AN
Evening all. I meant to post this last week but the build up to christmas is kicking my ass, too much drinking, too many parties, too many hangovers lol. But here is chapter 14, i apologise now for the cliffhanger, it was the natural end of the chapter and hopefully, all being well i will be posting the next chapter at the weekend.
Until then, i hope you enjoy and points will go out to those who can guess who our mystery person is at the end.
Love always
ALxx
-oOo-
The crew-cab pulled into the East side of the mall carpark and the inhabitants of the vehicle inspected the doors that they had secured just yesterday. They didn't look touched, which caused Callie and Mark to release a breath of relief.
"So how do we do this?" Derek asked the other three people.
"There's a couple of vans out the back, I saw two but there could be more, but I have to warn you... there is a lot of dead infected back there that have been baking in the sun. It's not going to be pleasant" Alex advised.
"What about keys?" Mark asked.
"There's a storage box at the back of the Grocery Store in the 'Staff Only' section" Alex shrugged "Not sure if they will be in there but it's worth a look first. There's a warehouse door which leads to the loading bays where the vans are"
"Okay then, lets go and take a look, everyone be alert. I know Alex has done a good job of clearing this place out but let's stay alert anyway, I don't want to lose anyone today" Derek stated as he exited the crew-cab quietly.
"I guess that's his new catchphrase" Mark said to Callie knowingly.
"It's a good catchphrase to have" Callie repeated.
They prised open the sliding doors and entered the mall, Callie and Mark glancing at the gun store to check it was still securely locked and Derek looking around in amazement at how quiet, still and clean it was as Alex scouted ahead to make sure the coast was still clear.
Entering the grocery store single file, they let Alex lead the way as he knew the store like the back of his hand, they walked past the aisle that Alex had obviously been living in as there was empty cans discarded in a pile. They passed through a plastic double door which led to the back of the store and into an office.
"Key box is on the wall" Alex pointed as he made his way into the warehouse quietly and scanned the area.
"Why is there no power?" Derek asked.
"Turned it off to make the place look less desirable" Alex shrugged as he re-entered the room to find Derek picking the lock with a bobby pin and Mark shining a torch over his shoulder to make it easier for him to see what he was doing.
"Got it" Derek grinned over his shoulder as he grabbed the three sets of keys in the box and rattled them noisily to his onlookers.
"So, is it a surgeon thing then, being able to pick locks?" Alex asked with a smirk.
"I'm imparting my wisdom onto him, the offer still stands to teach you?" Mark offered.
"Maybe another day... let's get the worst bit over with" Alex grimaced at what was to come. Callie, Mark and Derek followed Alex's lead once again towards a big shutter door in the middle of the room, two further roller doors stood on either side of it but for some reason Alex chose the middle one to open.
"When I open this were going to be pretty exposed. Last time I checked three or four days ago there wasn't any of those things alive out there but that doesn't mean that there isn't now. So lets be prepared" Alex warned.
"Open it a bit, I will lay down and take a look out first to see what we are dealing with" Callie suggested and Alex shrugged in response as he watched Callie get down onto the floor ready. He grabbed the chain to the left of the door and used it to lift the door about two-foot from the ground and held it steady. "Looks clear" Callie announced as Alex's biceps began to burn from holding the weight of the entire roller door on his own.
"Guys, give me a hand" Alex asked despite his bravado. Derek and Mark rushed forward and grabbed the chain and together they hoisted the roller door ten-foot into the air before Alex tied the chain off to stop it from lowering again. "Usually you'd just press the button to lift and lower it, but someone turned off the electricity" Alex shrugged.
"Wow, that really stinks" Callie scrunched her nose up in disgust. "How many exactly have you killed here?"
"thirty... forty... you lose count after a while" Alex offered and noticed the impressed looks on all three faces.
"Ok lets see which key belongs to which van" Derek said, pulling the keys from his pocket where he had placed them to help Alex open the roller door. The vans were reverse parked in three bays just in front of the three roller doors, one of which they had opened. As Derek unlocked the first van, the middle van, he tossed the keys to Alex. The second set of keys opened the left van which he tossed the keys to Mark which left the final right hand van for himself.
"Guess I'm driving home alone" Callie mused.
"Lets bring your car around the back so we can load it up too" Alex suggested.
"Me and Cal will go, you two work out what we are taking" Mark suggested as he looked at the piles and piles of palletised boxes of food in the warehouse that they could now see through the daylight filtering through the open roller door. He had imagined having to take trolleys to the shelves in the front of the store and relay them back and forth, but this was going to be so much easier and efficient.
"Be careful out there" Derek warned as Mark and Callie exited leaving just himself and Alex in the cavernous warehouse.
"Don't suppose you know how to operate a forklift?" Alex asked once they were alone.
"No, never used one before" Derek offered a smile.
"Cool, did you drive before all of this? I can teach you really quickly. They have four forklifts over there, they look fully charged, will be a damn sight quicker than carrying all these boxes by hand"
"Lead the way my friend" Derek grinned.
-oOo-
"Addison, your meant to be keeping an eye out for infected" Arizona pointed out as she saw Addison looking off into the distance towards the mall.
"Sorry, I'm just worried is all" Addie offered as she watched Arizona heft a car battery into a wheelbarrow. her hands black with engine grease.
"We are all worried, but we have to trust that they know what they are doing and won't take any risks. Let's just focus on what we need to be doing" Arizona tried to keep the snap out of her voice but saw the hurt look in Addison's green eyes and felt guilty instantly. Before she could utter an apology, something caught her eye in the direction to Addie's back.
"Company at your six" Arizona whisper yelled, something deep rooted in her from her military upbringing, she hoped that Addison would understand her. Addison didn't turn around immediately which concerned Arizona but the red head walked a few steps away before turning lazily in the direction Arizona had instructed her. Clever girl. Addie obviously didn't want to alert any possible threats that they had been made.
Addie scanned the road as far up as she could see but couldn't see anything, she glanced back to Arizona questioningly when a shout made her jump and almost shit herself.
"U.S. Army... lower your weapons" It was a mans voice, loud and to the point, especially on a deserted road with nothing but silence surrounding them and that's when she saw them, three of them at first, then five. All in urban camouflage dressed up to the nines with some serious firepower being aimed in their direction.
"Lower the weapons and get down on the ground" it was the same voice as before only this time it sounded more urgent. Arizona couldn't tell whether they had spotted her and Jim, so she motioned with her head for Addison to lower her baseball bat to the ground and thanked the lucky stars that she had left Ben babysitting Millie and Axel in Callies house.
"How many of you are there?" The voice shouted again. Addison glanced at Arizona who nodded and held up three fingers. Addison took the hint and in a shaky voice called out the number three.
"All of you come out where we can see you, on your knees in the middle of the road"
Arizona and Jim complied with shaky legs when they saw the five assault rifles being pointed in their direction. For all intents and purposes, they had been caught with their trousers down and now the rest of the group would be returning to an ambush.
Well Shit.