The crunch came from near the entrance. Tyler raised his rifle, looking outside. Sunlight, still, so he was safe. He was always looking instinctively now. The slightest cloud cover gave him panic, but he preferred being on his toes, like now. Whatever was there- whoever was there- he would be ready.<br/><br/>He swallowed hard as he made his way to the front, but he didn’t see anyone. He kept his rifle up though, this time tighter to his shoulder than before. He was careful. Somebody could be hiding. The person could be dangerous too.<span style="font-style: italic">The eyes,</span>he reminded himself.<span style="font-style: italic">Always look at the eyes.</span>If they were all black, like the smoke, then he had to run, or shoot.<br/><br/>Step by step, he inched forward. He contemplated running now, since it was always a safe bet. However there was no guarantee whoever was here, wouldn’t come after him. Besides, a part of him wanted to find someone else. It had been so long since he saw another person, at least one who wasn’t turned and trying to kill him. Even amongst those who weren’t turned, some still tried to kill him. Desperation does that to a person. Honestly, it surprised Tyler how long he had survived, considering all the people he had faced.<br/><br/>She yelled out, and he stopped dead in his tracks. She claimed to not be one of them, and claimed to be armed. He breathed out, carefully. He had faced one of ‘them’ once, and the person claimed to not be like the others. He had let down his guard, and she came at him with a knife. The smoke changes a person, makes them aggressive, crazy even- just flat out dangerous.<br/><br/>He had to be careful with this one. She sounded scared, and scared could be just as dangerous as a turned or desperate person. “I’m not going to shoot if you don’t,” he told the mystery woman. He had to be sure she wasn’t turned though. “Come out! Let me see your eyes! Let me see you haven’t turned!”<br/><br/>His finger lingered on the trigger-