Five days later and the bulk of the horde had marched off in search of more food while dozens were left behind just standing around in that odd hibernation they entered when food was scarce.
Brian's food was running low and so she was planning on heading to some sort store that might have supplies left. Having run through 75% of her food supply through the slim pickings of the weeks before and the total reliance through the last few days. She hadn't dropped to that low of a level of food since she first started truly learning how to hunt, that was when she had been totally dependent on what she could scavenge from homes and buildings.
So now, seeing that the area was clear of such a large horde of walkers, Brian packed up and got ready to leave. Her underwear and bra were changed, a new shirt put on, pants carefully fit with her belt around her waist. Her boots tied tight with clean socks over her freshly washed feet while her leather armor was first tied tight around her legs. The leather jerkin was fit over her upper body, the ties tied from neck to navel, before leather was tied around both her arms. With her hoodie slipped on, her hair braided, her beanie cap low over her ears and her sunglasses perched on her nose, she was ready to go.
With ease, she swung her backpack onto her back and clipped the straps on her hips and over her chest tightly so that the backpack was fit snug to her back and nothing shuffled around to throw her balance off while her Leatherman was set in a small pouch on the strap of the backpack on her shoulder. Her two knives were fit in their sheathes on her belt and the gun was quickly checked before being reholstered. Finally, Brian picked up her bow and began making her way out of the room that she had camped in for the last five days. Her arrow quiver was strapped to her pack in such a way that the arrows could easily be grabbed but she didn't have to worry too much since she had the five arrows clipped to the bow itself.
Brian made her way out of her room, carefully eyeing the crossbowman who she still didn't know the name of. He was camped in that same alcove that she had seen him in throughout their stay in the house, and she watched as the near silent click of the door closing made him jolt awake out of his bare doze. He clutched his weapon close, finger just itching to pull the trigger, and eyed Brian with a glare as she walked near silent across the hallway and down the stairway.
He gave a growl, sounding like he had gargled glass shards when he was younger, or, Brian looked at the outline of a cigarette pack in his chest pocket, he smoked and it had affected his voice. She waited a bit for him to get down from the alcove he had been sleeping in, letting him watch her as she left the building completely.
The man kicked at the leader's, Rick's, leg to wake the man up as they passed the man sleeping on the carpet downstairs. Rick jolted awake at the kick, his hand automatically reaching for his gun, before he saw who had woken him up and what was happening.
He stood up swiftly, but kept his gun out as he watched Brian with a hard look. "You don't have to leave; you could stay with us for a while longer." Rick finally stated, seemingly having been thinking about this over the past five days. Brian had been polite and she had stuck to her room as often as she could unless she was forced to the restroom. She hadn't tried to steal from them nor had she tried to hurt any of the group, so he was definitely willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.
"No, I'm just heading out. It was nice meeting you Rick, beware of the living because while the dead are dangerous, the living will get you to trust them before stabbing you in the back. If we cross paths again, I might say 'Hi' but I doubt it." Brian said while gripping her compound bow a little tighter. "You and your group are better people than a lot of others living in this world now."
Brian turned towards the back door and opened it carefully and silently before swiftly running out. Her feet were silent, barely any sound as she ran past lurchers who tried following her as she represented fresh meat.
"She could have stayed?" Daryl asked Rick as he lowered his crossbow, watching as the woman ran past dozens of walkers without a flinch.
Rick nodded, also watching as the woman continued on running, not bothered by the walkers who still represented a huge threat to his group. "She reminds me quite a bit like you."
Daryl scoffed and shut the door before securing it. He then took out a cigarette and chewed on the end though he didn't light it, he was aware that smoking could harm Lori and the little sprog growing in her belly.
Brian had run until she couldn't run any farther, which was still quite a distance since her pack was considerably lighter with its low food content. Having looked at a map she held in her pocket, Brian knew a large town was nearby and she was hoping that she could find someplace to steal food from.
Walking along the highway was nerve-racking, empty and burnt out cars littered the road, lurchers stood around and seemed to patrol the streets like a mockery of law enforcement. Luckily, she had broken out her container of lurcher guts so the decayed smell permeated the air around her, disguising her scent. She eyed the buildings carefully and ignored the obvious supermarkets such as Walmart and Albertson's, but instead searched for some place less obvious or a place such as Costco.
She grabbed out a small bag of jerky, made from an animal she had hunted on her own, and chewed on the bland strips of meat. It was chewy, so chewy that she was forced to chew on one piece for a good five minutes before being able to swallow but it kept her mouth occupied and her hunger at bay.
Finally, after having walked down through the majority of the large town, she came upon a Sam's Club right near the edge of the town. It was situated right next to a Walmart, a movie theater, and a few fast food joints but it was also just teeming with lurchers roaming around.
With the heavy scent of decaying lurcher around her, she was left alone by the few dozen undead just hanging around. She walked past the haphazardly parked cars, some covered in camping equipment and others stuffed full with suitcases, but she focused on getting to the massive building. Once at the front doors, she was forced to shove open the sliding doors as the electricity had cut out long ago and so the doors no longer opened automatically.
Inside there were handfuls of the lurchers roaming around and everything seemed to have already been ransacked. However, with a single look around, most of the food items that were wrapped on pallets and placed on the higher shelves were untouched and just ripe for the picking. Brian suspected that most people who had tired coming here were either killed by the large and dangerous amount of lurchers roaming around both inside and out, and those who lived only went for the easily reachable items.
As she wasn't too worried about the lurchers near her, Brian went searching for a ladder. Using the ladder, which had taken around ten minutes to actually find, she began searching for pallets that would actually be of use to her. Plenty of packages of food were found, cans of various brands were found and collected while all the rotting food items were avoided like the plague.
With a grin, Brian actually set up her hammock to hang high above the ground between two different shelving units. She could definitely live here for years. It aloud her a safe haven with a roof over her head and a constant source of food.
For now, she cleaned up the inside of all the lurchers still shuffling around and barricaded the various doors until the only way in and out was through the roof. The building was practically perfect, it had thick walls and a roaming pack of lurchers hanging around that deterred any living people form coming near and trying to steal everything.
After a day of good food and rest, Brian made her way outside with her pack full to bursting with food all the food items she could want. Everything had been taken out of boxes and carefully placed in her pack to allow for the best use of space. She literally had over a hundred different energy bars, chocolate protein powder packets by the hundreds, and more canned foods than she could carry.
So, with a sigh, Brian went outside to look for a vehicle with the keys already in the ignition. One skill that she had yet to figure out was how to hotwire a car.
Without further ado, Brian filled an SUV with as many supplies as it could feasibly hold and drove off to the last location she had seen that group of people in.
She probably wouldn't stick around however seeing a pregnant woman, a woman with an unborn child in this apocalyptic world. It had struck a chord in Brian that she had known existed. With as much speed as she would dare, Brian went back to that group she had seen. The same group that just seemed to barely be surviving.
It barely took a half hour before she was back and her luck was with her now, especially since she could see the archer's bike still outside the house. With ease, Brian ran over a few lurchers before parking at the curb.
She got out, settled her backpack on her shoulders, tied a red handkerchief on the SUV's radio antenna, and walked to the front porch. Brian didn't bother knocking or alerting those inside to her presence, but she just tied a second red handkerchief to a banister before leaving completely.
With a look to the sky, Brian cut across the street and headed into the woods heading north. As of now, she wasn't in search of any place to hole up. Just that night staying with the group had reminded her how dangerous it was to stay in one place. She couldn't assure her continued survival if she were trapped by a horde or found by a group of other survivors who weren't as nice as Rick and his group. Sticking to residential areas had reminded her that other people did the same thing, that they didn't go off into the woods were lurchers could be hiding.
So, with that lesson in mind, Brian left off without a backwards glance. Maybe, with winter snow, the lurchers would be frozen until the thaw and she would be relatively safe for a few months the farther north she went.
Rick was honestly shocked by the vehicle just filled to bursting with various food items and other much needed supplies. He looked to Daryl who was reading a note found on the dashboard of the vehicle and looked over the hunter's shoulder to read as well.
'If we crossed paths again, I told you I might say 'Hi' but I didn't. You and your group are better people than a lot of others living in this world. All this food was found at the Sam's Club just on the outside of the nearest town, though it is surrounded by a large group of lurchers so be careful. See you around, Rick Grimes.'
Daryl snorted after he finished reading the note and looked through the tinted windows of the SUV. He could see so much food and other stuff that he was surprised the axle hadn't given out with the weight. It was Glenn who opened the back and gave a relieved laugh as the first thing he could see were a few dozen large cans of baby formula and baby food along with dozens of granola bars. He quickly began grabbing various canned goods that could quickly be cooked for the group but stopped when he noticed a massive pot that had its lid tied on as if to keep anything from spilling.
A note was attached to the top, 'eat me.'
Glenn laughed and called Rick over, "Look at this!"
Rick jogged over with Daryl, both ready for anything, and were surprised as Glenn pointed out to them a massive pot of what looked to be something already cooked. "Breakfast is served, boys!" Rick grabbed the still warm pot and carefully lugged it inside.
Glenn ran ahead to round up bowls and plates for everyone in the group while Daryl helped Rick inside by holding the door open for the man.
Once inside, the food was served and everyone had as much as they could eat before waiting a bit and having more.
Carol leaned back against the wall of the house and gave a happy laugh, "That chili was worth an award in my books."
Everyone laughed and agreed while Daryl simply sat with the pot and scraped the last of the chili from the sides and bottom. Lori was happy and content, finally feeling as though she weren't slowly starving to death while she watched her husband and son with full bellies.
Once they had felt capable of moving, having all stuffed themselves with so much food that none of them could stand up let alone walk, they redistributed the supplies into the different vehicles and began searching for a place to stay that would be safe and that could be their home.