Lucas tosses the last bag from the urgent care into the bed of his truck.
"There we go" Lucas dusts his hands off metaphorically. "And now all I need to do is go to the gas station on the way back for extra fuel and some miscellaneous items. Probably some food too.
Along the way to the gas station Lucas tries to decide something important.
Does he bring back all the supplies right away?
There is the option to bring them all back. But would that be best?
There is a spot on the way out of the Quarry that he can stash some of the supplies. It'd be out of the harsh sun and not ruin the supplies from what rain they will get. And you would have to be looking decently hard.
Lucas gets to the gas station and gets out of the truck. He parked next to a police car that looked to be abandoned.
From the gas station a few walkers can be heard. The sound from Lucas' truck alerted them.
After checking the surrounding area Lucas heads inside. The sun is still barely in the sky with about an hour left before it disappears.
Inside it looks relatively alright. Only one or two shelves knocked over.
Lucas has a knife ready in his right hand that he keeps up and ready for a surprise.
*bam*
Behind the cash register there is a walker that lays on the counter and reaches out towards Lucas.
The walker pulls itself over the counter and falls to the ground. Lucas takes three steps inside and brings his knife down on its skull.
After this walker goes silent Lucas can hear more groans coming from further inside, near the back.
Lucas looks down each isle and doesn't see anything. So he figures they must be in the back where they keep the surplus supplies. It's like the walkers are telling him where he should look for the good stuff.
He gets to the back and sees a door. And sees a sign with marker written on it.
EMPLOYEES ONLY
(Except you Jerry. Fuck you Jerry. You know what you did)
"Damn Jerry. What did you do?" Lucas asks himself as he turns the handle on the door but it's locked. And when he pushes on the door he doubts he can quietly push it open without making a lot more noise than he is comfortable with making. Even if he did just drive up with a truck. He knows it's stupid, but he doesn't care.
Lucas takes out his lockpicking kit and gets to work. It takes a few minutes but he gets it done. Not much light.
And once he unlocks it he puts his kit away and picks his knife back up. He's heard two sets of footprints inside so he gets ready to take care of the walkers.
He turns the handle and jumps back.
One walker falls to the floor while three others look at Lucas.
"That's more than two" Lucas says to himself.
The four walkers begin to move towards him. The walker that fell gets to its feet after the others trample over it.
Lucas makes quick work of the four of them. He's had plenty of practice now killing walkers. Sure he had killed humans with knives before, and that was difficult enough. But with walkers you couldn't mess around with. Even if they were slow. And they took a bit to get used to killing. They were slow and basically brain dead. But they sometimes stumble and fall towards you on their own which could cause them to scratch you or bite you faster than you expect.
After wiping his blade clean on a walkers shirt Lucas lays them belly up along with dragging the one near the front to the back. He checks their name tags but doesn't see Jerry.
"Tch. Wanted to find out what he did" Lucas then shoved their bodies in the corner out of his way.
He looks in the back and it's a bit messy. But everything is in boxes so it's not like much was ruined from the blood that is dried on the boxes and floor.
At the back of the back room Lucas finds something he knows Dale will like.
It's a small toolbox with plenty of tools. Sure they weren't in the best condition. But they are better than nothing, they don't even have blood on them.
Lucas begins tossing the boxes into his truck but has to stop when the sun starts going below the horizon.
He shuts the doors of the gas station and gets back in his truck. He doesn't need fuel and Glenn can take his turn coming here now that it's cleared out.
On the way back to the Quarry Lucas stashes a good portion of the supplies. Then he gets back to the survivor camp just before the sun disappears. He backs the truck into the camp to make it slightly easier to unload the supplies.
"Guess who's back?" Lucas chimes as he gets out of the truck only to see nobody except for an old man.
Dale is up on his RV. "Welcome back Lucas. How are you doing?"
Lucas drops the tailgate. "Better now that I'm back here. Where is everyone?"
Dale goes towards the ladder on the back of the RV to get down. "Everyone's practically gone to sleep already. Been a long day here without you. We've set up the new tents you brought back this morning and done a few extra things. Tensions seem to have died down and everyone's on relatively friendly terms after being able to sit down and talk"
Lucas sits on the tailgate as Dale walks over. "Why do I have the feeling you're sugarcoating it a bit?"
Dale scratches his growing white beard. "Bah, not much. Merle being Merle is all. But he and Daryle kept to themselves mostly"
Lucas runs his right hand through his hair. "We've gotta do something about Merle. He's acting like a loose cannon"
Dale looks into Lucas' eyes. "You're sounding like Shane a bit there. What do you plan on doing about Merle? Hopefully your answer is better than Shane's"
Lucas puts his hands one the truck bed behind him and he looks up at the sky. "About Merle? Find a way for the guy to put his energy into something more useful than shouting insults and slurs. Daryl can only talk him down so much after all. But I'm not sure what else he can really do. He and Daryl might end up having to leave eventually. But I'd like for a solution before that happens"
Dale nods. "I knew you were different" He mutters before stepping to the side and looking at the supplies. "Is this it?"
Lucas smiles. "You make it sound like it's a small amount"
Dale holds his left hand up. "Didn't mean it like that. Just asking if these are the supplies. Bad wording on my part" He corrects himself.
"I know what you meant" Lucas says and stands up on the tailgate. "And I grabbed something you'll like"
Dale smiles. "Is it my birthday already?" He jokes.
Lucas moves a few boxes and grabs the tools and sets them in front of Dale.
"Awwww, you didn't" Dale looks through the tools. "Missing a few things but with this I'll be able to fix a few engines up. Thanks"
"Not a problem. Just happened upon the and thought of you" Lucas moves boxes towards the tailgate.
"You'll make an old man blush" Dale grabs the handle of the toolbox.
"You heading in for the night?" Lucas asks.
"Just putting these in the old RV. Don't wanna forget them and leave them out. And they'll be out of your way" Dale says and puts the tools in the RV.
Lucas hops down from the truck and starts carrying boxes to a tent they set up for supplies only.
His second trip back to the supply tent he nearly has a heart attack.
"Lucas?" A feminine voice quietly whispers behind him.
He quickly turns around and nearly drops the boxes. Lucas looks around but doesn't see anything.
"Lucas" Amy calls out and comes out from behind a tree.
"Oh sweet Jesus" Lucas says as he relaeases his breath he was holding. His shoulders and stance also relaxes. "Fuck you scared me….. What are you doing Amy?"
Amy clasps her hands behind her back and shyly looks at the ground. "S-Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you"
Lucas shifts the weight of the boxes he's holding. "Don't worry about it. Just made my heart skip a beat, and not in a good way"
Amy smiles weakly. "Sorry"
"Want to help me with this?" Lucas asks to try and get away from this awkward atmosphere.
"Yeah" Amy says in a slightly better tone. She grabs 2 boxes from the top.
"They're heavier than they look so just take one for now please" Lucas informs her.
Amy nods and just takes the top one. And when she holds it on her own she's surprised. "What… is in… this one? Cement?" She asks as she strains her muscles.
"Not cement. Think that one's Spam" Lucas smiles. "Let's get a move on"
They walk a few steps and then reach the supply tent.
Amy hefts the box of Spam onto a table and catches her breath.
Lucas just sets his boxes down in the corner. "I'm normally able to do everything in one trip on my own when I go grocery shopping" He jokes.
Amy looks up at him. "Why do you guys always do that?
Lucas shrugs. "Why take multiple trips for something when you can do it in one?"
"Because you won't drop anything if you take multiple trips" Amy states.
"Maybe. But I haven't dropped anything yet when I do a single trip" Lucas smirks.
"So basically you do it because you are too lazy to go back to the car?" Amy asks.
Lucas taps his chin. "Perhaps…." He doesn't confirm nor deny. "Cmon, why don't we get back to it"
Lucas and Amy walk out of the tent.
Amy walks next to Lucas who slows his walking pace to hers.
"Why don't you supervise me?" Lucas asks.
"Huh?" Amy quickly responds in surprise.
Lucas points at his truck. "Unless you're hiding muscles under your clothes, I think it would be best for you to keep me company than tire yourself out. I kinda packed the boxes and bags full so they're all heavy"
"So you want me to…. Supervise?" Amy wonders why he worded it that way.
"Or you can cheer me on. I've never had a personal cheerleader before" Lucas smiles as he remembers that Amy used to be a cheerleader for her high school's football team.
Amy blushes. "I-"
"Just joking. All you need to do is keep me company so I don't go crazy from walking back and forward repeatedly" Lucas stretches his arms.
Amy watches as Lucas stretches. He is wearing a red shirt that shows off his muscles….. like all his other shirts that he wears. "I can do that…." She distractedly responds.
"Great. And have you and Andrea made new friends?" Lucas asks as they get back to the truck and he grabs the last 3 boxes and leaves only bags left.
Amy smiles. "Isabell is nice. We got along right away. She likes to read and I like to write so we had some things in common"
Lucas is reminded of the degree Amy was going to college for. "That's good. She's a bit shy, so I'm surprised you were able to get her to talk"
Amy shakes her head. "It was Leon that introduced me to her"
"Leon playing matchmaker? Interesting" Lucas playfully jokes.
"M-Matchmaker?" Amy stutters. "It's not like that!" She quickly corrects Lucas.
"Not interested?" Lucas teases.
"N-No. I'm not interested in women like that" Amy sternly says.
"Fair enough. I'm not one to judge either way. I think it's actually kinda hot" Lucas says. He's enjoying Amy's reactions.
"Huh?! H-Hot?" Amy blushes and nearly trips.
"Hahaha. Yeah, hot. Don't know why, just something about two women lights a fire inside I guess" Lucas lightly laughs. "Are you alright?"
Amy nods. "I'm fine. Just found a tree root with my toes"
"It is getting dark" Lucas turns his back to Amy. "There's a flashlight in my back pocket, you can use that to light our path"
"Back pocket?" Amy asks for confirmation. It's gotten really dark now.
"Yeah, no need to be shy. It should be sticking out on the right side" Lucas holds the boxes firmly.
Amy reaches out towards where Lucas is. She feels something cold and it has a handle. She also feels Lucas' back and how warm it is.
"That's the left pocket. Your grabbing my knife right now. Move to the right" Lucas feels her hand quickly let go of the knife.
"O-okay" Amy moves her hand and reaches out but doesn't find the pocket.
"Watch where you're groping, or did you find something you liked?" Lucas jokes as blood rushes to his face as he feels something grope his ass.
"Eeeh!" Amy makes a cute noise as she retracts her hand. "S-Sorry! I can't exactly see"
"Riiiiiight~. Try again I guess" Lucas knows you don't just grope something without meaning to. It's not like they're in an anime or something.
Amy finds the flashlight. "Third times a charm" She jokes through her embarrassment.
Lucas can practically hear her blushing. "The on switch is on the butt"
"Huh?!" Amy grips the flashlight tightly.
"The back of the flashlight. You push it in and it turns on" Lucas will milk this for as long as he can.
"O-Oh" Amy presses back of the flashlight and it turns on.
"Did you think I was talking about myself?" Lucas jokes as they begin walking again.
"N-no!" Amy quietly shouts.
Silence falls upon the pair.
"Well it's not" Lucas says. "It's just an unusual sensation for us guys to be groped back there"
"Do you think it's not unusual for us women?" Amy asks in an uncertain tone.
Lucas smirks. Amy just fell into his trap. "I suppose not. But have you ever experienced it?"
Lucas can practically hear the steam coming off of Amy from how hard she's blushing.
"I…. haven't. I haven't even dated someone before…." She quietly admits.
They get to the tent and Lucas places the boxes down.
"Is that a bad thing?" Lucas asks as they walk back. "To not have dated anyone?"
"It's… just embarrassing to admit. You know? And it's not exactly like I haven't wanted one before. I…. just get rejected when I ask guys out…" Amy holds the flashlight tightly with both hands as she confides in Lucas.
"Those guys missed out then. Any guy would be lucky to have a girlfriends like you. And it's not something you should be that embarrassed about" Lucas tries to help give some comfort to Amy.
She blushes at his compliment but then looks down at the ground when she heard Lucas tell her it's not something to be embarrassed about. "Easy for you to say…." Amy quietly says and pictures Lucas' muscles in the darkness and the way he's easy to talk to. "You're you…."
"I haven't a dated anyone before either" Lucas informs.
"Really?" Amy tries to look at Lucas' face but the flashlight is facing the opposite direction so it's hard to see it but not impossible.
"Really really. Parents even thought I was gay before I left for the military. If they looked at my browser history they would have found proof that I was definitely straight" Lucas admits with a little difficulty.
"Andrea…" Amy takes a deep breath. "… she also though I was... She said it was because I didn't ever talk to her about guys. But it was because she left when I was young so it wasn't like I was able to talk with her when I started to get interested in guys. And she's 12 years older than me! It's kind of hard to talk with her to begin with… and the guys she points out are a bit old for me to understand their appeal, and the ones I like are kinda young for her… a little bit. And again, it's hard for us to talk"
Lucas nods his head. "If I'm correct. You two only got back in touch recently right? For a trip?"
"Yeah" Amy takes a few breaths before continuing. "She didn't- She didn't even come back for holidays or for my birthdays. Then she suddenly shows up and drags me around in her car through some states. If we didn't have anything in common before she left, it was like she was a stranger when she suddenly showed back up. When I was 6 she was already 18 and getting in trouble with dad"
Lucas rubs the back of his neck. "I can understand the awkward age gap between siblings. My brother was decently younger than me. And some people in my unit had very young or very old siblings. My friend Damian, he had a younger brother that was close to 10 years younger than him? I think? And I worked with Damian's brother and father after I returned to civilian life…."
Lucas stops walking as he remembers Sam and George.
Amy stops walking a few steps later when she realizes Lucas stopped. "Are you ok? You don't have to talk about it"
Lucas rubs his face with his palms. "Nah, like I said on the boat. I can somehow talk about it easier with you and your sister. Don't know why" He looks down at his hands that aren't shaking much.
"Not only did I watch Damian die. But I also watched his father and brother die. I tried to save them… But it was back when I didn't know what was going on. And they were both bitten…" Lucas clenches his fists and then opens them and shakes his head as he drops his arms to his sides. "Anyway, what is was trying to say... What was I trying to say?"
Amy walks up to Lucas. "Let's talk about something else"
He nods his head. "Righ-" Lucas looks to the side. He looks intensely at a tree and grabs his knife from his back pocket. Lucas steps in front of Amy. "Come out"
Amy is confused at what is going on. She didn't hear anything and she also didn't see anything. Then there a small branch or something breaks and nearly makes Amy jump out of her skin. She latches onto Lucas' side and back and closes her eyes.
Lucas grabs Amy's hand that is holding the flashlight and points it at the tree. Then he sees a figure walk out from behind the tree.
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to eavesdrop. And I couldn't find a chance to walk away either" Isabell holds her hands up and walks out from behind the tree.
Amy recognizes the voice and looks around Lucas. "Isabell?"
"Sorry Amy. I-I didn't mean to interrupt anything" She says with some embarrassment and sadness.
"You didn't interrupt anything!" Amy immediately let's go of Lucas and takes a step back. Lucas let's go of her wrist as she stands next to him.
"How much did you hear?" Lucas asks flatly.
Isabell puts her hands together and twirls her thumbs around eachother. "Er…. Since you two talked about not dating anyone. Again, I'm sorry!"
Lucas scratches the top of his head. "It's not that bad. Just tell us if you dated anyone" He says in his charismatic tone.
"R-really?" Isabell asks.
"It's fine with me, how about you?" Lucas turns towards Amy and puts his knife away, he forgot he even had it in his hand.
"I-It's alright. It's not like you meant to" Amy rubs her right elbow.
Isabell walks towards them. "I haven't dated anyone either…. My brother, Jed, was the popular one. I was more of the quiet person that stayed in the back of class and went to the library often. And I was to shy to talk to anyone….." She talks in almost a whisper.
"Who would have guessed that is three are in the same boat?" Lucas jokes. "Why don't you help Amy keep me company while I unload the supplies from today?"
"Sure…." She quietly agrees. "I still can't believe you willingly went back into the city right after you escaped from it"
"I wasn't exactly trapped there. I just got in and got out like I did yesterday" Lucas shrugs.
They begin walking to the truck. Amy on his right and Isabell on his right.
"Still. There were so many of those reanimated- I mean walkers. I couldn't voluntarily go back" Isabell admits.
Lucas nods. "Yeah, but it's not like I am looking to kill every walker I find. I can just run away"