They needed supplies.
Nora held a scrap of paper in one hand, a nubbed down pencil in the other, and thought carefully about what she needed from town. What they all needed. The town they were going to raid was abandoned as far as they knew, but it was hard to say if anyone had come before them, what would be left, and how much time they'd have to find out. But she needed things, she was dangerously low on her period supplies, and she had only one pack of birth control left. Those were the most pressing. Other things she wanted were somewhat frivolous but necessary none the less. Soil for her greenhouse, a pesticide for the upcoming bug season, new lightbulbs as they were running low, batteries for the tv remotes (one small comfort they had left), more freezer food to get them through the next few weeks if they were at the bunker and not on the road, and coffee. She finished scribbling the notes, her hand moving deftly over the paper, and shook her fingers out, strained from the rustiness of writing. It had been so long since she'd done something as rudimentary as inscription, she had used to write constantly, notes had been plastered all over her dorm room, filled her bookbag, notebooks full of her musings and memories and all the little things she needed to know for classes. Classes. The thought made her snort involuntarily. The only useful thing she'd learned from them was how to moderate the temperature in the greenhouse so she didn't kill everything inside it. All that time she could've been preparing for the end of world, like the Winchester's had, and she'd spent it in a classroom taking notes about nothing.
"Ready?" A voice startled her out of her thoughts and she looked up to find Dean in front of her, looking tired (always tired). "What've you got?" He took the list from her hand and scanned it quickly, the expression unchanging on his face before he shoved it back at her and nodded curtly. "You'll need to come with us, we'll have to split if we want to get everything done fast. Sam and I need our own shit, he's hitting the hardware store and I'll hit the grocery store, so you'll do the pharmacy. SAM!" She flinched when he raised his voice, but he didn't notice and stepped back a bit to allow Sam into the small kitchen to join them. "Looks like princess here needs soil and pesticide added to your list," he paused for a second, the sarcasm dripping thick as he said it, "but more importantly, stock up on batteries and lightbulbs. I'll get the freezer stuff. We need you to get more bandages and tape, more painkillers, rubbing alcohol, and iodine. Got it?"
Nora picked the pencil back up to scribble the notes as quickly as she could, knowing that him having to repeat anything wouldn't bode well for her. Finishing up, she nodded curtly, ignoring the raising anxiety in her chest at the thought of having to go into the pharmacy on her own. Fear was as risky as failure, it made you sloppy and stupid, as Dean always drilled into her. So she never showed it, she hid it deep in her psyche, in the pills she routinely swiped and popped without their knowledge. "Got it." She straightened up, and tucked the scrap of paper into the back pocket of her dark denim jeans. She snagged her jacket off the back of the kitchen chair and followed them dutifully out of the house. She took a deep, calming breath of the fresh forest air around them, waiting for Sam to finish locking every deadbolt on the door before he lumbered toward the impala. Dean came up behind her, his hand coming to wrap around her bicep and pull her with him, a little more roughly then was required, and propelled her forward.
"We get in, we get out. Don't be stupid. You see someone, you what?"
"Get away quietly, fight if I have to."
"Good girl," he released her arm and opened the driver's side of the door, pulling the seat forward so she could climb into the back. Habit made her buckle her seatbelt and she settled back, listening to the engine roar to life, the birds to scatter at the sudden noise, the gravel to crunch under the tires. Dean turned on music and started a conversation up with Sam, allowing Nora the opportunity to be ignored, to focus on calming the dense feeling of dread in her stomach as the trees whizzed past and they hit open road. It wasn't a long drive, not by usual standards, but it was enough that the anxiety settled into exhaustion and she'd fallen asleep without realizing it.
The sudden jolt of stopping pulled her awake and she blinked blurrily, sitting up and trying and failing to cover the yawn that involuntarily came out of her. Dean glanced at her from the rearview mirror and she snapped to attention, even as he glowered at her. "Nice nap there, princess?" One of those days. She knew it was because he was on edge too, he hated taking risks like this, and it was getting riskier everyday Lucifer branched out into the world. She didn't answer him and he got out, opening the seat for her as he deftly went around to the trunk with Sam to stock up on weapons. Nora joined them wordlessly, she took the gun Dean handed her and tucked it in her pocket, along with a knife dipped in dead man's blood. She scanned the streets around them, so creeped out by the silence that was in stark contrast to what should've been a bustling little town. A block away there blinked the sign for the pharmacy, most of the letters burnt out. She knew it was on purpose that they were parked closest to her assignment, even though they treated her less than human on most occasions, they still worried about her. She was green. Unseasoned. Her skills were much more limited than theirs so they wanted to make sure she had the easiest out if she needed it.
She nodded at them both, and started forward, but was stopped abruptly by a hard hand on her shoulder. "Be. Careful." Dean's eyes met hers and she almost shrank back at the intensity in his gaze.
"Yes sir, I will." The answer was monotone, automatic, void of any emotion, the only way he'd accept it. If she wavered, he'd balk and call it. And she really needed that birth control. He nodded back, once, and released his hand, jerking his head towards the pharmacy.
"We all meet back here in 30, any longer then that and we'll know there was trouble."
Sam joined them both and looked around the town too, unease rolling off his body. "I don't like this quiet, let's make it twenty. Something feels off. Nora, you have your phone?" She held it up and then put it in her front pocket, patting it lightly. "Anything. Anything feels wrong, call and get out."
Nora nodded again, silently. Then before she could give either of them a chance to change their minds, she turned on her heel and stalked towards the pharmacy. The door still jingled when it was opened, a sound that never failed to scare the shit out of her. It was a strange sound, innocent and non-threatening, yet it could mean the very end of her if anyone else was inside the tiny store. Around her dust was settled on everything except for a few mislaid streaks where others had come before them. There wasn't a ton on the shelves, most of the useful things were picked through, but still Nora was easily able to locate a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a bottle of iodine on the shelf and she placed them up on the cash register so she could go to the back of the pharmacy and get the essentials. Birth control was easy, not many hunters were looking for it, but for Nora it was imperative. She grabbed six packs and stuffed them into the back pocket that wasn't housing her gun, then looked around for the painkillers they boys had requested. There wasn't a lot, but she found a few stray bottles of Ibprophin and one bottle of Codeine for if things got really bad. Then before she could lose her nerve, she went on the hunt for anxiety meds. Most of the pharmacy was in disarray, nothing was where it should've been and a lot of bottles were spilled on the floor. She knew she didn't have a ton of time, so she quickly scanned her fingers across all of the bottles still standing and,
"Bingo."
One bottle of Celexa, sitting forlornly among the other bottles. She stuck it quickly into an inside pocket in her jacket, where the boys wouldn't find it, before she exited the back to bag up the other supplies she'd gathered and find the bandages they needed. But of course there was nothing left in that department. They'd have to sacrifice another of the boys white tees for that. Satsified with her haul, she took a step towards the door and then the hair on the back of her neck stood up. Someone was in there. A small shuffle, that was all she'd heard, and immediately she whirled around, drawing her gun at the exact same second as a figure came barreling from behind an upturned shelf. How stupid could she have been, she hadn't done any recon at all! There was no time, she let loose a shot at the figure, hitting him squarely in the chest. The man—thing?—staggered backwards for a second before he resumed his approach and she cursed, realizing gun wasn't going to work. What was it? She switched out the gun for the knife and the man smiled at her, the smile full of malice and evil, and that was when she caught the glimpse. Fangs. Vampire.
Her reaction time was cut short, the Vampire lunged and she fell backwards into a shelf, it crashing around them as he fell on top of her body. She struggled for control of the gun, ignoring the gush of blood running down her forehead into her eyes, the Vampire wasn't as strong as ones she'd encountered in the past and she wondered briefly how long he'd been hiding out in here, alone? He was reaching for her neck to hold her prone and she jabbed her arm upwards into his nose, reveling in the satisfying crunch it made as it broke, and it took only that one stunned second for her to regain control of her knife and quickly stab it upwards into the monster's heart. The dead man's blood worked quickly, the beast howled as it rolled off of her and the poison seeped in. Nora scrambled to her feet, the blood making her vision hazy, the throbbing beginning to set in. She wrenched her phone out to call Sam, at the same second he burst through the door. The time had to have passed, he recognized the trouble. He made short work of beheading the creature on the ground, the sickening squelch of the knife hacking into the vampire's flesh making her even woozier. Dean had found them by that time, and he took in the situation with practiced ease, scooping up the supply bag easily and leading Nora out without even a look back to Sam. She couldn't read the expression on his face, or his body language, but she knew he was pissed, and she was dead. Failure. That was a failure. Too close, and too stupid. The things he hated more then anything.
To his benefit, he didn't strike then. He got her to the car, threw the bag into the trunk and searched for the bandages she hadn't procured. "They didn't have anything," she managed to croak out, and his hands still, instead he took his jacket off so he could pull off his henley, deftly ripping one of the sleeves from its' seams and dousing it in the rubbing alcohol. He pressed it to the wound on her head, ignoring her hiss of pain, and then he used the sleeve to tie around her head, staunching the flow of blood. "Fuck, Nora." He breathed out the words so lowly, she almost couldn't hear him.
"I can explain-" he shook his head and luckily Sam chose that moment to roll up, taking in the scene before him.
"She's good?" Dean nodded curtly and Sam's shoulders dropped, releasing the tension that he'd been holding. "Wonder how long they've been held up in here? That was five, we got the other ones. Good work kid." It clicked into place, a nest of them had settled here. Sam must've found the others, and he also had possibly just saved her neck. Not acknowledging there'd been a mistake, that it shouldn't have happened, that bit of grace was possibly the nicest gesture he'd given her since he'd almost broken her nose.
"We better go," Dean's voice was gruff, his eyes were still trained on Nora, making her heart beat a little faster. "That was too close. We weren't prepared enough." He helped Nora stand and tightened the makeshift bandage on her head before he put his jacket back on. She grimaced but gave him a small "thank you," before the three of them got into the car and headed out with the supplies they'd managed to gather. It'd have to do until they could make another run. A safer one.
"We'll talk about this later."
Her heart sunk at the words, and she knew she hadn't hidden the look on her face as he said it. His eyes hardened, even as Sam interjected his own opinion of "c'mon man, none of us were prepared. She got off easy enough."
"That's just it, she shouldn't have had issues at all. If she'd just fucking reconned the place…" Nora drowned them out, letting them argue amongst themselves as she sank into the backseat and closed her eyes. This was typical. Of course she'd be punished, she always was, it didn't matter if they all made mistakes, she was the punching bag. She was the screw up.
At least I'm not dead.