Damsel Undaunted

1

It wasn't very hard to kill the girl. One clean swipe through her head, and she was done. The head toppled off, leaving only rotten bits of skin and a severed neck with a bone that once connected it to the head sticking out of it.

Elisia wrinkled her nose at the smell, though she'd gotten used to it by now. Not much time to spend putting perfume on when you were sick in the head and in the body and are focusing on eating the next human that comes arpound the block, right?

She stepped over the body and wiped her katana , who she'd started calling Katy in honor of her fiesty old friend, now nothing more than a dead body. In fact, Katy had been one of her very first kills. Most of her friends were her first kills, considering she knew everyone in that part of the town.

Now, she was near the countryside, where there were more small towns than the busy streets of the city. It was better here. Less Disceased to kill, but just enough food because of the abandoned supermarkets and stores and refrigerators.

She remembered a talk with her friends once, before the apocalypse happebed and she had to kill some of them. He y were joking with one another, telling themselves that they'd stick together during the apocalypse and ransack stores to find all the stuff they'd always wanted, especially because there'd be no one there to tell them off for stealing. Now, she was too busy surviving to bother trying on clothes or putting on jewelry and make up and shoes. There was nobody around to show off a newly acquired Gucci bag or freshly painted nails.

Eli scanned the shelves of the Walmart store she'd just entered, a large bag that came up to the heightof just below her knees when filled up in hand. Seeing as there were no more Disceased salesclerks or customers, just like the girl she'd just beheaded, she proceeded to stuff the bag with food and water. Then she filled two more bags with as much as she could,  before pulling out a backpack and throwing in batteries, flashlights, clothes, some paracetamol and a few supplements, a handful of weapons and other useful tools.

She picked up two of the large bags and went out to her RV, opening the door to the back and dumping them in as fast as she could before going back to the store and picking up the rest of her stuff. Then, she picked up a large plastic bag so that she could go back and forth and dump stuff that couldn't fit into the bags as much as she could before escaping. When she was finally done, she collapsed into her bed.

The movement caused Sara to stir awake from her place at the top bunk. She yawned and blinked before her eyes landed on Eli.

"We've stopped?" she asked, her cute eight-year old voice still sleepy. "Yes, sweet. Now get down from there so you can go potty amd take a bath."

Sara's eyes brightened at Eli's words. Because of the apocalypse, everyday pleasures like showering and pooping on proper working toilets have become a luxury. Eli tried to make Sara's life as normal as she could, so whenever there was a public bathroom or an empty house they had time to go to, she made sure to give Sara a bath.

She walked as fast as she could to the store, Sara's hand in hers. Once they reached it, she locked the door and led Sara to the restroom. It didn't have a shower, but it did have a bucket and a faucet. She handed Sara some soap, shampoo and conditioner before heading out to find Sara clothes to change into. They alrwady had clothes back at the van, but since there were still some clothes at the store, she made sure to use those instead so that she could get the most out of the store.

She found two sleeping bags and set them down on the floor. After doing that, she continued arranging her temporary living space while Sara bathed. Might as well stay here the whole day. That way, she and Sara could eat as much food as she could without having to ration each serving. Who knows, they might even stay  a day or two depending on the situation.

When Sara finished her bath, Eli took her place and washed three days worth of blood and grime off of herself. It wasn't that bad, actually. She had experienced having to go as far as a month, maybe more, without taking a bath. She was in a city back then, thinking there'd be more resources. Unfortunately there were also more Disceased, so she barely had any time to stop and restock.

That night, as she and Sara lay on the floor, Eli closed her eyes, remembering what her life was like before all this happened. And not for the first time, she fell asleep with tears in her eyes.

《☆》

A/N: Thanks for checking out this story! Just wanted to say that I'll be writing this story in first-person point of view starting next chapter. I used third-person here because I wanted to introduce the characters and their names from a different perspective. The next chapter will delve deeper into Eli's thoughts, which is why using  first-person is essential.

Anyway, please vote and comment! Thanks for the support!