Leah's head snapped up from the cardboard box she'd been rifling through in one of the back offices. Instinctively, she flipped the switch on her flashlight, cutting it off. She wasn't alone.
Most likely it was one of the zombies from outside, creeping in to have a sniff around. That in itself was enough to put her on edge, but her looting expeditions had been interrupted one too many times by the living not to make her paranoid. Fights over supplies were not uncommon. Leah had learned that it was better to put herself at the advantage as often as possible. If it was just a zombie, one of the shufflers, she'd be relieved.
Pressing her back to the wall, Leah nudged the office door open no more than an inch. Enough to give her a view of the right side of the store, all the way up to the display window. It really wasn't much of a view, to be honest, but it allowed her to see a shadow moving around. Something — someone? — was definitely in here with her.
She eased the pack she was using to collect supplies to the floor, giving the machete in her right hand an experimental twitch. In her left hand she gripped the flashlight, rested her finger on the switch. Living or undead, Leah was prepared to fend off an attack. If the intruder was alive and, more importantly, meant her harm, blinding him or her with the flashlight's beam would give her the time she needed to prepare her defense. If, however, it was a zombie? The machete would do its job with little to no problem.
Leah pushed the door open farther, wincing when it let out a soft creak, and slipped through the opening. The darkness at the back of the shop helped her stay hidden. As she ducked and crept past the aisles of half and completely empty shelves, Leah glanced up every so often, tracking the movement of the human-shaped shadow near the front of the pharmacy.