Firehouse Oasis 118

10. Athena

Bobby was acting squirrelly.

Athena, wasn't entirely sure why, she had a couple guesses, but none of them seemed quite right. It was the third night of their trip, and the events of the last night had set even her on edge.

Nothing disastrous had happened thankfully, but their plans had needed to be adjusted. The first spot they'd hit, an abandoned wilderness supply outpost, had been a success. Their second target of the night, had not been. The area with a set of restaurants that they'd been hoping to stop at for more kitchen supplies had not been nearly as abandoned as they'd anticipated. It'd turned out the area hadn't been abandoned at all. It was a risky area to hit, a 50/50 as to whether or not it had become a ghost town or boomed with the displacement of people. It'd turned out to be one of the places that'd boomed.

The cop car with its tinted windows and their uniforms had worked their magic. They'd driven straight through without issue, but it'd still been a near heart attack for the both of them.

It'd been strange too, seeing an area with an entire population of people and not a single kid. It'd been different than she'd remembered it too, not that she'd ever been to this specific area before, but still. Everyone she saw looked absolutely exhausted, like the area was full of people but devoid of life. It was just strange, perhaps a bit unsettling, that was all.

They'd made it out though, and kept driving until they found an abandoned Publix. They'd done a bit of shopping there, even found the type of powdered pancake mix you only needed to add water to. Then they'd headed to the hiking trails and campgrounds they'd marked on the map. They were, as predicted, abandoned, and she'd driven the car as far into the woods off the path as she could go. Then they'd tilted their seats back and crashed as the sun rose around them.

It'd been a close call, but Athena didn't think that that was what had put Bobby on edge. It was something else. Not that Athena wasn't on edge too, she'd had a pretty terrible nightmare. It was one of her worst memories from Thurmond, the day she'd realized that things actually could get worse. The day one of the PSFs had dragged her behind the watchtower where there was a blind spot in the cameras and-

She cut that train of thought off quickly. Just because her subconscious had decided to dwell on it didn't mean that she needed to consciously do the same thing. The point was that she was on edge too. She hadn't slept well, and the fact that Bobby was on edge was putting her further on edge.

They'd both woken up around the same time, at about four PM, which meant they had a couple hours of sunlight to burn until they could resume their travels. They'd both dug into the snacks they'd picked up on the first night at the gas station as well as some of the waters for an easy breakfast/dinner. Then they'd gone over their maps and plan again.

They were going a different route to circle back towards the 118. Their first stop was going to be another strip mall that housed another Walmart. They'd be doubling up on most of the stuff they'd gotten the first time, non perishable foods, water or other potable liquids, household items, and some fun stuff if they had the room. Then they'd hit a library. The days were long at the 118 and they'd all agreed that some books might be useful, both for entertainment as well as general education since they hadn't really gotten a full one. Their last stop would be a quick one at a hopefully abandoned Lowes. Bobby and Buck had had some ideas for the garden, and they were hoping to find some fertilizer as well. The smell of which, if they were successful, was why it would be their last stop. After that it would be a two hour drive back to the 118 and then they were home free.

That being said, a lot of things had the potential to go wrong, but it still wasn't enough reason to be nearly as nervous as Bobby was now when he hadn't been before.