The trip home was rather eventful, Molly fainted twice before we got her into my truck. Sarge had decided to stay at the Inn for the night and do some organizing of the supplies, but he still needed to grab food and a few things from the warehouse. So we drove the few miles down the road to our little fortress. As we drove, the large pack of dogs started following us. They ran after our trucks, biting and snapping at the tires.
I couldn’t stop trying to avoid hitting them. I felt sorry for them; they were only hungry after all. Sarge didn’t have a problem with that though, and by the time we made it to the warehouse, the last three dogs had run off into the brush lining the road.
Jason was a bit surprised to see us with another person, and his face was wary and closed when we helped Molly out of the truck. I worried for a minute about what would happen when we added another person to our small three (and a half) person group dynamic, but there really wasn’t anything I could do about it. The only thing I could do was get Molly inside and get her fed. And I’d probably need to need to feed Annie and change her as well.
“Help her Jason, she hasn’t eaten in days.” I snapped a little waspishly when he just stood at the door to the warehouse, blinking at us like an epileptic owl. Jason’s money-green eyes narrowed a bit in annoyance and his lips tightened but he finally moved to help. Sarge just ignored us and sauntered inside without a sound. That man was almost as silent as a freaking corpse.
It took me a few minutes to get our packs inside and shrug out of most of my layers. By the time I was done Molly was comfortably ensconced in the gliding chair. I walked over to the laundry basket on my bed and checked on Annie, she was fine. Fast asleep with her face scrunched into a scowl.
I listened to Jason feeding Molly and telling her about the resources at the warehouse while Sarge packed a bag and I started to feel a little crowded. The addition of a new person would mean we would have to find another bed, make another “room” out of the shipping crates, enlarge the “bathroom”…the list was endless. But the space wasn’t.
The warehouse was fairly sizeable, but so much room was taken up by the shipping crates, about half of them full of supplies, that it seemed much smaller. On top of that, our fortifications took up space too. Maybe with the dead mostly frozen, we could tear them down and re-build them outside?
I let my mind continue to wander, but eventually it went in the direction of the small marina a few miles down the road. All of my father’s work, hopes, and dreams burning away, with no way to stop it. It shouldn’t matter. It really shouldn’t, after all, he was dead. Permanently. But it did.
I was almost grateful when a loud crash interrupted my thoughts and made Annie scream herself awake. I dropped the packs I’d been re-organizing and grabbed my gun, already sprinting for the door by the time Jason was reaching for his rifle. Another crash followed the first, and then a third. Something was slamming into the door hard and fast.
I swallowed and raised the Browning in a tea-cup grip, standing a little to the right of the door. Jason stood dead center in front of the door, rifle poised and ready to take down whoever or whatever was making that noise. Sarge stood in front of the door, ready to fling it open…
“Wait!” All three of us jumped nearly out of our skins when Molly shouted, I think we had all forgotten about her for a few minutes. She skittered to a stop next to Jason, her 9mm raised confidently before giving Sarge a nod.