Chapter 40

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A couple of Rolie's men took care of Tommy's corpse. They took his body and placed it in an alley a few blocks from the office. We weren't sad to see him leave. Bill and Ashley's bodies were placed in the backyard of a nearby home that Amber found.

Rolie, Shauna, and I tried to repair the gate around the building as best we could. It was a little difficult because of the damage Tommy's crew did to it, but we were able to get the gates back in place.

A few days had passed when Rolston had us all gather around in the lobby. I thought he was going to update us on the supply situation of the group, but what he said caught us all off guard.

"Erin and I have talked it over, and we decided that we're going to be leaving," Rolston said.

"Whoa, what? Really?" I asked him.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"We feel it might be best to move on from here. Another crew like Tommy's could come in here and wipe us all out."

"What are you planning on doing?" Shauna asked them.

"We're going to try for that military aid station at the airport," Erin answered.

I didn't really know what to say. I just sighed and shook my head.

"Once again. Don't even know if it's there," said Shauna.

"Our minds are made up," Rolie responded. "And that's why we brought you all down here. You're all more than welcome to come with us."

"In fact, we'd prefer it," Erin added. "Let's just all go. Leave this place and start fresh."

I didn't want to go. I looked at Shauna, who was just as shocked at the news as I was.

"I'm staying," I told Rolie. "I'm sorry, but I don't want to go."

Rolston was disappointed, but he seemed to understand, "Okay, Dom. I get it."

"I'm staying too," Shauna said.

However, Shauna and I were the only ones who elected to stay behind. Even Amber wanted to leave. She even tried begging us to go with her and Rolie's group, but like Rolston and Erin, mine and Shauna's minds were made up.

"We head out in two days," Rolie announced.

During those two days, Rolie and the crew got ready. They packed up their gear and searched a few of the nearby buildings for anything that could be useful. Rolston made sure to leave Shauna and me a fair amount of supplies. It was more than enough to last until after my face healed.

And then the time came to say more goodbyes.

Rolie and his crew got up bright and early the day they were going to leave. Amber cried as she said her goodbyes to me and Shauna. She pulled us both in and hugged. "Thank you two. For everything."

"You're welcome, Amber. You be careful out there," I said before I had to stop because I was choking up.

"Keep Rolie and the rest of them in line, ya hear?" Shauna told Amber through her tears.

"I will," Amber replied.

"Rolie, you take it easy," I said, shaking his hand.

"You got it," said Rolie. "Look after this place, and try not to irritate Shauna too much, okay?"

I chuckled. "I can't make any promises, Rolie."

"Goodbye, Dom."

The group departed the office, leaving Shauna and me behind.

"I hope they make it," Shauna said.

"They'll be all right. Wherever they wind up. I know they will," I responded.

The next few days consisted of Shauna and I still repairing the damage our battle with Tommy's crew did to the building. It was quiet in the office with everyone gone. Shauna and I had a lot more room, too. She stayed on one side of the lobby while I stayed on the other. We figured we'd stay down there just in case something happened, the two of us would be ready.

After a week of it just being me and her, Shauna and I were growing restless. We still had enough supplies to last us a while, so there was no need to go out.

"Maybe we should have gone with them," Shauna said.

"Wow, I'm that boring, huh?" I replied.

"No, Dom. It's not that."

"I know. But they have over a week's head start on us. I don't think we'd catch them.

Shauna sighed, "Yeah."

I stood up, "Come on, Shauna."

"Where are we going?"

"Upper floors. Change of venue. Let's see if we can find something to keep us occupied. Maybe someone left a deck of cards laying around."

"Why not? Something to do, I guess."

Shauna and I walked up to the second floor and looked around. There was an old fax machine collecting dust in one of the corners, but that was about it. So we headed up to the third floor. It was the first time we had been up there after the bodies had been taken out.

"Now this apocalypse is starting to suck," I said.

Shauna agreed. "Yeah. But I guess I'll take this over what we went through with Tommy any day."

"Got that right."

Shauna and I stood there and stared out at the horizon. The sun was shining brightly, and with the exception of it being the end of the world, it felt like a normal day.

Shauna tapped my arm and she pointed to one of the streets down below. "Dominik, look."

There was a woman running down the street. She was clutching at her backpack and she kept on checking behind her. It seemed like someone was chasing the woman.

I looked at Shauna, "Let's go help."


                                                                       


                                                                                 The End.

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