Into Ruin

Chapter 4 Unnoticed

Reggie shook his head and muttered under his breath as he scanned the warehouse area. Vita knew that scowl and could understand how splitting up the scavenging teams and then filling the missing spots with random people from the gardening, kitchen, medical teams would agitate her boss.

Mischa's forehead wrinkled as she looked down at the card. "We're looking for electrical tape, insulation and any small handheld device with previous messaging and wifi connectivity." She looked at Vita. "You guys don't even have power. What good is this?"

"We don't ask," Vita said. She wished that she'd been partnered with Gunnar instead -- less questions -- but he was off receiving his 'survival' training. As if he hadn't made it through months on his own. Probably just the jealousy talking, she'd rather be learning to fight too.

"Listen," Mischa said softly, "I've been meaning to talk to you about what happened after the disaster."

Vita cringed. "Now? We're about to head into a possibly hostile zone. It's not really the time for a heart to heart."

Mischa clammed up and Vita finished checking her supplies. She smiled as she ran her hand over the knife pouch. Throw in a waterproof bag for collection, water bottle, clothing thick enough to avoid being easily cut by debris and she was ready to go. Mischa had a t-shirt so Vita went digging and found at least something with long sleeves. At least with a thinning population, there were no shortages of clothing.

"Won't it be hot?"

"You'd rather be hot than cut up or sunburnt," Vita said.

Mischa threw on the shirt, and they stood with the others in the group. Matt was missing too. Figures she'd be one of the few from the team who didn't get to go on the mission to Vegas.

Reggie motioned for them to all come closer as he reviewed his stock 'dangers of the ruins' talk to scare the half a dozen newbies. A wake-up call, he had deemed it when Vita had questioned his methods before. He must have caught the unimpressed look on her face because he shook his head and smiled.

"And for those of you used to tuning me out already, watch your buddy's back. We want the same number going in and out, incomplete teams will face consequences not to mention your own crippling guilt. You have your assigned areas and supplies to find. If you can't find them before sundown, don't worry, just make your way back here. Understood?"

"Yes," half the room chorused.

Reggie let out a snort of a laugh. "Understood?" he repeated.

"Yes," they chorused a little louder.

He clapped his hands together. "Good, now let's get out there."

Vita led Mischa down the path she'd grown accustomed to walking every other day now. They passed the skeletons of large warehouses where they'd been able to scrounge up a fair bit of metal and construction stock that Mr. M had been quite excited about. The cars had been left on the road to make the road less passable for others and to serve as shelter should man or nature come after them.

They followed Reggie's advice, the Boy Scout approach: 'touch only what you need and leave the rest the fuck alone.' Reggie's troupe may have been a bit more colourful than those in her neighbourhood.

Vita, Mischa and another group crossed the parking lot, past the semi-trucks that once contained crates of food. Mr. M couldn't have picked a better location next to a grocery giants' supply house. Mischa took the whole scene in with wide eyes that also kept darting from side to side.

"You don't have to be worried yet. We know most people around here and try to keep out of each other's way," Vita reassured.

Mischa's eyes never stilled. "Are there many more?"