The rest of the group had similar items all of their carts were filled with clothes, tents, food, weapons, and anything else they deemed useful.
"Are we all well equipped?" Miles asked, looking at everyone's carts.
"Yes," Eden said, searching their cart to make sure.
"Good, well it probably won't be smart to lug around large carts so load everything you can carry into your camping bag and leave the rest," He said removing his large backpack from the top of the cart. He put his food in first laying it as flat as possible and neatly packing the butane and grill on top. On top of his food, he piled his neatly folded clothes and jacket before sliding his collapsable fishing rod in next to them. Then he hooked his machete to the carabiner on the right side of his pack his tomahawk on the left and his bow directly on the front supported by small velcro straps.
After situating his pack securely he strapped his tent tightly to the top of it looping the large velcro straps around it. He knelt, sitting comfortably on the floor and removing his running shoes. He put them in the top of his pack before sliding on his new boots. Everyone followed suit packing everything they could onto their packs. Everything fit mostly. The only things left behind were a couple of books in Eden's cart, a baseball bat in Scott's, and a battery-powered radio with Selena's stuff, anything small they couldn't fit in their bags was placed in their pockets or carried in their hands.
"Okay, we're ready then," Miles said, securing his heavy backpack to his back, groaning slightly as the straps dug into his shoulders. The others did the same, some finding it harder than others to carry the heavy bags. After a slight struggle, they were ready to step back out into the unknown and get the answers they needed.
"I still need to go home, I need to find them," Miles said, softly.
"Find who?" Eden asked, curiously.
"My siblings, we split up after the river and if they came back that's where they'll be," He replied optimistically.
"Can we help in any way?" They asked, smiling largely.
"Thanks, but I've gotta do this. It's my fault they left I have to be the one to get them back," He said, continuing on his way home.
As they approached the city limits Amanda's eyes widened, the scent of the city had never smelled so sweet. The cracked path beneath the trotting hooves under Thicket's large body caused a bumpy ride. The journey was long and Amanda didn't want to fall asleep. The thought of the dreams she's been having rushed through her mind. She remembered the vision of her mother floating toward her in the dark emptiness. She remembered a feeling of warmth as her soft voice spoke her name. Then she remembered Ecelsu, the way his scaly body slithered toward her, his menacing voice as he grew angrier. She remembered the feeling of helplessness and fear as it filled every inch of her body.
She was confused by the dreams, she wanted to understand why they kept occurring and how she could stop them. Her eyes grew heavy with each passing step and she knew if they didn't get home soon she'd surely fall asleep. Boulder and Ashur sat near the rear, fearful for what lied in wait for them once they entered the city limits. They had seen the horrors beyond the walls of the shelter, they could only imagine what Westbrook looked like.
"Not much further now," Amanda called back, trying to spark a conversation to keep her mind occupied.
"What happens when we get to the city?" Ashure asked, shouting slightly.
"We find our answers and we leave before we find ourselves at the mercy of another animal like that moose," She replied, staring down at the dried blood matted into Thicket's fur.
"Where are we going to find answers?" Boulder asked, curiously.
"I've actually been thinking about that, the military base, north of town. My dad, he worked there as a nuclear physicist before he was laid off. If there are answers anywhere they'll be there," She said confidently.
"Do you think there are any other survivors?" Ashure asked, hesitantly.
"I hope so," She replied. The scents of the city quickly became the sights. Distant buildings were now right there, and the husks were now fully visible. The tall buildings were covered in the vines they watched take their barn, and the ground was riddled with new plants sprouting up through the cracks. If they didn't know any better they'd say this city was vacant for decades.
"What did we get hit by?" Ashure uttered, looking around his decaying home.
"Whatever it was, it was designed to inflict as much damage as possible, and ensure there was no rebuilding," She replied, watching the snake-like vines climb and constrict. The sound of Thicket's hooves rang through the town and bounced off of the buildings surrounding them. An uneasy feeling grew deep in the pits of their stomachs the deeper they went.
"We should grab some supplies before we go to the military base, just in case," Boulder said pointing toward the small shopping center near the edge of town.
"That's a smart idea," She responded, using Thicket's fur to redirect him toward the shops. The buildings were clustered together in small groups circling a large parking lot filled with unlit street lights and vacant cars. The world was quiet, and the air cold. Amanda kept her head on a swivel anticipating an animal attack. The slivered moon danced across the sky submerging small corners of the street in its light.
The smell of smoke surrounded them as they trotted through the parking lot in search of supplies they desperately needed.
"Look, there's a supermarket," Ashure said, pointing to the large building at the top of the lot.
"It was looted during the chaos, we passed it when we were heading to the shelter," Amanda said, her mind filled with the vivid memory of people throwing bricks through the windows and trampling each other to get first pick of anything that wasn't nailed down.
"Yeah, but they couldn't have taken everything, it's worth a shot," He said, shrugging.
"Fine, let's take a look," She replied, pessimistically. The three of them approached the store and climbed off of Thicket knowing his large stature wouldn't fit through the small automatic doors.
"Okay, wait here boy and we'll bring you some carrots," Ashure said, patting the large buck on his leg. Thicket huffed, his warm breath visible in the cold air as it rose and disappeared. They walked toward the large building cautiously stepping through the shattered door. The shelves were vacant some knocked over, and the smell of rotting meat sitting in the warm fridges was potent.
"Oh, that's awful," Amanda said, plugging her nose as her eyes began to water. They walked the aisles of the store checking each metal shelf as they went. All that remained were small kid's toys, destroyed bags, and boxes ripped apart by terrified raiders. Some husks took cover behind knocked-over shelves, some being crushed beneath them, while others attempted to run. The skylights above were the only source of light yet seeing still seemed impossible.
"God, sure wish we had a damned flashlight," Boulder said, squinting in an attempt to read the labels of items he found.
"Let's find the camping section, tents could come in handy anyway," Ashure said, trying to remember his way around.
"Good idea camping tools could come in handy out there," Amanda said, agreeing with him. The three of them fumbled through the store slowly, stepping on broken glass, plastic bottles, and random bits of garbage scattered across the tiled k floor. The signs were nearly impossible to read so they used their instincts.
Growing up in Westbrooke, they knew the camping section was toward the back of the store near the bathrooms and the kitchenware. They knew if they kept heading toward the back from where they entered they'd be close enough to feel around for anything that resembled camping supplies.
They could slightly smell the rubber of the tires near the auto section and knew they were close. The spoiled meat became less and less potent the further back they went. Amanda could make out the silhouettes of bikes hanging on the rack and cheap skateboards lying wheels up on the floor.
"We're close, this is the bike section the camping section should be two aisles over," She said, excitedly. In the next aisle, they found the plastic casings of what they assumed were wiper blades, and the heavy boxes they knew were car batteries. Before they knew it they found themselves in the almost untouched camping section.
"Why is it so full?" Boulder asked, spreading his hands along the filled shelves.
"Same reason the toy section is untouched, in the event of a nuclear attack nobody is thinking about camping. They want food, clothes, and anything they can use to stay alive," Ashure responded grabbing a sealed plastic box from a peg in the wall.
"I think I found a flashlight," He said, using his teeth to rip open the thick package. He wrapped his hands along the shaft of the item fumbling around in search of the switch.
"Oh, shit! yeah found a flashlight," He said, shining the light in his own eyes. He rubbed his eyes to regain vision before shining the light at the shelves. They were filled with tents, blow-up beds, and gas lanterns.
"Jackpot," Boulder said grabbing a nice ten-person tent from the shelf. Amanda grabbed a few flashlights and a pack of batteries while Ashure packed on a few survivor's kits. The kit had a few blades in it like a machete, a tomahawk, some paracord, and a compass.
"These could come in handy," He said, handing the packs over to Boulder.
"Hell yeah, good find," Boulder said, excitedly.
"Let's break open the BB-gun case, could be useful for small prey," Ashure said, grabbing a small rubber mallet from the wall.
"You seen the giant fuckin deer outside, What small prey you hopin to find, a three-foot squirrel? Ridícula," Boulder said, sarcastically.
"Well they don't exactly sell real guns here, so better than nothin," Ashure responded, driving the rubber mallet into the dim-lit glass case, the glass shattered echoing through the store as it trickled to the floor. He reached in and gently swiped away the remaining shards of glass before removing a few air pistols, gas canisters, and a long-range rifle.
"Here," He said, handing a pistol to both Amanda and Boulder.
"Nah nah nah, why do you get the big one?" Boulder asked, the small gun barely fitting in his large hand.
"In case of a three-foot squirrel," Ashure said, smirking slightly.
"Okay come on, let's try and find some clothes," Amanda said igniting her flashlight and handing Boulder his, and sticking her air pistol into the back of her pants. Ashure followed strapping his rifle to his back before tapping Boulder twice on the chest.
"Some bullshit is what this is," Boulder said, sticking his small gun in his waistband and lighting his flashlight to follow behind. Their lights reflected on the shiny floors and danced across the shelves shakily. The faces of the husks were visible now and the horror plastered on them was unsettling. As hard as they tried, avoiding them seemed impossible.