It was still night as me and Lilly walked out of the office building. She lead me to the hidden building that they made base where we'd be keeping the guns we smuggled. We stopped in front of a pile of rubble blocking the door a gas station with boarded up windows.
Lilly began trying to move a large piece of sheet metal, which I helped with. After laying it on the side walk, it revealed a tunnel through the concrete rubble pile. I let Lilly walk in before me, then backed my way in, laying the the sheet metal back against to opening.
We walked into the dark gas station with the only light coming from a somehow powered refrigerator. I broke away from Lilly to investigate it, walking past the empty aisles to the row of equally empty coolers. Except for one. The one that was lit up had a milk in it. Nothing else. It was obviously expired, being two months old. But it was such a strange sight. On the glass door of the fridge, in spray paint it said "milk gang". I chuckled and followed Lilly out of the gas station. There was an alley out the back of the gas station, which me and Lilly walked down a bit till we reached a sewer cover. We lifted it together and climbed down the ladder to the bottom of the sewer.
We walked through the drained tunnel of the sewer until we reached a walled off area. A rusted door stood before us. Lilly went to open it to no avail. I gently pushed her to the side and stepped back a few feet. After moving back about four feet, I lowered my shoulder and charged forward, ramming into the door. It moved slightly and a bit of dust came from the top of the frame. I stepped back the same distance again, cracking my neck, before charging at the door again. It moved back more, letting a little more dust fall. I examined the top of the frame and could see a little bit of the other side. Instead of charging at it again and risk hurting myself, I kicked the door, opening it enough for me to pry it open with my hands.
A bit tired and taking heavy breaths, I leaned against the inside of the frame and waved Lilly in, smiling. "Ladys first." I said. She smiled back and walked in. I followed her into a room with panels that had buttons and leavers that I had no idea how to use. In the middle of the room stood a ladder that Lilly began climbing up, which again I followed. We reached a basement of what seemed to be the sewage plan, one because why else would a sewer opening be here and two there were similar panels as the room below.
"Is this where we're supposed to be?" I asked Lilly. She looked at me and nodded. "We're outside of the walls right now. Grace and Darrell found it." I nodded and looked up a staircase leading up to the lobby of the plant. I looked at Lilly who was finding places to put the guns I brought back. I walked up the stairs and into a lobby. The door was all bored up with shelves and lockers in front of it. There were also sand bags built in front of the desk to reinforce it for cover.
No one was in the room but I heard talking from the next room. I walked into the room and saw Darrel, Grace, and a two other people I've never met.
"Ah Xander, you're here, on good timing to. Come here." Grace said as she waved me over. They stood around a table with a home made map in the middle of all the area compared to all of Philly.
There were different battle strategy's on how and where to attack and defend. There's a few "key points" they seem to want. I walked further into the room and stopped at the table, next to Darrel and one of the strangers. Darrel mumbled something that sounded like a hello, so hes, already softening up to me.
"Lilly's downstairs putting the guns away. I also got a few grenades. How many people are here?" I asked Grace.
"Twelve. Seven slaves, four survivors. How many guns did you bring." Darrel asked and answered.
"I got a few rifles and shotguns, and about seven handguns. And this piece." I took my mossberg 590 chainsaw off my back and put it on the table. Darrel marveled at it and picked it up.
"This things probably pretty powerful. We should test it out tomorrow." He said. I nodded and smiled to him, putting my hand out. He handed my gun back, actually smiling back. Maybe that day just wasn't his.
"But anyway, its late. Im gonna go to bed. Where are they?" I asked no one in particular.
"Upstairs in the first room on the left theres sleeping bags and mattresses on the ground." Said one of the strangers. A guy with a thick, brown beard and short hair. I thanked him and made my way to the stairs.
While passing the stairs down to the basement I nearly bumped into Lilly emerging from the door frame.
"Oh, sorry. Look out" She said, letting out a little chuckle.
"Its alright. You heading to bed?" I asked her.She nodded and brushed a bit of hair out of her face. "Could you show me where to go? I have no idea where Im going." I said in an ironically proud way. She waved for me to follow her.
We walked down the hallway and turned a corner and came across the stairs. We made our way up, and half way up, exhaustion hit me hard. A huge weight set on me and made me want to collapse. I struggled my way up the stairs and to the room, falling onto the dirty mattress and fall asleep almost immediately.