With Don and April gone, everyone else was left to their own devices. Alice and Sarah decided to see if John's Mother needed anything.
She certainly did.
She had the girls help her around the house. Keeping it clean, as well as taking out any garbage. She even asked if they wanted to help with the garden that was outside. At first, they were scared to go back outside, but she eased their worries. As long as they remained close to the house and kept away from any bugs, they would be fine.
As for Tyrone, he decided to help out Noah. He even seemed to learn a thing or two while helping Noah. Noah had a few side projects he was working on while waiting for the materials he needed for his main projects.
Juan and Catalina kept Sofia company. Everyone seemed perfectly fine with that too. Rebecca decided to keep watch and make sure everything would be in order. Don had left her his shotgun along with the boxes of slugs. So, she was keeping a watch out front—lastly, John, Jake, and Josh.
The three of them were preparing to leave. Instead of going out and looking at the stores and whatnot, they decided to try the houses. That was their plan. It was closer to their base, and they had yet to even try entering other homes. This was an entirely different world, even if it was a replica. So, even if they found food and water amongst other items to bring back, it wouldn't hurt anyone. They told Rebecca what they were up to, and she told them to have a safe trip.
"So, are we just going run through each house?" John asked as the three left the front yard. "We'll take them in sections. For now, we'll start with the houses to our left. If we finish those, we'll backtrack and go with the ones to our right. After we clear those out, then we'll run through the houses on other streets from right to left, then left to right, and right to left again. We'll repeat this process until we clear out the neighborhood." Josh explained, and everyone nodded in understanding.
They made their way to their first house. The place looked empty on the outside, dead even. The grass was overgrown up to their ankles, but they managed to get to the front door. Jake turned the knob to open the door. Since there wasn't any resistance, the door wasn't locked. Jake looked back at John and Josh to see if they were ready. They both nodded at him, and Jake slowly opened the door. The door creaked as he pushed it open. The place was lit up thanks to the sunlight, but they still decided to use their flashlights.
The three of them decided to stick together as they moved through the home, which seemed to belong to a family. Part of them felt guilty about what they were going to do even if this home, in particular, did not belong to anyone. Instead of immediately scouting for supplies, they decided to check out the house and see if it was clear of any bugs or undead. Thankfully, it was.
They split up and maneuvered through the home.
John was in the kitchen area. He only took canned goods that were within expiration. He decided to stay away from boxed and bagged items, mainly because those were out of date. Anything in the refrigerator was a no-go. He checked it, but everything was already well past usability. He found a few bottles of water in a nearly empty pack lying on the ground. Aside from that, there wasn't much else in the kitchen, so he decided to check elsewhere.
Josh was in the bathroom. He was looking for anything that could be used for medicinal purposes. Sure, Don brought some back, but there was no harm in keeping supplies up, right? He found a bit of stuff like peroxide, cotton balls, and bandaids, as well as various prescriptions. Though that was all, he was able to find.
Jake decided to check out the laundry area. John's family had a washer and dryer in the basement, but they ran low on detergent and softener. So, Jake decided to take it upon himself to find some. Thankfully he did, along with some bleach. The bottles were large and decently full. He stuffed them into his backpack. He even found some dryer sheets and took those as well. Once he finished, he would return to the front door. Along his way, he decided to keep a lookout for anything that Noah could use.
The three regrouped after half an hour and reviewed what they found.
"I found some food and water. Even some clean towels. I didn't find anything Noah was looking for, though." John was the first to go over what he found.
"Well, I found some medicinal items that we can stock up on. We never know when we will need them after all. I also managed to find body wash and conditioner items. I know that you brought some back as well, Jake, but I figured it couldn't hurt. Besides, what I found was mainly for the women." Josh waited till John was finished before going over his finds.
"That's fine. It never hurts to stock up. As for me, I found some cleaning supplies as well as laundry supplies. I even found a few toys for Sofia. But like the rest of you, nothing Noah wanted." Jake claimed.
John and Josh seemed a bit saddened when Jake brought up Sofia. "It's sad that someone so young is in this world..." John muttered.
"I agree. I mean, at least she has her parents, but still..." Josh agreed.
"Well, all we do can is keep morale up. I think that was one of the reasons why Don wanted a scavaging party. To keep people busy and occupied." Jake pitched in.
"You are right." Josh remarked, and John agreed.
The three of them decided to leave the house. Since they had a decent hull, they returned to their base. Mainly because it was right there. Rebecca was surprised to see them back so soon. She figured they would be gone for at least a few hours. They explained that they had a decent hull and decided to drop stuff off and then head back out.
Once they did such, they returned to their planned path and headed to the next house. This house also wasn't locked either. It also didn't have as much stuff as the previous house, and thankfully it wasn't occupied by bugs or undead. Jake did find some board games and toys as well as cards that he would bring along. Mainly as a means to keep the others entertained, including Sofia. He still felt it was terrible that such a child would have to waste an entire year in this place.
Josh decided to keep track of any supplies that were in each house with a pen and pad. They didn't want to keep running back and forth, so he decided to keep the notation of which home housed what type of items. They could come back and gather them later if need be. Instead, they mainly focused on items that Noah needed and any other urgent items they did not have. Their progression through the houses was going well since they weren't picking up everything. Interestingly, there was no undead or bugs, as well as the fact that none of the homes were locked.
A couple of hours passed, and they finished the left side. They left the house and looked up at the sky to see it was well into the afternoon. "Well, I think we should head back. I am feeling kind of hungry." Jake stated.
"Agreed." Both John and Josh said in synchronization. Just as they left the front yard and were about to back to their base, they noticed a girl standing on the sidewalk. Black hair, brown eyes, black leather jacket open-wide with only a black sports bra in view. Black shorts and black thigh-high boots. The girl's hair was tied up into one ponytail. She had been chewing on bubble gum and blew a large bubble that would 'pop' after a moment. "Hiya." The girl greeted.
"Another contender?" John inquired as he looked at the girl.
"Hmm..." Josh narrowed his eyes in thought while scanning the area around them.
"Hey." Jake replied with a smile, and the girl smiled back at him. "You three based around here, or just scouting the area?" The girl asked.
"Well, we-" Jake was about to give her the answers she wanted, but Josh interrupted him. "Scouting. We are scouting. Is there anything we can help you with?" Josh took over. He felt like something was fishy. He didn't like the vibes the girl was giving off. Something told him not to trust her.
"Mmm... There is something I could use your help with if you are offering. I was trying to get into a house several streets down, but the place was locked up. It also sounded like there was undead inside. Since I am all alone, I decided not to go there. However, three strong men like yourselves could help me. What do ya say? I'll even help you out in return~" The girl winked with her final remark.
"Of course--" Jake was about to accept her offer right away, but Josh interrupted him again. "Alone? You are wondering these streets all by yourself, knowing the dangers that are out there? Surely, you are capable then. So, why do you need our help?" Josh asked once more.
He was doing his best not to give off an interrogating tone of voice. John knew that his cousin had trust issues, especially when it came to women. He also knew that Josh wasn't dense or stupid either. He could tell if his cousin had an uneasy feeling about something or someone simply from how he spoke. John decided to trust his cousin's instinct. Jake, on the other hand, didn't understand it one bit. "Hey now, we can all be friends. Besides, we can help each other." Jake butted in.
"Your friend seems willing. What's with all the questions anyway?" The girl inquired.
"Allow me to be frank; I do not trust you. You are alone in a world that has been pretty much turned upside-down. I do not mean to be rude or offensive when I say this, but women typically aren't viewed as human in a world like this. The fact that you have no bruises or wounds tells me a few things. One, if you are alone, then you are strong. If you are strong, then you do not need our help."
"Two, you may just be lying. You could have others in wait to ambush us, and Three, both of those could be true. From my time here, I have seen what happens to women. I have no plans of being like the scum who treat them in such a manner, but I will not throw the lives of others away as well as mine just because some stranger seeks my help." Josh was firm in his remark.
When he pointed out that the girl didn't seem like she had been beaten, bruised, or abused, Jake noticed it. "Well... Now that you mention it. She seems perfectly fine." Jake stated.
"I see. So the weak girl front won't work, huh? Well, that's fine. I was never good at acting anyway. You are right, though. I am strong. Super strong! Though, there is no ambush for you. I was just testing you." The girl's lips curved into a smirk.
"Testing us?" Josh inquired. His gut was telling him to retreat. Something was off about this.
"Of course. I need to see if you will be useful. Soo..." A soft light engulfed the girl, and when it vanished, she was no longer there. A moment later, she appeared in front of Josh, "Let's have some fun!" The girl's lips curved into a wide grin.
A fist was being brought toward Josh's gut. Josh backstepped from the fist and took to a boxing stance. The girl stepped in and swung with a left hook. Josh defended against the left hook. The girl was fast with the follow-up and swung for a right hook. Josh defended against the right hook. The girl followed up with an uppercut, and Josh defended against that; however, what he wasn't prepared for was a calf kick which caused him to groan in pain.
The girl laughed at his pain. Her eyes shifted towards John, who tried to grab her, but she managed to duck under his grasp. She would fall back and roll backward only to kip up onto her hands and then push off her hands onto her feet. She was surprised to see Jake had swung the metal pipe without warning.
She used her arms to block the pipe, but instead of groaning in pain, she chuckled at it. "Nice~ This will be fun!" Jake wasn't sure what to think of the nut-job who laughed as the pain went through their body. This allowed the girl time to take hold of the metal pipe and pull him towards her to sock him in the face.
As jake stumbled back, Josh stepped in rapidly and swung left, and right then gave a straight. The girl dodged both and tucked under the straight. She rose with an uppercut, but Josh was pulled back before the hit connected with his chin.
John had pulled Josh back and swapped places. He reached out again to try and take hold of the girl's arm. She stepped back, but John stepped in, and instead of grasping her arm, he took hold of her body. She threw in a few punches to his gut which seemed to bounce off as if she were punching something soft and rubbery.
John lifted the girl over his head only to slam her down onto the ground as hard as he could. The girl snickered from the pain and rolled away from John before rising to her feet. It was as if the pain didn't faze her. She spat out some blood from her mouth. "Interesting... You three fair well in a fight, but what about your power?" The girl remarked as her eyes flared crimson.
A ball of flames erupted in her hand, which she tossed at John, who jumped away. Josh was also surprised when the girl said something about power, but he managed to slip past the ball of flame. It did singe his cheek a bit which caused him to wince in pain.
The ball was going straight for Jake, who swung his metal pipe like a baseball bat at the ball of flame without thought. Instead of exploding or dispursing, the ball of flame would bend around the metal pipe before being flung back towards the girl, who was impressed by such a feat and ended up getting hit with her own attack.
This caused her to burst into a fit of laughter. "Good. Good, Good!" The girl exclaimed; both of her hands would fill with flames, and the crimson flare in her eyes grew brighter. "You three are good! I figured it was only that man who would entertain me, but you three are just as good. However, if you don't use your power, you will die!" The girl shouted with excitement and thrill.
"What the hell?" Jake exclaimed. Even though she was hit with a ball of flames, she appeared fine, as if the flames did almost no damage to her, aside from singe her clothing and flesh.
"This chick is crazy." John grumbled as he regrouped with Josh and Jake.
"Power? Are you talking about the Seed?" Josh inquired. Sure there was much to the girl before them that confused them, but right now, Josh wanted answers.
"Of course I am! Wait..." The girl stopped to think for a moment. She saw that none of them were activating their powers. "You three haven't awoken to your power yet?" She asked.
"No. We don't even know what that power is." Josh replied.
Instantly the flames in her hand died out, and the thrill and excitement on her face vanished. The flare in her eyes was also gone. "I see..." She kissed her teeth and turned away.
"Now I am bored. I am going to see how he is doing. I wonder if that man is capable of defeating him." The girl began to walk away. Clearly, she was bored, but Josh still had questions.
"What man? Who are you talking about!?" Josh remembered that the girl said something earlier about a man who could entertain her. If she was targeting them specifically for some reason, he wanted to know if that man she was talking about was Don.
"Hm? Why your Leader, of course. I don't know what his name is, but it is clear as day that he is your Leader. Though you three aren't bad, there is no point in fighting if you can't use your power. Next time we meet, though, I expect you to have awakened to your power, or else you may end up dead." The girl replied before seeming to give off a white light, and when it disappeared, she was gone once again.
"Leader? Is she talking about Don?" John asked as he looked at Josh. Josh grimaced at the thought.
"That wasn't all. If she was talking about Don, then that means that there is someone else who is probably fighting Don as we speak...." Josh grit his teeth.
"Damn it!" Jake shouted aloud.
"For now, let's return to base and let everyone know what is going on. I also want to make sure nothing happened to them." Josh added, trying to maintain a cool head. John and Jake agreed and the three of them hurried back to base.