Two Alive, стр. 81
“Your old man, Johnathan… he teach you all that?” Baker asked.
Miles went tight-lipped and nodded.
Manson took his glasses off and raised them above his head, grimacing sarcastically. “Oh good, the boy has his rifle. Now we can go and feel safe.”
Julia side-eyed Manson. Then she addressed the captain. “Thanks for getting his gun. Is this as far as you go?” She put her hands on her hips.
Baker sighed. “Yeah, something like that. Look I didn’t know Carver was going to make me stay behind.”
“Esta bien. Don’t worry about it. I know Carver likes to keep his lap dog close.” Julia crossed her arms.
Baker sighed again. “If you guys run into any trouble, just call on the radio. You did bring a radio, right?”
Julia sneered at him, “Of course I brought a radio.”
Baker chuckled. “Right… of course. I just want you to be safe out there and come back in one piece.”
“You could still choose to come with us. I know you want to.” Julia nodded towards the exit.
“Then I’ll come back to the major chewing me out about the safety of the compound being compromised.”
Julia locked eyes with the captain and for a minute, the two of them acted like they were the only ones standing there. They lingered without saying anything.
“Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend?” Miles asked abruptly, and the two adults were flustered.
Baker turned to leave and noticed Ben and his daughter and stopped. “Ben, you decided to go with them?”
“Uh… no.” Ben was sheepish and trying to go unnoticed.
“I wanna go!” Alana piped up. “I can handle myself! I’m strong! I’m fast! I wanna help you guys find our people.”
“I know sweetheart, but your dad’s right.” Julia put a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “You should stay here.”
“It’s because I’m a girl, right?”
Julia chuckled. “I don’t know if you noticed or not, honey, but I’m the one leading this group and I’m a girl. As much as I know how fast and strong you are though… those freaks outside are faster and stronger.” She looked up at Ben, “Your dad knows what he’s talking about.”
Miles asked the captain, “Do you guys have rifle ammanition?”
Baker smiled and pulled two small ammo clips from his back pocket. “Yeah. Will this do?”
Miles did the math in his head and counted on his fingers. “Is they full clips?” The captain nodded and Miles continued counting his fingers. He stopped and started periodically and then finally got an accurate count. “Yeah twenty should be enough. That’ll be enough.”
“Ok, once this door is open, we’re out of here.” Julia turned her back on the captain.
Baker smiled. “Good luck out there.” Then he looked to the trained men nearby, “Torrez, Castle, Burrows. Make sure nothing happens to any of them.”
The men nodded and saluted in their own way.
“You too, kid.” Baker winked at Miles. The boy tried winking back but blinked both eyes.
Ben sighed. “C’mon Alana.” He turned to Julia, “Good luck you guys. Be safe.”
“Bye. Bye bye, Alana.” Miles waved, exaggerating. “Bye Mr. Ben, bye Mr. Captain Baker.”
They waved back and started to leave. Ben dragged his daughter, still trying to convince her to let it go, and Captain Baker followed behind them.
A gathering of the community was starting to build with people coming out from the aisles. They watched as the expedition party waited for the shutter doors to open. Many thought it was a lost cause and not worth possibly losing Julia and Dr. Manson, two essential members of the committee. There were some who were still hopeful for Lance’s wife, Nicole, Clint’s grandson, and Kayla’s husband Franklin, who led the first group that went looking for Karen and her son. Kayla was among the crowd with her clingy son who was almost always seen clutching his mother’s leg. Clint raised his hand to wave to her and Kayla waved back. He hoped he’d be able to give her some closure after all this.
“When we get out there, we’ll head to the Costco delivery van parked at the gas station across the lot.” Julia pulled keys from her back pocket.
“You guys have working cars? Wow!” Miles’ eyes lit up at the comment. “What kind of cars do you have? Do you have a Lexus or a BMW?”
“Sorry, just got the one van and a Humvee.”
“A hum-vee? What’s a hum-vee?”
“It’s a military truck.”
“Does it got guns on it like a machine gun on the top?”
“No, it’s just a truck.”
“Is it like… is it bulletproof? Do it got armor and bulletproof windows?”
Julia put her hands on her hips and giggled. “No, I don’t think it’s bulletproof. But it is a tough truck.”
“We should take that.” Miles was nodding his head repeatedly. “We should take it just to be safe. We should take it.”
“Sorry Miles. There’s too many of us to fit in the truck.”
“Awwwwwwaawww.” The boy moaned. “But the truck would be better. The truck would be better than a van.”
Lance watched the exchange, growing irritated. “Could this door go up any slower?”
Julia watched Castle pull the chains with Burrows’ help and the shutters rose to the level of her chest. “This should be good enough. Ok everyone, the gas station is right across the parking lot. The cameras this morning didn’t show too many infected people out there but be careful. Stay together and only shoot if you have to.”
“No,” Miles interrupted. “Don’t shoot your guns at all. If you have to kill something, kill it with a knife or blunt force traumas. No shooting. Nobody shoot their guns.”
“Why?” Clint asked