'sup bishes

Naren was not expecting this. It had caught her, and the rest of camp, entirely unprepared. In the past, if Naren was not ready to fight, she could always opt out. That wasn’t to say that Naren wasn’t brave or unwilling to fight, only that it was much less dangerous if she wasn’t doing it all the time.

Naren was out in the open when they had come. The darkness had settled in quickly and early for summer, and the Arena, where she had been hanging out, suddenly seemed very far away from the Armory, where she was instructed to go.

Naren had not bothered rushing off to help the other campers. She had seen few, and the ones that were still alive were inaccessible to Naren. She would have to make it to the Armory first.

Naren had fared well in the fighting though. All her training had paid off. She had battled her way through the hoards of undead to the Armory. Naren had not been injured badly, only a couple scrapes here and there. Nothing she couldn’t fix with ambrosia or nectar.

As she reached the Armory, a half hour or so after dusk (Naren couldn’t tell. The fighting seemed endless), Naren was vaguely aware of a living presence fighting closer to the Armory.
”Hey you!”
The voice was talking to her, Naren realized. She looked up as she pulled a sword from the head of a zombie.
”Can you get in?” Naren shouted. She inched her way closer, slicing and dicing, ignoring the stench and the blood that got everywhere. These were her friends She realized. These monsters were her siblings and family. They were once her breathren
That thought scared Naren. It terrified her.

Naren inched her way closer to the boy, one zombie at a time. She could barely look at them. They disgusted her, but it was not the gore that was scary to Naren. It was the thought that she was being forced to fight people she had once known, even loved.

Naren had lost many siblings to various monsters over the years. In a way, it was good Hermes had so many children. That way, heroes would never die out. As Kronos became stronger and stronger, however, more and more people died. More were slaughtered at the harsh hands of the time lord.

Up until this point, however, Naren couldn't really grasp the concept of death. Sure she knew they weren't coming back, but Naren didn't realize that it meant that they were no longer thinking beings. They no longer had any life left.

Finally, Naren was able to get close enough to the boy that he could lunge out to grab a zombie that she might miss. He seemed to b struggling with the zombies a little more than Naren was. She stabbed the head of a zombie that was a little too close for comfort.
”I know!” Naren beamed. She felt overly confident that her plan would work. ”We'll get in through the roof. The zombies can't climb and there's a hatch up there!”

Naren scanned her mind. The armory was shaped like a brick, it's roof lowering down gradually in the back. It was just barely low enough for Naren to jump up, if she could make it. Naren had tried to break into the armory before and failed. This time, she would have to make it. She would have one chance. Her life and the life of the boy were depending on it. "We can go around the back. The roof slopes down there."

Naren stabbed a zombie in the head. Her arms were getting tired and even though her sword was short and light, it was slowly becoming more of a burden.  She could see that the boy was getting tired too. "Come on! We only have to make it to the back."

Naren could sense that the boy was puzzled, even though she couldn’t see him.
"I’ve lived here my whole life. You start to know these things after a while." She shrugged, pulled her knife out, and stabbed a zombie.

Naren turned her attention to the roof. It was just tall enough for her to jump up. She could pull herself from there. If she could pull the boy up... "I’m going to run and jump. When I get there, I’ll pull you up." Naren bit her lip. What if she wasn’t strong enough to pull the boy up? Naren was light for her age, but she was strong too.

She took a deep breath and sprinted around 10 yards away, hacking any zombies that got too close. They were right by her side now, their breath sounding in Naren’s ears. It smelled worse than the oracle, Naren thought bitterly. Her heart was pounding so loudly Naren could’ve sworn it was in her head and not her chest. Naren clenched her sword tightly in her hand and started to run as fast as she could towards the metal roof. It overhung slightly, only enough for Naren to be able to jump up and grab it. She had to time this perfectly. Naren ran for around 8 yards and then took a huge leap. She reached up with both arms and caught the metal roof. It slammed into her palm, and left her hands bloody, but Naren gave a whimper of pain and pulled herself onto the roof. ”Come on!”

Naren watched in horror as the boy leaped and missed. Her eyes widened. ”Oh my gods.” She muttered to herself. He seemed to be able to get rid of the zombies nearest him without trouble. They had one more shot.

The boy turned around and ran almost as far away from the building as Naren had. Naren took a deep breath and set herself up so she might be able to pull the boy up without falling off the roof. He leaped and just barely caught himself on the edge of the roof. Naren was able to keep him from falling off the roof, but she wasn’t heavy enough to pull him up without sending them both tumbling into the hoards of the undead beneath them. ”I’m. Not. Heavy. Enough.” Naren panted. She could already feel her clammy hands sliding through the boy’s. Naren took a deep breath and got a full sentence out of her mouth. ”You need to pull yourself up.” She said.

Naren gave a sigh of relief as she watched the boy pull himself up. She gave him a boost and finally, they were both on top of the building. She smiled. It was easier to ignore the moaning of the zombies when they were safe.

But a thought struck Naren as the boy introduced himself. What would they do now? Naren wasn’t positive that any sword could cut through the tin roof that had been reinforced. She pondered the thought as the boy called Cameron introduced himself. ”I’m Naren. Hermes.” Naren said, although her mind was elsewhere.

She carefully walked to the edge of the roof and scanned the area, looking for what she knew was there. Naren was sure that there was a skylight, but it was hard to find as it was inset directly onto the vast roof. Normally, Naren would have not taken so much care when she did something that might possibly be dangerous, as Naren didn’t care if she got hurt. But there were zombies swarming the building, and Naren was not one to mess with monsters, especially not hoards of the undead. Finally Naren spotted it.

The skylight was several feet away, towards the front of the Armory.  Naren gave a whoop of delight, and waved Cameron over. ”I found a way in!” Because Naren was so impatient, and excitable, she brought out her small knife and rapped the glass with it. By the sound of it, it was only one sheet thick (there was another sheet added in the winter to make it warmer) and Naren could easily stab through it. Which she promptly did.

Before Cameron could reach the window sill, Naren watched the glass shatter onto the ground below. It landed on some camper’s stuff, and they looked up in surprize only to give Naren a dirty look and sweep it off their blanket. Naren swung herself inside, holding onto the edge of the roof. the edges of the glass that still clung to the hole in the roof cut into Naren’s skin, making drops of blood drip down her arm and onto the blanket below. Good thing that it was dark. Naren let go of the edge, ignoring the searing pain in her wrists as she dragged them along the rough glass. Clutching her wrists and finally safe in the building, Naren waved for Cameron to jump down.