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VII: Heartlines

                  

So far, so good. For two days they'd been on the road, and the truck was brimming with goods. There was still space left though, so Aleks directed Jordan towards a large supermarket that he'd frequented when he was on the run a few months ago. The camp could never have too much food.

Once inside, James began to joke around, and Aleks found himself joining in with him. They were almost finished with their duty, they were only twenty miles from their home, and there were no infected in sight. It was the ideal time to relax for a little bit.

They both trailed after Jordan, who was plucking items from the shelves to put into a trolley. He was resolutely ignoring the pair of them, but Aleks didn't mind. He was too busy bickering with James to pay any attention to their solemn leader.

"Hey Aleks, does this smell funny to you?"

Before Aleks had time to react, James shoved an opened tin under his nose, forcing him to breathe in the most rancid scent he had ever smelt. He floundered, nearly crashing into a stack of shelves from the power of the stench. "You motherfucker!" He cried, pinching his nose as he tried to recover his balance.

James, of course, found that absolutely hysterical. He roared with laughter, catching Jordan's attention.

"Will you two be quiet?" He snapped. "You'll draw the infected straight towards us!"

"I can't feel my fucking nose Jordan!" Aleks yelled, glaring at James when he doubled over, shaking from the force of his amusement.

"You should have seen your face!" He wheezed, clutching his stomach as he struggled to contain his delight.

Jordan rolled his eyes and walked away, muttering about idiotic friends under his breath. Aleks was going to storm off too, but his annoyance faded as he watched James laugh.

When James straightened up a couple of moments later, Aleks realised with a start that he'd been staring at his mouth. Quickly, he averted his gaze, and looked down at the tin that his nose had been violated by. "What the fuck is that?" He muttered, eyeing the container in disgust.

"Seven year old tuna." James replied cheerfully. "Would you like to try some?"

Aleks immediately begin to back away, narrowing his eyes. "Don't you dare!"

Unfortunately, James seemed to take that as a challenge, and he picked up the tin again. Aleks didn't give him the chance to do something with it; he bolted, tearing down the aisle towards the entrance of the store. He ran past Jordan, but didn't stop to warn him.

Outside, Aleks came to a halt by the truck, and he watched the entrance guardedly, on the lookout for James.

Mercifully, when he exited the supermarket a few minutes later, Jordan in tow, his hands were empty. Aleks still made him sit in the passenger seat though, so he could sit behind to keep an eye on him.

Their last stop before returning to camp was a mall, situated a couple of miles away. Winter was rapidly approaching, and the more clothing they had, the better prepared they would be.

In the mall, the silliness continued. James and Aleks had behaved themselves at first, but once they walked into the department store on the top floor, the fooling around started again. They were surrounded by comedic props; it would have been a missed opportunity if they didn't have fun whilst they were browsing.

"Hey James, I've found something in your size." Aleks said, pulling a leopard-print dress down from its rail.

"Great! Do you think it'll match my hat?"