Found - 21
They didn't usually have breakfast in an attempt to make their food last longer since it was taking longer than anticipated. However, they did today. Mostly because while they waited they were going to raid that supermarket across the street from the liquor store that Martha and Hunt had already raided.
"What exactly was that?" Kate asked even though she had eaten two of them.
"Pancakes." Rick put on his please don't shoot me face, because he didn't have any eggs or milk. He had used oil instead.
Kate tilted her head from side to side a little. They hadn't been bad, they just weren't up to his normal standards and she had gotten used to him cooking. "Let's check out that supermarket, shall we?" She got up and checked her weapon.
But the second they reached the front door Bear started barking. "Do we or don't we?" Kate questioned and looked at everyone.
Rick offered his choice. "Our food will last for far longer than 2 days, so we don't have to."
"There could be only one of them," Hunt commented. As much as he had learned to trust Bear, he didn't know if there was one or a whole building full of them.
Alexis shared her opinion. "We could wait for our help to show up. They may want to raid it before leaving here. They did say that they raid everything they find each day."
Decision made, they headed back to their Strykers to wait it out.
~[o]~X~[o]~
Alexis was outside throwing a tennis ball, playing with Bear. He was happy that his best buddy was playing with him and he was running and barking. The day of his shots was long forgotten.
"You want the ball? You want this ball? Go get it." Alexis threw it to the far end of the parking lot and watched it bounce. Bear was running for all he was worth and was soon trotting back, happy with himself. Alexis reached for the ball in his mouth but Bear wasn't willing to just hand it over this time. "You have to give it back if you want me to throw it," she told him only to find him biting down on the ball to keep it. It turned into a short tug of war until the dog finally let go. He started barking and spinning in place. His buddy was now supposed to throw it.
"ALEXIS!" Kate motioned for her to keep quiet for a moment. Alexis chose to throw the ball and Bear bounded after it.
"Do you hear something?" Kate stepped over to her and started looking around.
Even Bear ignored his ball and stopped to look in the direction of a noise. Then he started barking. His barking voice had changed and hearing it, the others joined them.
"I'm manning the .50 Cal just in case." Hunt went into the Stryker, opened the top, and prepared the machine gun.
They all listened to Bear barking as he came back to defend his best buddy; the noise was also getting louder. It seemed to be coming from their right and they turned their heads until they were all looking at the back end of the Co-op. Then suddenly a Stryker came into view; it rolled into their parking lot and just kept coming. There was another one right behind it.
They all saw that both had their .50 Cals manned and watched the men wave at them as the drivers popped their tops and stood up.
"Miss Alexis." He looked right at her. "I'm Chief Warrant Officer Brown, it's good to finally meet you. Are you good to go, because we would really like to get going." He didn't want to stay here any longer than he had to.
Kate had a question. "Where are the rest of you?"
"About 2 miles behind us. We're the advance scout for the column. We would really like to keep it that way. If you will just follow us, please." He wanted to stay way out in front. "How are you on hydrogen?" If they needed some his plan was busted.
"About 3/4 full for each." Alexis had been keeping track.
"Excellent, if you will follow us." He got back down into his seat and dropped his top.
"Let's go guys. Out of my Stryker, Hunt." Kate climbed up to get in.
Moments later she turned left and started following Brown. "Where are we?" She still wanted Alexis to keep track and tell her where to turn.
"North on Route 69; we're going the right way," Alexis assured her and began watching where they were going instead. "The big question is have they considered how to get over the river." They had time since it was countless miles away.
Alexis read a sign and picked up her binder again to see where they were. "Walnut Fork Creek. Still going the right way." She put her binder back down.
"Obion River." She picked up her binder again only to put it back down and say nothing.
They came to a tee intersection and Kate turned left to follow them. She had to admit that they traveled at a good speed. A little more than they normally did. The only time they slowed down was to push a truck further off the road.
This direction didn't last long when they turned right just a few blocks later.
"North on Route 97. Still going the right way," Alexis informed Kate and tucked her binder by her side.
"I wish we had a way to talk to them. I'd like to know where we are going. I mean, why this way and not another?" Kate hated being in the dark.
Alexis shrugged. "They're military. And we have fire department headsets."
Kate looked at Alexis when they took a left branch at a fork in the road. "Left on Route 121." Alexis flipped through some pages. "Looks like we are headed for a town called Wickliffe. They have a bridge over the Mississippi River to the north. We might stop there since it's getting late." She kept her binder this time.
Alexis answered Kate's unspoken question when they turned right. "US Route 62."
Suddenly they both turned right and went into a large parking lot with a small building at the far end. "Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site," Alexis remarked after looking in her binder.
"It looks like we're stopping here." Kate pulled in behind the first two and stopped. She only shut down when she saw the ramp open up and four men came out, all armed, from each Stryker.
"We're stopping here for the night to allow the column to catch up to us. We're going to go clean out this building before they arrive," the chief warrant officer explained.
"Come on, Bear," Alexis called, waiting for him come to her after he'd lifted his leg on a bush.
"I need you to stay here, Miss." He didn't want Alexis going with them.
"Bear hates infecteds. If there are any in there he'll bark and alert you," Alexis explained and kept walking.
"It works, trust me." Kate saw the look on his face. He was conflicted about whether to allow her to go or to try and stop her.
It had him and his men hustling to catch up. "You do not go inside until the building is clear." That was one thing he was not going to allow her to do.
Bear started barking at the front door. "There's at least one," Alexis told them and took Bear back to their Stryker.
A moment later they all heard a fair number of weapons firing for just a moment and then silence until finally they all came back out. "Clear, though it has nothing we want. The XO will likely raid the BBQ joint across the street including that trading post we passed." He pointed to a building that they could see that was at the bend in the road.
~[o]~X~[o]~
"That's what I wish we were capable of. We're just too small and don't have enough firepower." Hunt was a little envious as he watched most of them go back to their Strykers.
A moment later the chief warrant officer approached Alexis and Bear, Kate, and Rick. "The column will be here in a few minutes. They'll park in the parking lot. One team will start filling our vehicles, including yours. Another will empty what the hydrogen generator has been making into our holding tanks. And another will clean out that BBQ place and that trading post.
"You're free to eat what you have or join us…or both. Excuse me." He still had things to do before the column caught up to them.
"Is Jarod with you?" Alexis called after him.
That cause him to stop and he smiled. "He's in our Command and Control trailer with the captain. Just like the one you have. You can talk to him in a few hours after they stop for the day." He was still smiling as he walked away.
"He's nice," Alexis muttered defensively after seeing the looks Kate and her dad were giving her. She decided to get away and stalked off to their Command and Control trailer.
"You think…?" Rick was ready to consider raking this Jarod guy over the coals to see if he was good enough for his daughter.
"Do not get involved, Castle. Remember, Alexis only looks like she's 16. Under all that teenage youthfulness there's a 70 to 80-year-old woman who was married and had two boys. That she lost. So don't give her any grief and leave Jarod alone." Kate poked him and followed Alexis into the trailer.
"And spoil all my fun?" Rick didn't think so. "Just because I didn't get to say anything the last time," he grumbled. He had to catch up on what he missed out on.
Kate was inside the trailer with Alexis. "Your father's going to give you and Jarod a piece of his mind, you know that." She'd tried to stop him but she knew him well.
"I know. I'm betting Jarod has a weapon just like mine." Alexis tapped the hand gun at her hip. "Dad means well, but I'll survive." She began searching through what they had to eat since she was hungry.
~[o]~X~[o]~
The sound of engines had all of them going outside while Rick turned down the heat so dinner didn't burn.
They watched as vehicles of all types and sizes rumbled into the parking lot. Strykers, trucks, things Kate had never seen before and one massive trailer that had a huge box on it. "A hydrogen generator, I'm guessing?" Kate asked softly.
"Yep, far too big for us. And to think they have three of those things." Alexis was all smiles as they watched them park all over the parking lot while leaving space for the semi to maneuver.
The second they each stopped, men started pouring out and they watched as a team carrying collapsible stacking containers ran to the BBQ building while a few more men went to the trucks with large tanks on the back where they pulled hoses from each one and started filling their vehicles.
One of the men who got out of the semi walked over to them and the corporal met him at the small group of Disney travelers.
"Miss Alexis." He reached out to shake her hand. "Jarod's description doesn't do you justice." Just for a moment he wished he was younger.
Alexis was older than she looked and wasn't nearly as bashful as she had been when she really was just 16 years old. "Thanks." She glanced around. "This is a big group."
"Fifty-one men. We have two more columns just like this one that continued on. If we're lucky we'll meet them there just as they get there. I take it you've met Chief Warrant Officer Brown, here. He's our scout for the column. I'm Matt Morrison, the XO. The captain sends his regards. Speaking of which, if you'll excuse me for a minute." He gave them a slight bow and moved to a Stryker.
"He needs to check in," Brown explained. "A few of our Strykers have communication gear inside them. I'm betting much like yours." Their Stryker looked a lot like the one Kate had been driving. He had a question. "Are either of your units loaded?"
"Our Stryker has a full load of .50 Cal. Hunt's antitank gun is empty. We used them all," Kate answered.
"PETTY OFFICER BOND! That Stryker needs an antitank missile. Hook 'em up," he yelled, pointing at one of the men that was still standing near one of the trucks.
"Yes, sir." It might be work for him and the other guy in his truck, but if it meant they now had two more Strykers that were armed to the teeth, he was happy.
"I'll help." Hunt left them to help unload the case and load up his missile launcher. These guys were Navy and this was an Army vehicle.
Morrison was back moments later as they watched the sun begin to get lower, signaling the end of the day. "The captain and Jarod send their regards. I would like you right in front of our hydrogen generator, if you please, when we leave in the morning. We lose that thing and we're all in big trouble." He meant stranded with not much help near them.
"Gladly. Do you and your men have time to eat? Castle needs to finish cooking for us before we run to our Strykers," Kate said.
"We have a small team that's already handing out what we have for tonight. If that BBQ place is still functional we may be leaving a little late in the morning. The cooking section in your trailer isn't large enough for all of us. You should be eating. We leave at sunup." Morrison excused himself and took what he was handed to eat.
The sun was down and after eating, Kate, Alexis and Bear, Rick, Hunt, and Martha all ran for their Strykers.
Kate was stripping down for the night. "I wonder where that many men sleep?" She didn't get it. They had a lot more people.
"Their Strykers is my guess. We use ours for sleeping and storage. Their storage is in the back of trucks. Plus they might have something we haven't seen yet." They only had eight Strykers for 51 men.
~[o]~X~[o]~
They woke to the sound of someone pounding on their Stryker. They hurriedly put on enough clothes to open up.
"The BBQ place still has gas so we can cook, if you care to join us?" Chief Petty Officer Brown invited. "I'd like to say we have steaks or brisket but what we do have is a lot of canned meat." He left them and ran to the BBQ building.
The sun wasn't all the way up just yet but Rick packed some of their Spam cans and followed everyone else.
~[o]~X~[o]~
"You realize we have to cross the Mississippi River next." Alexis was a little concerned.
"Yes, Miss, and the chief petty officer will inform us if there's a problem that he can't solve. When or if that happens then we will find an alternate route. But I have faith. Shall we go?" He motioned for them to enter their Stryker. "Chief Petty Officer Brown and his team have already left and are likely at the bridge already."
Minutes later Kate, Alexis, and Rick crossed the Mississippi River, not just once but twice, and they did find cars on the bridge. "I think he drives a lot like you do." Alexis was betting that she saw new dents in a few of the cars.
They'd no sooner crossed the river when they got off. "Please tell me they aren't thinking what I think they are?" Kate watched the lead vehicles drive into a parking lot for a Walmart Supercenter.
"They do have firepower," Alexis reminded her. But much to the surprise of both of them they stopped at a China Buffet.
They watched as the seamen dismounted; half went into the China Buffet while the other half went across the street. "Colton's Steak House and Grill?" These guys were doing things they had never even thought of doing.
"The power has been out for months. What do they hope to find?" Kate didn't get it. If anything they should be taking that Walmart apart.
Still they watched as each group came back with full boxes and they were back on the road again. "We are so finding out what they got." Kate wanted answers and didn't see Alexis nod.
"They're getting on US Route 60." Alexis started flipping through her binder.
"Right on Route 17." Alexis had her nose back in her binder.
Kate slowed down and halted behind the other vehicles that had stopped. It looked like they were in the middle of a town. She and Alexis popped their tops to look around.
Kate read the big sign on the big building. "Texas County Food Pantry Inc. Do you need help?" she yelled at the first person to get close.
"Can you man your weapons just in case, Ma'am?" He formed up with the others.
"I'll do it. Warn Hunt." Alexis went back down, squeezed herself into the back, and then up to man the .50 Cal.
Moments later they heard a whole lot of weapons fire that came in spurts. Thirty minutes later they saw man after man carrying case after case of food out the door, loading it into several of the trucks.
"Thank you for your support and waiting for us." Morrison nodded gratefully and ran for his ride.
~[o]~X~[o]~
Kate stopped when she saw Morrison standing in front of a Stryker, waving his arms. She and Alexis popped their tops and stood up.
"Chief Petty Officer Brown has come in contact with four Strykers sent from Fort Leonard Wood. Two of them are going with him as front guard; we're going to pass the other two who are going to act as our rear guard. We're almost there, ladies," Morrison yelled. He then ran for his Stryker and hurried up the back ramp.
"We made it?" Alexis looked at Kate like it was an impossibility. The middle of Florida to the middle of Missouri while surrounded by infecteds that wanted to kill them.