Two Alive, стр. 47

“Are you good with your guns? Can you all shoot good?” Miles continued playing with the knife as he addressed the men but put the weapon down when he saw Castle watching him and nervously clutching his assault rifle.

Baker blinked slowly and cocked the HK416 assault rifle in his hands, “I think we’ll manage. Now c’mon, we gotta hurry. Let’s move!” Baker turned to the men behind him. They steeled themselves as they wrapped their heads around the idea of going outside.

Before the captain could head to the doorway to the inner store, Carver reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling Baker to the side. “Take Anderson with you, he needs to redeem himself from his past fuck ups.”

“Right.” Baker went to leave but the major pulled him close again.

Carver tilted his head just slightly to view the boys and lowered his already whispered words, “And make sure that those boys don’t come back… you understand captain?”

Baker eyed the two boys and nodded his understanding. “Yes sir.”

Carver coughed a hard cough and gave the captain a small grin. “Good man.” He was glad to see someone still understood the threat these two intruders presented to the compound and he knew he could trust in Captain Baker to handle the problem.

***

Inside the store, the usual routine was in full swing this morning. The community living in the store had gathered in the food court where breakfast was served and people would congregate. Children would find tables to sit by themselves and laugh and play. Parents would sit nearby, conversing about the plans for the rest of the day and complaining about the strife of warehouse superstore living. Couples shared their granola bars and Minute Maid instant lemonade while they romanced about shared alone time the night before or the opportunity for activities later. Ben and Burrows were taking laundry to the washing machines in home appliances, but the two stopped off to greet a former waiter who was helping prepare meals with Lesly in the kitchen.

“Mmm, the hash browns smell good,” Ben said with a smile when he saw the tray with more plates of the microwaveable breakfast food.

“Oh, hey Ben. Got a plate for you if you want.” The server returned the smile.

“Thanks but I don’t have the time right now. Maybe if there’s any leftover I’ll come get a plate.”

“Ok.” The server spun around, narrowly avoiding someone standing at their table.

“Can we hurry this up, Ben? This bag fucking stinks.” Burrows sat the black garbage bag of clothes on the floor and started waving his hand in front of his nose.

“Yeah. Let’s get going.” Ben took a moment and looked around the food court at all the smiling faces and the laughter among friends and family. He remembered walking from table to table in the morning to check with people on how their morning was going and if they needed anything. He had worked with Lesly on breakfast plans each day and would start planning the lunch for later in the afternoon. But that was when he was still a committee member. Things were different now. People still treated him with respect, and some wanted him to rejoin the committee, while others blamed him for what happened before and everything bad that’s happened since. When he saw Lance sitting alone at a table staring back at him, Ben swallowed and blinked rapidly before heading off with Burrows.

Across the food court, Lance looked down at the plate in front of him and couldn’t bring himself to eat the hash browns and chicken laid eggs. He saw Ben come to do his morning rounds and the smile on his face only made Lance lose his appetite. He hadn’t been very hungry lately anyway. Not since his wife Nicole went out with the search party that Ben and Carver put together. Lance didn’t like Nicole leaving the Costco but couldn’t bring himself to making an argument good enough to make her stay. He especially didn’t like that Franklin and his brother David went along.

Franklin and David ended up at the super store for refuge at the quarantine zone like everyone else. Carver appointed them to help with patrols and putting guns in those bastards’ hands only made them even more assholes. David made several advances towards Nicole and many of the other women in the community, feeling cocky about his new authority. It didn’t help that some women were actually attracted to his machismo, including Nicole. She denied anything happening, but all the talk around the store was enough to make Lance feel differently. Then she left with the bastard.

Now she was out there, thanks to Ben and Major Carver, who sent them out to look for people Ben tried to let in here. It all made Lance sick to his stomach. He shoved his plate aside and leaned back in his chair. He noticed people staring at something to his left and when he looked, he saw Captain Baker running through the store with several other soldiers and two young boys.

“What’s going on? Is that Captain Baker?” One of the onlookers spoke up.

“Hey is there a problem?” another spectator called out.

Lance stood and watched them and knew the rush meant something was wrong. Had the freaks outside broken in? Had the search party returned and ran into the monsters outside? And who were those two boys with Baker? The questions in Lance’s head were now being shouted out by people in the food court, trying to call to the captain and his men.

Continuing to run through the aisles, Captain Baker was deaf to the voices behind him, asking him to stop and explain what was going on. He didn’t have time to explain and he doubted anything he said would make anyone feel at ease. He didn’t have much of a gift of gab like