Drew had to fireball a hole in the barricade. They weren't going to be able to get Sarah through otherwise. But when they were finally through and out in the sunlight again, both of them stopped and just soaked in the light.
For the first time in who knows how many days, they could see further than the glowrocks could shine, and it was like a weight had been lifted from them both. It was only when they could feel the warmth of the sun and wind on their skin that they realized just how oppressive the closed darkness had become. By unspoken accord, Katie set Sarah down, and they simply stood there for a moment, drinking in the outside world again.
They were on a small road that traveled around the base; across from them was the parking garage for the building, and on the other side of the garage, just barely visible through the walls and pillars, was a forest. To their right and down the hill was the exit from the base. The road ran alongside the beltway before rejoining the rest of the Anacostia neighborhood of DC. To their left and up the hill were a few more Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security buildings, while beyond them was the abandoned mental hospital and its replacement.
Either way, they were in the middle of Barry Farm, one of the most dangerous places in DC pre-advent. How the advent had changed that, Drew had no idea, but he didn't really look forward to finding out.
"We need to figure out where we're going." Drew broke the silence, looking at the sky, "I think it's around 1600, so we've probably got a few hours of daylight remaining. Water, food, and shelter are the priority in that time."
Katie nodded her head as she looked up the hill, "Base Exchange then? It's the only place nearby that we're going to be able to take Sarah."
Drew followed her gaze up the hill as well. The exchange was only slightly larger than a small convenience store, but it would have food, drinks, and spare clothing. "Other option would be to see what we can grab from cars." He gestured towards the parking garage next to them. "It's closer, and we wouldn't have to move Sarah as much."
"We could, but I think it's a better long-term move to go to the exchange. We might not find anything in the parking garage, especially with how few people were in the building when it happened." Katie turned again and sized up the hill: it rose a couple hundred feet, and the grade was steep.
Drew glanced at the garage--there were only a few vehicles within, mostly from people that found it easier to store their extra vehicle here than somewhere within the district. The odds of them finding food beyond their own vehicles was minimal.
"Well, I have a gallon of water and a 72-hour kit in my car, but you're probably right, we're gonna need to raid the exchange either way."
About halfway up the hill, they switched and Drew carried Sarah. The open nature of the terrain made them feel more comfortable that no pressing attacks were forthcoming. "It's weird. It's been a couple of days now, and yet...everything looks like nothing happened. There are no crashed cars, no burning buildings. Look at Arlington; it's the same as it always was, just quiet." The hill they were on afforded a decent view of the Potomac from the Woodrow Wilson Bridge to the 14th Street Bridges, centered around the Dulles Airport.
"What's been happening out here while we were inside?" Drew mused as he pulled Sarah up the hill.
"Do you always talk when you exercise?" Katie asked with a half-smile, but when Drew glared at her, it morphed into a full smirk. "Who knows?" She looked out at the quiet city so different from the loud, busy 5 o'clock traffic that normally beset it. "Holy shit," she exclaimed, as a turtle surfaced in the river. It was hard to tell from this distance, but it looked to be as big as some of the airplanes near it.
It pushed itself along the river for a few seconds before sinking back down under the water. Now that she was looking, she could see several other gigantic turtles. She had previously taken them for hills, but they were sunning themselves on the riverbank. "Well, that's...disconcerting," Drew said as he caught sight of the creatures as well, drawn to look by Katie's exclamation.
It took them thirty minutes to crest the hill and make their way around to the other side of the building, where the entrance to the Exchange was. The building itself was four stories, but the exchange only took up a portion of the bottom floor, and Drew had no idea what was on the upper floors. A barber shop and dry cleaner took up a portion of the lowest level of the building, completing the three staples of military shops.
The front doors were locked, but a single hit from the new and improved major acid dart was enough to eat away at the lock and allow entry. Katie set Sarah down and built walls around her, protecting her, while they went off to ensure it was safe.
The inner section of the building had a small landing before turning left into the barbershop. To the right were bathrooms, and straight ahead was the Exchange itself. Katie summoned a new glowrock, these ones being much brighter than the earlier ones, and handed it to Drew, both of her hands returning to grip her spear.
Drew held it up high. The Exchange only had a few windows, and in the dying light, it was filled with shadows. He had never realized how dark it was without the ever bright fluorescent lights to illuminate everything. The doors into the exchange were locked by a chain. Another acid dart opened the lock and the clanking sound of the chain being pulled off the door and dropped filled the noiseless atrium ominously.
"Probably more rats or cockroaches if anything; hopefully, it's rats," Drew said, as he pulled the door open. Without a weapon, and without Mitch's enhanced melee blows, there wasn't much they could do against cockroaches.
The Exchange was somewhat large and divided into four different parts. Directly in front of them in the front right section of the store was the electronics and hardware section. Going clockwise around the store was the coast guard branded civilian clothing section, the uniform item section, and then the convenience store area. Glancing around the room, Drew threw a couple of the old glowrocks into the various corners, waiting to see if anything responded to the intrusion of light into the semidarkness.
With a glance at Katie, who shrugged, they moved forward, heading to the food area. Finding nothing, they began moving less cautiously until they had cleared the entire Exchange. Drew found a broom and took a moment to knock the dropped ceiling tiles down so that nothing could be hiding up above them. They did find several regular spiders, which Drew killed with the broom handle, not wanting to take any chances on them becoming mana twisted while they weren't watching.
The next hour was spent clearing, using the toilets, and then eating what Katie sarcastically called, "a very nutritious dinner" of jerky, nuts, and warm sprite. Then they began the process of fortifying the area. Katie summoned walls to block off the windows and door, while Drew raided the clothing area for bedding. They made a spot for Sarah on the most comfortable bed they could make for her. Drew had cast refresh on both of them again, and they both changed into clean clothes, giving them a sense of revitalization, they hadn't had since the advent.
Katie moved to block off the last window at sunset, the hill providing them with a great view to the west where the dying light tinted the city in gold. When it finally set, and the city turned dark, Katie started to block the window.
"No, wait. Let's see if there are lights anywhere." They stood at the window and watched for thirty minutes before Katie shook her head.
"Nothing." She raised the wall and they retreated to the two chairs they found, placed near Sarah, Drew casting refresh on her sleeping body.
"So, what do we do next?" Katie asked. Sarah's state was still pretty much the same...slow, shallow breathing. They had given her some liquids earlier while they ate, but they didn't have any way to give her more substantial nutrients.
"Well, we need to find where the rest of the people are. I think our best bets are going to either Bolling or McNair," Drew answered, glancing towards the now-blocked window. Fort McNair was hidden by the slope of the hill they were on, but Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling was across the freeway from Coast Guard Headquarters where they were, and it was one of the places that had remained dark.
"Either way, we're going to need a better way to transport Sarah. Or wake her up," Katie responded, looking at her silent form. "I don't really feel like dragging that litter all the way to McNair."
"Yeah, but I guess that leaves another question: what do we do if there's no one there?" Drew didn't say it, but both were thinking it. What if there was no one anywhere? "I need to check on Zoey. I know logically that she's probably dead, but I need to make sure either way."
"I don't have anything I really need to do, but I'd like to go home and get some things…" Katie trailed off with a shrug, "I live in Kingstown."
Drew nodded, "I'm right near the Air Force Memorial in Arlington." Sort of opposite directions. To get to Katie's, it would be better to go south and take the Woodrow Wilson bridge west into Alexandria. Whereas for Drew's, it would be faster to go northwest across the Frederick Douglass Bridge and into DC proper before crossing the Potomac on the 14th Street Bridges. Both were on the other side of the Potomac though.
"Well, what are our transportation options?" Katie asked, trying to break the problem down.
"We can try to find an old car, something from...I dunno, the 70's or earlier? I'm not sure when they started using electronics, but an older car would probably still work. The other alternative is a cart? Maybe we can find a horse?" Drew shrugged, "And what do we do with Sarah while we are out looking for transportation?"
"The Commissary on Bolling would have shopping carts, but the loading dock here might have something better than that media cart you used," Katie offered.
"Commissary would be a couple hours there and back at least, while the loading dock is a possibility. That would be a short trip."
"But not one with a guaranteed result. Worth a stop though since it's on the way." Katie was using a brush to untangle her hair as they talked; days of fighting with only the replenishing rain to clean had left it a tangled mess, but she paused for a moment. "I'll have to stay here with Sarah."
Which meant Drew would have to go out alone, "Yeah, we'll need you to seal it up again and we shouldn't leave her alone, just in case she wakes up."
"Here, slot the gravitas, it'll help you get over the highway faster," Katie said, pulling up her interface and giving the xatherite to Drew. "Should probably slot that and the mana sight, might help you see anything dangerous."
"You sure?" Drew asked, looking at the two xatherite. He then traded metallurgy and heat shield to Katie, "Here, take these. That way we each get two. We'll owe Sarah." If she woke up, otherwise they couldn't risk losing the xatherite.
Katie said, "Wait, where are you going to slot them?"
"Gravitas in the constellation with storm; hopefully it will give me a gravity storm spell. It's the only linked skill I can think of." Drew says glancing at the grid. "Maybe something with mana guard, but I don't think that's really likely."
"As for mana sight...I can combo it with either blink step or mana guard and blade barrier. I don't see any of those last two creating a linked skill. So, it's kind of a tossup, I guess. Whether I want to try to complete a constellation or go for an improbable linked skill with blink step."
"You're probably right for gravitas; gravity storm sounds useful. I can't think of anything for mana sight either." Agreed on his course of action, Drew cast refresh on Katie again, "Bedtime." He laid down next to Sarah and slotted the two xatherite, confirming the prompt as everything then went dark.