Ari sat by the ledge of the building, looking into the alleyway beneath her. It was clear, no one or rather nothing in sight but it was getting late. She turned to look at the door, the only sensible way onto and off of the roof, but it was barricaded. Lengths of wood, old chains, anything she could find lying around that was of use held the door in place. She brought her knife closer to her at the memory of the first night she had stayed up on a building rooftop. She would rather not have things sneak up on her if she was sleeping.
She peered back over the edge making up her mind. It was getting colder lately, and it had rained not too long ago. All her efforts to stay alive would just mean nothing if she died of sickness. She needed to find something, anything that would provide an extra layer of protection for her, from the weather. Ari pulled her hood over her head, covering the curly mess of dark brown hair and stood up and cautiously threw one leg over the ledge.
Ari had taken to using the fire escape as her main way of coming and going but with the incident of the roof door she had quickly come to the realization that if she could use it so could others. She took five screws out of her pocket, and one by one began to place them into the holes in the metal ladder. It had taken her god knows how long to get them out in the first place, but it was a precaution. If anyone tried to climb it the ladder would fall and so would they. And the dead could not climb, well she had not seen any attempt it so she was assuming. Deeming them tight enough she slid the ladder down and cursed.
The ladder only went down halfway. It was stuck. "Just what I needed." The distance was not that great to mean broken bones if she jumped, but she didn't want to jump. She would at most get a sprained ankle if she landed wrong, Ari went down the ladder anyway. Once she got to the last rung she stopped. Looking down and then back up she sighed, and slowly let her feet hang off. She knew she would not be able to hang on for long so counted to three before she let go.
There was a second of free fall and then she landed hard on her back. Ari grimaced at the slight pain in her back. She turned her head to look at the allyway opening, still clear, she did not get up, her arms spread on both sides of her she remained on the floor. There was silence, nothing but silence since she had been on her own. Everyone else had gone, getting out of the city or becoming infected. She had almost forgotten the sound of her own voice.
She rose off of the ground, dusting herself off, and flinched at the stinging of her back. She could not afgord to waste anymore time so she positioned herself against the wall and crept forward. If anything she would just dart back to the fireescape and pull the ladder up. She looked out of the alley way checking both sides before she ran out and ducked behind a nearby car. She made a habit out of looking into the windows, for things left behind. But she never walked out in the open, too many risks.
