Forgetting the Apocalypse

27. The Border

I swear every god damn time! I blame Riva.

This time he had the audacity to say that we would have "smooth sailing"! All because unlike when we first came into Montana, when we arrived here there was no surprise waiting for us.

Well guess what we didn't have ladies and gentleman? That's right. Smooth fucking sailing!!

On the third night, we found a small bar that looked relatively untouched. Not always a good thing since it could mean that there are some zombies inside that never got cleared out. Or that there were survivors hiding inside. Walking up to the windows we each take a side and start tapping lightly. The silence from inside and from the dogs had given us the indication that it was all clear.

Once we got inside we checked every room, which wasn't a hard task or one too time consuming. Besides the main entertainment room, it only had a room which was the office and then a basement. It was all clear. No sign of life or death. In fact, there wasn't even dust. That is what made all of us uneasy. No uninhabited place would have no dust.

"Uh-uh I don't like it. This place is too clean. We should find another place." I wanted to take Fredi's side but the moment I saw the way his face scrunched up in pain with each step and his legs wobble I knew we wouldn't even make it a block.

Before I could try to convince him to stay, Roone spoke, "I'm not exactly feeling cheery being here either Fredi, but we pushed too long. We have less than an hour before sunrise. This is the closest place we can find before then. So let's start our watch early instead of just the dogs. I'll go first, Mara second and then you little bro."

Much to his and our own unease, it felt so relieving to be off our feet. Especially Fredi. Once he sat and took a breather, he pulled off his shoes revealing his torn socks. Gratefully, they were just red from the pressure. His feet weren't bleeding. A few hours without socks or heavy boots should help bring the redness and swelling down.

We managed to get some shut eye but not until Riva's watch did something happen. In unison, all three dogs stood up covering our bodies with their own in a protective stance. Riva was already drawing his weapon heading towards where Dukino was indicating. Easing our dogs off us, we arm ourselves and check our sides that have windows on them. We don't see anything outside which left the basement. Fredi and Blackie lead first followed by Roone and Saphira.

Jack and I stayed behind with Rive and Dukino because he wouldn't stop sniffing at the door.

Seconds go by until someone finally knocks on the door. The four of us tensed. Another knock and then they speak up.

"Hello is anyone in there?"

"Look we're not mad about you using our place, we just need to get inside to get out of the sun. Please open up!"

There's two of them. Both women. What to do? Option one: if we don't they could cause problems outside and alert anything out there to our presence. Option two: if there's any trouble then we won't have to feel bad about killing them.

I guess hearing either the knock or the words from down there, boht buys and pups come up the stairs ready. Slowly opening the door, Riva let's them in. All four dogs are quick to sniff around at our two new guests but given that Saphira is quiet so we know that they don't have any weapons. While Roone kept his out, I, for some reason decided to put all my weapons away. Only thing that was visible on me were the arrows on my legs and one of my knives.

If they thought that not having any weapons will make them less threatening to us, then they're wrong. If anything it made us more suspicious of them. Especially for me. I mean, what is anyone doing without weapons but what two women are out in the day with no weapons?