Finally, they had all returned. The walls around her and finally warped back to the way they were supposed to be and her mind began to defog. She took a deep breath and exhaled. When had she started having these spells? It must have been within her first encounter with the monsters. She dabbed her cigarette, dispelling the smoke that had been lingering in the air. Hopefully they had come back with some resources or at least something new about the monsters or the company that created them.<br/>With haste, she hurried down the hallway and into the living area where everyone was. Unfortunately it wasnâ€™t everyone. It was but a small handful of those of them who had gone out scouting. She blinked a few times and then her eyebrows furrowed up. â€œHm. So they didnâ€™t come back?â€ Adira asked rhetorically. She knew the answer, but for some reason she felt that she had to clarify what she had just heard. She could see the exhaustion on Claireâ€™s face as she leaned back onto the sofa.<br/><br/>It had been the same routine every day and every night. They would go out during the day to find supplies, food, and any sort of clues. Then at night they would hide out and fend off any of the stray monsters that seemed to find them. They continued to expand their map that they had on the table, marking territories and safe zones as they went about their lives. Why hadnâ€™t they left this place? Well, it was simple. The goal was to simply eradicate that company before it spread to any more cities. Simply ignoring something like this wouldnâ€™t make it any better.<br/><br/>The problem with it all was that Adira had felt like she hadnâ€™t done a thing. Sure, she watched the house and made sure that where they were wouldnâ€™t be breached. Sure, she helped with the maps and took down information, but she never got her hands dirty so to speak. She was always waiting for them to come back and describe what they saw. Even while she was waiting for them to return, she still felt this emptiness, this fear of being alone. She wasnâ€™t the greatest person she felt in the group. As a matter of fact, all this time she had mostly felt like sheâ€™d been holding everyone back. Adira had not known how useful she was to the rest of the group, but she was willing to put forth her best effort.<br/><br/>She sat next to Claire and stared down at the floor for a few moments before glancing back at her. â€œAre you sure thatâ€™s the best idea? What if something happened?â€ For a moment there, she had begun to become worried. And her mind had filled with the worst case scenario. Perhaps theyâ€™d been caught and turned into those things. Or what if they were hoping that theyâ€™d come to help them? She couldnâ€™t possibly imagine what couldâ€™ve happened to them and what was happening to them.<br/><br/>â€œI think we should listen to Claire.â€ One woman spoke up as she put away her ammunition and her pistol. â€œClaire has always led us in the right direction. Knowing them, they probably found something or got caught up in what they were doing. If they donâ€™t show tonight, just as she said, weâ€™ll go out and look for them.â€ The woman stretched and rubbed the back of her neck. It seemed that Tina agreed with what had been planned. But then again it always felt that she agreed with whatever Claire had to say.<br/><br/>Tina was a well-to-do black woman. She was about 5â€™6 with a lean build for an upper body. Her hair was in dreads and pushed back from her face with a hairband. Often times she wore gloves, not to avoid getting her hands dirty, but to avoid injury in case a problem arose. Before all this, she said she had been a mechanic. Tina had been able to fix many things when it came down to it in the group. She was the go-to woman whenever they wanted to salvage parts and use them to build other things.  Tina grabbed a bottle of water and began to drink. She was covered in dirt and had what appeared to be oil stains on her shirt. â€œIâ€™m thinking of going to see about building a generator anyway. Who knows how long weâ€™ll have electricity in this city. And besides, Iâ€™m sure you guys wouldnâ€™t mind having a little back up plan anyway.â€ She gave a brief smile before heading upstairs.<br/><br/>Adira sighed. With Tina agreeing, the rest of the crew couldnâ€™t help but agree as well. She couldnâ€™t blame them. Claire for some odd reason had a sense of direction. She had that air of leadership about her. Sometimes, Adira felt a little resentful of what was going on. Why wasnâ€™t she capable of leading everyone in the right direction? Sometimes she felt like her ideas were even better than Claireâ€™s. But then again, she struggled with herself. She idolized Claire. Sometimes, she felt like she wanted to be Claire. Over the course of the few months that it had been, she had pulled the group together when they had been in turmoil. There were many others, but before Claire stepped up they had either been killed or turned. If it had not been for her, they wouldnâ€™t be where they were at this very moment.<br/><br/>Adira shook her head again. There she went again with those thoughts. She was constantly struggling with her inner self. With all her family and friends lost, what else was there to think about? How else was she supposed to occupy her mind? She stood up from her place and went over to the map. She gave it another good look. â€œYou guys, I wanted to tell you all something. I didnâ€™t expect for only a few of you to come back because I would have rather told everyone in one place. But I believe that you guys can pass it on to the others in the morning or tonight when they come back. As for Tina, will one of you go back and get her?â€ She eyed one of the men who nodded and quickly went upstairs.<br/><br/>â€œWhatâ€™s this all about?â€ Another woman of the group piped, worry written on her face. It wasnâ€™t normally a good thing when Adira felt that she had to speak up. All she was good at giving was bad news. You would think that they all wouldâ€™ve become accustomed to it by now. Tina and the man that went to get her finally arrived and Adira tried to find the right words to say.<br/><br/>â€œAs you all know, weâ€™ve gotten really comfortable with this area. With the information that you all have brought me back since going out and surveying the area, we canâ€™t stay here long. Havenâ€™t you all noticed that you havenâ€™t had to go out as far as had in the beginning?â€ She looked around the group. Many nodded, agreeing with what she was saying. She lifted the map and tacked it on the wall behind her so that all could see. There were little black xâ€™s around the area that was supposed to be considered their hideout. â€œAs you can see, this is where we come back to after every survey. This x across the map here is when we first went out and this x is from today.â€ She pointed. The distance between the two was clear. â€œWhat this means is that these xâ€™s stand for when you all saw one of those monsters. I donâ€™t know if theyâ€™re following us or they can smell us or whateverâ€¦but itâ€™s not looking good.â€<br/><br/>Adira held her breath for what was to come. It was a scary thing to think that those things could even think. From the information that she had they just moved unknowingly until they found something to prey on. For a while she had been monitoring the maps, because it was her job. She didnâ€™t know why it took her so long to finally tell everyone. She had hoped it wasnâ€™t too late for them. But she just had to make sure. She really hated creating a mountain out of an ant hill.