Render grumbled as he followed the three girls and Jonah into a clothing store. After the decision for the groups to stick together(Side Note: Check Apocalypse Survivor's story), time had been taken to split into groups to look for specific items. Render and Jonah had quite literally drawn the short straw to accompany the girls to go shopping for clothes for everyone. "I am not getting anything new," Render grunted as they entered the store.
"Oh, no, you're not weaseling out of this," Jenna said.
"But-"
"No buts," Jenna said. "You're still covered in blood and guts, Render, even after numerous showers." She then looked at Jonah and Ellie. "Actually…how did you and your group manage to stay so clean?"
"Ah, that would be my doing," Jonah spoke up. "My dad was in the military, so I've learned a lot of skills that are surprisingly useful, including some stealth skills he taught me. We've managed to avoid fighting in our travels."
"Fine, I'll get some clean clothes," Render grumbled, stalking off to a section of the store that held hoodies.
"Alright, what kind of ammo are we looking for?" Andrew asked.
"Let's see," Ryan said, ticking off on his fingers. "We've got Render's Uzi, your buddy's hunting rifle, a revolver, a SMG I managed to get my hands on earlier, and whatever you kids are carrying."
"Right then," Andrew said as he went over the list he had with him. He then looked over at Eric and Thom, who had gotten their hands on some explosives. "Explosives, check," he said.
"What, you planning on robbing Fort Knox?" Ryan asked as he watched the boys stick anything they could fit into their duffel bags, grabbing whatever ammunition was nearby and any explosives that were in arm's reach. He turned around and let out a sharp gasp as he spotted what was something of a familiar friend to him. Owen watched as he pulled down a sniper rifle, one just like the tier 2 sniper in Left 4 Dead 2.
"You okay?" Owen asked as he watched Ryan begin to pull pieces off, inspecting each one.
"Fine, just fine," Ryan replied as he put the weapon back together. "And I think we've just something to add to the armory."
"Hey, anyone have a preference for shotguns?" Eric asked as he walked up with a stack of six shotguns, two tactical shotguns, two SPAZ-12s, and two old fashioned pump shotguns.
"I found some rapid fire," Thom said, coming from the other direction, holding an assortment of automatic rifles.
"Right, I think we have enough for a couple weeks," Geoff said as he held four large duffel bags filled with food, Fred holding two, while Jackson walked beside them with only one. "Well, for Render, at least. With that metabolism of his, we may have to load everyone up with at least one bag."
"That'll slow us down," Jackson said. "We have to figure out how to ration this stuff."
"Good point," Fred agreed. "Too bad we don't have any wheels. This would be so much easier if we had even a trailer. Geoff and I could pull it along no problem."
"Hey, guys!" Jonah yelled to them as the two groups met at the front of the hotel, Render, Screen, and Jenna ignoring Jackson, who stepped a little bit behind Geoff. "I see you had luck with finding food," he said, looking at the duffel bags.
"And it would seem that the clothes shopping went well," Fred said. "Hey, is that a pink hoodie I see?"
"What do you think the odds of making Ryan wear this would be?" Jonah asked, holding up the hoodie in question.
"Depends on who's asking him to wear it," Fred replied, chuckling at the thought of his friend being forced to wear the hoodie. "Anyways, we have a slight problem with the food. See, with Render's accelerated metabolism, this food will be gone in a matter of days. And without a way of transporting more food than this, we're stuck in a rut."
"That is a problem," Jenna said, while Jonah scratched his head before walking into the hotel. "Hey, where're you going?"
"Just to ask Clark a couple of questions," Jonah replied. Jenna looked at Jonah's companions, who all shrugged. "Hey, Clark," Jonah said as he spotted the owner of the hotel. "Is there a scrap yard around here?"
"Well, actually, if you look just out back, you'll see one," Clark said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "The surrounding buildings block it from view, except for one alleyway."
"Mind if I take some things out?"
"Help yourself. No one's comin' to claim anything anytime soon," Clark said. Jonah began to walk behind the counter, but stopped.
"Hey, do you know anyone with some muscle that might be willing to help me?" Jonah asked. Clark walked towards Jonah and then past him, opening a door.
"Sure thing, Jonah," Clark said. "I'm rather interested now."
"Thanks," Jonah said, smiling. They walked through the door, Jonah looking around at the mountains of scrap. "Oh, this will do nicely," he said, laughing a little. "Alright, first things first. I need something large as a chassis."
"How about that?" Clark asked, pointing at the chassis of what Jonah guessed to be a terribly mangled bus.
"That'll do just fine," Jonah said, nodding, walking towards it. "Alright. Clark, if you can help me keep this a secret from everyone until this thing is down, I'd appreciate it."
"Hey, my lips are sealed," Clark said, using his fingers to pull an imaginary zipper across his…upper jaw.
"Nice spread," Render said as he looked at the weapons Ryan's group had brought back. "Hey, what's up with the sniper rifle?"
"That would be mine," Ryan said, picking it up.
"How are you going to get to the trigger?" Render asked. Ryan looked at the trigger guard and put a finger on it, pulling, the trigger guard snapping off. "Ah. Like that. Do you know how to use that thing?"
"Yes," Ryan said, looking down the scope. "It was…something of an essential for me before the infection."
"What do you mean?" Owen asked as he picked up a Desert Eagle and a magnum, testing the weight of both.
"It's….nothing," Ryan said, shaking his head. "Hey, where'd Jonah get to?"
"Dunno. Last I saw him, he was going into the hotel to ask Clark some questions," Render said, shrugging. They three looked up as the door opened, Jonah walking in, his face smeared with something black. "The hell happened to you?"
"Nothing," Jonah said, yawning and stretching his arms. "So, is this your room or the armory?" he asked, looking at the weapons spread all over the floor, carefully stepping between weapons to get to the desk in the room, pulling out the rolling chair and sitting in it.
"Believe it or not, this is actually my room," Render replied. But Jonah was lost in thought with something else, while Render continued to talk, asking Ryan about a weapon he didn't recognize.
"Taser," Ryan replied. "A very well disguised taser, at that," Ryan said, picking up the pistol-like taser. "The trigger gives it away." He pulled the trigger, which didn't move. "Bolted in place. If I were to take a guess, I'd say there's a button on the handle to activate it."
"Sweet," Owen said, taking the taser from Ryan, who went back to inspecting some of the shotguns.
"Alright, Clark, just a little more to the right," Jonah said, Clark moving a large steel cabinet two inches to the right. "Perfect." Clark set it down, stepping out of the back of the vehicle he and Jonah had been working on for three days now. "Almost done, Clark."
"I'm not gonna lie, Jonah," Clark said. "I am very impressed. I didn't think anyone your age could do something like this."
"Well, I didn't really do shows and games," Jonah said. "I was more into the military kind of stuff and a little automotive work. Lucky that there was so much to work with here."
"Right. What's left?" Clark asked.
"The engine," Jonah said.
"And where do you plan on getting it from?"
"Here…there…around this yard," Jonah said. A few hours later, Clark was setting in the final piece, shocked at how short of a period of time Jonah had spent cobbling together an engine that could move this…monstrosity of a vehicle. "Thanks for your help, Clark," Jonah said as he began connecting the necessary components between vehicle and engine. "And that was a great idea for setting up three semi-truck diesel tanks as a fuel system. We should get a few days of straight driving now on one fill up."
"Well, shall I go get your friends?" Clark asked.
"Nah. I've still got a few more things to do on this thing before it's completely ready," Jonah said, looking up as the lights around the scrap yard lit up, brightening the dim area.
"Anything I can help with?"
"No, I got this," Jonah replied. He continued working into the night, falling asleep just as he finished the final piece. When morning came, he woken up by Andrew shaking his shoulder. "I'm up!" Jonah said wearily. "I'm up."
"Jonah," Ryan said from behind Andrew. "What the hell is this thing?" Jonah looked out the windshield to see both groups now staring at his creation.
"This?" Jonah asked, smiling tiredly. "This is our own personal apocalypse RV, Ryan." Jonah stepped out of the vehicle, stepping back to admire it. He had built off of the bus chassis, widening it and then using armor plating that had been conveniently lying around the yard to build the cab around the chassis. It was large to hold a group more than three times the size of Jonah's group and Render's group combined. Geoff and Fred saw that they would easily fit inside of the vehicle, while Jonah turned back to the two groups. "We've got storage space for food and gear. There are six weapons cabinets, so we'll have some room for extra weapons should we pick up anymore. We've got about six diesel tanks for the fuel system and the engine was cobbled together. We can leave at anytime now."
"This…is where you've been for the past three days?" Jackson asked, pointing at the vehicle.
"Yep," Jonah said. "I've always been interested in automotive work and this is probably the best work I've ever done and perhaps will do."
"Not bad, kid, not bad," Ryan said, patting Jonah's shoulder. "Alright, everyone back inside. We still have things to pack before we leave tomorrow."
Now they have wheels. Please Review.