Max worked to move Turner's comments to the back of her mind. They were in the middle of the world falling into shambles. Worrying about what happened in her high school relationship eight years before wasn't worth the trouble. However, Turner's comment about her leaving Griffin was niggling in her mind as they decided to enter the store they had parked next to.
At the store door, Max put her thoughts to rest for the time being. She pulled her tomahawk and stretched her neck, ready for any potential attack. The store looked to have been partially looted already. Griffin, Max, and Turner agreed that they should look for additional food while they were there. While Max had a few supplies, it would only last a few days if they were careful with rationing. Sarah was no help, so they left her under the guise of watching Jack. Jack knew from the look Max gave her that she was the one watching Sarah.
The crunch of broken glass and trash seemed loud in the stale air of the store. Though it hadn't been overly hot, the inside of the store was stuffy and warm. The smell of something rotten was the first indication that they were not alone. Max touched her nose and looked at Griffin. He nodded, catching the same whiff she did. She pointed toward the front check stand first, wanting to check all the nearby hiding places. She doubted an infected could consciously hide, but it was better to be safe.
Rounding the long counter, Max sighed when she found no one to be hiding. She nodded to Griffin who waited on the other side watching for additional attacks. Turner always seemed to stand behind Griffin, watching his back. Poking around behind the counter, Max found a stack of paper bags. She handed a stack to both men and walked cautiously down the first aisle they came to.
Griffin drug his knife along the metal shelving, making Max jump. She whirled to glare at him. He just grinned at her and kept making noise, hoping to draw out what was in the store. The infected would be attracted to any loud noise. With that in mind, Max kicked an empty can across the room, causing it to bounce loudly against the far wall. Nothing moved. Whatever had come in smelling rotten was gone now.
The group bagged up some additional food that was left by the looters. Just like her apartment complex, Max found herself wondering about the intelligence of the living humans that believed taking TV's or other electronics was more important than the food they left behind in their haste. She threw beef jerky into her bag, making her think of the gas station attendant Ruth. Max began to feel frustrated with herself for feeling remorse for the people she had lost along the trip so far. This world was going to be harder than anything they knew and she was going to need to harden herself against the eventual losses.
At the truck, Max gave the food items to Jack to unpack. She handed the warmed meals ready to eat to everyone and they sat inside the truck eating. Everyone was quiet as they forked pre-made meals into their mouths. Max was used to MRE's, but by the grimace on Sarah's face in the backseat, she wasn't thrilled with the breakfast option. Max chuckled and almost choked. She sobered quickly as she saw the dirty look Griffin shot at her. Jeez, he's gotten serious, Max thought to herself.
Max took the time to fill the tank of the SUV with the gas they still had from the gas station. She knew they would need to scavenge more gas on the drive. As she stood pouring gas, she heard Griffin exit the car.
"You could be nicer, Max," he said as he came around her side of the car.
"Nicer to who?" Max asked, playing the innocent card.
"You know what I'm talking about. Not everyone has the same experience you do. It's like you were made for this emergency," he said.
"I'm feeling like maybe I should take that as a compliment, but then you don't sound like you mean it," she replied sarcastically. He groaned, and Max could see he was ready to set in on her when another door opened and Sarah stepped up to Griffin.
"Griff, couldn't you sit in the back with me? I know it's silly, but I'm scared out here away from the safety of the shelter," Sarah said, touching Griffin's arm in an intimate gesture.
"The shelter didn't seem so safe to me," Max interjected. She was graced with another dirty look from Griffin.
"Yeah, Sarah, I'll have Turner move to the front," Griffin said. He turned her back toward her side of the car, hand at the small of her back.
Max tapped her forehead against the side of the SUV a few times. She couldn't deal with the damsel in distress attitude Sarah was taking and how she used it to get Griffin's attention. This is going to be the longest drive ever.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
"So, it's like the second day in the sandbox, I mean it's hot and sandy and we are just feeling like crap getting used to it," Turner said. "And this guy..."
"Do not tell this story, Turner," Griffin replied.
Max couldn't help but laugh. During the drive from Raleigh, Turner had talked constantly. At first, it had driven Max nuts that he wouldn't just be quiet while she drove. But during the funny stories, it was nice to hear Jack giggling in the back seat. Turner had a way with kids and he always made sure to include Jack in the conversation.
"Oh, I'm telling this story," Turner continued. "So, we are new to the desert like that, and all of us are feeling dry and miserable. Well, one day Griff decides to try some lotion he found. He covers himself, his face, his arms, and his chest. He realizes it's not soaking in and he's confused. He looks at the bottle again and realizes it's hair conditioner!"
With the last sentence Griffin groaned, and the entire car began to laugh. Max laughed along. Her laughter died as she looked in the rearview mirror and found Sarah laughing and laying her head on Griffin's shoulder. A feeling that seemed very similar to jealousy welled up in Max's chest. She fought it down, telling herself how dumb it was to care about the affection between Griffin and Sarah. Of course, he'd had a life for eight years. So had she. Except hers was very centered around their daughter.
"Didn't you read the label before putting it on?" Jack asked, her eyes watering from laughing so hard.
"Ya know, Jack, I didn't. I just figured the shape of the bottle, and what man uses conditioner on what little hair we had," Griffin replied, working hard to defend himself.
"But see it gets better," Turner cut it.
"No, no it did not," Griffin growled.
"Oh, sure it did. Don't you remember, Griff, when you decided to go take a shower to wash off the conditioner, a few of the guys figured it was sticky and decided to throw sand on you," Turner said, bending over at the waist and laughing.
"Thanks for helping me relive that shame, Turner," Griffin said, throwing his hands up and gave up trying to shut Turner up.
Max soaked up every word Turner said about their time in the Army. It was like hearing a piece of Griffin's life, a life that he lived completely separate from what he and Max had. He had grown into a man during the years apart, a process that Max at one time thought she would be a part of. The relationship between the men made Max smile to herself. Griffin had made himself a good life with the Army and the friends he made there.
As they pulled into the outskirts of a small town, the interior of the vehicle got quiet. As they drove back roads, only using the freeway when absolutely necessary, they were able to avoid a lot of the major devastation. Every time they came to a town, a place people lived, the events were clear. The small town now wasn't any different. Cars were stranded along the streets, some with doors left open. In some places bloody violence was evident, indicating the small town wasn't safe from the plague.
"We need to get gas," Max said.
"I don't see power," Griffin replied.
"No, it makes sense that it would go out eventually," she said.
"Siphon?" Griffin asked.
Max nodded her head, silently agreeing. In the time Max and Griffin had dated, he had learned a great deal from Mitch as well. He was party to much of the craziness too. Being with him during the world falling apart was like being with someone that understood her, knew her mind and how it was functioning in this survival. She had to admit that while she didn't need him to survive, i
t was nice to have someone to rely on. He was someone she could trust to make the right choices.
Max pulled the SUV into a parking lot that had cars that were parked. They looked to be ones that were left before the plague started. Max thought that might mean they were more likely to have enough gas to siphon. The group agreed that Max and Griffin would siphon while the rest stayed in the truck, ready if there were any issues. Turner still had his automatic rifle but was low on ammunition. She gave him an extra bowie knife she had in her bug out bag.
Approaching the first car, Griffin used his knife to pop the gas tank cover. As he progressed through the steps of getting gas Max watched the parking lot. The buildings nearby were small and local town stores. One was a deli and it caught Max's eye. For a small town full of such devastation, there didn't seem to be time for looters. She made a plan in her head of what stores they should search before they left. Her mind was full of needs that needed to be filled, thinking about items for the guys and Sarah. They had fled the shelter with no belongings. Eventually, they would want changes of clothing.
Griffin signaled that he was done. Leaning down to check, Max saw they had gotten nine gallons for the vehicle. She took that can back to the SUV and put the gas into their vehicle. She returned as Griffin worked on the second car. Out of the corner of her eye Max caught movement, causing her to spin and pull her 9mm. Watching for a moment she saw again what had caught her attention. An infected moved out of the shadow of a space between two buildings. The noise of opening and closing doors must have caught its attention, bringing it toward them.
Max tapped Griffin and pointed toward the infected. He straightened, ready to handle the undead. Max stopped him and pulled her tomahawk. He knew she was more than capable to handle one infected on her own. She walked with determination to the infected. As she approached the infected focused its dead black eyes on her. It was a young man, which made Max feel some sadness. He couldn't have been more than twenty years old.
The dance with the infected was feeling like second nature to Max. The uncoordinated body had a hard time following the movements of a living person as they moved to avoid them. One on one an infected wasn't overly dangerous if you saw them coming. Max guessed they could still sneak up on you if you weren't watching your surroundings. With the world falling to pieces she would assume watching around you would be a priority. Now that she had first-hand experience with someone like Sarah, she realized it was easier than she would have initially suspected.
Max danced to one side and as the infected boy tried to turn and grab her, she quickly cut into his head with her tomahawk. She used his shirt to clean off the blackening ooze that coated her tomahawk blade. When she stood and turned back to Griffin, she found him watching her intensely. It made her uncomfortable thinking about having an audience. She stood, shuffling from foot to foot as he just looked at her.
"Are you gonna finish the gas?" She finally asked.
"You are in your element," he said back.
"Thought you already determined that."
"Seeing you like that, handling the infected without hesitation, just reminded me of Mitch," he replied. The statement gave Max a sick feeling in her stomach. Losing her father was something she had a hard time with and she had no need to discuss him now.
"He taught me a lot, you know that. Like siphoning gas. So, I can finish if you want," Max said deflecting.
Without answering Griffin went back to finish the siphon, collecting another five gallons to add to the SUV tank. Max estimated the tank was seventeen to eighteen gallons when full. They worked through two more cars before the gas gauge indicated full on their vehicle. Then they went to work on siphoning to fill the gas cans Max had. Once they were done they were set up nice and stunk of gas. Max felt a little lightheaded from breathing the fumes for so long.
Max broke into the deli she saw. Once it was determined it was empty and relatively safe, they backed the SUV up to it. Inside Max found bottled water and soap. She went to the bathroom with her change of clothes and worked on getting the gas stink off her. She pulled her short hair up off her shoulders and tired it haphazardly on top of her head. Working the soap into a rough towel she washed her hands, arms, and chest.
She looked at herself for a moment in the mirror. Ragged, tired eyes looked back at her. Her mind was trained for the fall of society, but her body could only do so much on little sleep. While they had been safe sleeping since the start, Max found herself only sleeping partially, her mind always listening for an attack. Or she was plagued with nightmares of the things she had seen and done so far.
Once she was dressed in clean clothes, she decided to toss the dirty ones. There was no washing the gas smell out of them now. The compound would have power and running water, so she could do laundry when they were safe behind those walls. When she walked out of the bathroom she ran directly into Griffin, her face bouncing off of his chest. Max jumped back as if she had been burned.
"Was looking for the bathroom," he said gruffly, looking over her head.
"Yeah, I'm done. Did you find any clothes?" Max asked. Griffin had gone to the other stores in the complex, looking for anything to replace his gas stained clothing. He held up a plastic bag.
"Clothes for Turner, Sarah, and myself. They are from some hippie shop, but they don't smell like gas," he said.
"Gas is better than patchouli," she laughed.
"We agree on that. I made sure I picked the patchouli free items."
"Good, well I'm gonna find something for lunch," Max said as she skirted around Griffin.
The deli had no power, so anything that was in the refrigerators wasn't safe to eat. But they had bread, unopened pickles, cans of tuna and chicken salad. With an unopened mayonnaise jar, Max mixed up tuna salad and chicken salad with pickles diced inside. She slathered all of the bread with mayo and used all of the tuna and chicken in making sandwiches. Thinking that the group would appreciate something to eat that wasn't an MRE, there would be plenty of time to suffer when it came to food.
When Max brought out the sandwiches, everyone else was sitting around a large table. Bottled waters and sodas were open at each setting. Jack was in the process of putting down napkins, setting the table in a normal fashion. Max smiled at her as she brought the platter of sandwiches to place in the middle. She also brought a selection of chips from the nearby display for the meal. She noted that they would pack the rest up to take on their trip.
"What are these?" Sarah asked as she sniffed the sandwiches. Turner and Griffin had already taken large bites of their sandwiches. Jack was primly eating hers. All three of them stopped at Sarah's snobby tone. Griffin turned his eyes to Max, wariness in them, waiting for her to explode.
"Some are tuna, some are chicken," Max replied tightly.
"With mayo? Gross. I don't eat mayo," Sarah whined.
"Food options are slightly limited right now. You're welcome to see what else there is to eat in the kitchen." Max could feel a muscle jumping in her cheek. The way Turner shoved as much food in his mouth at once, she knew he could tell she was annoyed.
"Mayo is actually a decent source of fat," Griffin commented.
"Ummm, Griff, that's why I don't eat it," Sarah said, turning her blue eyes on him and smiling. She batted her lashes at him as if that would magically make him understand her.
"Healthy fat is what you need right now, Sarah. We aren't going to have a lot of normal meals," Griffin said. Max knew he was trying to head off a bad situation at the pass. And he wasn't wrong. Dealing with the woman was grating on Max's last nerve. She was not only completely obnoxious to Max, but she was a liability to the group.
"Well, maybe I'll just not eat the bread!" Sarah exclaimed as if she came up with some great idea. Max groaned audibly, and Griffin shot her a dirty look. Sarah got up from the table to retrieve a fork from the kitchen.
"Can you please just try to be civil?" Griffin whispered harshly.
"She is the one complaining about food when ther
e are dead people walking around," Jack interjected. Griffin looked at the little girl and then to Max. He opened his mouth and then closed it again, having no idea how to argue with an eight-year-old. His look of confusion made Max laugh out loud. Then she and Jack high fived and Griffin narrowed his eyes.
"Now I have to worry about you two ganging up on me?" He asked. Turner choked on his large mouthful of food as a cackling laugh came out of him. The table was still laughing when Sarah returned, feeling victorious about finding a fork.
"What did I miss?" She asked with a smile plastered on her face.
"Oh nothing," Jack said with a small angelic smile.
Back on the road, the group fell into easy conversation. Griffin continued to sit in the back with Sarah, which left Turner entertaining Max during the drive. Both men had offered to drive, but Max had control issues. Griffin felt the need to point that out whenever she declined their help. It annoyed her the way he knew her and felt the need to call her on her tendency to take over and not let anyone else participate.
Driving along the country roads, Turner was studying the map she had brought along to find their way to Montana.
"No, I think we're going to have to hit the freeway right here," he said pointing to the lines on the freeway. "This road is going to end if we stay too long, so we need to meet the freeway and take that for a few miles."
"I hate the freeway," Max groaned.
"I don't like the idea much either, but it's our only option for us to keep going in the direction we need," Turner replied.
A few miles later they were pulling on to the freeway. Max gripped the wheel tightly and studied the road intently. All along the road cars were abandoned. Some crashed into others or into trees off the freeway completely. Max could only imagine the panic these people felt trying to flee from the populated areas. Only to find themselves trapped on the freeway in cars that couldn't go anywhere.
Survive (Sundown Series Book 2) Page 13