Genesis

Killjoy

     My stomach was starting to ache from all the ice-cream I had stuffed into it as Colt and I made our way to check if the storage area of the store was also fully stocked before we would radio in. We eventually found a door next to the deli counter which led to the back, but there was only one problem; the code.

     "Shit, the keypad is still on... just like the fridges," I stated, before turning to Colt, "Do you think this place is solar-powered?"

     He shrugged, "I don't know,  but I'm going to find an ax or something."

     "Wait!" I told him as he started to walk out, "We could try a passcode before going all 'Jack Torrance' on the door."

     He glared, waiting impatiently for me to try something.

     I walked behind the deli counter, opening random drawers.

     "I thought you were going to try a pin," he told me, looking unimpressed.

     "Would you wait a second? The deli guy might've kept it somewhere here. People forget passcodes all the time, and sometimes they write those passcodes down-," I stopped myself, finding a little paper taped to the side of the cash register. I pulled it off and smiled triumphantly towards Colt, feeling him looking at me as I walked up to the keypad and pressed the numbers.

     2, 4, 1. 7, 8, 3. 

     I heard a low beeping sound as the light on the keypad switched from red to green, and there was a click. I put my handle on the door, pushing it open before turning back to look at Colt.

     "See?" I told him with a smirk, "Not everything requires a blunt-force solution, Colt."

     I watched him fold his arms over his chest before I walked past the freezer units, and entered the storage area. Rows with shelves upon shelves were lined to the brim with unopened cardboard boxes, various logos printed on their sides. I grinned once more, feeling excited to call this in before I heard a voice call my name.

     "Quinn?" 

     I turned my head suddenly to the left, seeing two familiar faces walking towards me.

     "Dorian? Lucius?" I smiled at them. I embraced Dorian shortly, before doing the same to Lucius. 

     "Hey roomie," Lucius said looking behind me, starting to walk towards Colt, his arms spread wide to his sides.

     "I swear to god Lucius, you take one more step towards me I'm going to kill you," Colt stated, glaring at him, at which Lucius stopped and laughed.

     "Colt, such a killjoy!" Lucius commented, before turning around to face us, and pointing back behind him with his thumb, "He is a killjoy though, isn't he?"

     Dorian rolled his eyes, "Enough fun and games. We need to radio in that we made it to the store and that the storage is fully intact. Colt? How does the main area of the store look?"

     "Untouched," Colt stated, "Well, except for Quinn's ice-cream cups."

     I glared at him, as Dorian smiled, "That's great. We'll finally have some good news to tell everyone back at camp... I just hope that Danny and Kasper made it out okay."

     Dorian pulled out his walkie and turned it on before he pressed the button on the side and lifted it closer to his mouth.

     "Danny, Kit... you there?" he said into the walkie. There was silence.

     ...

     "Hey Boss," Danny's voice replied from the walkie. I released the breath I didn't even realize I was holding as Danny continued, "We're behind the restaurant. Kit and I. You on your way?"

     "No," Dorian replied, "We're in the warehouse, and it's fully stocked. Completely untouched."

     Another silence.

     "Alright! That's awesome!" Danny exclaimed, beeping in through the walkie.

     "Yeah, but Danny, I need you to do something," Dorian told him.

     "Sure Boss, what is it?"

     Dorian proceeded to explain his plan to Daniel and Kit. First, they had to get back to camp. Then, they would need to explain what was going on to Jackson, and only Jackson, before they went to grab the trucks. He then explained in detail where he hid the trucks, and told them that there was a map and a compass in one of the glove compartments. On the map, they needed to find the town named 'Prariandria', then use the map to route their course to it from the forest access roads.

     "Ok, boss, we're on it," Kit said into the walkie.

     "Good luck," Dorian told them before putting his walkie back into his duffel bag.

     A soundlessness sat still in the air before Lucius' voice cut through it.

     "So... what now?" his voice echoed off of the walls of the warehouse.

     "We wait until they're back," Dorian answered him, "Meanwhile, we can look around. See what's important to take, what isn't--"

     "Or," Lucius started, "We could have some fun first. Quinn, didn't Colt just mention you found ice-cream?"

     I smiled, "Yeah."

     "Let's go then. Dorian, Colt, you coming?" Lucius asked.

     Dorian shrugged his shoulders, sighing, before ultimately coming to grin at us, "Alright. Yeah. I guess we could put off sorting through stuff for now."

     I looked around confusedly, "Where the hell did Colt go?"

     "Who cares? Let's just go," Lucius told me, as we started to walk back to the aisle with the ice-cream.