“Gross!!” Are you sure this is necessary?” Holding up a metal rod with some pink slim falling off the end, Pam grimaced. Holding the weapon for Frank, who was taking a rest from killing zombies, Pam reluctantly offered to hold onto the poll. Even though Frank was the one who mapped out the entire survival plan, he still ended up being the one doing the most work, which didn’t sit right with the two teenagers. Unable to muster the strength to penetrate the skulls of the undead, from the safety of the second floor, Pam was forced to accept that she was currently dead weight in this situation, and resorted to helping the other two by handing them weapons whenever one was lost. Which happened to be a lot. Most of the time the weapons were lost by accident, like when Randy got a metal pole stuck in a dead body, or when Randy dropped one by accident, or even when Randy accidentally broke one by hitting it against the side of a wall after missing his target… Randy was the main reason Pam had any work at all. But every now and then, a zombie would surprise all them by yanking a metal pole out from Frank’s, or Randy’s, hands when they weren’t looking. Getting fed up with being one sidedly jabbed at by metal bars, these zombies would regain some mobility and retaliate. This made it clear to the three survivors that the longer they left the Zombies alone, the more dangerous they became.

“You know it is! Why even bother asking? Your not even the one who has to look at them up close!...Ops.” Hanging half out a small port window, where a movie projector use to sit, the red hooded teen lost another metal pole.

“Did you just lose another one?! We don’t have that many left!” Showing her displeasure, Pam chastised the boy for his carelessness.

“Calm down, It will be alright. We have enough to clear this auditorium and the next, then we’ll be done with this part of the building. If we need more after that we can just go down and get them without having to worry about being attacked.” Still slouched in the office chair, the heavy set man grumbled as he thought about having to move another projector in a few minutes. To reach the windows they had to move the machinery out of the way 1st, and the projectors felt like they weighed about two tons. He was tempted to push the machines out the port windows, dropping them on the zombies, but...the machines were too big to fit through them.

Begrudgingly handing Randy another metal post, Pam went back to her place, leaning on the opposite wall. “Well still, he should be more careful. I don’t like that those things can grab onto the poles already.”

“Me either, but after we get rid of the ones inside. We wont have to worry about any more of them for a while. And, we’ll be able to get something to eat.”

“What’s in the kitchen anyway?” Giving up on the current run, Randy decided to join the others in the discussion.

“Not a lot, but a few things. Pizza, hot dogs, chicken fingers, nachos-” Listing off the painstakingly rehearsed menu, Frank was cut off by Randy’s excitement.

“I call dibs on the nachos!”

Rolling her eyes, Pam asked a question of her own. “Is there anything vegan down there?”

Frank gave a sympathetic look as an answer.

“Psh, don’t be so picky. It’s the end of the world, who cares if you gain a few pounds.” Putting his two cents in, Randy found himself at the receiving end of a hard kick.

“That’s not it asshole, I was asking because I have food allergies. If I’m not careful, I could get sick!”

“I see. You’re going to have a long road ahead of you then. It might not be so hard at first, but a few months, or even weeks, from now, most of the food you can eat will probably spoil. So you’ll have to think about slowly adapting to what you can find. Though, there is a market next door. Maybe after clearing out the building we can think about how we can get over there to stock up on more supplies.” Warning Pam of the hardships to come, Frank very subtly provided another goal for the two to look forward to. Though he knew this trick wouldn’t last for ever, the small distractions would help keep the two’s mind from the real problems. Power, water, and sickness were a few that had already passed Frank’s mind, but one of the worst had to do with the zombies just a few feet below the window they were sitting next too. If these zombies had the ability to evolve, regaining basic human motor functions, then their ‘safe’ second floor hiding place, wouldn’t stay safe for long. Below them was an entire lobby full of glass windows zombies could break through if they tried.

At first Frank thought they were dealing with typical low grade zombies. By movie rules, These guys didn’t worry him too much, as long as you didn’t let them corner you. But after having the first zombie fight back, he realized they were in trouble. Zombies with basic functions like door opening, and climbing stairs, put these guys at a danger level of two. It made things more dangerous for those who weren’t careful, and difficult for those who were. Despite the added difficulty, these zombies could still be avoided, but a zombie who could fight back quickly escalated the situation. It’s not so much that a slow zombie who could win a fight in a game of tug of war was super dangerous, it was their potential to adapt that was the issues. In all movies where zombies had the capability to learn, it meant they had the ability to evolve. How much these monsters could evolve was unknown, but the ability to run, and break through simple barricades, was was practically a given at this point.

“Alright, I’ve reset enough. Give me five minutes to finish off this batch, and we’ll get to work moving the next projector. Randy, you ready?” Getting a nod from the teen, Frank took the metal post from Pam and headed back to the window.

---

“That’s the place.”

A few blocks away from the theater, a yellow moving truck was parked in front of a shabby building. The windows of the building were barred while the door was locked behind a metal shudder. The sign read, ‘Rick’s Ammo and Firearms.’ Looking around the area for any zombies, the younger of the two passengers noted how eerily quiet this particular street was.

“From what I remember, there’s a bathroom near the back, though It’s probably barred up like the rest of the place.” The old man closed his eyes thoughtful as he tried to remember anything important about the place. Normally he was above robbing a place like the teen had tried to do to him earlier, but the currently situation defiantly called for it. And to be honest, he was kind of getting excited about partaking in his first heist at his age.

“And the back door?” Taking this a little more seriously than the old man, Rein seriously contemplated his next move as he kept an eye out for any more looters. Having already been in one gun fight earlier, he wasn’t looking forward to another one, especially so soon.

“Back door? What about it, it’s a back door.”

Getting lip from the old man, Rein rolled his eyes a little. “I meant, do you remember if it has bars too?”

Thinking about it for a minute, the old man shook his head and shrugged. “Nope, but what does that matter?”

Rein gave a sly smile. “A bit actually.” Grabbing hold of his trusty crowbar, Rein hopped out of the truck, fallowed close behind by the old man.

“You ain’t leaving me behind. Rick swindled me a couple years back, and I’ve been itching to get the bastard back for a while now.” Keeping watch around them, he fallowed close behind the teen as they walked around the side of the building.

A few moments later, a loud bang was herd. Splintering the door frame while he was at it, Rein pried the back door to the gun shop open. Light flooded into the empty shop as a loud alarm came out. The two thieves looked inside cautiously for any signs of movement. Surprised at the hidden strength of the small teen, the old man showed a look of disbelief by what he just saw.

“What?” Noticing the reproachful look of his companion, Rein felt a little amused. “Never seen a guy rob a store before?”

“No...but I thought you might at least try to be a little less obvious about it. I bet the whole neighborhood herd that!” Looking around nervously, the man kept an eye out for the police.

Ignoring him, Rein casually walked inside. “Why bother? The whole city went to shit a couple hours ago, I doubt the police have time to care about petty theft when there are zombies running around… speaking of, are you gonna come inside or stay outside with the walking dead?”

Realizing what he meant, the old man quickly fallowed the teen indoors, grumbling as he did. “Tch cheeky little shit. I’m pretty sure what we’re doing isn’t just petty theft. We aren’t stealing chocolate bars you know.”

Shutting the door behind them, Rein found a nearby chair to prop the door closed. Though there might not be any police after them, they still had to be mindful of any zombies coming to investigate the noise. With the alarm still ringing, the two men started looking through the various weapons.

“Do you know which guns take which type of ammo?”

Breaking open a display case, Rein picked out a few hand guns before replying. “I know my way around a couple. You?”

“Same, gun’s weren’t my hobby, thought I did keep a couple around at one point.”

Nodding understandingly Rein searched through the guns until he found one he recognized, then worked on getting it unlocked from the wall. Gun in the apocolylpse weren't as common as people would think. For starters not everyone knew how to use them, and even fewer had the appropriate supply of ammunition to keep using them. Add in the fact that Zombies became increasingly resistant to normal bullets and the survivors were left with very little to protect themselves with. Though, that didn’t make them completely useless. Finding a good gun could help you through a lot of hard times at the start of the disaster.

“Just pick out a couple you’re more comfortable with. We don’t have room to take the rest with us.” Giving the old man some advise, Rein went back to searching the shelves of ammunition.

“You seem rather sure of yourself over there. Though I agree. No point in getting ourselves into more trouble by getting greedy.” Agreeing the two went to work. Finally finding what he needed, Rein stuffed a back back full of bullets, while also taking a few knives as back up weapons, but just as he slung his backpack over his shoulder, a loud bang came from outside the shutter enclosing the front door. Instantly becoming alert, the two ducked low and gave each other a quick glance before quickly wrapping up what they were doing. Rein, who was closest to the front, took a moment to look out the window.

A large black truck, surrounded by five guys was parked in front of the store. Two of the five men were hovering near the front door, holding onto a chain that was hooked up to the front of the vehicle, while the other three were keeping watch.

“Hurry up, we don’t have a lot of time to spend here. We got three more places to go to today.” Just then Rein saw a gruff bearded man stick his head out of the driver’s side window of the truck. The teen’s eyes narrowed in irritation.

“Shit. We need to get out of here fast.” backing up from the front of the shop, Rein quickly regrouped with the old man, who was struggling with two backs and a couple of larger guns. Grabbing something from the back counter, the teen took the shot gun from the old man’s hands, allowing him to pick up the last bag. Hearing a click from behind him, the old guy quickly turned around giving the teen a suspicion look. Had he just loaded the gun? He didn’t get a chance to say anything though, because the shutter covering the front door was suddenly ripped off, breaking the glass it was covering.

---

“Whoo, damn that was a loud one! We almost took the whole front end of the store off this time.”

Excited chatter could be herd as a couple large figures stepped through glass when entering the store. Just as they adjust their eye site to the darkness, and got use to the loud ringing of the alarm, the two men were greeted by the site of a kid aiming a gun at them.

“Shit.” The first guy that came in swore under his breath as he tried to reach for his own gun.

“I wouldn’t do that.” Rein glared threateningly, showing no signs of weakness despite his appearance. Luckily the guy listened. Moving his hand away from the gun holster attached to his hip, the square chinned muscle head moved his hand into the air. Hair cut short, and dressed in your typical jeans and work clothes, already stained with blood and other fluids, the blond guy looked as though he had been through a long day. Oddly he didn’t show any signs of panic, like he was already use to the world ending.

“looks like we’re a little late. Boss! We got company!” The second man called out over his shoulder to the four others outside as he walked in, but instantly shut up when he herd the sound of the shot gun being cocked. “Woah woah woah hold on there kid!” Putting his hands up in a show of non aggression, the guy gave a friendly smile to the two in front of him. While his friend nervously looked between the two of them, the leaner, and clearly more talkative, of the two took a step away from the door, trying to divide the teen’s attention by putting some distance between him and his partner.

“Not a step more,” Suddenly the old man manged to get his own gun leveled and aimed it at the second guy, though, Rein knew it wasn’t loaded. If you can’t make it, fake it.

“Got it old timer. See, I stopped moving. Why don’t we take a moment to talk this out for a bit?” A little nervous now, the talkative guy tried his best to defuse the tension, his smile was a little less convincing though.

“Mark, Max, what’s the hold up?” A third body started to enter the shop, this time Rein recognized him as the man who was driving the truck just a few moments ago. Wearing a leather jacket, not much different from Rein’s, the dark haired man boldly stepped forward with his own gun already drawn.

“The hold u is, we’re being held up!” Seeing his leader step in to help, mr. chatty started to feel a little better. “I told them we’d be cool to talk things out if they were to lower their guns. We can share right?”

Seeing the kid and the old man continue to keep their weapons pointed at them, the new guy, who’d Rein assumed was the leader of the group, let out a laugh. “Max, you idiot. How’d you let a kid and an old man catch you off guard like this? Wait until the other hear about this. Hey kid, do you even know how to use that thing?” The man taunted while continuing to point his gun forward. Normally an idiot who underestimates their opponent ends up dead, but for some reason the bearded man still kept his gun level, even while he joked around.

“Boss...he’s already got it cocked.” Max explained worriedly, but he just got an eye roll as a response.

“Does he now? The question is, is it loaded, and can he ‘use’ it.” Rein didn’t react, knowing full well the guy was gauging him. Gun’s don’t matter if you don’t pull the trigger, and not everyone had that abilty. Rein just continued to stare the guy down calmly.

Unfortunately the Old man behind him wasn’t as cool headed. Thinking that the two of them were merely bluffing till they could make an exit, he decided to put his two cents in. “Do you really want to take that chance?”

Hearing the weakness in the other man’s voice, the bearded leader gave a sly grin. “Look, we don’t want to kill you, and you don’t want to be killed, so how about we just take these dangerous things off your hands, we’ll let you go, and we can all call it a day.”

“No need.” Rein spoke, shifting the hand he used to stabilize the shot gun. “We were just leaving anyway. You can have them.” Signaling for the old man to start backing toward the back door, Rein kept his gun pointed at the three, carefully moving toward the exit himself. Seeing Rein’s movements, the bearded leader narrowed his eyes before tensing up.

“Hold up!” Max suddenly spoke up. Looking pretty proud that the other two had decided to back down, he decided to get greedy. But his boss quickly cut him off.

“Shut up Max!” Not like the joking voice he used before, the Leader quickly snapped at his companion.

“Huh, but Boss, they have a lot of stuff with them. We’re trying to get as much as we can. We can’t just let them go with half the ammunition.” But Max only got a head shake in response. Curious as to why his Boss was suddenly getting quiet, he looked back at the old man and the kid who were now un barricading the door.

“Just be quiet and let them go, and don’t move.” Keeping his eyes on the two, the bearded man continued to keep his eye locked on the youth with the shot gun. After a few moments, and a quick reminder from Rein to check the surroundings, the old man exited the store. Getting the all clear Rein fallowed close behind.

“What the hell Rick?” The blond guy, Mark, finally spoke up after getting a gun pointed at him. His leader let out a big sigh.

“That kid is dangerous.” Rubbing his temples a bit, the buff man walked behind the counter, looking for something.

“What do you mean? Was it because the guns were loaded? You acted like you thought they weren’t? I was trying to tell you to be careful.” Feeling a bit frustrated over the whole thing, Max couldn’t help but complain.

“No, the gun’s weren’t loaded. The kid’s finger wasn’t on the trigger the whole time. And the old man, he looked scared despite having the advantage. You didn’t notice him keep looking at our guns? He was scared we’d use them.” Rick explained. Just then he seemed to find what he was looking for on the back counter, shaking his head solemnly.

“Then why the hell did you let them go!?” Max shouted. Rick quickly turned around and tossed something over to Max. “Huh? Holy SHIT!” Catching, and almost dropping what was given to him, Max fumbled with a fist size object. It was a grenade. The blond guy’s face also paled when he realized what the leader was getting at.

“They may not of been holding loaded guns, but the Kid was definitely armed. I’m not surprised the two of you didn’t notice it before, he hid it well. I didn’t know until he flashed it to me at the end.”

“Oh my god. He’s could of killed us all… He’s crazy. Do you think, he’s..one of us?” Max carefully set down the grenade on a nearby surface, not wanting to hold onto something so lethal.

“Probably.” Rick looked out the window, watching a yellow truck pass by. “Like I said, he’s dangerous.”

---