by Eric Vall
“I know you’re right,” Bailey sighed. “But that just sucks.”
“You did a good thing,” I smiled at the small blonde. “You fought for others, and that’s an admirable quality.”
“And we’ll do some scavenging tomorrow still, right?” Anna asked, and she looked to me.
“That’s the plan,” I smiled. “But we will need to be further away from the compound here, once they discover they’ve been robbed we don’t want to be anywhere near here.”
“Got it,”Anna said, then she grinned at Bailey. “We’ll find us some spray cheese.”
“Everything’s better with spray cheese,” Tara chuckled.
“I actually used to eat spray cheese when I was sad,” Paige laughed.
“It is a good comfort food,” Anna smiled.
“See?” I looked to our resident hippie girl. “We’ll get you some spray cheese, and you’ll feel better.”
“I guess so,” Bailey said, and she smiled a bit.
“We’ll head out first thing,” I said. “But for tonight we’ll stay here.”
“We should go by the brewery tomorrow,” Paige said. “We might be able to use some of the aluminum cans they’ll have in there.”
“Good idea,” I nodded. “We’ll do that as well.”
“I don’t know about everyone else,” Paige said. “But I’m not tired quite yet, anyone want some chocolate? I snuck some in my bag.”
“Shhh,” Anna joked. “Don’t tell Tav.”
“You can tell me,” I laughed. “But only if I get some too.”
“I think that can be arranged,” Paige grinned.
The girls and I ate our chocolate and talked and laughed. It had been a bittersweet adventure, we had gained two canning machines, which would help exponentially, but on the downside our sweet Bailey was distressed about the civilians. I wished that Rolly had been there, our team mascot always knew what to say to boost morale, but for the time being chocolate and the promise of spray cheese had the pretty blonde smiling, and that was good enough.
Chapter 10
I woke to the dawn the next morning surrounded by my girls, there had been a perfectly good couch in the room, but we had all opted to sleep on the floor together, and it was nothing to complain about. I smiled at their sleeping forms before I woke them gently and pushed myself up to my feet.
“We have a long day ahead,” I smiled.
But inside, I wasn’t all smiles. I had the nightmare with the zombies again last night, and I knew it was my subconscious trying to deal with my worries about the Canadians at the border. I was able to push the dream out of my head easily enough, but the reality of our situation was every bit as frightening as a horror movie. I knew the girls must be even more worried than I was, so it was important for me to handle business confidently since that would keep their confidence and morale up for the trying times ahead.
“It’s like you never sleep,” Tara groaned, but she sat up and yawned and stretched, and her breasts pushed against her tank top in the most delightful way.
“I’m excited to do some scavenging,” Anna grinned, and she hopped to her feet. Her red hair was still in its braid from the day before, but some of the hairs had gotten loose, and they framed her beautiful face perfectly.
“I think I’m getting too used to coffee in the morning,” Paige muttered, and she sat up to pull her wild brown locks into their usual messy bun before she put her glasses on.
“As long as spray cheese is still a goal for today, I’m happy,” Bailey said with a small smile, and she stood up and stretched.
“Let’s grab some breakfast,” I told the girls. “Then we’ll hit the brewery.”
“Shouldn’t we take the canning machines to the truck first?” Paige asked.
“The brewery is close,” I said. “We’ll go there first, then we’ll take the canners and whatever we find at the brewery back to the truck.”
“Okay,” Anna nodded, and she pulled some smoked venison from her bag and sat on the couch to eat.
We had a quiet breakfast, then we put on our vests, packed up, and headed to the brewery. Anna and I each carried a canner since we were the strongest of the group, and when we arrived at the brewery, we set them outside the back door.
“It’s locked,” Paige frowned after she tugged on the back entrance.
“Do you think we could pick the lock?” Tara asked.
“Yes,” Anna answered sarcastically. “We know how to pick locks, we’ve only been busting windows for fun.”
“I was just asking,” Tara said, and she narrowed her eyes at her redheaded friend.
“Well silly questions require silly answers.” Anna grinned, then she stuck her tongue out at the blonde and Tara returned the favor.
“Ladies,” I chuckled. “Quit flirting and help us look for a window that we can get in through.”
“Flirting?” both Anna and Tara gasped in unison, but I just snickered at them.
“The campus is so close,” Paige said, and she bit her lip. “I’m worried they’ll hear us.”
“We can try the front door,” I suggested. “We’re far enough away that they shouldn’t see us.”
“I’ll go,” Tara offered.
“Good idea.” I grinned at the platinum blonde.
“Just be careful,” Bailey said.
“Of course,” Tara said, and she slipped around the side of the building.
“Do you think she’ll be okay?” Paige asked.
“She’ll be fine,” I told the brunette. “We’re far enough away that they shouldn’t be able to see her.”
“Okay,” Paige nodded, but she bit her lip again.
Just then Tara pushed open the back door.
“Hey bitches,” the platinum blonde grinned.
“Excuse you,” Anna scoffed, and the girls all giggled.
“I hope you weren’t talking to me,” I chuckled.
“No,” Tara smiled. “Unless you’re into that kind of thing.”
“I think you know very well that I am not,” I laughed.
“Whoa,” Anna said from inside the brewery, and I stepped inside to see the large equipment and open floor of the assembly line.
“How much beer do you think is in here?” Tara asked, and she raised a brow at me.
“Probably a lot,” I chuckled. “But let’s focus on the essentials first.”
“You mean beer isn’t essential?” Paige grinned.
“I would think not,” I smiled at the brunette. “Cold beer is a different story though.”
“Cold beer is essential?” Anna asked with a wry smile.
“Absolutely,” I grinned.
I took in the smell of hops and old beer as I walked in search of aluminum cans. The building was huge, and the floor was slightly sticky, just enough where my shoes suction cupped to the ground and made a small popping sound with each step. Three large brewing tanks sat in different corners of the room, each attached to their own separate assembly line, and the wall was lined with full cans, kegs, and bottles ready for shipping, so I took a bottle out and twisted the top off.
I took a swig of the amber lager and immediately spit it back into the bottle. It was skunked, and I quenched the urge to throw up, I was just hoping none of the girls had witnessed my debacle.
“Over here,” Paige called out.
“Did you find the cans?” Anna asked, and we all made our way to Paige.
“Yeah,” the brunette answered. “It’s just the cylinders though. There’s no top or bottom.”
“Even better,” I said, and I moved closer to inspect the cans. “We can put tops and bottoms on them as long as they’re the right size.”
“Don’t we need to compare them to the canning machine?” Anna asked.
“Yeah,” I nodded, and I grabbed a cylinder and headed outside. As I compared the cylinder I realized that the canning machines we had taken were fairly advanced, and they were able to be adjusted for size. I smiled to myself and headed back inside to the
girls.
“How’s it looking?” Tara asked as I walked back up with the cylinder in hand.
“Looks good,” I grinned. “The canning machines are adjustable.”
“That’s good,” Paige smiled. “We are able to can anything now.”
“That we can,” I nodded. “We can grab a few boxes of these, and we should find some lids and bottoms too.”
“Already done,” Anna grinned.
“Alright then,” I smiled. “Let’s grab some boxes and head back to the truck.”
The girls each grabbed a box, and Anna and I carried the canners back to the firehouse where we had parked our military vehicle. The walk was fairly long, but none of the girls complained, and it didn’t take us long to arrive back at the abandoned firehouse.
“We’ll head to South Burlington,” I told the girls. “That way we’ll be farther away from the compound.”
“Okay,” Anna nodded, and we all hopped in the truck.
I drove us the short distance to South Burlington and took in the sight of the abandoned city. The daylight made the dust that covered the place that much more apparent, and the soft scent of hot asphalt filled my nostrils. I pulled the truck into the parking lot of a supermarket and hid it between several cars that had been left there, then I hopped out and took a deep breath of the still crisp morning air.
“Do you think this is hidden enough?” Paige asked.
“I do,” I nodded. “We’re far enough away we’ll be alright, just be on guard.”
“Should we split up?” Bailey asked.
“Yeah,” I answered. “Bailey, you’re with me. Tara, Anna, and Paige, you’ll be a group as well.”
“Okay,” Anna nodded. “We’ll head right, you head left?”
“Works for me,” I smiled at the redhead, and headed to the left with Bailey by my side.
“Wait,” Paige said. “Does everyone have their list?”
“Yup,” Bailey smiled, and she held up her supply list.
“Okay,” Paige nodded. “Be safe.”
“You do the same,” I called out.
As we walked, I looked over to Bailey and saw her staring at the ground, it seemed she wasn’t actually as chipper as she had been portraying, but I spotted a pharmacy up ahead and pointed it out to her.
“Let’s try there,” I smiled at the pretty blonde.
“Sure,” she said, and she smiled slightly.
“It looks like one of the windows has been busted out,” I said as we got closer, and I pursed my lips.
“Should we clear the building?” Bailey asked.
“Yes,” I nodded. “Always err on the side of caution.”
“Right,” she said, and she pulled out her pistol as we approached the broken window.
“I’ll go in first,” I told her. “I’ll flank left, you flank right, okay?”
“Got it,” she said, and she readied her sidearm.
I crawled through the window and flanked left, I heard Bailey’s footsteps as she moved swiftly down the right side, and we met at the opposite end of the store near the center aisle.
“All clear,” she smiled and holstered her gun on her hip once more.
“My way too,” I nodded.
“It looks like the pharmacy has been hit,” she said as she turned to look at the lifted partition.
“It looks like there’s still plenty of meds here,” I said as I looked at the mostly stocked shelves, and my eyebrows pulled together.
“Yeah,” Bailey agreed. “I wonder what they took?”
“Only one way to find out,” I grinned and hopped over the pharmacy counter.
Bailey followed my lead, and we looked at the bottles on the shelves to try to determine what was missing.
“I think I figured it out,” Bailey said after a moment.
“What is it?” I asked.
“All the pain meds are gone,” she told me, and I moved to her aisle to look at the empty shelf space she was staring at.
“Hydrocodone, oxy,” she pointed at the shelves, “there’s none of it over here.”
“How do you know?” I asked.
“It seems like the shelves are alphabetical,” she said, and she pointed to the label names.
“I think you’re right,” I nodded. “But there’s still plenty here, let’s see if we can find the stuff on Marla’s list.”
“Okay,” the blonde said, and she pulled out her copy of the supply list.
“Marla also gave me some replacements for Rolly’s meds,” I told her, and I showed her the writing on my own supply list.
“Should we look for that first?” she asked.
“Make it a priority,” I said. “But keep an eye out for anything on the list.”
“Paige should’ve been in charge of pharmacy runs,” Bailey said, and she half smiled at me.
“Well, you’re my partner today,” I told her with a soft smile. “And we ran across this place so we’ll do our best. Besides, Marla is a certified nurse, so we have all the information we need right here.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Bailey nodded, and she began to mosey through the aisle while she looked at the shelves.
I made my way to the other side of the pharmacy area and looked for Rolly’s medication, the alphabetical layout made it a lot easier, and I was able to find the medication easily, as well as some generic brands that Marla had listed for me. I grabbed a bag from behind the counter and filled it with all the pills they had in stock, then I looked for more names from the list Marla had given us, but I found that Bailey already had quite a few in her own bag.
I watched the blonde as she looked through the aisles, she was moving slower than usual, but not so slow that she was wasting time. Still though, I was used to my happy-go-lucky hippie chick Bailey, and sad Bailey made me want to hug her and never let go. She reminded me of Eeyore from Winnie The Pooh.
“Hey,” I said softly across the aisle.
“Yeah?” the blonde asked, and she looked over to me.
“Are you okay?” I asked, and I watched her face intently.
“I’m fine,” she said, but her small smile didn’t reach her eyes, and she looked away from my gaze almost immediately.
“It’s okay to be upset,” I told her in a gentle voice.
“I’m not upset,” she said, but it came out in an angry tone that I don’t think she intended, because she looked up at me, and her eyes got big. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I smiled and I moved to hug her. “Talk to me.”
“I just don’t understand,” the blonde said, and she relaxed against my chest for a moment.
“I know,” I nodded.
“Why wouldn’t they want to leave?” she said and looked up at me with eyes more gray than the usual bright blue.
“They’re not like you or me,” I told my pretty hippie girl. “They feel safe there.”
“I just don’t know how someone could feel safe somewhere where they’re treated so poorly.” She frowned.
“It’s hard to understand,” I said. “But people often exchange freedom for a feeling of safety.”
“It’s dumb,” she said and she frowned harder.
“Listen,” I told her and I lifted her small chin with my finger. “We tried, and that’s all we can do. But the important thing is that they know how to get out, it’s up to them if they use that information or not.”
“You’re right,” the blonde sighed. “It’s just a sucky feeling.”
“It is,” I smiled. “But who knows? Maybe they’ll change their minds and decide to escape.”
“Maybe,” she said and then she smiled the first real smile I had seen on her all day.
I doubted the civilians would change their minds, but if it helped her to think that they might, I wasn’t going to take that away from her.
“I found Rolly’s medication,” I grinned at her, kissed her on the forehead, and then she lifted her face so I could kiss her on the lips. We made out for a handful
of seconds, and then I released her from my embrace.
“Good,” she grinned back at me. “And thanks, Tav.”
“No worries,” I smiled. “I’m glad you feel a bit better.”
“I do,” she nodded. “Also, I found a lot of the other stuff from the list, and some more tampons and pads hiding under one of the counters. We should be good until summer at least.”
“Great,” I said. “Let’s see what else we can gather, then we’ll see what the rest of this Rite Aid has to offer.”
“Deal,” the blonde smiled, and she leaned up to kiss me again.
Bailey and I found all the meds on Marla’s list, plus a lot more birth control, and we were able to find some food stuffs and a few comfort items, so we headed back to the truck with the first load of our supplies, and we saw the other girls approaching the truck just as we were.
“Hey,” Anna called out with a smile. “Good timing.”
“Find anything good?” Paige asked.
“We found a pharmacy,” I said with a grin. “We got all the meds from Marla’s list.”
“And we got some woman stuff,” Bailey said.
“Oh cool,” Paige smiled. “We found some over-the-counter stuff, flu relief, ibuprofen, that sort of thing. Also more woman stuff.”
“Good find.” I smiled as I set my box in the trailer. “We weren’t able to get any pain meds.”
“Yeah,” Bailey nodded. “The pharmacy was broken into, but that was all that was missing.”
“Who would break into a pharmacy and only take pain meds?” Tara asked, and she cocked her hip to the side after she set her box in the truck.
“Um, a junkie?” Anna said, and she raised a red brow at Tara.
“Oh,” Tara said, and her face pulled into a grimace. “Gross.”
“Unfortunately, a lot of junkies are pretty crafty,” I chuckled. “I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of them made it this long on their own.”
“Well let’s hope we don’t run into any more,” Anna said.
“Agreed,” I smiled. “Let’s meet back here for lunch around noon.”
“Isn’t that always the plan?” Paige rolled her eyes and chuckled at me.
“Yes,” I laughed. “But I figured it wouldn't hurt to reiterate.”
“You gotta give us some credit,” Anna joked.