Both Ethan and I froze at the sound.
"Now ya'll turn around slowly and don't do anythin stupid ya hear?" A very southern male voice rang out.
Ethan and I shared a look before putting down our haul and turning around slowly. I could hear the blood pumping frantically in my ears and had no doubt that the color had drained from my face. Oh god, what about the others? I didn't hear a gunshot so I hope they were ok.
The man's cowboy hat was the first thing to come into my peripheral and then I could see his whole outfit. He wore blue jeans, a tight plaid button down and a pair of old cowboy boots to finish off the look. Judging by his face, I placed him in his fifties. His lips were set in a grim line and his muscles moved under his sleeves as he kept his gun trained on us.
"Now I don't want no trouble ok?" He said, his voice calm and collected.
If I had to venture a guess, I would say he used to be police or military. There was something about the air around him, the way he carried himself. He was confident holding the revolver in his hand and had no qualms about pointing it at us.
"We don't want any trouble either," Ethan replied in an equally calm voice, "What did you do to the others?"
Confusion washed over the man's face before he answered,
"I didn't do anything to them; only saw you two so far."
Ethan visibly relaxed at the man's words.
"What's your names?" He asked.
I swallowed the lump in my throat before replying,
"I'm Bailey and this is Ethan and we don't mean any harm. Just needed something to protect ourselves."
"Well Bailey, my names John, I'm the owner of this here establishment," After a second, John lowered his pistol and placed it the holster on his belt.
The relief I felt when he lowered his weapon was unparalleled.
"Look we didn't know anyone was in here, we would have never come in otherwise," Ethan reasoned.
"Well a bit late for that isn't it boy?" John said, raising an eyebrow at Ethan.
"Um we don't have the money to pay for the guns but maybe we could work something out?" I said trying to defuse the situation, "We could make a trade or put them on...lay-away?"
I silently cursed myself for making the stupid comment but John cracked a smile.
"Don't think credit works no more," He grinned at me, "I'll tell you what, ya'll can keep the guns and ammo you have if you take us with you."
"How did you know we were going somewhere or that we even had a plan?" Ethan asked suspiciously.
"Ya'll got that truck all loaded up in the back and a map on the dashboard with a part circled," John replied, "Plus last I heard most people were heading into the cities for the refugee areas."
"They're all gone," I said, "Well at least the school we were at is. The city was overrun, infected and shots going off everywhere."
"Wait you said 'us', who else is there?" Ethan eyed John.
"Just me and my son Taylor," John said.
Suddenly a scream rang out and it sounded like Zoe. John looked at us then bolted towards the sound with us right on his heels. In the middle of the sales floor, Zoe had her arms wrapped around Chloe with Darren right beside them. A few feet away was a guy, who looked about our age, holding them at gunpoint.
"Pop, I found three," The guy said to John.
John raised his arm and made a motion to put down the gun, "It's alright Taylor, they ain't gunna hurt us."
"But they stole a bunch of our guns," He said, with his eyes quickly darting to Ethan and I behind his father.
"Not like we can use 'em all," John said, staring Taylor down until he lower his own pistol.
Chloe unlatched herself form Zoe and ran to Ethan, who grabbed her. I glared at this Taylor asshole who had the nerve to hold a kid at gunpoint.
"What's your problem? You broke into our store," He sneered at me.
"Just wondering what kind of asshole would point a gun at a child," I sneered right back at him.
He had the good graces to look ashamed and I hoped he felt it.
"Now nothing happened, Taylor was just doing what he thought was right," John reasoned, "We had no idea who broke in."
"Well what now?" Darren asked, still giving Taylor the accessing eye.
"We were going to make a deal," I said.
"What kind of deal?" Zoe looked at me, questioningly.
"John said we could keep the guns and ammo if we let them come with us," Ethan re-stated the terms.
"Hell no, this guy just pointed a gun at us!" Darren yelled and gestured towards Taylor.
"How was I to know ya weren't gunna hurt us?" Taylor yelled back.
"What did you think we were going to send the eight year old after you?" Darren retorted.
"I'm nine and a half!" Chloe piped in and Taylor look stunned that she even spoke.
John chuckled at that and got in the middle of the two.
"That will be enough. We're all keyed up from all that's been happening, let's calm down," John look at both of them.
Darren reluctantly nodded at him while Taylor placed his gun in his own holster.
"Alright then how to you suggest we do this?" Darren asked.
"Do what?" John asked.
"We don't have enough room in the truck or even enough supplies for ourselves," Darren answered.
"We got a car and there's a small grocery store down the road some," John said, "It's like our own small community this far out. There's even a gas station in the same parking lot."
"Alright, grab your things and we'll meet outside," Ethan said, tugging Chloe towards the door.
"We'll only be 'bout five minutes," John said motioning for Taylor to follow him.
Once we were back to the truck, we all tossed our duffels into the back.
"This is a bad idea Ethan," Darren said running his hand through his hair, "We should just take off before they get out."
"We can't do that, they let us keep the guns," Ethan said back.
"They just held us at gunpoint; you really think we can trust them?" Darren kept trying to make his case.
"Plus we will need them to show us where the grocery store and gas station is," I added.
Darren looked away defeated knowing he was alone on this issue.
"Look I agree that we can't just blindly trust them but we owe them and extra bodies could come in handy," Ethan sighed, leaning his arm against the truck.
"And that guy looks military or at least ex-military," I added.
"That would be useful," Zoe added.
We saw them emerge from the door, both packing giant bags on their backs. They opened the Mazda's back doors and stashed their stuff then started towards us.
"So what's the plan?" John asked as soon as they approached us.
"We need supplies so we can at least stay put for a week or so," Ethan said, "My family has a cabin west of here but we only have so much canned goods and supplies there."
"Well if it's out in the woods, we could do some huntin'," John added.
"Yeah, the game is pretty good out there and we just fixed up the property about a year ago. New fencing, solar panels and even a meat smoker."
I perked up at the sound of that. I hated the taste of wild meat, it was to gamey for me but a smoker meant jerky which tasted better and lasted longer.
"Sounds good," John said impressed, "How's the water situation?"
"We have a well that the cabin draws from but since we will be needing lots from it we will need more softener salts."
"Good thing were going to a grocery store," Chloe added.
"Good thing we have an extra vehicle, hey?" John smiled down at her and she nodded.
"You should lead the way since we have no idea where were goin'," Ethan said opening the truck's driver door.
"It's just down that road," John pointed to the road heading to our left, "'Bout a three minute drive due south."
"We will be right behind you," Ethan said.
John and Taylor headed to their car and started the engine. Once they pulled out of the parking lot, we followed suit. I could hear the gravel crunch under the tires then the sound stopped once we hit pavement. The road was cracked and worn, definitely in need of a new layer of asphalt.
People must have really all fled into the city, there was not a soul anywhere; not even an infected. The buildings were all locked up and dark inside. I was half expecting a tumble weed to go rolling by. The street was void of any other vehicles, parked or otherwise.
"Wow, it's like a ghost town," Zoe muttered.
I could see the big sign that read 'Brookshire Grocery Company' and John's car veered off in that direction. The parking lot was empty except for a few cars and shopping carts. The small Shell station that shared the parking lot was not lit up either. John pulled up right in front of the doors so Ethan followed suit.
"How are we going to get in?" Darren asked, "Your shop may not have had an alarm but I'm guessing this place does."
John looked at the door for a second then walked up to it, the doors parting open for him.
"Well that's kind of ominous," I muttered.
"Ya'll should grab some of those guns you borrowed," Taylor motioned to the truck.
We all rummaged through our bags and picked our weapon. I grabbed one of the Beretta's and fiddled with it until the clip fell out. I looked to see what Ethan was doing and started to copy him. Grabbing a box of bullets, I popped a bunch into the magazine until it was full. I had counted fifteen bullets which I hoped was more than enough. I slid the clip back into the handgun, impressed with myself but then I grab the silencer realizing I had no clue how to put one on.
"Pass that here," Taylor said holding his hand out.
I gave him a narrowed look to which he just rolled his eyes and kept his hand out for the gun. I grudgingly handed him the pieces which he put together with practiced ease.
"You make that look easy," I sighed.
"Well I've been 'round a gun or two before," He said with a smirk while he handed it back to me.
The silencer added some weight to the gun and made it feel even more awkward since its length was increased. I examined the gun and found the switch which I assumed was the safety; after all I had seen a movie or two. The small light beside it was green and when I moved the switch to the other side, the light went red. I had no idea which color meant what. Green usually meant go but did that mean go as in ready to shoot? Or green as in the gun is ok to move without accidently shooting it? There was no way in hell I would ask Taylor that though.
"Ya guys ready?" John prompted.
Everyone nodded and I watched Chloe try to plead her case once again to Ethan. She thought she should go with us but Ethan was making her stay in the truck.
"We don't know what's in there Chloe. You have to stay here with the doors locked," Ethan said while resting his hand on her shoulder.
She pulled away from him in anger and slammed the truck door behind her. I could her the locks spring into place and she glared at us from the window.
"Well that's going to be fun to come back to," Darren muttered.
"It's for her own good, I'm sure she will see that," John said as we walked back to the automatic doors.
"Maybe John and I should go in first," Ethan said peering into the store.
"All that will do is put you two into danger and waste time," I said, "Safety in numbers, remember?"
Ethan looked back at me and nodded.
"Well if we're worried about safety, maybe you shouldn't wield that gun," Darren smirked at me.
"I've got to learn somehow," I rolled my eyes at him, "But to be on the safe side I'll stand off to the side not behind you."
"Wait, haven't ya ever shot a gun before?" John eyed me warily.
"Well, not a real one," I admitted and I could see the concern flash across his face.
"I swear to god, I better not end up with a bullet in my ass," Taylor said pointedly.
I flicked the safety to green, secretly praying that was the way to arm the safety and tucked it into the waist band of my jeans. I held up my empty hands and said,
"Happy now?"
"Well happy wouldn't be the right word but I feel a hell of a lot safer," Taylor sighed.
Drama queen.