As Brie searched the shop for her items, she took note of a lonely basket gathering dust on the floor. She took it off the floor, grasping it lightly and swinging it as she walked. She picked at items, humming a quiet tune to herself to fill in the cold atmosphere. The silence surprised her, but she was grateful to finally be able to think without interruption. It was calm.
She spotted a pack of needles, swiping them from their home. "I'll need you." She dropped them into the basket, returning to humming innocently. It felt like she was shopping for groceries again, choosing what they were going to eat for dinner or getting snacks for a movie night. Except it wasn't going to be like that again.
They were shopping for survival.
Brie found herself at the entrance of the store. She glanced outside of the glass doors to find it was once again deserted, just like when they first arrived. She thought back to the blind walker, shivering as she remembered his disheveled appearance.
"Stop thinking about it. You need to think about what you're going to do." She huffed to herself as she broke into a paced jog, making her way back to the surveillance room before anything bad managed to catch up to her. Knowing her luck, she'd run into another walker before she had a chance to acknowledge it.
She quietly opened the door, peeking inside to see Adam and Melissa safe and sound. She smiled. "I'm back!"
They looked up in a startled manner but calmed as they saw her flustered face. "How come you look so tired?" Adam raised an eyebrow, looking her up and down like she was a foreign creature. Her face was a strawberry red, and her hair was starting to mat awkwardly.
She kneeled, ignoring Adam's observation and carefully placed the basket down beside his body. He lay still with a tense face as he thought about the pain he was about to go through. "I can't believe I'm letting you stitch my wound up."
"Would you rather Melissa did it?" She whispered in an offended tone, side-eyeing Mel to see her drawing shapes into the paint on the walls with a sharp rock. Brie tore off Adam's new bandages. They were bloody once again.
"We need to do this fast." She did a quick scan over the website on their computer. Performing surgery looked easier when it was laid out in steps, so she read through carefully before beginning.
She proceeded to clean the wound to the best of her ability, getting the dirt and blood out of the way. Adam grabbed a nearby piece of cloth and placed it in his mouth as he grit his teeth together.
"Good idea, this is gonna hurt." Brie sighed shakily and began to soak the wound in disinfectant. Adam let out a muffled yell and slammed his fist onto the floor with anger. Brie flinched, feeling guilty already.
Brie inspected the wound. "Seems clean, we can start with the stitching." She spoke to herself, pausing and making sure Melissa wasn't watching her. Mel averted her eyes, clearly not wanting to listen or see.
Brie pulled out her sewing kit and began to sew into the wound carefully, making sure to follow the instructions given to her on the screen. Adam seemed calmer now, taking in the pain without too much struggle. "You're doing amazing." He muffled into the cloth, watching as she tied a knot into her thread and pulled the wound closed.
"You're done. We need to bandage it now." She grabbed the fresh bandages and helped Adam sit up and wrap it around his stomach.
"That was the most pain I've ever been through." He panted out and pulled the bandage together. "I do feel better now." He smiled and leaned forward with difficulty to hug Brie.
"Also," Brie smiled cheekily and pulled something from the bag. It was a very expensive red wine, swirling in a glittery glass bottle.
Adam gasped dramatically, holding his hands out like a baby. "Gimme!" He grabbed it, pulling the lid off and taking a long swig.
"You could've given me this before you shoved a needle into my stomach." He uttered sadly while taking another drink.
Finally, after a long day, they were able to relax and sit together, listening to the quiet static of the radio in the corner. Melissa crawled towards them and lay her head on Brie's crossed lap.
A few hours passed and it was night. Noises were beginning to sound from outside. Occasionally, they'd hear a screech or a yell.
Brie noticed that Adam's face was getting pale. He was acting strange. He had trouble focusing, he sometimes seemed like he was going to vomit and he was sweating a lot.
Brie sat, playing with her hands as she thought. What if he was turning?
She stared down at the floor. She had a gut feeling that something bad would happen soon. What if it was Adam? Would she have to kill him?
She sighed. If he turned into a walker, she wouldn't kill him. She needed a plan. A step forward. Maybe they could join with other survivors and work to create a cure or prevention from the virus. Brie glanced at Melissa, who got back up and crawled over to Adam.
Mel needed a safe place to stay. Somewhere permanent; somewhere she could grow and learn. Brie watched as she played with Adam, smiling brightly and enjoying herself as any child should.
Brie felt her heart sink as Adam coughed, inhaling with a wheeze. There was definitely something wrong. She shuddered as anxiety crawled through her skin, reminding her that she would be no help to them.
She was useless. Everything Brie had done led to chaos, her ideas were bad, she couldn't fight. What was she even good at?
"Shut up." She hissed under her breath. She wasn't letting her anxiety screw them over. Brie sat up calmly and furrowed her eyebrows. They needed a plan.