Michelle lead them through the streets for several minutes, eventually bringing them to a lightly guarded warehouse. Just the sight of Michelle leading someone inside made the guards step aside, and once they were inside, she closed the door behind them and turned on the lights.
"Mother of god!" Ryan had put his aviators back on his face during the walk there, but the sight of so many firearms had him stunned. He slowly pulled them off his face, amazed by the sight before him.
"Niiiice!" Alice was also highly impressed, and she turned to Ryan with a teasing smile. "I'll get Katie's guns, you go have some fun, babe."
Ryan stared at her in utter shock. She then made shooing motions with her hand, and his eyes lit of with excitement as he dropped his glasses and went deeper into the warehouse.
"Should I send a search party after him at some point?" Michelle joked, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.
"No. Once he finds something he likes, he'll be back. I've never seen him second guess a weapon before." Alice replied, taking her time as she examined the well organized inventory list on a nearby crate. "These are quite extensive reports. I'm guessing that you also have a large cache of ammo as well, yes?"
"Yes. The ammo depot is the building across the street. If you and Ryan need to resupply, I can send word for them to delivery the proper calibers you need."
"Thanks, but I'd rather wait for him to find his new toys first before bringing over the wrong calibre. Let's walk and talk. I need to get my daughter and myself our guns." Alice replied, placing the clipboard she was holding back on the crate. Michelle began to follow her through the aisles of weapon crates, while Alice was talking over her shoulder as Michelle caught up to her.
Elsewhere in the warehouse, Ryan was valiantly trying his best not to explode with happiness. He could tell that this stockpile was gathered over the four years since Raccoon City, but a lot of it had to have been here already once the shit hit the fan... right?
Regardless, Ryan managed to find himself smack in the middle of the sniper rifles. He shook his head, he already had his custom Paratus-18, he didn't need one of these.
Moving away from those, he found something that actually made him smile with happiness. A customized compound bow was just sitting atop a crate of AK47's, as if it was just forgotten about. He doubted that it was even on their list of stock at the moment.
Taking the customized modern hunting bow, he realized that it was a lot lighter than he'd expected. Furthermore, the quiver of arrows that it was likely paired with was sitting right there as well! He gladly took the bow as his first weapon, and left in search of something much more familiar.
Ten minues later, Michelle and Alice had located another MP7 for Katie, plus - at Michelle's inspiration - a G36c for Alice. "It'll match your husband's rifle." Michelle smiled as Alice slowly ran her fingertips along the side of the rifle, her gaze somewhat distant.
"Perfect. I'll take this for myself, and the MP7 is for my daughter." Alice lifted the G36c out of the crate it was laying in, and slung it across her back alongside her M3. "There is one last thing I want to find for both myself and my daughter..." She turned and walked further down the rows and rows of weapons until she found Ryan examining a slightly surprising weapon.
"I thought you'd be drooling over an LMG or an assault rifle, to be honest." Alice teased him as she reached around his torso from behind and playfully pulled an M92f out of his hands. "Not playing around with this little pistol."
"I'm not." Ryan took the gun back with a wave of his hand, causing the metal pistol to fly into his grasp with his Magnokinesis. "It was in the wrong crate, so I was putting it with the other M92f's."
"Have you found anything acceptable, Ryan?" Michelle asked, sounding amused at Alice's commentary.
"Compound bow." Ryan replied, then turned his gaze down a nearby aisle. "I'm also considering taking that beauty over there." He pointed at a grenade launcher he had placed on top of a crate.
"He said he found a bow he likes. He also wants that grenade launcher." Alice indicated the weapon as well. It was an MGL-140, a six shot revolver style grenade launcher. Definitly something she could see Ryan using.
"Bow? I'm not aware of any bows being in here. May I see it?" Michelle frowned slightly.
Ryan reached over his back and pulled the compound bow off of his back, which seemed like an odd placement on his upper shoulder, until they realized that the bow was a folding one.
With a snap of his arm, the bow extended to full size, and the bowstring twanged loudly. Ryan turned to face them and held out the bow to Michelle.
"Oh, I remember this one! It wasn't officially recorded in the inventory because of how unique it is. Go for it, it's all yours." Michelle nodded as she returned the bow, which Ryan folded back down and returned it to his back. "As for the grenade launcher, we're out of ammo for it. We haven't received more than the initial six rounds that came with it, and those were used up a month and a half ago in a huge zombie attack on the main gates."
"Well, that sucks." Ryan grumbled to himself as he turned around in Alice's arms and pulled his mask down to kiss her. "Guess I'll have to find a new toy elsewhere."
With that, Ryan turned and walked away, audibly humming to himself as he peered into a crate, then around a corner, out of sight.
"Was he... Humming?" Michelle stared at the corner where his footsteps were still fading away. "I thought that he was completely silent!"
"I don't know everything for certain..." Alice slowly spoke, crossing her arms and leaning her hip against the crate of M92f's that Ryan had opened. "But I think that a few of his vocal cords survived his attack, so he is able to make a small number of sounds... Things like humming, growling, laughing, and a few other sounds like that." Alice smirked. "But we've gotten so used to Telepathy that I don't even notice if he actually does make a sound. The way I see it, if it was even possible for his throat to be healed back to what it was before he was stabbed... I'd try my best to convince him not to do it."
"Really? Why not?" Michelle was amazed that Alice was against him being able to talk again. "Why would you be against him speaking again?"
"I... I just..." Alice paused for a moment to consider how she really felt about Ryan's Telepathy and his muteness. "It's because the moment that he revealed he was mute... It was like the time I'd thought I lost him forever..."
"You mean that fight against the scientist, don't you?" Michelle asked in a gentle tone. "When he died?"
Alice fought back the tears that had begun to rise in her eyes. She gave a single nod as Ryan's footsteps reached their ears, accompanied by the sounds of a gun being checked over extensively.
"Well... Let's see what you've got!" Michelle put on her usual voice, which got Ryan's attention for a split second, which Alice used to wipe away a stray tear.
Ryan held out a revolver that after a moment, Alice recognized as a Single Action Army. She raised an eyebrow, but Ryan seemed happy with the gun. She shrugged and decided to follow his example and find a revolver that she and Katie would like.
"I think we should all have one. Where are the other revolvers, Itoshii?" Alice spoke vocally, glancing around the corner that he'd been.
"Second aisle on the left. First crate on the left side." Ryan replied, giving the gun a practiced examination, testing a firing technique with several loud clicks of the hammer.
With a nod of thanks, Alice strode away and went to find a satisfactory six-shooter set, leaving Ryan with Michelle near the MGL-140.
"You still want to have a look around? Might find something surprising, like that bow." Michelle commented casually, leaning her shoulder against a pillar and clasping her hands behind her back.
Ryan shook his head, then shoved his SAA in between his vest and his shirt. He then held out his hand, smiling sheepishly at the gun's grip sitting in his face due to the awkward and improvised temporary holster.
Michelle extended his left hand, smiling at the gun. "There's spare pistol belts near the door we came in. I believe you also dropped your glasses by those doors as well."
Ryan grasped her by the hand in a firm handshake before speaking in a very unnaturally calm voice that was betrayed by the glaring edge to his yellow eyes.
"Do you mind telling me why my wife was crying?"
Michelle could tell right away that he'd seen her tears, so she calmly explained exactly what they'd been talking about before Alice started crying. Ryan relaxed at the revelation, and nodded.
"I overheard you mention that the ammunition depot is across the street. Could you have some brought over so that I can load all of our weapons?" Ryan indicated the SAA's grip in his face with a small glance and pointed at the MP7 that Alice had accidentally forgotten on the M92f crate.
"Sure thing. What calibers do you need, and how many rounds of each?" Michelle breathed an inward sigh of relief. He was calm after the misunderstanding about Alice's tears.
"5.56mm, .45 ACP, 4.7mm, and I was curious, do you ever stockpile arrows, or should I return to our vehicles outside to gather my old cache?" Ryan indicated the quiver he had attached to his belt. It only held about thirty arrows inside.
"We stockpile our arrows, yes. But since you have your own stash, you might as well gather those first, then I'll decide if you need more, young man." Michelle gave him a motherly look that she was clearly aware she was giving him. She'd even put her free hand on her hip to finish off the mental image.
"Forgive the rudeness, but might I ask your age?" Ryan smiled behind his mask. He was technically an adult - if the tradition of turning eighteen meant he'd entered adulthood was still acknowledged after the apocalypse - and add in the accelerated aging from the T-Virus, he was physically in his mid twenties.
"You first." Michelle teased him, smiling warmly. "You look older than you seem."
"Well, physically I'm about twenty five..." Ryan chuckled quietly. "But to tell you the truth, I'm actually only eighteen, soon to be nineteen in fact."
"T-Virus, I assume." Michelle concluded, to which Ryan nodded. "Well, since you were so honest, I'm forty one." She smiled again. "Now, I'll get that ammo delivered, you just wait here for Alice."
Michelle released his hand and retrieved a small pocket radio from her lower back, hidden under her t-shirt. She then requested a crate of each of the various calibers that Ryan needed to the warehouse. She received an immediate response and nodded to Ryan.
"Ammo's on the way. I'll go fetch the crates." Michelle strode in the direction of the doors, leaving Ryan alone to wait for Alice.
"I know they're versatile, but I don't really like that G36 as much as I thought. I decided to get myself two revolvers instead of the rifle. I already put it back where we found it." Alice came walking around the corner holding two matched revolvers in one hand, and another model in her other hand. "But, you like yours, so I can't really say that they're all that bad." She smiled as she very skillfully began to juggle the three revolvers in the air, catching them and pulling the triggers before tossing them airborne once again.
"Impressive. What models did you get?" Ryan asked, smiling at Alice's flawless juggling.
"You tell me. I don't really know as many revolver models compared to automatic sidearms." She tossed the single revolver - the one that was obviously meant for Katie - towards Ryan, who caught it with the assistance of his Magnokinesis. "This is a Smith & Wesson M29, it appears to be chambered in..." Ryan opened the drum and examined the chambers closely. ".357 Magnum. This is the one you chose for Katie, right?"
"Yeah, I just saw that one and pictured Katie with that in hand, blasting an Iron Maiden in the face." Alice smiled as she continued to juggle her matched pair with one hand. "Ready to catch one of these ones?"
Ryan shoved Katie's revolver into the small gap under his arm where his vest met his armpit, then extended his hand and caused one of the guns to zoom straight into his hand, once again using magnetism. He intently examined the gun from end to end, his eyes narrowed until he said. "these are heavily modified, but some of the base components that give away their original design being Colt Python's. They're chambered in .44 Magnum. Nice choice."
"Do you need some help holding those?" Michelle returned at that moment with a few guards carrying a small box of the various ammo he'd asked for. Her gaze was riveted on the oddly placed revolvers adorning Ryan's vest, plus the one in his hand. Behind him Alice was twirling the other Python around her index finger idly.
"I'll take them. C'mon, let's at least get ourselves a place to put them before we even think about loading up." Alice used her Telekinesis to take all of the revolvers from him, levitating them around her head as she turned to Michelle. "I decided to swap the G36 for another Python. Katie's still keeping the MP7 though."
Michelle gave a nod, then glanced at the revolvers floating around her head. SAA, Python's, and M29. That meant they needed .357 and .44 Mgnum rounds instead of the 5.56mm.
"Swap that 5.56 for the .357 and .44 Magnum boxes, I forgot to mention these on the radio." She turned to the man closest to her, who nodded and carried his crate back outside.
Once he'd returned, Alice and Ryan had loaded Katie's new MP7 with a fresh magazine, plus five spares. Ryan modified his vest's upper chest pouches to accomadate the revolver residing there in a holster. He also organized his belt with three pouches that contained all the Speed-loaders of ammo he had loaded.
Twenty minutes later, Ryan explained to Alice where exactly his old quiver was, and she retrieved it with her Telekinesis. One of the guards poked his head out the doors to see the quiver sitting on the ground a few feet away and retrieved it for them.
Finally, after loading themselves to the brim with their other weapon's ammo, they turned to Michelle and Alice said. "So where is this laboratory located? We're finally ready to get started."