They stopped in a strip mall the next day, everyone agreeing that they needed to stock up on food and maybe some other necessities. Beck, Jaye, and Maverick went on the hunt for clothes and weapons while Dr. Peters and Val went on the hunt for food. They split up what weapons they had, giving Jaye and Beck hammers and Val just the gun. “Meet back here in six hours, if the other group isn’t back by then, wait for at least an hour, then leave. Got it?”
“Got it.”
The ‘elderly folk’ as Maverick had so gracefully put it, went off towards the direction of a grocery store and the ‘younglings’ went for the Big 5 and hardware store. Beck smashed the window open with her hammer, sticking her head in and whistling. “If you dead fuckers are here come on out,” She banged the hammer against the wall a couple of times. “Guess no one’s here.” Jaye and Maverick crawled in through the window after her, looking around the store in awe.
“Pretty well stocked.” Maverick murmured. “I mean, it’s been five years you would’ve figured everything would be gone by now.”
“Yeah, but after a couple of years most people became sedentary or they had everything they needed from a sports store.” Jaye said, picking up a tennis shoe and turning it around in her hands. “Good for us, more supplies.”
Beck nodded, moving to the back of the store. “Grab what you need, clothes, shoes, bats,” Beck grinned as she lifted an aluminum baseball bat out of a large tin. She spun it around in her hand. “Yeah, perfect.”
Jaye walked along the side wall of the store where the women’s clothing was, her fingers dancing across the dusty fabrics. She picked out some shorts and some shirts, stuffing them into the duffel bag Val had given them to carry their things. She walked around until she found Maverick trying on shoes, turning his ankle in weird ways to get different angles. He stood up and jumped, then ran in place, and smiled. “This is great, I haven’t had a good pair of shoes in forever. All the new shoes I got back at the Safe Zone were hand-me-downs. This is much better. I could run for miles in these.” He tossed his old shoes off into the abyss somewhere and slipped on the other shoe of the new-ish Nikes.
Beck threw some things around the store. Jaye shushed her. “Shut up bitch, I’m just living life.” She picked up a cricket bat and threw it at the wall. Surprisingly it broke in two and flew off the wall into a rack of face masks.
Then all their weapons came up. Maverick was to his feet with just one shoe on. He held a shoe in his hands. Maybe he could kill someone with his athlete’s foot, Beck thought, holding her nearly busted up hammer out before her. Jaye was the closest to the two men, one with a rifle strapped to his shoulder and the other standing behind him with his arms wrapped around his chest. The barrel of the rifle was pointed at Beck. She smiled at the shooter. “State your identity,” The armed one sounded like a military man. A valuable addition to their shitty little team.
The girls dropped their weapons and Maverick set his shoe down. “Black Widow, who are you?” Jaye’s voice was light and sarcastic. It was unnatural.
“Captain America,” The man said. “We’re not going to go all rogue on one another are we?” She shook her head. He lowered his weapon. “Good to hear. I’m Sargent Murphee of the National Guard, this is my…” He looks back to the man cowering behind him. “Friend. We’re heading to Colorado.”
“What for?”
“We heard about a Safe Zone still in operation out there.” He reaches into one of his many pockets and pulls out a radio. “A year ago I got a transmission from the outpost there, they confirmed a population of nearly five hundred. They also were the only transmission that I picked up.” He put the radio back in his pocket. “But, we haven’t heard from them since then.”
“Where did you come from?”
“East coast. It’s where I was stationed. He’s from Canada.” The man behind him shrinks. “You alone?”
“No,” Beck rested her hands on her hips. “What about you?”
He bites his lip. “Unfortunately we are. Lost most of my unit to the walkers, the rest of them to some one-eyed lunatic in Georgia. Been just him and I ever since.” He rounded the countertop that had been separating the two groups, letting Beck assess him up close. He was still wearing his military fatigues. The other guy was wearing a sweater that had once been soaked in blood and jeans that were baggy on him. “You guys got a camp nearby?”
The military man and his companion help the three gather just enough sports equipment to arm the whole group efficiently, then lead them outside the store. Sargent Murphee shows Maverick his rifle as they wait for Val and Dr. Peters. “Unfortunately I only have about ten rounds left.”
“You a good shot?”
“Can blow your brains out fifty meters away with a rubber band and a pencil.” He smiles. “So yeah, pretty good shot. That was my specialty in the guard, but uh…that doesn’t matter anymore.”
Beck gives him a soft pitiful smile. She’s not sure why. Part of her feels bad for the guy, left with no purpose. He probably still follows the orders of some dead guy. “What about you friend, what’s your superpower?” The ‘friend’ that Murphee had dragged outside is twitchy like he’s been tweaking on crystal for three months and suddenly is having a withdraw. Black hair is mussed, dark brown eyes darting amongst their faces. He hasn’t shaved in a couple of days, yet neither has Val, but his five o’clock shadow makes him look crazier, unlike Val’s which gives him a look of wisdom. Beck feels uneasy around him, and so do the others.
“Sorry, he doesn’t talk much.” Murphee says after a long silence.
“I ain’t got no damn superpower.” The man says.
“Scott, watch your damn language.”
“Fuck you Peter.” The smaller of the two wraps his arms tighter around his frame, his demeanor small despite his big words. Sargent Henry Murphee just sighs and slides his gun around to his back. Scott, as he has now been called, spits on the concrete and turns his back to them.
Murphee leans forward. “He’s been through hell and back, excuse him please.”
“We’ve all been through hell.” Beck spat.
Jaye sits to the ground, with Maverick plopping down next to her. Beck looked down to them. Jaye rested her head against the young man’s shoulder, her eyes drooping and her body slouching. He smiled at her. “Where you from?” Sargent Henry Murphee whispered.
“Me? I’m from New York City. Them? Originally? No clue. But I picked ‘em up just recently down in New Orleans.”
“Louisiana? Heard it’s nothing but walkers and rubble down there.”
She shrugged. “That’s what I thought too, but apparently there’s a safe zone down there that’s been in use since the beginning. I would suggest steering away from it through, crazy ass people down there.”
“No problem there, I’m looking forward to Colorado’s dry climate after the hell I went through in Florida.” She raises a brow. “Scott had some family down there we went looking for them. We were searching around the coast when a hurricane hit. We were stuck there for three months in the Florida heat. Canada over there wouldn’t stop complaining and whining that he ‘just wanted to go home’.”
Scott shot him a look from under his brows. Murphee just rolled his eyes and muttered something about Scott being a bit ‘touchy’.
Valentine rounds the corner to see the group with his weapon drawn. He’s not shouting, but he is ordering. He’s telling Maverick to get to his feet and come stand by him and for the girls to do the same. Jaye’s the one who raises her hands as if he was pointing the gun at her, and explain their situation. Val doesn’t seem completely happy with it, but lowered his weapon anyways. Sydney introduced herself to Murphee and Scott, her face lighting up when she hears that he used to be a member of the military. “Really?! That’s great actually! We could use the help. I was one of the scientists working on the cure for the virus and if you would be willing to aid these civilians in getting me to Baltimore it could mean the end of all this.”
“Baltimore? What’s in Baltimore?” Beck crossed her arms and stepped into the conversation, Maverick on her tail. She was semi glad to see the kid backing her up. But then was worried that the only person as concerned about their situation as she was, was a twelve year old. Okay, fifteen year old.
“Johns Hopkins.” Val supplies. “Dr. Peters and I discussed this while we were gathering what we needed. Johns Hopkins has one of the best equipped labs in the country.”
“You mean it did. It’s been five years. I doubt anything is left of it.” The Sargent said.
Dr. Peters just shrugged. “We have to try. The research I’ve been doing for the past five years is flawed because I’ve been doing it in a makeshift lab. If there’s even one percent of the equipment they had there before all this there now, I may be able to find a cure in a year. Six months if I work nonstop with your help.” She looks to Valentine who just nods.
“This is bullshit. I’m not going to some university that may or may not hold the thing that we need to end all this. Did you remember what they were saying about Maryland before the lights went out? It’s a nut house. Biters everywhere.”
The argument gets more and more heated. Beck starts shout-whispering and Sydney retorts with some scientific mumbo jumbo that Beck can’t understand, which just pissed her off more. At some point Murphee has to remind them of their out in the open position and Maverick is told to calm Beck down. He grabs the woman by the shoulder and leads her off to go sit on a cement block. Dr. Peters is told to calm down by Val who has her sit down in front of the closest store window.
Valentine decides to take the situation by the balls and get some information out of the Sargent. Scott was roaming around in a small circle near Henry Murphee, biting his nails. Val makes a mental note to do something about that later. Maybe a straightjacket, he thinks. “You’re from the east coast?” Murphee nods. “You think it’s a good idea to go back there?”
“No sir, but I haven’t agreed to the lady’s proposal yet, have I?”
Val nods. He hasn’t. But he might as well have – it would be hard not to. Hell, he had after only a few words came out of Dr. Peter’s mouth. “What are you planning on doing then?”
“Haven’t figured that out.” He pats Val on the shoulder. “But I’ll tell you what – I’ll make sure to notify you when I do.”
Ex-dentist Valentine Abernathy wants to rip his own teeth out and feed them to ex-Sargent Henry Murphee, but alas, professionalism is not dead yet.
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