Although the ranch has water via gravity-fed pipes, we have to conserve as much as we can and it would be foolish to assume something couldn’t go wrong, leaving us in the lurch.
Our next destination takes us farther into the town, where we stop at the end of the Sam’s Club lot and stare at the building. The heavy metal doors are closed, indicating the store might not have been open when the outbreak happened, or someone closed them after.
The parking lot is half full of abandoned cars and a few stray zombies wander around. The horror of their decomposing bodies stumbling aimlessly while their organs trail behind them never gets old. How far into the apocalypse do you get before the gristle and bone become mundane?
We take out the remaining zombies in the lot. My personal favorite is the once fresh-faced ‘tween who stares at me from cloudy eyes ringed in black ichor, vicious in their intensity. There are few enough of them that it’s easy, but the job never fails to knot my chest because these things were once people, and now they’re monsters.
If we want to get inside the store, we will have to breach the doors on the side of the building because the roll-up doors may not cooperate without power.
Breaking into the building will create enough sound to bring them running, gravy train style, which is why we gather in a circle to discuss the merits before deciding to go for it. Cole will pry the doors open enough to see if anything immediately makes an appearance and then keep going as we hopefully kill anything before it makes it completely out the door.
The plan starts easily enough, and we make a few kills as soon as he eases the door open enough to slash at a few before pulling them through the threshold and then smashing their skulls in. Easy peasy, except Sofia, who takes vicious delight in using her boot to crack skulls, causing more than enough fluid to splash around.
It covers me more than once, and I’m damn close to bitch slapping her when footsteps approach from behind us in the parking lot, grabbing our attention. Cole pushes the door closed with a loud screech, and I wince as he immediately takes a defensive position, raising his weapon.
Manny also has his weapon raised warily, and I bring my tire iron up only to lower it when I realize these are living, breathing people. This doesn’t inspire Cole and Manny to drop their guns, though.
The group approaching us consists of two men and three women, and I relax a little at the sight of the women, well-fed, groomed, and uninjured. This doesn’t always mean the newcomers are safe, but it goes a long way to indicate they’re not a danger to other women, which is a step in the right direction as far as I’m concerned.
Although I spy weapons spread out among them, they’re holstered as they approach with their hands in the air. One man, a freakishly tall, slender guy with dark, lanky hair and dark eyes, calls from fifty feet out, “We mean no harm.”
“Don’t come any closer,” Cole says in his deadly, I-am-a-Marine-I-will-kill-you voice.
I shiver at the tone as they hesitate and then stop, still with their arms raised. The lanky guy looks over our group curiously before shouting, “We just want to talk, maybe trade.”
“We’re not interested in a trade. What do you want to talk about?” Cole returns brusquely.
I chafe a little at his demeanor because these could be allies, people to share goods with, and he’s ruining it by being a grumpy dick, which is why I step forward and ignore Cole’s growl when I say, “Where are you coming from?”
Lanky guy turns to me and smiles. “West. We have a settlement there.”
He seems harmless enough, but I study him and his companions. The three women wear nondescript jeans, flannel shirts, and boots. They’re also armed and standing tall with serious expressions.
The second man has ginger-colored hair any chick would die for, with facial hair a complimentary darker red color, and although his face is friendly and open, his eyes are wary.
“Can you lower your guns?” asks the lanky guy. “We really do just want to talk. Do you know what happened to the settlement here?”
Cole tenses but slowly lowers his gun, and Manny follows suit. They don’t holster them but instead keep them ready at their sides, and I take another step forward to respond, ignoring Cole’s responding growly warning.
“We only know that they were overrun by zombies, not how it happened,” I respond.
“Shame,” he says, gazing around at the surroundings as if they might provide the answers.
“What’s your name?” I ask, trying to build camaraderie among a sea of tense people. Surprisingly, Sofia and Enzo are quiet behind us, which is probably for the best until we can figure out whether we’re all about to die or if we can freaking relax and move on.
“David,” he responds, before pointing to the bearded fellow and beyond, “Mathew, Sarah, Faith, Hope.”
“I’m Lola. This is Enzo, Sofia, Manny, and Cole,” I say, pointing to our survivors.
Cole eventually relaxes his hand where he surely must have had a cramp with the death grip he had on the weapon, and we move forward to speak to them without having to shout. Enzo and Sofia remain mostly silent, which I find odd because they were not so when they joined our group, but I don’t have time to focus on their peculiarities.
We’re standing before a new group of survivors out in the world beyond our little haven, and the thought gives me hope where it was dangerously flagging.
David explains that they observed the community during scavenging expeditions but steered clear, not wanting to create tension, but when they saw the smoke curling in the sky, they came back several times to search for survivors. My heart sinks when they report finding none because there are so many people who are either dead or are lost, and we can’t afford to lose even one more.
He also points out those stores they have already raided or are overrun, saving us the time and effort. We don’t mention Sam’s Club, and neither does he, and his parting words are that we should head west if we run into trouble and need help because Shepherd will take us in.
Once they’re gone, we move away from Sam’s Club, for now, feeling as though we are bigger targets with them in the vicinity. That leaves us with a few smaller sporting goods stores, which we ransack fairly easily, scoring some ammo and weapons as well as bulletproof vests and camping supplies, including tablets for purifying water.