An Impervious Few // KateLena Apocalypse AU

A Thief in the Wood

The autumn air was crisp as the archer stalked her prey, footfall silent and senses piqued. Her ears perked up at the slightest noise, her eyes tracked the slightest twitch in the forest. Hunting was always more exhilarating this time of year; one crunching misstep and you may miss out your last bit of fresh meat before winter rolled in with its blustery winds and bone chilling frost.

"Come on," Kate Bishop whispered to herself, eyes on a rather plump rabbit, bow drawn taut. "Stay still..."

She inhaled several times, trying to calm her racing heart and her grumbling stomach. This was the first game she had spotted for at least a week, a troubling thought when stocking up for the grind of a New York winter.

Well, what used to be New York, anyway. State lines and most other hallmarks of civility disappeared the moment news of a novel brain eating infection spread.

Though Kate was only twelve at the time, she remembered every minute detail of the day everything went to shit. To her naïve delight, she was plucked out of her sixth grade class a few hours early by her mother, Eleanor. Little Kate thought her father had decided to take her to that Yankees game after all, but as her mother held her hand tighter and gripped something that looked like a pistol in her suit jacket, she knew something was deeply wrong.

Eleanor tossed her roughly into the back seat of her SUV, not answering any of Kate's perplexed inquiries as she peeled out of the parking deck.

"Mom, why did you come get me?"

Eleanor kept driving, eyes staring straight ahead, her speed hitting 70, 80, 90.

"Mom, where's dad?"

Eleanor's eyes cut to briefly meet Kate's in the rear view mirror. The intensity in her gaze was enough to make Kate sit meekly back. With that look and with the gun she was almost certain her mother had, she decided not to ask any more questions. Not yet, at least.

Besides, it was not like her mother could provide any satisfactory answers as to why the National Guard was barricading hospitals, schools, nursing homes. Her mother could not explain why that man in the cab beside them seemed to be turning a sickly shade of green.

The streets grew more chaotic, more rabid as the two finally reached their Manhattan apartment. Businessmen ran by on the sidewalk below, speaking frantically into their phones. More police cars and ambulances than Kate had ever seen clogged the streets further, leading many to abandon their cars in the street in favor of sprinting.

Her mother pulled her away from the windows, shutting the blinds and curtains tight.

"Mom, what's happening?" Kate finally asked quietly, hands shaking.

Eleanor did not look up from her phone as she typed at a breakneck pace. She stood at the kitchen counter, unnervingly calm. She kept glancing at the door before answering, "there's a lot happening, Kate."

Young Kate bit her lip, flinching at the sound of more sirens below and helicopters above. An explosion sounded, and she cried, "mom, I'm scared."

"Honey..." Finally, Eleanor stilled. She took her young daughter in her arms briefly, hoping to shield her from the horrors outside for just a moment longer. She was too young for this. "I love you. Everything will work out."

Kate buried her face in her mother's chest, still so confused and feeling so small. "O-Okay..."

"I promise."

In the present, Kate nearly laughed at the memory. It was an empty promise, of course. Her mother couldn't shield her forever. The first week alone she saw the sick rounded up like animals and shot dead in the street, red flowing like rivers. She saw as people looted, raided, stole, killed for supplies. She witnessed the unraveling of society at the seams as politicians abandoned their posts and even the military lost control.