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"It was a gunshot!" one man hissed.
"No, you idiot," another muttered. "It was just something fallen over. Things are always collapsing in places like this."
Rick narrowed his eyes and scanned their surroundings. "We can't be sure yet either way. The ground cover's too dense to see far. Let's stay close together and be more quiet until we figure it out."
(gotta go, may not be back for a while)
(Alrighty)
"Good idea. There could be someone out there, though." Tanrial replied, taking a careful step forward.
Mike glanced around edgily. "I don't like being out in the open. Let's keep to the side roads for now."
(do you have a plan for the noise btw, or do you want me to insert something? Or was it just a random noise?)
Tanrial nodded, "Fine fine, it's makes sense. Let's keep moving then."
(Just a random noise at this point)
(okay)
They stayed carefully out of sight for a while, but nothing disturbed them and eventually they had to return to the main road. There they almost immediately found a tractor store and luckily it looked in fairly good shape. Rick scoped out the place, then declared it unoccupied and they went in.
"Spread out a bit so we can get this done quick," Mike said. "And if you see anything else that looks useful or valuable, feel free to take it. Looks like this place hasn't been looted too bad."
(Off to supper, may or may not be back on after that)
Tanrial nodded and set off searching the shelves. Nothing much of interest or value that she could see, "I've got nothing down here." She said.
(okay)
Mike paced along the far wall, examining the half-empty racks of equipment. "We shoulda brought Bernon, he's the one that's all into little time-saving tools and gadgets. I bet he'd like this weird collapsible cooking rack thing."
Rick poked his head over one of the shelves and grinned. "Aww, that's so sweet of you, thinkin' of your friend like that. Where are the tissues around here, I think I'm gonna cry."
Mike gave gave one of his patented eye-rolls. "Incredibly funny. You see anything useful over there, or were you too busy admiring your reflection in the rear-view mirror display?"
Rick ducked back out of sight, laughing. "Oooh, I'm hit! How does this guy know me so well?
I just can't get enough of myself!"
Mike chuckled and returned to his search, but tucked the cooking rack into his backpack. "Let's just keep looking and not push our luck too far. If a store like this still has good stuff left after all this time, there must be a reason, and personally I'm not keen to find out what it is."
Tanrial threw a pack of screws into the air that she'd found and walked over to Mike, "You don't think there could be someone or something here, do you? If all this stuff hasn't been taken then surely there's something here, right?"
(Sorry if I don't reply much, it's Dr Who morning so I'll be watching that soon)
(That's okay ^^ I actually can't be on tonight anyway so enjoy your morning!)
"It's hard to say. Some towns are just undiscovered and that's all there is to it. Or this store might be untouched because nobody thought there'd be anything useful here. But I think we should definitely play it safe, just in case. I'd hate to see somebody get hurt during a mission that's not even very important in the long run."
(Okay, thanks and see you soon!)
"That's true. But there are useful things like," She held up the screws, "Why would you leave these if you found them? Seriously, there damned useful for building things so why ignore them. I don't know, there's something strange going on, I know it."
"Yeah…" Across the store, one of the fishermen had found a door labeled 'staff only' and pulled it open. Now he was staring at what was beyond with a strange look on his face. "Uh, you all should come see this."
"What is it? A body?" Tanrial asked, walking over to the man and placing the screws in her bag on the way.
(whoops I didn't expect you so early)
The man swallowed and held the door farther open so the others could see. "Kind of…."
The room was dark and shadowy, but the light from outside spilled through enough to give a general impression of the scene. All the furniture had been pushed to the walls to make room for what looked like a giant nest, made of clothes, scraps of cloth and what looked like fur and feather down. There were other things buried in the nest and scattered across the floor: bones of all shapes and sizes, broken weapons, shoes, and a row of glittering necklaces that hung from a shelf, suspended in a ray of sunlight. A human skull sat on a dusty office chair, staring at the entrance. The walls were smeared with dirt and dried blood, and the smell was overpowering. Some of the men had to step away to get some air.
Mike stared into the room. His expression was not reassuring. "….Dangit."
(Aha, yeah sorry forgot to tell you out clocks went forward an hour so I'm active earlier for you but not for me)
Tanrial threw her arms in the air, "What'd I say? I said something was strange and look, I was right. No one ever listens to me." She sighed and took a step into the room, placing her top of her shirt over her mouth and nose to try and lessen the smell of the air.
"What do you think it is?" the fisherman whispered nervously.
"Forest beast," Rick answered, grimly getting out his gun just in case. "Looks like a pretty unfriendly one, judging by all the human remains in there."
Mike massaged his forehead and pushed the door closed. "I was listening to you, Tanrial," he said quietly. "And you're right. Let's just find what we need and get out of here fast. If there's none of the right fuel in this shop, we won't risk looking anywhere else."
Tanrial nodded, "Let's move, it's not in it's rest at the moment but it will be back sooner or later." She coughed a little and lowered her shirt as the stench left.
The group didn't need to be told twice. They spread out and scoured the building, digging through piles of junk and ransacking the aisles in their search for what they needed. Everyone tried to be quiet now, where before they'd been talking and kicking things around loudly. There was a distinct air of tension around them, and the men tried not to look over at the half-open door with the shadowy room beyond.
Finally, Rick climbed up on the top shelf at the back of the store and clicked his tongue to get everyone's attention. "Hey. I found a gas tank. Looks like the right stuff. I need help getting it down."
"Here let me help," Tanrial walked over and kicked a stool over to help her stand to see the tank better. She grabbed one side and helped slide it forward a bit more.
Mike and the others came over and together they caught the tank as Tanrial and Rick lowered it off the shelf. It was a pretty big container, and right away it became clear that trying to carry it back would not be practical. Mike glanced around and saw a pile of smaller gas cans nearby. "Let's divide the fuel up into those right quick and carry them that way, it'll be quicker."
"Are you sure? We don't know when that beast will come back to it's nest so we might not get all of the fuel back." Tanrial said, putting her hands on her hips as she looked down at Mike from the stool.
"We'd need a cart or something to lug this big tank back to the village, and we don't have time for that. This'll save us time later." Mike uncapped the first smaller tank and held it to the large one's spigot, turning the faucet all the way. "If we can't get it all that's fine–we'll just get as much as we can. If anyone hears anything, speak up."
"Fine, whatever you say," Tanrial hopped over the stool with a sighed and cross her arms, kicking the stool out of the way to give the others room, "If I could I'd take that stool but I don't think I'm bother to carry it…"
Rick was the only one that seemed to be still cheerful despite their situation. "I'll make you one when we get back if you want," he said, helping the others empty the tank. "I used to build furniture for a while when I was still living with my folks. Free of charge or obligation, if you're interested."
"Wait really?! Yeah, that's be great, thanks! I just need one to make myself feel taller around all of you." She admitted with a shrug.