After Danny finished delivering his speech, the group soon got to the conclusion that they had to assume and prepare for the worst. Thus, they had to go outside in order to gather more resources preemptively.

They had no choice other than to accept the risks that came with that course of action. The likelihood of the general circumstances worsening and the possible consequences that their inaction during this time could have on their future were simply too big to ignore.

Thus, after realizing that Danny’s arguments were sound, they made their minds on leaving the protection of their shelter. Following that, all that was left to figure out was how exactly they would do so.

Just because they knew that time was of the essence, it did not mean that they would rush out of the house, brandishing hammers and sticks like some sort of barbarians. They needed to divide roles for each one of them, work out which path to take and which store to visit first, and how should they react in case things go south.

Wise men make sound plans and expect the worst, while fools make poor plans and hope that everything will turn all right.

It didn’t take too long for them to settle the details though, and in half an hour they had already geared up and were ready to go outside.

Danny had provided every single one of them with a hammer just like the one he had used the day before. He had about a dozen of the things at the place, in case he had to replace them for whatever reason, be it from him discarding them out of necessity or the tools themselves breaking or getting too damaged.

Danny did not know at the time what troubles he would be facing after all, so he made sure to have plenty spares.

Besides the weapon that everyone now carried, he had also supplied Jane, Donovan and Chris with backpacks. Those were the only ones he had besides the one he kept for himself.

The choice of bag allocation was also something that had been discussed, and it only made sense to give them to those three, given that they would free up their main combatants – Danny, Janice and Carl – from the weight, allowing them better mobility and faster responses to any danger.

Despite that, however, Danny chose to keep wearing his own backpack, since he was confident in his capability to carry the extra baggage without compromising his speed and fighting ability – he was in top shape after all. Also, Danny did not want to leave his mother’s things behind or in the hands of others. At the same time, he also wished to keep some supplies on himself as to not be caught unprepared.

On the other hand, Danny, Janice and Carl took the best protective clothing Danny had to offer, being completely covered up in it. Given that they were the ones expected to do all the heavy lifting in terms of fighting, just like the previous day, they would probably be the ones to need them the most.

Each one of them wore leather boots, leather pants and a leather jacket while also wearing matching leather gloves. The trio looked like they belonged in a biker gang, but nobody would care about the fashion statement of their garments when presented with the better protection choice they offered.

Janice’s own outfit felt a little too loose, while Carl’s was a bit tight – those apparels were meant as spares for Danny after all –, fortunately, however, the get-up managed to fit on all three of them even if a little uncomfortably.

Janice surreptitiously peeked over the side of the west wall of the property, trying to ascertain the best path to their first target and to scout how many and which enemies they might have to face getting there.

The group had decided to go after the gun shop first. They would not go to all of the places in one go, instead making separate runs to each location.

Firstly, they had limited carrying capacity, so it made no sense to visit so many places. If they did that, not only would they have to pass on many of the goods, having to pick what to bring and what to leave behind, they would also have to be out and about for longer.

That in itself was another problem, given that they would have to expose themselves to even more danger while also tiring themselves more by going from one place to another without a safe spot to rest. The shorter period they spent outside the better, since that would give less opportunities for something outside their control to happen.

Logically, they chose to do the smart thing and tackle one challenge at a time.

It was worth noting that they had no car available for now, and even if they had one or managed to get one outside, they weren’t sure if using it was a boon or a liability. They had no time yet to test how the zombies reacted to sight, sound and smell, and how they identified their targets, so they tried to maintain their outing as quiet and sneaky as humanly possible.

The gun shop was the most attractive choice for them right now, because it would hopefully provide them with stronger weapons to defend themselves with and to rely upon in case things got sour, even if they had the downside of being loud when used. Better safety was their number one priority.

The store was located on the same street as the main entrance of the house, and they could reach it by crossing it and heading westward after leaving from the gateway. However, from the second’s floor balcony, they could see that some zombies had gathered at the front gate of the property. Those stumbling corpses were the same ones that chased them last night, with a few new additions, and probably remained there since then.

Seeing that the obvious path was being blocked, the group devised a plan to circumvent the threat. The idea was that they would climb the west walls with a ladder, jumping over to the other side. They would then move said ladder to the other side, and leave it lying down by the sidewalk, as to ensure they had a way to get back inside.

They reasoned that the zombies were pretty dumb, so they could safely use a ladder to get in and out from the place with virtually no risk of it being used against them. As long as they managed to set it properly and take it down quickly after passing through, they could make use of this advantage without giving the creatures any chance to exploit the pathway.

After going outside, they would then hide in between the cars parked on the street, and make their way to the store, avoiding triggering the zombies if at all possible.

“I think we are good to go” Janice said silently as she lowered herself behind the walls again, waiting for her companion’s confirmation to proceed.

Upon seeing everyone in the group nod their heads, signaling their readiness, Janice did not tarry and climbed the ladder, making her way to the other side. One by one they followed in quick but soft footsteps.

After Carl crossed the walls last, he then took the ladder over the obstacle and placed it down on the sidewalk carefully. No accidents happened and the group remained undiscovered so far.

Seeing things moving according to plan, one by one they started to make their way to the gun shop without any need for prompts or words.

This time, Janice took the lead while Carl remained at the rear. She would move closer to their goal in bursts of movement, going from cover to cover while paying attention to her surroundings and making sure to remain undiscovered.

Slowly but surely, the group approached their goal while following Janice and mimicking her actions. Soon, Janice reached the store’s entrance and waited for the rest of the team to catch up with her. So far it had been smooth sailing and they were not spotted, fortunately.

After everyone reached her position, Chris opened his backpack and took out a bolt cutter. They already knew that the shop was closed by the time calamity struck, so they would obviously have to deal with a closed gate.

The entrance of the store was blocked by a steel shutter that was locked in place by a padlock. That was not a problem though, since they already had a way to deal with the barrier. Carl took the bolt cutter from his friend’s hand and broke the lock with a little bit of effort.

Afterwards, they put the tool back into the bag and very carefully lifted the shutter, trying to avoid too much noise. Those metal doors could be incredibly noisy. Luckily, no zombies were attracted due the commotion, causing them to breathe a sigh of relief.

This next part would be a little tricky though. They all knew that shops like those most definitely had some kind of alarm and security systems in order to prevent theft and to protect their goods. That was doubly true given the sensitive and dangerous nature of the products sold there.

Therefore, there was a significant chance that they would trigger a sound alarm if they broke into the place, even if there was no power at the moment. They could not know what kind of security the place had, whether it had a backup generator or not, and what would happen when they forced their entry.

There was simply no helping it. No matter how well Danny had prepared in advance, there were many things he could do nothing about. Even if he already knew he would probably make a trip to this place eventually, he had no way of figuring out its ins and outs beforehand. How would he even begin to go about doing that? Should he straight up go to the owner and ask what kind of protection he had on the place? That would be asking for trouble.

Thus, it was with bated breath and pounding hearts that the group invaded the store.