Liz took a moment to assess the situation. There was a second motion detection light located on the opposite corner of the house. The dumpster was in direct line of the detector. Crawling was out of the question and creeping even less an option. It was just too far away. They'd have to go the long way around. Tiny grains of sand and sharp pebbles were added to deter anyone from reaching destinations such theirs. Their bleeding knees and elbows could not hold out that long.

In addition to the driveway circling the house, was the shrubbery they had crawled behind to get this far. The cushy carpet of grass running alongside offered a modicum of comfort. They had a very difficult time imagining themselves going back the way they had come. Not again.

Formulating a plan to change the direction of the detector away from the path to the dumpster renewed hope in both of them. Liz felt confident she remembered the diagram from home. She had not factored in the single issue soon to be recognized.

Separating from her backpack, she slowly edged her way along under the windows until at the opposite end of the house. She was pumped with the possibilities of her plausible plan working, she had never thought about where the light was mounted.

Liz would never be able to reach it, just under the eaves, She winced thinking of getting back over to Linda, them crossing the same brutal driveway to reach the bushes they'd just left. This predicament forced her into another thought.

Rather than return to Linda's side, she gestured Linda to drop her pack and slide in her direction. Once there, to crawl across a narrower less treacherous surface to a similar hedge. Traveling alongside the bushes 'til they were far enough out of range, they came up behind the dumpster to investigate its contents.

Even before arriving, Liz sighed as she spotted three cot-sized mattresses slung across the dumpster lid. They would provide cushioning, sadly, they would not give any height for accessibility to the window. They had to find something higher. Linda jumped when her feet touched something foreign beneath the dumpster.

Courageously crouching reaped its rewards: two milk crates. Perfect. They had found just the right stuff without risking revealing a dead body within the refuse in front of them. But how were they ever going to get the volume of their acquisitions all the way to the house?

Tossing or rolling the crates seemed like a good short-cut. At least they wouldn't have to carry those. But there were the clumsy awkward mattresses to handle.

**************

They would need some way to lug them in their trail as they dragged themselves once more across that dreaded despicable driveway. Regrettably, they would have to dig through the contents of the dumpster, after all. They had to find some sort of rope.

Muffled startled sounds followed the creaking of the metal lid. They jolted backwards. Both had wounds from touching one. Liz wished they had time to compare each other's experiences and scars. Hers was on the knuckle of the left ring finger. This was not the moment to share the bloody Venetian vignette with Linda.

Now was not a good time to be gushing blood. They'd just have to be extremely careful. Metal blinds sliced fingers. Glancing toward the designated window, brows furrowed, Liz thought about how there might be someone in that house who really needed their help and here they were obsessing over the safety of their fingers.

Feeling edgy around the long razor-edged blades, they leaned away for a moment to safely examine what was staring at them. They'd totally forgotten that the blinds had ropes on both sides to raise, lower, open or close them. The next problem was how to get the ropes off the blinds. Anything helpful was in their backpacks lying on the ground by the house.

Liz was trying to bend the blade to breaking. This spurred Linda to think of how once they got a little piece broken off, they could use that sharp edge to cut the rope. When Linda, indicated an especially frazzled part with just a few threads still intact, Liz began meticulously, feverishly sawing at it.

She prevented new gashes to her left hand by wrapping it in her signature accouterment: a headband bandana. Friends complimented her on the unusually extensive collection. The weather growing too warm and her wearing a multi-colored bandana went hand-in-hand.

One done. Linda worked on the other, which was similarly frayed. The stories those blinds could tell. With no desire to take their imaginations on that journey, their heads wagged back and forth, followed by noticeable shudders. They were ready for the next step or better said, crawl.

Crouching the way back, securely behind the all-too-familiar hedge, they slowly crept to their exit point. It dawned on them they were not dragging the mattresses after all. The wearying wariness was for naught. They shrugged jadedly coiling the length of cord, jamming it into their pockets.

They sharpened their cautiousness, to avoid sabotage due to impulsivity, brought on by fatigue and stress, They just wanted this to be all over, so they could get back on that fog-curtained road they'd just stepped off.

Linda had already taken her three deep breaths and was beginning with great effort the long way back. Knowing she couldn't hesitate forever, Liz sucked three new deep breaths and began crawling across the driveway to the corner of the house.

It was not easy to keep their balance while grasping the milk crates they chose to carry rather than toss. Liz found herself tipping a bit to the left trying to keep the crate from dragging on the ground. It would be worse if she tipped over like a helpless turtle on its back. She wasn't sure how she'd ever stealthily regain her equilibrium.

All of this tension was fatiguing her muscles which were beginning to tremor. She did not want any source of noise, to echo toward the front of the house where she was sure the armed hacking smoker had been spelled by fresh eyes and ears.

They slowly slid their exhausted, knicked-up bodies along the sideboards until they were under the first window that had caught their attention and curiosity.