Aurora Sky: Blackout (Completed)

Chapter 21

Under the oak tree is where the party made their leave. Those whose tasks resided at the Gray Fort, roughly half of them, left for home, and those who volunteered to scour the remainder of the town stayed put to further discuss their plans. Evan took the lead of those heading for the town clearing the air for the days work. "We shouldn't have too much trouble today. Real quick though, before I get too far ahead of myself, who's going back to the nursing home for the emergency vehicles after we scavenge the Police and Fire Station?"

Evan, Emma, Sean, Rob, Duke, Kyle, and Warren raised their hands. It was Emma's first time out with the others, but she fit into their medieval aesthetic with her katar attached to her right wrist.

"Alright. Who's going to look for the dog afterward?"

The other half, Isaac, Ron, Lacey, Jess, Brandon, and Paul all spoke up with, "Me's," and "I am's." It was Ron's first time out to the town since the day of the attack. Though he had just gone through the hardship that no parent should go through of burying their child, he seemed somewhat mentally ready for the challenge. Isaac had asked him if he would've rather gone home to take it easy, but the tough edged countryside of his personality wouldn't allow him to do that and he forced his emotions in check as he believed a man should do. But to them, he certainly was a welcome hand being that he knew that town better than anyone in their company, and for that, they were grateful that he was there. He carried his worn Ruger on his waist as his form of defense and dressed warmly in a winter camouflage jacket.

"Okay. And Larry, you and Arthur are driving the delivery trucks home after we load up?" Evan asked though it sounded more like a statement than a question.

"Yep," Larry nodded plainly, same as Arthur.

"Okay then. We'll take one of the SUV's and my truck to the nursing home to collect the emergency vehicles, you guys take the rest. Hopefully, we can find some spare keys in the station, but if not, well, I know how to hotwire a car though I've never done it before."

"I'm sure we'll find a spare set of keys in the garage." Warren shared, recollecting his time as an EMT and firefighter. "We always had two spares for each vehicle in the station." He grasped the round head to his morningstar with his left hand as if to make sure he still had it equipped.

Evan smiled at this good news. "That's good to hear. Let's head out then."

In less than five minutes they were in the town parked outside of the Petersburg Police and Fire Station. The red brick building remained in stable condition with only a few windows and roof shingles broken in. They backed in their fleet of vehicles into the driveway, parking the trunks to face the three white massive garage doors of the building. Two of the garage doors were closed and locked, but the door to the far left was wide open.

Isaac first arrived with his sword in hand. He peeked inside the open garage which looked to be empty. To play it safe, he stepped back outside and waited for his friends so they could go in together. He always felt more comfortable in their presence, especially now more than ever. He walked over to Evan and Rob who were laying out plans for entry. They asked him if he could tell them anything about the blueprints to the building, "I've never been here before," he said to them, "Wish I could help."

"That's alright, man. Rob, let's take a lap around the building, see what we can see. We'll meet back here in five."

As time passed, the others gazed around the town in search of Wendy. They were cautious about making too much noise just in case some stray infected were nearby, they didn't want another surprise attack like the one Evan, Duke, Emma, and Valerie had been in. Isaac looked down the entire length of Center Street trying to envision the moment he had seen the pit bull, Wendy. The last time I saw her she was on the West side of the town. Hopefully she didn't wander too far from there. He made sure to point it out to the search party while they stood around waiting for Rob and Evan's return.