Dead Days

Chapter 5

I peeked my eyes open, quietly panicking as I woke up in an unfamiliar place. It took me a moment or two to realize I was here by choice. I looked around me to see Matt and Carl were at a table nearby, looking at something. A woman was tending the fire with Mac and the other little girl coloring right next to her. 

The moment she realized I was awake and staring at her, she spoke up, "Hello there. I am Mary, and this is my daughter Makenzy and Carl's Alicia. What is your name?" 

I sat up and started to quickly roll up my sleeping bag, "I am so sorry, I'm in the way aren't I?" It took a moment to register she asked me my name, "I'm Ellie." 

She just gave me a soft smile, "Nice to meet you, Ellie. Breakfast is almost ready." 

I gave her a smile back as I took my sleeping bag over to where my failed tent setup and the rest of my things were before being called over the Carl and Matt. I put on my jacket and shoes and made my way to them. 

Once I got closer to them, I saw what they were doing. They had a few papers on the small table, drawn on them was a rather poor map of Walmart (but I'm not going to judge their drawing skills right now). 

"We're planning on going into the store and getting more supplies. We're getting tired of having to randomly guess what are in the big crates back here," Matt started. 

I nodded, "Makes sense. But why tell me?" 

"We're thinking about taking you and Beth out there with us so we can split into two groups of two and find whatever we might need." At seeing my confused face at the mention of the name 'Beth', Carl clarified, "It's the girl with the bright blonde hair and dog. I don't know if you've meet her yet. Probably not; she's not very social." 

I looked around, trying to see if I could see her. I was out of luck as I didn't; Beth was probably in her tent, along with her dog. 

Carl was about to speak again when Mary called out for everyone to gather around and eat. Everyone started shuffling out of tents and towards the fire, me, Matt, and Carl doing the same.

Everyone pretty much sat in the same spots as the night before, Makenzy- Mac- and Alicia passing out bowls of the food, spoons, and napkins.

Once I got my food and thanked the girls, I surveyed the people, looking for the 'blonde girl with the dog'.

My eyes landed on her rather quickly. She had her hair pulled back into a ponytail and had a surgical mask around her neck as she ate. She wore an oversized jacket and a pair of black shorts, a pair of thigh high socks and knee-high boots.

There was a black and white husky laying on the ground next to her, chowing down on some dog food in another bowl. I still haven't gotten its name.

Once most of us were done eating, Carl and Matt called me and Beth over to the table with them. Once we were all there, there started going over a quick plan; me and Beth get food and water, while Carl and Matt go find medicines and whatnot.

We quickly gathered our things, each of us having our own unique weapons; me with my ax, Matt with his baseball bat that appeared upgraded to have nails sticking out of it, Carl had another bat but with barbed wire around it, and Beth had a machete in a protective sleeve strapped onto her back.

Once we were ready, we stepped out of the giant back room and into the store itself.