by Eric Vall
“Ew,” Tara said.
“It’s not great,” I laughed between sucks. “If you want to know what Schnapps tastes like, here’s your chance.”
“I’m okay on that,” the platinum blonde said, and I sucked once more on the hose before gas started to come out.
“We might be able to get a decent bit here,” I said as I filled up the first gas can. “Run inside and see if there are any other gas cans.”
“On it,” Tara said, and she spun toward the entrance of the gas station and ran toward it.
“Clear it!” I called out as she reached the front door.
Tara didn’t respond, but she lifted her pistol to show me that she already had it out, and I smiled and watched her head inside. She returned a moment later with two more gas cans.
“Great,” I smiled. “Was that all that was in there?”
“No,” she said and then set the cans down in front of me. “There’s a couple more, but they’re smaller.”
“Grab them too,” I nodded. “We’ll take all that we can.”
Tara headed back into the station and returned again with another two gas cans that she set in front of me, I was halfway through filling the third can, and I thought that this alone was worth the trip.
“It’s great that we found gas,” Tara commented. “But aside from the lumber we haven’t really found any other supplies.”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “We’ll give the town one last walk through before we head out, but I don’t think there’s a lot left here.”
“Where’s the next run?” Tara asked, and she sat down on the concrete across from me.
“I think we need to head back north,” I said. “I don’t like it, but we need to get ready for winter as quickly as possible.”
“Okay,” Tara nodded. “Who are you taking?”
“You’ll be coming,” I chuckled, and the platinum blonde grinned at me.
“Good,” she said. “I would be super bummed if I used my run on this town.”
“Well, it won’t just be you,” I told her. “Anna and Paige will come too.”
“Fourway,” Tara grinned. “I think I can get behind it.”
“I think that’s my job,” I joked, and we both laughed.
We finished filling the gas cans and walked them back to the truck before we made one last stroll around town. The place was picked pretty clean, but we did manage to find a couple winter jackets in the houses that fit the sizes we needed, but we would need a lot more to get everyone prepared for winter.
“We need an outlet store,” Tara commented as we walked back to the truck with the jackets.
“An outlet store?” I asked. “Like at the mall?”
“Yeah,” she smiled. “I bet the mall is, like, totally untouched.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” I told her, and I tried to remember seeing a mall on our last trip to Burlington, but I didn’t recall one. “Does Burlington have a mall?”
“Totally,” Tara grinned. “I used to go there since there’s like nowhere to shop around the college.”
“You’ll have to lead the way then,” I told her as we reached the truck and put the jackets in the back.
“Oh, with pleasure,” Tara smiled, and she hopped in the passenger’s seat.
“Maybe I’ll let you pick me out an outfit,” I joked as I hopped in the driver’s side and fired up the truck.
“You joke, but I totally would,” the blonde grinned at me. “You would look so hot in a V-neck shirt and some skinny jeans.”
“Skinny jeans?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Oh yeah,” Tara smiled.
“I don’t do skinny jeans,” I laughed.
“Not even for me?” she pouted.
“They’d be too difficult to get off,” I chuckled. “I’d just end up ripping them.”
“That could be hot to watch,” the blonde said, and she eyed me up and down.
“Do you think the mall will have winter stuff out?” I asked her to stop myself from pulling over and taking her right then.
“Well, the EMP hit in winter,” she shrugged. “So, I’m betting there would be lots of winter apparel.”
“We could probably find some comfort items on the list as well,” I nodded.
“What did everyone put?” she asked.
“I don’t remember them all,” I said, and I reached into my pocket and handed her the list. “But you can look it over. Maybe you’ll know the best places to get some of the stuff.”
“Let’s see here,” Tara smiled as she unfolded the paper. “Paige wants trivial pursuit.”
“That’s a good one,” I smiled.
“You would think that,” she laughed. “Oh, and she wants some contacts. She even wrote her prescription down.”
“I bet it would help her shooting,” I said, but Tara was engrossed in the contents of the paper and barely noticed.
“Let’s see what Anna wants,” she said, and she scanned the page. “Anna wants some gritty comic books and a journal.”
“I think that’s doable,” I smiled. “What about Bailey?”
“She wants a game too,” Tara said with a puzzled look. “It’s called Cards Against Humanity.”
“I’ve never played,” I said.
“Me neither,” Tara mused. “You’ll never guess what the other thing was.”
“What?” I grinned.
“A collar for Winchester,” Tara said, and she gave me a sappy look. “She is so sweet!”
“She really is,” I chuckled, and I thought it was cute that Bailey had given one of her items to Winchester.
“We should make that Winchester’s comfort item,” Tara said. “Bailey shouldn’t have to give up one of her items.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” I smiled at the blonde. “And if we can find one, we’ll get Winchester a dog bed too. He should get two comfort items just like everyone else, right?”
“Totally,” Tara grinned at me. “We’ll tell Bailey when we get home.”
“You never told me your comfort items,” I pointed out.
“I didn’t,” she nodded. “But I see that yours aren’t even listed here, so how about we trade?”
“I guess that seems fair,” I grinned. “You go first.”
“Mascara and face moisturizer,” Tara told me with a straight face.
“Those are your comfort items?” I laughed.
“Winter is very drying for your skin,” Tara informed me.
“Whatever you say,” I laughed a bit harder.
“Skincare is not a joke, Tav,” Tara said, and she gave me eye daggers, but she was smiling too.
“I think those are doable,” I smiled.
“What are yours?” she asked me with a raised brow.
“To be honest, I hadn’t given it much thought,” I shrugged.
“Well, you can’t just leave yourself out,” the blonde scoffed. “If anyone deserves something, it’s you.”
“We all work hard,” I smiled. “But I guess I’d go with a new pillow.”
“I like it,” Tara nodded. “But you get two.”
“Christmas cookies,” I smiled.
“Wait, like the ones that come in the little blue tins?” Tara asked with wide eyes.
“Yeah,” I nodded.
“Those are terrible,” she laughed. “The only reason to buy them is for the tin.”
“They’re not that bad,” I chuckled. “I had them every year growing up.”
“Your mom didn’t bake you cookies?” Tara frowned.
“She did,” I grinned. “They just weren’t very good.”
“Christmas cookies it is,” Tara smiled.
We sat in silence for the remainder of the car ride. It was about midday when we arrived back home, and the girls greeted us once they recognized our vehicle.
“Hey!” Paige called out as she made her way to the truck with the rest of our team.
“How did it go?” Anna asked.
“Alright,” I told her as
I hopped out of the truck.
“We found some gas and the wood Rolly needed, but not much else,” Tara frowned.
“Well, we still have more runs to go on,” Bailey smiled.
“Yes,” I nodded. “We’ll be going on another tomorrow.”
“You and Tara again?” Paige asked.
“Yes, plus you and Anna,” I told her.
“Sounds good,” Anna said. “Where should we put this stuff?”
“By the shed is good for now,” I told the redhead. “We’re going to leave first thing in the morning tomorrow.”
“Let’s get this offloaded then,” Anna clapped, and everyone moved to help.
My team made quick work of the supplies Tara and I had retrieved that day, then Rolly took over guard, and Bailey went back to work, but I kept Tara, Anna, and Paige with me.
“Paige, are there any roads that lead to Burlington that aren’t main roads?” I asked the brunette.
“Yeah,” she nodded. “I think so, but let’s go check.”
“We’re going to Burlington?” Anna asked as we walked to the library.
“Yeah,” I nodded. “The town Tara and I went to was picked pretty clean. And Burlington is pretty large, I think we can stock up pretty well there.”
“Okay,” Anna nodded. “It will be more dangerous though.”
“The higher the risk, the higher the reward,” I grinned, but I didn’t like it either. Leading my team into enemy territory was something that I tried to avoid, but if we could get stocked up sooner, then we would have more time to prepare our defenses for winter.
We sat down at a library table, and Paige laid out a map in front of us.
“Okay,” the brunette said as she studied the roads. “If we take 100 up and get on the smaller roads, I don’t think we’ll run into any problems.”
“There are some other towns around there too,” Anna said. “We could check them out on the way.”
“What’s this Morrisville town?” I asked, and I pointed to the map.
“It’s decent sized it looks like,” Paige nodded. “We’ll have to go right through it too.”
“How much longer will this way take to get to Burlington?” Tara asked.
“At least double the time I would say,” Paige answered.
“But that’s worth it if we don’t have to run into any National Guard assholes,” Anna nodded.
“Okay,” I agreed. “We’ll head out in the morning, so make sure you pack your bags tonight so we can be ready to go.”
“You got it, captain,” Paige teased, and she refolded the map.
The rest of the evening was uneventful. My team went about our work and had dinner and a few drinks before bed. It had been a good few days, but I was still on edge about our trip to Burlington, I didn’t want another run in with the Guard or any Canadians, even though I knew my team could handle it if we had one. Winter was approaching fast, and we needed to get a handle on everything.
I woke just before dawn the next morning and woke up Anna, Tara, and Paige as well, they were still tired, but I could tell they were excited to go by their willingness to rise. I retrieved my pack, threw on a T-shirt and some pants, along with my hiking boots, and I grabbed my pistol and rifle and headed to the truck. On the way I stopped and grabbed some granola bars Paige and I had retrieved on our Starbucks run, and I threw them in my pack for the girls, I knew we would all need some breakfast, but I also decided coffee wouldn’t be a bad thing either, so I fired up the propane stove and brewed some coffee while I waited for the girls.
“That smells so good,” Tara smiled as she came out from the dorm building.
“We have some travel cups from Starbucks,” Paige said excitedly. “I’ll go grab them.”
“What about breakfast?” Anna asked.
“I grabbed us some granola bars,” I smiled. “But I figured coffee might be more important than a hot breakfast.”
“You are correct,” Anna smiled and nodded.
“It’s still not as good as Rolly’s coffee, though,” Tara chuckled. “But I still appreciate it all the same.”
“Maybe I’ll have learned by the time I’m his age,” I laughed.
“Let’s hope so,” Anna grinned. “We wouldn’t want to have to vote you off the island because your coffee making skills are subpar.”
“You’ll totally be one of those hot old guys with abs and stuff,” Tara smiled.
“I’m glad you think so,” I chuckled.
“Got the cups,” Paige said as she approached the group carrying four silver travel cups.
“Thanks,” I smiled at the brunette and filled up the cups. “Are we ready?”
“Let’s do it,” Tara said, and she stood up and grabbed a cup.
“Why are you so excited?” Paige asked the blonde.
“Clothes shopping, duh,” Tara chuckled.
“We’re going clothes shopping?” Anna asked with a raised brow.
“We need winter clothes for everyone,” I nodded. “But it depends on what we find today whether we’ll need to go to the mall or not.”
“Nobody find any clothes,” Tara whispered loudly to the other girls.
“I heard that,” I laughed.
“You were supposed to,” the platinum blonde grinned at me.
“Who gets to ride up front?” Paige asked.
“I bet we can all fit,” Anna shrugged.
“I’m sure you can,” I nodded. “It’s set up for three, but you girls aren’t very big.”
“We can squeeze,” Paige said. “I would hate for one person to have to ride in the back.”
“Hopefully we’ll need all the room back there for our loot anyway,” I grinned.
“You’re sounding more like a captain every day,” Anna smiled, and she shook her head.
“I think that’s more like a pirate,” Paige laughed.
“Arrrr,” I joked, and then I slipped into the driver’s side and fired up the truck.
The girls squeezed in through the other side, and I started down the road, but took state road 100 instead of our usual path away from the campus. We all sipped our coffee and ate our granola bars on the way, we were squeezed in tight with my large frame, but I was happy to have Paige pressed up against me.
The drive didn’t take long, and the coffee helped to boost everyone’s spirits for the morning. A sign ahead informed me that I was only a mile out until I reached Morrisville.
“We’re almost there,” I told the girls, and they nodded. “I want us in teams, and clear each store or home you go in.”
“Okay,” Anna nodded. “Is there anything specific we should look for?”
“I made copies of the lists for everyone,” Paige said, and she pulled out some papers from her pack and passed them to Anna and Tara.
“Thank you,” I smiled at Paige. “That was really helpful.”
“No problem,” the brunette said, and she blushed and looked down.
“Tara, you and I can go together,” Anna said.
“I guess I did get alone time with Tav yesterday,” Tara smiled. “Paige can have him today.”
“So now I’m getting passed around?” I chuckled.
“Hasn’t that been the case for a while now?” Anna replied with a wry smile.
“I guess it has,” I laughed.
“Doesn’t seem like you mind too much,” Paige grinned.
“Not at all,” I smiled. “I’m happy to be of service.”
“And we thank you for your service,” Tara smiled and gave me a sloppy salute.
We had arrived in Morrisville, and I scanned the area, but I didn’t see anyone, so I parked on the street and shut off the engine. There were a few larger buildings down the way, and some houses on either side of us. The area looked dingy and abandoned, the grass was dying from fall, and there weren’t any signs that people had been through recently.
“Are those Christmas lights?” Paige asked, and she leaned to look out the window.
“Looks like it,”
I said, and I inspected the houses nearby and found more.
“You think everyone left right after the EMP hit?” Anna asked with wide eyes.
“It’s a possibility,” I said. “Since Burlington is so close, it would make sense for them to round up people nearby fairly quickly.”
“It looks pretty dead,” Tara commented, and she took the last drink of her coffee.
“It does,” Anna nodded. “And it doesn’t look very ransacked. I mean, I don’t see any broken windows yet.”
“That’s a good sign,” Paige smiled.
“It is,” I nodded. “But remember our rules.”
“Yeah,” Anna confirmed. “Buddy system and clear each place.”
“Alright then,” I smiled. “We ready to get some supplies?”
“Don’t you mean booty?” Tara asked with a grin, and the other girls rolled their eyes at her. “What? Isn’t that what pirates say, captain?”
“Supplies now,” I chuckled, and I hopped out of the truck. “Booty later.”
“I’ll take that deal,” Tara said, and she crawled out from the passenger’s side after Anna.
“We’ll go right,” I said, and I gestured to Paige and myself. “You go left.”
“Got it,” Anna gave a thumbs up.
“Bring whatever you find back to the truck,” I said. “But regardless, let’s meet back here at around noon.”
“Ugh,” Tara groaned. “I suck at using the sun as a clock.”
“Don’t worry,” Anna laughed, and she shoved the blonde lightly. “I've got you covered.”
Paige and I made our way to the right and started with the houses near us. She was quick and efficient when it came to clearing the homes, and we were able to gather some shoes, canned goods, and coats just in the first few houses. When we dropped the stuff off at the truck, we noticed that Anna and Tara must have had similar luck because there were some supplies already loaded in the back.
By the time noon came, we had the back of the truck almost totally full, and we still had the trailer to fill. Paige and I waited at the truck for Anna and Tara, and it didn’t take long for them to arrive with another armful of supplies.
“Looks like we’re doing pretty good,” I commented.
“We haven’t even hit the whole town yet,” Tara smiled.
“I think we might be able to fill up the trailer too,” Anna smiled, and she wiped some sweat from her brow, then reached into the cab of the truck to grab her coffee cup.