She's unaware of what wakes her up, but both of her heavy eyes spring open. A wince and a cry escape her a moment later as her head pounds and her body throbs.

Hanna looks around after attempting to sit up, finding herself still in the black basement. A shuddering breath leaves her. Worry claws at her, nearly suffocating her. Why hadn't anyone come? How long had she been out?

Her panic was zapped when on her left when she heard a shuffle and a crack. A speck of light appears a few feet on her left and she finally notices a door. She can only see the top of the now open door from her position, so she's unsure who enters but her groggy mind only thinks it can be Austin and her sister, finally coming for her. A smile begins spreading across her face.

"Hey, look what I found here, Ben." A heavy unfamiliar voice laughs above her, light assaulting both eyes. She whimpers, head feeling as if it had split in two. Her stomach sinks. "Looks we found ourselves a rat."

No...

She's being lifted without even realizing it, large cold hands wrap around her forearms and yanked her bruised body up. She cries out, her body unhappy with the harsh act. Then she's face to face with a man : scruffy, murky brown eyes, and a smirk.

"She ain't one of us, way to light." The one holding her shakes her a little. Hanna struggles weakly in his hold, her body too weak, in too much pain to do anything. "Won't give us much meat, this one."

"We can trade her with that group we came upon last night, they're breeding them, there always looking for females."

The other one lowly grunted, his large hands digging into her arms. She winces but freezes in her weak attempts, like he wants. He lightly smirks.

"She won't be worth much, look at her - skin and bones."

The one holding her drops her and she hits hard and screams. He's on her again a second, wrenching her arms behind her back. She winces as he ties her arms behind her back with rope. Her shoulders ache.

"I think we'll be able to get a couple of guns for her. If they don't want her, I'm sure I can find a use for her."

She's wrenched onto her feet by the bald one, and she finally realizes her body was shaking. Her whole body trembled as she's dragged out, her legs nearly giving out on her. She winces and quietly curses as she forced forward, dryly swallowing to keep her screams at bay.

"I'll get our shit, take her on ahead. I told you those fucking stairs were no good."

"Hurry it up," The bald one harshly shoves her in the back, out into the late afternoon light. It had been morning when she and Isa had went into the house, around seven. It was at least four now. Nine hours... she had been in there for nine hours. What happened? Why hadn't her sister returned. A foggy memory of a gun shot enters her mind, dread seeps into her bones, halting her. Baldy shoves her again and she crumbles down, not bothering to hold in her scream.

She's hauled up again. "Shut that bitch up!" Hairy shouted from inside.

"Come on," Baldy grunts, grumbling under his breath about being bossed around. Hanna doesn't want to move, no, she would rather sit and wait on Austin and her sister, but Baldy hardly allows any of that.

They travel on, Hairy catching up quickly. She walks on her bleeding wound for so long she forgets she has it as it numbs. Her mouth is dry and she's hungry, but those aren't abnormal feeling for her, but now she's afraid and alone too. There's no Austin, no Isa, now she's alone.

They travel well into the night, obviously not worried about hidden traps and settle when the night is freezing cold. She's strapped against a tree by rope, as both men settle beside a small fire, eating from bent cans and a bag of meat. Her stomach growls as well as churns at their meal. They ignore her and she ignores both of them.

She waits until at least one of them is asleep before attempting to free herself, wiggling weakly against her restraints. It takes nearly four hours for Hanna to give up, her arms and wrists bleed from rubbing her flesh, her headache had worsened. She's in pain.

"Ya finished?" Baldy asks, still awake and watching her. She ignores her, panting quietly. He bursts with laughter. "You're an uppity bitch ain't ya?"

Her body stiffens as he comes her way, settling over her. "What you mute? I asked you a question!" He harshly grabs her small chin, forcing her attention to be on him. She channels her sister for a scowl, which she hopes is intimidating. He laughs again. "Ya one of them ain't ya? You one of them rats who steal from us, who think stealing a few cans of beans is gonna keep'em alive. Too weak."

"It has kept us alive this long." She couldn't help but blurt. They weren't weak. No way were they weak. He was weak, he turned his back on his humanity so easily.

Baldy sneers. "Right... Have you seen yourself, sweet heart? You look like a strong enough gust can pick you up and send you to China. You ain't alive, but barely." He looks disgusted. "You're weak because you don't have what it takes. You still live in lala land, still holding on to how things use to be. Things ain't like that anymore. Only those that have what it takes will survive..." His finger hooks onto the bottom of her shirt. "Now," his fingers slide underneath her shirt. Her body stiffens, her breath hitches. "I can protect ya. All you got to do is stop having silly thoughts and finally live." His hands begin to trace her stomach.

"Get your fucking hands off me!" Hanna yells beginning to struggle, tears streaking quickly down her face. "You..."

"What?" He asks innocently, green eyes flickering with sick happiness, his fingers slipping into her pants, into her panties. A gasp of horror and a sob. He continues. "You're not very clean down there, but what was I expecting from a rat?"

Humiliation and shame burns beside anger inside of her, but there was nothing she could do. She was powerless as he touched her. She was a weak, skinny, starved and afraid. She could do nothing.

###

They traveled for another week; Hanna being yanked along behind both men. She wonders at times why she can still walk, why did her feet continue to move when there was nothing before here but a dreary future as a breeding mull?

How was she continuing forward?

"Pick up your pace, we're almost there." Hairy said, yanking at the thick rope wrapped around her hands and wrists. She nearly falls but catches herself, wincing.

She finally looks up, noticing a wooden sign sitting on what was road sign, it was a territorial sign. They continued on for a mile and a half, soon greeted by three armed men dressed in camouflage on the narrow road.

"You're back," The tallest of the 'Canni's' says dryly. "Why?"

"We brought you something to trade." Baldy grabs her by the arm, yanking her forward. She tries not to flinch away, tries looking unafraid. "How much she worth?"

The tall one only stares before eventually sighing. "I dunno... you gotta ask Hank how much he willing to take, he usually pays well.

With that the two men were allowed inside the camp with her in tow. She could smell meat cooking about the time the first tent came into view, her stomach churned, realizing what type of meat it was.

"Take her around back, don't want none of the women feeling bad for her." Says a man standing beside the tent. They veer off the narrow road and onto a dirt one, weaving around homes, behind backyards. Hanna could see through the open gaps of fences, she could see children playing, adults socializing outside, cups in their hands. They were having some type of cook-out. Bile raises inside of her.

Soon the homes vanish, leaving only a beaten path. Soon they are in front of some type of warehouse surrounded by high fences humming with electricity. She could see very thin people in filthy clothing inside those fences mulling about on the lawn, seeming to have no purpose, no hope. The cattle.

"What's up, Ugen?" A fat and very tall man appeared out of a smaller door on the edge of the warehouse, dressed in nothing but a white tank and black shorts, he lightly sipped on a glass of lemonade.

"These two brought you something."

"Yeah, how much for her?" Baldy questions right away, rudely. "I've been traveling with this slow bitch for days, I'm ready to shake her."

"Well," Fat man picks at his yellow teeth, "A couple of bullets for her."

Hairy scoffs. "A couple of bullets? Come on man, don't try cheating us. You need her."

Fat man shrugs. "I got a whole bunch of bitches, adding a half-dead one ain't gonna do me a lot of good."

"Man, I ain't no dummy. Every bitch you have is a chance to produce more cattle. You do need her."

Fatty scratches his head. "Fine, I'll give you a gun and a box of bullets."

"How about two guns and half a box of bullets? If not, we can find another buyer." Baldy bargains. Fatty continues scratching himself, staring at Hanna. "Fine, you got a deal. But, it's only fair I let my doctor look at her first. I don't wanna trade for something that won't work."

"Yeah...that's fine," Baldy shrugs. "How long will this take?"

"Well he's out celebrating and shit... It'll be tomorrow."

Baldy groans. "What in the hell am I suppose to do with her until then?"

"You can leave her here," Fatty shrugs.

Baldy grunts in amusement. "How about you pay me half of what you owe and we can do that."

Fatty shrugs. "Why not?"

She's left tied by a chain around her neck. It's a dark place, filled with sad humans restrained against concrete walls, just feet between them. She's between a skeleton of a man and a young girl, barely Isa's age.

It's quieter honestly, then Hanna expected. No one even utters a word, no one fights, no one cries. A sigh leaves her, her heavy eyes going to the horizon above, outside the window - orange with a darkening sky. A few men in camouflage walk up and down the warehouse, turning on battery-powered lights along the walls. Soon it's dark outside the window, and dim light brightens nearly everything inside the warehouse. It's a few minutes after when the quiet is broken by a sudden swell in conversation. Hanna bolts upwards, surprised by it as people begin speaking to one another, still quiet, but they are now speaking. She openly stares. When someone actually laughs she feels as if someone had punched her. What?

"I was friends with who slept there before you." Hanna jumps, quickly turning to stare at the younger woman. She was small, blonde, and in a large yellow stained T-shirt and dirty jeans. Now seeing her fully, Hanna realizes she likely wasn't as young as she actually looked. "You look like her. It's sort of funny." The blonde carefully leans into the wall behind her.

"I... She was... She will be eaten?" She winces at her question. Seriously, Hanna?

The blonde's blue eyes sparkle with life Hanna hadn't expected. "No," The blonde carefully shakes her head. "She's pregnant. They move you to a room when you become 'with' child. I heard you can keep your second kid, while they take your first and fatten it up." Hanna leans back in disgust and shock. How could she tell her so flippantly? "I've had a lot of time to digest it." The blonde carefully shrugs, her restraints rattling. As if she had read her mind. "I'm Beth by the way." There was no offered hand, barely any eye contact.

"Hanna... and I will get out of here." Beth only smiles, as if she actually believes her, which annoys Hanna greatly.