The grey Silverado kicked up dust as it pulled into the long dirt driveway surrounded by fields with a few lone trees scattered about. The house at the end was to the left of the driveway; it was red bricked and surprisingly untouched for a house in a post-apocalyptic world, infested with flesh eating zombies and corrupt thugs that wander around scavenging and murdering. The truck came to a stop and Tom West stepped out from the driver's side. He pushed the truck's creaky door shut, careless of the noise it made. His chestnut brown hair clung to his forehead, wet from sweat. It was a particularly hot summer, and Tom wouldn't allow the group of stragglers to use the cooling system in fear of wasting precious and limited energy. From the passenger side emerged Asher, Tom's sixteen year old brother. He resembled Tom quite a bit but Tom stood straight and tall with confidence while Asher stood in an extremely uptight fashion.
Tom gave the signal and they moved cautiously with their guns ready in their hands. The started to search the perimeter of the house to make sure that there was no threats in sight.
Back at the truck, Tate Greene, Aubrey Park and Dominic McMaster hopped out silently from the box of the truck to help perform their usual drill. This wasn't the first house they had cleared, and it showed. Dominic motioned to Tate to come with him with a flick of his wrist. She cocked the hammer of her Browning pistol and they discreetly crept up to the front steps. Aubrey came up soon after, nudging Tate with her elbow and indicating with her eyes that there was a Lurker near by, which was aimlessly stumbling around. Dominic was picking the lock on the door. Tate signaled to Aubrey to watch out for any more by pointing to her eye then dragging her finger along the horizon. Aubrey understood immediately. Tate maneuvered around the side of the truck, her steps stealthy and careful. She could smell that it was close; the rotting flesh was a bit of a giveaway, along with the eerie shuffling against the ground. She peeked her head around the corner at it. He-- it was wearing overalls and boots. It must have been a farmer, maybe it owned one of the fields surrounding the house. In one movement, she rounded the cab of the truck and stuck her Buck knife into the rotting cadaver's eye, with the fearlessness and precision of Rambo. Aubrey shot her a glance of disgust, the look she always made when the dead flesh made that squish noise. Tate walked back up to the wooden front steps and whispered, "How's it coming along, Dom?" just as he got it unlocked. He motioned to Tate to follow him inside the house, and for Aubrey to stay by the door and guard. She pouted slightly, hating to be left alone, but gave it up when she thought about what could be inside.
The house was completely clear, other than the lone Lurker, there wasn't a single one in sight. Tom, Asher, Aubrey, Tate and Dominic sat on the back porch, enjoying the view of the river and the rolling fields beyond. They drank from a bottle of Sprite they had, and ate fruit that would soon be inedible.
"If you look," Tom swallowed a bite of his apple; "...out into the distance, there's some buildings. It's just a little town, and we're running low on supplies, and the cupboards in the house are practically empty... Asher and I can make it there and back without the truck, and be back before sundown."
"Take the truck," Tate said. "It's a heck of a lot safer."
"Runnin' low on gas, Tate. Not worth it." Tom shared, obviously not wanting a dispute.
"Alright," Dominic said. "We'll set up and stuff here then." Aubrey stood, dusting off her black shorts.
"I'm going to go check what we have, sort it and stuff."
They all planned what they were to do, Tom and Asher left for their raid. Tate sat on the dock behind the house, her right sneaker off. She contemplated putting it in the cool, muddy water, but what if a Lurker was caught under the dock, or where she couldn't see? She decided it wasn't worth the risk.
