I n f i n i t u m

Chapter Thirteen

I managed to bag plenty of underwear for the guys and myself, heaps of toothbrushes and toothpaste, and even a brand-new backpack that conformed to my back more comfortably than the one I had previously. Jebadiah found a pharmacy, and despite it being completely swept clean out front, the back was completely untouched. The crew now had medicine that would definitely help in the future.

I tossed a few boxes of condoms into my bag, just in case anyone back in the lodge wanted to get frisky. I snickered. Jess did have a teensy-tiny crush on Marquis. We all basically lived in one room, so it wasn't hard to pick out the pairs who had a rather active sex life.

Good for them, I thought rather bitterly.

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The Beatle was just as we had left it, and now we were faced with a problem that failed to occur to any of us when we'd gone on our crazy shopping spree. There was no doubt we hit jackpot at the mall, but we now had fifteen bags filled to the brim with supplies, and no space to put them in the tiny car.

"Nice one guys," Jess said whilst tucking strands into her messy ponytail.

I didn't notice how much time we'd actually spent inside the mall, but now that I was outside, I noticed that daylight was darkening and figured that we were beginning to approach sunset. Night time was always a danger: it brought out the Horrors, whom most were nocturnal, and it made it harder to see the zeds.

"We'll have to make do with the space we got," Jebadiah said.

"Fast, too. It'll be night soon," I added.

It was a struggle, but we managed to pack everything in before squeezing ourselves into the seats. We got back on the road just before the sun disappeared below the horizon. 

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The days practically flew by. Out in woods and secluded up in the mountains, with only the soft noise of bird calls and the crackling of the fireplace, it was pretty much serene and quiet. We rarely got any action. In any case, that was good for the others, but for me, it was fucking boring.

The birds were getting annoying and it was always cold. This particular day it was snowing lightly and a slight draft lingered inside the lodge, which made it difficult for me to get out from my warm cocoon of blankets. But the mouth-watering smell of apple pie being taken out of the oven was tempting enough to have me amble to the kitchen. Aliyah had found some apples on her last supply run and Emily was able to make pies with the flour she had left.

Thank God for Emily's cooking skills. 

My symptoms seemed to have stopped as well. The heat flashes went away, but my endurance and everything else remained at an all time high. I passed the time by teaching Teejay and the women self defense every night before bed, and as time went, they progressively got better. The usual routine I went by daily was pretty simple: I'd wake up, go out to hunt, eat breakfast, work out, run laps around the lodge, maybe eat lunch, play card games with the rest until dinner came, train, and knock out for the night.

Everything was so chill that I'd sometimes forget that we were even in an apocalypse and the world has gone to hell.

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I yawned as I put some food in my bowl. We were having a late dinner again. Teejay had offered to cook instead of Aliyah and ended up burning the broth, nearly along with the entire lodge if I hadn't been there to douse the small fire. Emily came to the rescue, thankfully, and whipped up one of my favorites: white rice with ketchup-beef stew.