Watching the ‘-$3.95’ fade away, I nodded to the teenager behind the counter and walked away with my burger and hash brown in-hand.

“Hey,” Nolan said from the door as I found an empty booth, “how’d it go?”

“Well enough,” I replied, unwrapping my burger and eating half of it in one go, the eggs, cheese, and bacon sending a warm happy feeling through my whole body that briefly stole my attention away from Nolan, “she’s got a job for us.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?” Nolan asked, taking a seat across from me and accepting the hash brown I offered him.

“It is,” I said with a nod, “probably going to get some actual sleep before we head out, but I’m confident we can handle it.”

“Good, good.” Nolan replied distractedly, sucking down the hash brown, before lighting up with realization, “Connie buzzed me with the stuff we need from the hardware store. Small enough list, I’m good to cover it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I scoffed after finishing my burger, “I’ll chip in for it.”

“I’ve got it,” Nolan said before waving the hash brown wrapper at me, “this squares us up. Ready to go?”

“Not going to give me a second to digest?” I chuckled.

“Do you really need it?” Nolan replied with a smirk before tapping the table expectantly and standing up, “C’mon, girls’ll kill me if I don’t get you back with enough time for you to get some sleep.”

“I’m comin’, I’m comin’,” I jokingly sighed as I slowly got to my feet, “mind if we stop off at the gun shop? Going to need to grab some silver rounds ‘fore we head out.”

“Wolf hunt, eh?” Nolan remarked interestedly, “You’re sure you’re up for that?”

“Not if I don’t have any silver, I’m not.” I said, shaking my head, “The axe will only be able to do so much, and I ain’t really all that for getting up close and personal with Wolves.”

“The breath?” Nolan asked, holding the door open for me as we stepped out into the street.

“And the claws and the teeth and the immense strength, yeah.” I replied, “Tell you what though, despite all that, you have to appreciate the fact that they have a proper weakness.”

“Too true,” Nolan agreed, “look at the Wendigos. For years I was convinced fire offed ‘em.”

“It doesn’t?” I asked, genuinely shocked.

“Not in my experience,” Nolan scoffed, “saw one running out of a burning wood like he was on a morning jog. Antlers were on fire and everything.”

“Goddamn…” I muttered as we rounded the corner.

“Anyway, no point in focusing on what we can’t kill, more focus on the things you’re going to kill.” Nolan said enthusiastically, “Any idea what you’re dealing with?”

“Cult-types,” I explained, “way Gwen made it sound, we won’t be dealing with any ferals.”

“That’s something then,” Nolan replied with a nod, “no offence, but I don’t think you’re quite up to dealin’ with a group of full-blown beasts just yet.”

“None taken.” I huffed with a smile, noting Andy as he stepped out of his shop to wave us over, “morning.”

“Morning, son,” Andy said once we’d crossed the road, “just wanted to compliment you on a job well done. Heard back that you handled yourself well.”

“Glad to hear it,” I replied gratefully, “I was just delivering supplies though, and it’s not like I walked it out there.”

“Still, a lot o’ folk would’ve turned tail at the first sign of Ghouls,” Andy clarified, clearly repeating something the Reformed had said, “point is they needed food and you made sure they got it, and we’re all mighty grateful that you did.”

“Always happy to help,” I said as Andy started backing into his store, “see you around?”

“That you will,” Andy replied, nodding and waving as he did, “stay safe out there.”

“I’ll do my best.” I chuckled before continuing towards the gun shop, “Sorry about that.”

“You’re allowed to accept praise.” Nolan scoffed, “Still shocked you took that job in the first place though.”

“Eh, it’s the Reformed,” I replied dismissively, “I didn’t exactly need to go spelunking to get to ‘em.”

“Still though,” Nolan said as I returned a smile and a wave to Peterson across the road, “not so long ago they were nabbing people on their way into town.”

“And Gwen was probably tearing chicken hearts out and howling at the moon at ungodly hours,” I pointed out, “people change, and you need to respect the fact that as a Ghoul that’s really hard. What’s that saying about leopards and spots?”

“A leopard can’t change its spots?” Nolan replied amusedly, “I don’t know if that helps your argument as much as you think it does.”

“I… Yeah,” I chuckled, “but still, imagine how hard it has to be to fight that monster on your back? It’s like coming back from dementia or Alzheimer’s.”

“I suppose…” Nolan trailed off, clearly unconvinced, before leading the way into the gun shop, “You taking the shotgun?”

“If you’re alright with it, yeah,” I said with a nod, “but I reckon we’ll just stick with standard buckshot.”

“Why not silver?” Nolan asked as I looked over the wall of rifles behind the counter.

“Because two grand really ain’t much if you subtract a grand in operating costs,” I replied, “besides, it’s unnecessary. It’ll stun them, sure, but we’ll be using the rifle to put ‘em down.”

“Fair enough,” Nolan agreed as he joined me in staring up at the wall of guns, “you know what? Mind if I head out and start picking up the stuff from the list? I just know I’m going to make some purchases in here that I’ll regret.”

“If that ain’t the God’s honest…” I muttered with a knowing smile, “But yeah, sure, see you in a few.”

“Thanks.” Nolan said before swiftly excusing himself from the store, doing his best not to look at anything else on his way out.

Truth be told, I probably could’ve used the leash that was social pressure to avoid blowing every cent I had, but I knew Nolan was particularly bad for loading up on scopes and such that he had literally no use for.

‘No, no, you’ll be fine,’ I told myself, looking through the glass cabinet at the end of the long store, ‘just keep working and you can go as big of a spending spree as you’d like.’

No matter how rational I think I am, I’m not.

I’m just not.