulated her friend.

The unstrung bow was hooked to his waist, looking a little silly. It was a bow that was designed to be used while on horseback, not walking around in a monster-infested land. She still remembers hearing Liam's dad criticize how they would need to travel with the bow, talking about it not being historically accurate.

Abigail was still glad that Liam had the bow, considering it would drastically improve their chances at bringing back food.

All they were usually able to hunt were smaller animals, using either spears or makeshift throwing daggers. Each of them had a dozen daggers hanging at their waists in a pouch, ready to be pulled out at a moments notice.

Seeing a tree in front of her, she pulled out a dagger and felt her hand naturally find the balance point. Holding the dagger in her hand, she brought next to her head and threw it at her target. Feeling the fingers brush by the metal, the weapon didn't spin and flew straight and true.

There was a satisfying thump of the blade embedding itself in the wood. Before she reached the tree, she threw three more blades and enjoyed the thumping noises.

"Show off," Sheila said as Abigail reached the tree and pulled out her four blades.

Abigail grinned at her Sheila's words. "If I'm going to win, again, I need to keep practicing."

"It was only because you got lucky with the last one," Sheila huffed.

Helen fired off several daggers into a nearby tree, faster than Abigail. Looking back at the two girls, Helen said, "This time it's going to be me that brings back the most game."

The three girls spent the time competing against one another, showing off their dagger throwing abilities.

Watching the three, the group sighed at the behavior.

------

As the trees began to thin out, Abigail raised a hand and indicated for Sheila and Helen to stop goofing off.

Everyone in the group became silent, understanding what was about to happen.

Liam quietly grabbed his bow and pulled out a string from his pocket. Only a few moments were needed before the bow was strung and ready. Taking a couple of arrows from his quiver, he had several held in his hand that gripped the bow.

"Liam, be ready to fire off arrows," Abigail told him.

Silently nodding his head, Liam was ready to take the arrows and fire them repeatedly, like he had been trained by his father.

Everyone else had their spears or swords ready, as the last of the trees were passed by. In front of them was a black road with faded yellow and white lines.

Now that they reached the road, it meant that they truly were alone and without any support. Her eyes looking up and down the road for signs of bandits or anything else.

"We've officially started the hunting trip," Abigail said, reminding them of the need to be aware of the unpredictable.