The Apocalypse Adversaries

Part 4: Fashion disasters

A few days had gone by since Cece joined the group and the three of them had begun to fall into a sort of routine. Logan always woke up first, ate breakfast then brought some food for the others. He and Cece would then head out to add more barriers to the fence to make the whole place more secure. The zombies had become more common now, and there were often a few near the school, so they didn't want to take any chances. While they worked, Casper usually practised playing guitar, then he made lunch for everyone. He was also responsible for feeding Audrey, and making sure the shallow bowl they'd found for her to drink from was always full of water. It was fair, considering that she was pretty much his cat anyway. After that, Logan spent his time teaching the others as much as he could about what was going on, or he taught them how to use their weapons. Cece had become quite good with a gun, and Casper was strong enough to do some serious damage with his axe. Logan got as much practice as he could with his bat, trying to build up his upper body strength so that he could feel as comfortable with it as he did with his gun. He wasn't quite successful yet, but little by little it was becoming easier to swing, and his hits had slightly more impact. Then, every night, Cece would make dinner and Casper would get his guitar and play something he'd learned that day to keep their spirits up. Then they'd all go back to their beds (Cece curled up under Logan's big winter coat and Audrey shared with Casper) and talk until they fell asleep.

One night, as they were talking, Cece mentioned something that had been on her mind for a while.

"I think we should go out again. All of us this time."

Logan was quick to respond. He'd be okay with going out alone, but bringing the other two with him? With no one to protect the school? Not happening.

"Why? We have plenty of supplies."

"Maybe it's slipped your mind, but Casper and I only have one set of clothes. There's a clothing store nearby, we could drop by and get literally anything?

I've been wearing these clothes for, like, a week."

Logan took a moment to think. It might be a good idea to get them more appropriate clothes for this situation. Cece was wearing a dress, for Christ's sake. Anything's better than that.

"Fair point. But we need to leave someone back here to protect the school and our supplies. And we're not shopping for fashion, we're shopping for necessity. You need to each have at least one outfit that's protective enough and appropriate to go outside in, okay?"

Casper spoke up eagerly, clearly excited. Over the past few days, the others had learned that Casper was quite fashionable, and he enjoyed putting together outfits in his free time.

"Can I go this time? Please?"

He turned to Logan, his eyes bright and excited. This wasn't fair. Who could say no to a face like that?

"Fine. You and me. Cece, you can stay here and guard the supplies."

She glared at him, obviously not happy with this idea.

"Don't be paranoid, Logan. We haven't seen anybody outside our group this whole time. We don't need anyone to guard. I'm going. Casper's going. If you really want someone to guard, do it yourself."

Logan couldn't argue with that. He had to go. Cece was good with a gun, but was she good enough to protect herself and Casper? He doubted it.

"Fine. We'll go tomorrow morning. Now go to SLEEP."

Within minutes, there was snoring coming from Cece and Casper's beds. Logan lay awake for hours. He had a bad feeling about this.

The next morning, Logan wasn't the first to wake up. Instead it was Cece, who greeted the two boys by shaking them roughly. Logan expected Casper to be in a foul mood after being woken up like that, but he was more excited than ever. They each grabbed one of the empty plastic bags from the pharmacy to fill with clothes and Logan took out his leather jacket. It was definitely the best thing he'd brought with him. It was pretty much guaranteed to keep him safe. Try as they might, none of those creatures could bite through it. He debated putting it on, but eventually decided to give it to Casper. It was only fair. Casper hadn't been out since he'd found the school, making him the least experienced of the three, and he was the only one with a short range weapon. It was important that he was safe.