It was always eerie driving down a wide road with abandoned, scattered vehicles dotted here and there. The van rattled as Winston failed to miss a shallow pot hole, one of several that had never been fixed since the end. Most of these hadn't really worsened; there was no longer the pressure of continuous traffic to cause them to do so. But here and there, some had deepened, some had lengthening cracks and others had weeds comfortably growing in their reclaimed spaces.

They'd travelled first along a few backroads, some of which had now been mostly reclaimed by grass and greenery making them difficult to traverse along. They'd had mixed success with the smattering of properties located there, but as they were not looking for food as this was the most unlikely thing for them to find, their pickings really weren't bad overall. With Shaun insisting on travelling with them, their task had become somewhat easier; he could directly pluck the pipes and radiators from the walls rather than them smash them up like yobs. If there was any water lingering in them, Tyler evaporated it with his abilities, while the others sought in every corner for salvage.

Abandoned properties are more at risk from the elements; one bungalow had a few broken roof tiles allowing the rain to seep in damaging carpets and wood flooring as well as causing mould to grow on other fabrics. The smell of that place had been heavily musty, but it had not been the only property to be exposed to the elements. One house had several smashed windows and doors within, the patio doors had been broken from the inside. It was most likely that a zombie had broken out from inside.

Apart from metal pipes, nails and nuts, they gathered up curtains and other fabrics. These could be repurposed, perhaps or used to thicken their own window coverings this winter and help keep any warmth inside. Harry located a bunch of candles and tea lights in a loft along with a toy train set and building blocks. They'd been covered in plastic bags, so didn't need much cleaning up.

This hidden cottage was a fairly old property, built many centuries ago and still had its large fireplace in the living room and wood burning range oven in the kitchen. They stayed there that night, reheating several flasks of squash and bean soup over a fire and the next morning they used all their ability and strength to steal the oven. They planned to try install it in the second property in order that the occupants could live there more comfortably in winter.

From a few of these places, they did actually find food, including some tins and packages that were still in date. To be honest, even though a few were past their best before dates, they still claimed them, knowing that they wouldn't be awful. These included a couple of bags of white flour, a bag of brown sugar that hadn't been opened and a container of crystallised honey. Salt, vinegars and oil was also discovered, but none of the latter bottles were sealed so they left them rather than take the risk. Seasoning packets were abundant in one kitchen cupboard, sealed one use type things and Dexter quickly gathered these thinking they would interest his wife.

On a farm, the found a truck that still had some fuel in its tank and a horse box which could be attached to it. This was quickly filled with items from the farmhouse itself, though there was not a great deal to take. This place had clearly been found and stripped of any essentials so mostly what they took was metal, paint and some rusting tools hidden in a barn.

As they were about to leave, they noticed an old tree that had lost vitality and was simply dry wood waiting to fall. They took the time to chop it down and into movable chunks, placing it into the smaller truck's open bed.

It wasn't completely smooth sailing either, but there was only one encounter that could be considered life threatening. That was a mess of mutant felines whose territory they had travelled into. They decided to flee, Ren Zexian covering their backs and sweeping aside the vicious cat pride, while they left the barns and farm property labelled them as a loss.

Otherwise the number of zombies they encountered was minimal, just a few wandering groups that were low in number, heading in similar directions towards the south. It was clear from their rambling, unhurried pace and that there were no large mobs that there was nothing of interest in this area for a zombie; there was no food for them.

They encountered just one trapped zombie in still lingering in its original home. It had turned to face them, its hunger clear, but as it moved, its dry skin cracked and began to flake. Its muscles had decayed to the point where they even fell from its rattling skeleton, falling to the ground like small sacks of dust, thudding and crumbling. Tendons tore, hanging loose and as the bones had little or nothing to keep them together, they broke away from the main body, the zombie literally collapsed like an unstable house of cards. Desiccated organs and a thin, long strand of intestines scattered as it fell and the remaining light in its eyes faded.

Tyler vomited off to the side, while others swallowed rising bile several times before coming to their senses. It was not as if they hadn't seen and smelled other disgusting sights during this era, but this had still been quite a shocking thing to behold. The zombie had been trapped since the end, unable to feed, without the ability to evolve, its end had been inevitable.

They drove off of the narrow country roads and onto a main road, skirting around the odd abandoned vehicle until they encountered a dual carriageway. Wide and with several cars and lorries left ignored to rust, they took advantage to seek fuel for the two vehicles they were currently using. Some of the trucks had clearly been siphoned clean, but eventually they found half a tank of diesel in a large family car. It couldn't fill the hungry tank that was within their van, but it was not an insignificant find either.

Consulting old paper maps, they plotted the quickest route home. It had been two days and nights since they left their base and their finds were enough to celebrate with. Winston carefully manoeuvred the truck through a narrow opening between an abandoned car and another car that had swerved into the central barriers separating the sides of the carriageway roads. Shaun was sitting in between him and Dexter, who happened to lazily be glancing out of the window, but not really observing the sights, just thinking of his girl back home.

"Wait! Stop the truck!" Shaun said, startling Dexter out of his revelry and causing Winston to swerve.

"What the fuck?" Tyler yelled from in the back, losing his balance and falling to his knees. Cole cursed heavily along side him.

"Shaun?!" Dexter yelled, half berating him, half questioning him.

"Sorry! It's just that I noticed a lot of metal in the trees!" Shaun said, excitedly. He'd been testing his abilities over the last few days, seeing what he could sense, whether he could tell the difference between metals, how much he could move with his mind alone, that sort of thing. The cars and trucks left on the road was naturally all metal, he couldn't yet tell between types, but he had been able to 'see' rough shapes of the metal bodies of them. He hadn't expected to find a lorry-shaped vehicle in amongst the woodland trees that bordered thickly this road. He couldn't help but wonder whether it had ever been noticed before.

Trucks and lorry were often transport vehicles, transporting numerous things from peoples possessions to food or livestock, fuel, clothes, furnishings... naturally this road had already been a target of survivors seeking things to better their survival and their lives. The evidence of such was scattered all about the place; broken locks, dented and damaged doors, even holes within containers. So their own people hadn't thought of searching for anything more than a bit of fuel.

But what if...

Dexter understood his conjecture and nodded to Winston to turn the truck around, quickly stopping beside the van following them to let Harry and Ren Zexian, who was sitting beside the other man, what was happening. Harry was towing a horse box, it really wouldn't be easy for him to turn around, Tyler jumped out of the van to remain at his side to protect him, while Ren Zexian joined the others risking the woodlands.

The lorry seemed to have swerved off the main road and had ended up quite deep in the woods before hitting a tree. It couldn't have been going too fast or the damage would have been far more serious, likely the lorry and much of the surrounding woodlands wouldn't have survived the impact and subsequent explosion. Dexter and Ren Zexian exited the van with caution, Ren Zexian with his blade drawn ready for any hostile targets as they slowly approached the lorry. From the words printed on the sides of the lorry, it belonged to a large supermarket chain.

This find at this time last year would have completely excited Dexter, the potential for it containing food, toiletries or just cleaning products was high. But what were the chances of the food still being edible or the products still being intact after suffering the heat of the summer twice while stuck in a metal container. Granted, it had the benefit of shade, but...

Still, they also couldn't ignore it, so Dexter nodded to Ren Zexian whose sharp blade cut through the doors of the truck like they were made of butter until an opening was formed.

Dexter glanced at the first things to enter his vision and couldn't help but grin. "Shaun, you blessed bastard!"