Survival By Night

Chapter 15

It's early and we are all awake. Everyone looks eager to get into the city and see what's happening. I can see apprehension on their faces as well. Yeah, I can understand all too well.
     The city is quiet. It could just be that it's too early for whoever is there to be up and about. Or maybe everyone is dead or has left. Maybe they are watching for people they can surprise and take their stuff before killing them. Wow, where did that come from?
     "Ok, is everyone ready to go? Anyone need a pee break?," Sherri asks the group with a smile.
     Yep, she is ready to go. It's probably a good idea to head out before we can think about it too much. We all know what we are looking for and not to spend too much time in one place. We've also agreed to have two lookouts while the others scavenge around. We'll switch after a couple of places have been searched. No one should be left out of either watching or scavenging. Plus it will help keep us on our toes.
     "Let's go. I don't have to remind anyone that this is a silent search. We haven't seen or heard anyone, but let's stay safe." Sherri says as she moves toward the city.
     We all get up and follow her. This is making me nervous. I'll leave my gun in my pack for now.
     Everyone seems to feel the same way. It's good to be cautious.
     Josh and Melanie are walking backwards. Good thinking. I might have thought of that, but I haven't been in this situation. The others must have been through a lot to have survived this long. I'll have to ask them later.
     We walk on and come to an intersection. Instinctively, we all look both ways. That's a given anywhere I guess. Still nothing but some cars parked on the street. It doesn't look like anyone has been around for a while. It's strange that the cars don't look like they have been ransacked. They look like they are just waiting for their owners to finish their business.
     Sherri walks around us to get our attention. She then motions to the cars. She then points to me and Josh and then to her eyes. She wants us to be the first lookouts. We nod and everyone gets down to business.
     Josh walks to one side of the street with Bethany and Cindy. Me and Melanie follow Sherri to the other side. I look up and down the street. Still nothing is around and the hairs on the back of my neck stick straight up.
     I look over at Josh and he nods his head side to side. I nod back the same and look back up and down the street. After about thirty minutes or so, Sherri and Melanie walk up and show empty hands. We then walk back across the street to see if the others have found anything. Empty hands there as well. This is not going well.
     Sherri then points to Bethany and herself as lookouts. The rest will start looking in the shops. I hope they are more interesting than the cars.
     We pass by a lawyers office and a yoga studio. Although the yoga studio might have water bottles or that could just be me thinking wrong. Melanie shrugs and motions to a cafe. We all smile. I hope disappointment doesn't meet us at the door.
     We walk in and stop. Are those bloodstains on the floor? Josh drops to a knee and wipes a finger across one of the stains. He then brings it to his nose and I see relief spread across his face. Not blood. Good to know. We all relax as Josh and Cindy head behind the counter, while me and Melanie head into the back.
     We pass by the grill and start searching the drawers and counters that we see.
     The third door I open brings a smile to my face and I motion Melanie over. She looks in to see four containers of oatmeal, a couple boxes of crackers and packs of powdered milk. We look at each other then start gathering the items. Taking them to the front, we show them to Cindy and Josh, then put them on the counter to continue searching. We see some salt and pepper shakers and some ketchup and mustard packs. It's still more than I thought we would find. Neither Josh nor Cindy found anything so we gathered up our new stuff in our packs and headed out to show Sherri and Bethany.
     They get excited to see we found something. Well, as excited as someone can get over oatmeal and crackers anyways.
     We continue down the street with Cindy and Melanie as lookouts this time. It was a great idea that we switched up. It's making the time not seem to drag on.
     There is a clothing store and shoe store up ahead so we decide to check them out and maybe update our footwear as we will be walking quite a long ways. We end up with a size that works for each of us. All we find in the clothing store are t-shirts. Beggars can't be choosers I guess.
     Taking turns, we go through our packs and toss anything that we don't need anymore. Who knows what we will find next and we will need the room. It would be nice to find some bigger packs. Not too big of course. Running away from things is a lot easier with a light pack.
     It's odd. I mean really odd that we haven't seen anyone or heard anything. Why is a city just abandoned? Are we being watched? Shivers run down my spine. We have to find a place where we can talk. I'm also getting tired. The others look like they could use a nap too. That could just be my wishful thinking.
     As we leave the clothing store, Bethany starts shaking and almost falls but Cindy catches her. She helps her to a bench and sits with her. We all gather around to see what's going on with Bethany. It looks like she has stopped shaking and is holding on to Cindy.
     Josh looks at Cindy and nods to the clothing store. It takes her a second to realize that he wants us to go back in and see what is going on with Bethany. Good idea.
     Sherri has been looking around quite a bit. I guess she has been our lookout. Another lesson learned. We need to be more careful.