The four of us trudged through the snow shortly after we stepped out of our truck. We had finally reached a grocery store that looked to still have food in it. At least, we hoped it had food in it. Ever since the initial invasion that happened months ago stores with food gradually were emptied out by people trying to avoid capture or by the occasional mamono that wanted something specific.
We pushed our way through the knee deep snow until we reached the self opening doors. With the power out, the leader of our little group shattered the glass door and stepped inside, the rest of us following him. After making our entry, we looked around to see where in the store we were.
The four of us were standing in a section that once held produce, and further in front of us was an aisle where frozen food used to be. To the right of us was were you checkout whatever you wanted to buy, and past that were the aisles of food that should have been better preserved. We made our way towards them, cautiously observing our surroundings in this dark store.
Whenever we had to do this, I also worried about my light passing over a figure standing there watching us. One time one of us saw a mannequin which made him jump, but that was about the closest thing to it. We reached the aisle of canned products so we grabbed a nearby shopping cart that was abandoned when things first broke out. There were a few things still inside of it, so we got rid of what we didn't need before proceeding to fill it up with canned food.
After we filled it with a large chunk of the canned food aisle, I heard the gut wrenching sound of a small click. It sounded like it came from the aisle next to us so we readied our guns and split up to enter from both sides of the aisle. We turned our lights off before doing so and quietly approached where the click came from./p
I peeked my head out to the other side but couldn't see anything. Unsure about how to tackle the darkness, I whispered to my friend, "Should we-" My sentence was caught of by a loud shot ringing out, the bullet missing me.
I stepped back as the sound of a rifle bolt being worked emanated from the dark aisle. "Leave me alone you monster fucks!" A young, male voice angrily shouted.
"Woah dude, we aren't mamono!" I shouted back.
"Are you going to rob me then?!" He questioned.
"No, we're just here for supplies for our militia." I informed him.
"Militia?"
"Yeah, militia. We're trying to hold out until the mamono fuck off."
There was silence for a moment before he shouted back in a more calm voice, "Ok, sorry about shooting at you, we can talk."
I cautiously pointed my light down the aisle and saw the guy, someone who looked to be around my age, possibly younger, standing there with a hunting rifle. He was wearing a winter jacket, jeans, and black baseball cap. He seemed to no longer be a threat, so me and my friends approached him.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Hey, you're in my home, not the other way around. What are your names?" He replied.
"Home? You fucking live in here?" Hearts spoke in surprise.
"In the staff room, I have a little camp set up. Again, what are your four names?"
"I'm Hearts." The leader of our group answered. "Standing next to me is Clubs, and over there are Diamonds and Spades." He added while pointing at me.
"The fuck, those aren't names." The guy replied.
"It's a group militia thing, you see the cards strapped to our helmets? We're the four aces." Hearts explained.
The guy looked at us confused before asking, "Why don't you guys just use your real names instead of this wannabe special fallout faction stuff?"
"It's the apocalypse, or war, or whatever the hell this is. It's fun to be different." Clubs replied.
"Aight, if you guys aren't using your real names, then I won't either. Just call me fucking, hermit or something." The guy replied with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"So, Hermit, do you want to come to our base with us? We have a militia group that can keep you safe." I offered.
"I don't know, let's just get to know each other a bit first as you grab whatever you need." The five of us walked around and grabbed some more tasty boxed and bagged stuff that was preferable to canned food as Hearts explained what our militia was like.
"So, after having a group of a few dozen people, they decided to form this militia a couple months into this mamono invasion. A couple dozen more joined later, and now we just travel around like nomads in hopes of outlasting the mamono."
After hearing that, Hermit replied, "Ok, few questions, do you all know how to shoot? Do you all wear cards? What if the mamono doesn't go away? And how is this group ran?"
"We are all given shooting lessons by a few law enforcement members of the group whenever we have the chance to do so. The cards thing, that's just for our little friend group. As Clubs said, it's a bit fun to have a new identity for yourself, but it also may protect who we actually are in the event that we get captured or if the mamono loses this war."
"Ok, and the mamono and militia leadership thing?"
"The group will either settle down and prepare for a last stand or break up for everyone to go their own way if the mamono succeeds in taking over. As for our leadership, it's run by the three guys who first started it. They discuss what to do next amongst themselves, tell everyone else, and then we take a vote on if to do it. And before you ask, they don't vote on which groups to send out, they let small groups of four or more volunteer to get supplies." Hearts explained.
"Huh. Are you guys well stocked with weapons and ammo?" Hermit asked.
"Yeah. We have abandoned military supplies, stuff from police stations, stuff from hunting stores, and stuff that we get from dead mamono soldiers. That's why the four of us are wearing mismatched police and military body armor and using different guns."
"I was wondering why that guy had a riot helmet on with that mamono camo pattern." Hermit replied while pointing at Diamonds. We finished topping off the cart with the boxed and bagged stuff, so we made our way to the front entrance of the store.
"So, are you all friends from pre invasion?" Hermit asked.
"No, we all met after being paired together in the militia."
"Ah, ok." Hermit replied. We reached the front entrance so Diamonds and Clubs went to go bring the truck closer.
"What's your story?" I asked.
"Well, all this shit started when I was chilling at home. I was enjoying my summer vacation before grade twelve rolled around, then these horny, genocidal, monster women show up and start capturing young guys and girls, and executing those who are too old or poor looking. I somehow avoided capture through sheer luck and being unfair in the occasional fight, even escaping a rapey elf soldier by biting her ear off. I ended up joining this large group, then they got captured with me somehow avoiding that. Then I ended up finding this desolate grocery store that no one really touched."
"So you just made it your home?"
"I guess. It's uncomfortable, but it has a bunch of food. It lasted me from September to now, which is surprising. This being undisturbed until right now in February is nothing more than a miracle or something." Diamonds and clubs finished pulling the truck up to the front of the story so we loaded up what we grabbed into it.
"Do you wanna come with us? You'll be safe and well fed." Hearts offered one more time.
"Ah, no. I've seen what can happen to large groups." Hermit replied. Curious as to what he saw, I asked, "What happened?"
"The group I was with wasn't captured through the usual means. There was no massive gunfight where they were stormed by the mamono. I was chilling in the camp and left to take a piss in the nearby trees. That was one of the luckiest things to ever happen to me because when I turned around after, this reddish pink light, kinda like those portals they use but bigger and more whimsical looking, enveloped the camp. I hid in some bushes as the light disappeared as suddenly as it appeared. After that, there was nothing there. The entire camp of around thirty people was gone, along with the shelter they set up."
"What the hell?" Hearts said in a concerned tone.
"Yeah, they can teleport large groups of people somewhere, probably their mamono land. I think that along with their advanced technology, magic and sudden invasion is the reason our various governments and stuff are losing to them if the radio broadcasts are honest."
"What the fuck." I muttered to myself.
"Anyways, I wish you all the best. I need to find a new home since my current one has its glass doors shattered." Hermit cheerfully said.
"What else do you know about the portal?" Hearts asked.
"Nothing, I just saw it happen and that's it. By the way, I don't want to get too attached to anyone so it's best we stop talking. I hope you guys don't get sucked up by genocidal horny women portals, and I hope you all succeed in surviving this invasion. Adios." Hermit said as he walked towards the staff room, presumably to grab his things and leave.
"What do you make of that?" I asked Hearts.
"I think we'll need more guns." He simply replied as he entered the driver's seat.
Chapter end.