AN -
Happy Mothering Sunday to all the mothers out there reading (UK time anyway)
Apologies for the lack of posting its been a busy few days and I just havent found time to post. A few of you actually guessed right in pm's who the man with the knife was, which suprised me. So well done to those who got it right.
On to the chapter... lets find out who it is!
Love Always
AL xx
-oOo-
"Don't move, just stay exactly where you are and no one needs to get hurt today" a male voice said and the hairs on the back of Marks neck stood on end.
"The way I see it, the only one with threatening behaviour is the one with the knife against my friends neck. How about you lower it?" Mark said calmly.
"Not until you have answered some of my questions first" the man said, peeping out from behind Callie's shoulder to inspect her companion.
"Ok but make it quick, raising the roller panel made one hell of a noise and we have no idea if there are any infected in the area" Mark said seriously.
"No infected to worry about, just people. How many of you are there?"
"Two of us. Just the two of us" Mark said, neglecting to mention the people back at the estate that would come looking for them if they didn't return.
"What are you doing here?"
"Just getting some firepower, we didn't know this area was occupied or we would have gone elsewhere" Mark offered hoping the honesty in his voice would get them out of this situation, he could see the beads of sweat running from Callie's forehead.
"Been trying to get in there for days and you get access in under ten minutes. Where did you learn to do that?"
"I learned as a kid, its really not that hard. If you let my friend go I would be happy to show you how to do it" Mark offered.
"What's to say if I let her go you won't try and hurt me?"
"I have no intention of hurting anyone. We just came to get some fire power for protection. I can see that this is your space so if you let my friend go we will be on our way"
There was a few moments of silence before the stranger lowered the knife and stepped a good distance away from Callie. He watched as Mark strode forward and gathered the shaking woman in his strong arms and soothed her.
"Thanks" Mark finally said as he felt Callie's trembling stop.
"I'm sorry I scared your friend but you can never be too careful these days"
"No your right. I understand... I don't like it but I understand and Callie will be just fine, right Cal?" Mark asked as he pulled back from the brunette and inspected her neck. It really was just a minute flesh wound. Callie nodded her agreeance before taking a deep breath.
"Are you here alone?" Callie asked after a few moments, she scanned the shops surrounding them expecting to find faces watching them but there was none.
"Sure am, names Alex. I've been here since day two. Cleared the infected out and put them in the dumpster area out back so they didn't stink the place up. There's a grocery store just over there so I've been living in there, plenty of food for just the one... not much company though" Alex muttered more to himself than his new companions.
"Look we come from a little estate just down the way, there's a few of us. Plenty of space to go around and no infected inside the walls..."
"Callie..."
"No Mark. What's the point in having somewhere safe if we don't share it with other survivors?"
"He just had a knife to your throat"
"He did. But then he put it down and moved away. Alex, how would you feel about joining us back to the estate?"
"What's the food situation like?"
"Well we have plenty for now and plan on growing our own fruit and veg but until then there are still plenty of houses to forage inside the walls"
"How many if you are there?"
"A few" Mark answered before Callie could get her words out. He didn't want this stranger to know too much.
"And you would just welcome me in, even though I just almost killed one of you?" Alex scoffed softly, obviously used to keeping his voice as mute as possible to avoid being detected.
"I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding. Look if you don't want to come then we will just take some fire power and leave you here to take the rest... but why stay here on your own when you can be with other people... have some company and be a part of a community" Callie said and watched the mixture of emotions whirl behind Alex's eyes. "While you decide I'm going to grab a couple of trolleys and we're going to start loading up the car. There is no pressure to come but the offer is there. Mark, I will be right back" Callie eyed the two men before making her way further into the mall to grab two trolleys on still shaky legs.
"So what brought you here alone?" Mark asked conversationally.
"Nowhere better to be and there's plenty of food here. Just got no way to cook it but cold beans aren't so bad once you get used to them" Alex shrugged.
Mark watched him for a few moments before nodding his head agreeably "we take it in turns to cook. We're making our way through the perishables first" he confided.
"Smart. You got good looking women there?" Alex asked hopefully and Mark couldn't help but laugh.
"Any woman can be beautiful to the right person" Mark imparted some wisdom, Alex thought about it for a few moments before nodding his head in understanding.
"If I come and don't like it, am I free to leave?"
"As long as you don't cause any trouble... we're more of a sanctuary than a prison. Cal secured the whole estate on her own. My group arrived a few days ago and decided to stay on. We escaped the city. Lost a lot of good people getting out of there too" Mark confided.
The two men ceased their conversation as they heard the brunette approach with a trolley in each hand.
"Can I bring my own truck?" Alex asked, still trying to make his mind up.
"Sure you can" Callie answered. "Does this mean your thinking about it?"
"Can't hurt to come have a look, maybe have a shower and a hot meal before I decide" Alex shrugged.
"That we can accommodate" Callie smiled softly.
"We all pull our weight though. There is no free loading" Mark warned and Alex nodded thoughtfully.
"Why don't you go grab your things and meet us back here. Its going to take a while to get things sorted here" Callie suggested.
"I cut the power to the place yesterday so people would think it was abandoned... what I'm saying is I can't guarantee the alarms in there wont go off but they shouldn't. If they do go off, I would not suggest hanging around for too long" Alex offered as he rushed away to pack up his meagre belongings.
"Nice guy" Callie offered as she motioned for Mark to enter the store first.
"When his knife is holstered" Mark groused.
The two worked in tandem collecting an array of hand guns, shotguns and rifles as well as much ammo they could carry in their trolleys. Once the two trolleys were full, Mark dashed to get another two which they filled with boxes of MRE's, walkie talkies and batteries as well as a couple of mean looking knives. Almost as an after thought, Mark grabbed four bows and a selection of arrows.
By the time they had four full trolleys, Alex had returned with two trolleys of his own filled with energy bars and power drinks. On his back was a hiking backpack with a sleeping bag attached to the top. It was heaving and looked incredibly heavy but Alex didn't seem to be struggling with its weight.
They wheeled the six trolleys out to Callies crew-cab and began emptying the contents. As they worked they debated the pro's and cons of leaving the gun shop open for anyone to access and decided against it. Mark dashed back inside and pulled the roller panel down and snapped the padlock back in place.
Once Callies cab was full, Alex fished his car keys out of a pocket and pointed towards a Ford F150 at the far side of the carpark. Callie told him to sit in the cab and she would drive him to the vehicle which he happily accepted.
Once both vehicles were running, Callie led the way back towards the estate and towards their next stop. She had completely forgotten to tell Alex about this stop and so when he pulled along side her at the garden center and looked at her quizzically she threw him and apologetic smile.
Silently they scoped the place out for ten minutes and when they deemed it safe they exited the crew-cab and Alex questioned them on what they were doing stopping.
"We need to pick up some seeds and plants" Mark rolled his eyes playfully as Callie shoved him softly.
"I want to start growing things as soon as possible and after this mornings rain the ground should be nice and soft to start digging"
"Cool. Lets go" Alex made a move to enter the small building.
"Wait up. We knock first to see if we have any company" Callie informed the new comer.
"Makes sense" Alex offered an unusual smile before rapping loudly on the glass pain of the door. A few seconds later an infected appeared, gnashing its yellow and blood stained teeth at them angrily.
"Torres you get the door, I'll take it out" Mark ordered as he grabbed his axe and hefted it in his hand. He nodded for Callie to go, and Callie pulled the handle down and swung the door outwards towards herself.
The infected fell out the door and landed on the floor making Mark miss as he swung the axe where its head was seconds ago.
Alex jumped into action, unsheathing his knife and stabbing the infected through its eye socket. It instantly stopped moving, its life now extinguished.
"Thanks" Mark offered and Alex only shrugged as if it were nothing. But Mark felt a bit silly for missing.
They entered the garden center and the sweet sickly smell of death greeted them.
"Lets get what we need and get the hell out of here" Callie said needlessly.
They grabbed a basket each as they passed the entrance and Callie made her way straight to the seed department. She had been in this shop many times over the past few years, it was her local for her business and had a builders yard attached selling pavers, rubble, stones and some timber. But today she was only interested in the edibles.
She emptied the seed stand of anything they could grow to eat as well as adding a few plants in there that she knew would deter the pests from eating her crops. Once two of the baskets were full she motioned for the two men to follow her, stepping over rotting carcasses in the floor. Callie grabbed a flat bed trolley and began loading it with fruit trees, seedlings, chilli plants and the like. Once it was full the three of them made their way to Alex's F150 and deposited their steals into his cab.
"Right that's us sorted. Are you ready to go and meet the others?" Callie asked as she noticed Alex become fidgety, he shrugged in response so Callie took that as a yes and made her way back into the drivers seat.
"It's about a mile down the road. When we arrive, Mark will move the gate and let us in, just follow me and park your car up the drive next to mine" Callie ordered softly.
They completed the journey in just under ten minutes and found themselves surrounded by the group of survivors and Axel who was probably the most excited to see Callie back, as soon as she opened the car door he jumped up onto her lap and began licking her face excitedly causing her to laugh.
"Get off me you silly mutt" Callie grinned as she guided Axel back to the concrete drive and smiled as Arizona stood holding Millie's hand and watched the exchange. "Thanks for dog sitting"
"I would say anytime but that would require you going back out there and it has been the most nerve wracking couple of hours of my life" Arizona admitted.
"You brought company" Derek said as he approached Alex with his hand stretched out. "Derek Shepherd"
"Alex Karev" Alex offered as he took the hand and shook it firmly.