Three people were in the car, one driving, one in the passenger seat, one in the back. They were blasting some pop CD from the early 2000's with the windows cranked halfway down. They started off near the Walgreens, driving in front of the Piggly Wiggly and up to the small strip of shops. The rest of us cleared what was left in the Walgreens, the snipers perched up on the roof. Shots started popping off, loud and sudden even from the ground level.
Most of our group was waiting, just inside of the Walgreens with melee and bows. Beth and Jacob were manning the SUV and Van, ready to start them up and drive away with us if we had to escape quickly. With the noise of the rifles, some of the closer zombies turn towards the building.
Hendricks walks in front of us, like a general walking in front of his soldiers. "Alright, lets move to the front."
We had planned this, and still my heart was speeding up in my chest as we walked out of the building. We lined up just outside, those in fire suits in the front, the ones with bows in the back. There were only three of us and that made me nervous. Our goal was to try to take out any zombie that had decided to go after the rifles instead of the car. Notching an arrow I face forward, Hendricks stopped next to one of the men and he broke off from the line of melee. He moved behind us, to watch our backs. Between him and the two in the car I felt a little safer.
"Okay everyone." Hendricks says it loud enough for all of us to hear over the rifle shots. "We talked this through, we can do this, not just for us but for every survivor in that firehouse!"
The anticipation of waiting to fight zombies is not something I'd get used to. I stand behind the row of fighters, and pull back the string of my bow. We would do this, we had to do this. There are 36 people including myself that need food, clothes, hygiene products, this super mart could take care of all of our needs for months.
Our arrows are let loose when the first few get close enough, I'm the only one to hit my target in the head. The other two people needed training and I guess this was their real world start. A few more volleys and they start actually hitting the zombies, not really directly in the head but in the shoulder or leg, knocking them off balance.
What feels like hours pass as we hold down the Walgreens, until the rifles run dry so our second part of the plan goes into action. The same one we had at the police station, a slow walk into the remaining hoard while we shoot at them with arrows. This time we had the car to draw most of the attention.
It all passes in an adrenaline fueled blur, until we are tasked with clearing the buildings. All of us go into the Piggly Wiggly together, the most back row of people with large flashlights to light our way through the building. We weren't taking any chances on a zombie popping out from around a dark corner. We find the generator, fill it and start it up lighting up the super mart.
The rest of the day is spend clearing out the rest of the shops, then gathering enough cars to carry what we wanted to bring back to the firehouse.
The firetrucks are moved outside so the garage could be stocked with shelves and items we brought over from the store. Time passes quickly as we move between the two areas over the next few days. Everyone had a job, even the kids at this point.
"Taylor." Reid calls my name, I look up from the inventory list I was making. He's hobbling over to me with one crutch under his arm. We had a few injury's but nothing to serious. Reid had gotten into a fight with to many zombies, who knocked him over and he twisted his leg pretty badly. "Beth wants to talk to you."
"You didn't need to come out to tell me, could have had someone else do it."
Reid rolls his eyes. "I'm fine, just some soreness." He grabs the clipboard from me then makes a shooing motion. "Plus, I'll finish this it'll give me something to do. I'm getting stir crazy."
I shake my head at him and can't help the small smile. He couldn't go out to help us pack up cars with supplies, some would love to be able to hide away. Not Reid.
I move past him, then into the main building where I find Beth with some thick looking textbooks at the main table. As I get closer I notice that they are medical textbooks. "What are these for?"
"I'm teaching some of you basic first aid." Beth waves to the chair next to her, I pull it out and sit. "I figured I'd start with you since you plan on leaving."
"I'm not.."
She cuts me off with a look that says, 'yeah right'. "I've seen you eyeing maps, planning a route. Well I'm not letting you leave without at least knowing some basics."
She flips open one of the books and I notice there's little posted notes throughout the pages in different colors. She had planned this, to give me lessons, I had to swallow the sudden emotion that threatened to bubble up inside of me. It was a incredibly thoughtful gesture. Instead of trying to force me to stay, she was going to give me some tools to live longer out there in the world.
"Like I said, basics, cleaning wounds and suturing. I made a list of the most common antibiotics and pain pills you'll find.." She continues on, showing me everything she planned on teaching me.