we were never meant to live this long - yt apocalypse fic

a chest/loot/real-life resources - chapter four

A/N: you guys weren't supposed to get another chapter yet but i stayed home from school and figured I'd try to get the next one done and bam! i did it. don't expect daily chapters to become a thing even though this is the third day in a row that i've pulled that off, somehow

i wrote this throughout today entirely like the last chapter, but i think it's pretty good? it's a bit over 4k words and I'll just warn for talk of a cut caused by a bullet + someone passing out + general talk of weapons.

have fun

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"OH, FUCK!" 

Matt feels a stinging shoot through his arm and he practically collapses to the ground, dropping his knife and letting it slide across the floor of the shop they now occupied. Chris's eyes go wide, and he's at his brother's side in a moment. 

"HOLY SHIT, JAKE?" the unfamiliar voice continued on with her shouting. When Matt looked up, he could see a woman positioned behind the counter, a clumsy hold on the literal shotgun she held. She dropped it without much regard for anything, her eyes locking onto the tallest figure among them. 

"TARA?" He matched her energy perfectly, "You're safe! And so is Sugar!" 

He sounded relieved, and entirely unconcerned with the bleeding man behind him. The black-haired woman, how dubbed "Tara" came around the counter, her small dog hot on her heels as she came up to the man she recognized. She wore low-waisted sweatpants and a cropped shirt, her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail with a few strands left out to frame her face. 

Like Johnnie, she sported fading makeup on her eyes. 

"Yeah. When everything went down, I figured this was a good place to be." She hugged Jake like they were friends who hadn't seen each other in a while and not like she just shot at them. 

"Hey, I don't wanna cause a ruckus or interrupt your little reunion," Matt started, "But your bullet shot me." 

Chris had his hands wrapped around the wound, pressing down harshly on his skin, "The bullet just grazed you. You have a cut, I think." he clarified, nodding up behind him. There was a bullet hole buried in the wall above where he was crouched over, which at least meant that there wasn't a chunk of metal inside of him. 

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." she apologized like she made a little mistake and nothing more, moving to help him up. He jerked his body away, instead letting his brother pull him up from the ground. "I thought you guys were zombies or something." 

"So you just blindly shoot?" Matt questioned, his voice going high-pitched. He groaned as he was pulled along by Chris and now Nick, who found himself at his other side. 

"Is there a first aid kit around here?" Nick asked before she could try to answer the question, giving her a wide-eyed look.  

"Yes! Behind the counter." She smiled in a way that reminded them of a customer service worker providing whatever help they could, "Come on." 

The triplets and Tara disappear behind the counter while Jake and Johnnie remain on the other side, leaning against it and peeking over the edge. It was a display counter made of glass that showed them all sorts of things that were for sale inside- weapons, collectibles, jewelry. 

It was an odd little place, but it was probably a good thing that they ended up there. Matt was deposited onto a chair in front of where the register was right as Tara plopped a red first aid kit onto the counter in front of him. She made quick work of popping it open, revealing all sorts of band aids and creams and such. 

"I'm gonna be so real," Nick started, leaning over to pick through the tools in the plastic container. "I have no idea what to do about anything that isn't a paper cut."