With the death of the infected in the mall the survivors started to decompress and relax as their minds found safety at home with the mall. people started to bond, find new hobbies, play games, etc.. Logan set up his hydro farm on the roof and had it running the first week, playing chess with Andy from across the way. He had told the gun seller that he and his wife had taken some of this stock at this point, and claimed they thought the store was abandoned. Andy didn't seem to mind as he was a heavy sleeper and was just glad he locked the door on his way out.
Akane had joined him on the roof quite a bit, to the point that she dragged up a massive camping tent home she found in the sporting goods store. She then filled it with everything they would need for a mid day relaxing and sleeping area. It didn't take long for the Sgt. and few others to join them to talk with Andy, and even found a fun game of Logan, Akane, and Andy calling out some of the remaining dead that were left around as targets for the marksmen of the group. it seemed their burning of the dead had been worth something as the hoard wasn't growing back to what it once was. more were coming in just at a statistically acceptable level given the local population around them.
it was getting low enough that the three marksmen were already talking about them heading over there when it was sparse enough to allow the risk. The man was thankful for the chance as he was greatly in need of food and true human contact as the weeks grew longer. When he wasn't tending to his farm, Logan would be down in the underground parking garage working on the buses. While he and Akane weren't planning on leaving if they could help it, he also wanted to make sure they had a way out if shit hit the fan. He also wanted to do this before the other survivors did as the movie's modifications were unnecessary and dangerous.
"Barb wire on the roof of the bus? now the zombies have hand holds to hang on" he mumbled as he reinforced the emergency exit on the top of the bus. the sides were still curved and smoothed out as best he could. grabbing on would be impossible while the more secure door would stop any outside breach. "open slots for chainsaw carnage? now there is infected blood spewing into the bus infecting anyone with an open mouth or wound." he mumbled more as he applied a reinforcement metal mesh on the side doors, while he applied a row of metal bars for the driving windows. he also grabbed a few other survivors to help him apply both aluminum reinforcements on the sides and a zombie plow in the front. After that was done he had the hardest part, which was the makeshift steel belted tires he fashioned to keep from popping due to road Debris.
He even doubled down and applied a warped metal shield to encase the tires to stop any popping from the side of the bus. The project took most of the month given the on again off again nature of his modification time, but he had finished before the month was up. What was really interesting was that he found the movie's dog two days in during his modification. He remembered the dog was down here and yet when he and Akane were down here clearing out the undead, they couldn't find him.
"Do you think he was hiding from us?" Akane asked as they watched Nicole immediately latch to the pup when Logan brought it up to the mall. The girl had turned the dog into her true life line and had helped with her depression. Terry was doing the same as clearly liked the girl but a dog just worked better it would seem. Terry was with her at the time and petting the dog while smiling. Both were giving each other looks that made Akane snort at the puppy love happening.
"It's likely given the noise of our guns putting down the zombies," Logan said as he put down a bowl of water and food for the pup. With the new mascot of the group added everything again grew into slow crawl that had the couple itching for something more to do when the month was almost up.
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"it's enough right!?" Akane said as they saw the sparse hoard in front of them on the roof. The month was finally up and the two were jittering messes as they needed some excitement back in their lives. In the past they used to commit petty crimes like smash up a car, graffiti a business, and in some cases hit up an underground fight club to vent their bloodlust. but now they were stuck and needed to curb it with games and projects that had already gone stale or were finished. Now both were fully decked out in bite resistant armor they had made before and were fully geared up.
With a nod from Logan the two left the roof and made their way to the backside entrance. The Sgt. was with them and was against the plan the two told him as they left the roof. He had proposed to head to the sewer system to dodge the undead still out there to get Andy, which was the smarter plan. He just didn't account for the two sociopaths craving the risk and violence heading out up top warranted. Still, he knew he couldn't stop the two and just made sure he was here to let them back in if they survived. with a final nod the two popped the back entrance door and ran outside, the Sgt. closing it back up and growing tense.
"We can't stay here any longer," he said to himself, "We need a truly safe place." they had gotten complacent from the safety but seeing the two risk their lives to go save a friend not a thousand paces away...it was just ridiculous. though the Sgt. Thoughts were rooted in good nature and hope, something he clung to after coming to terms with his brother's likely death, he couldn't fathom the simplistic truth about the couple's true goal from this action.
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When the door closed shut the two moved as one, lightly jogging, to the front of the semi. they had taken the keys from Norma and hopped into the driving cabin. creaking it on they drove it to a more flat surface and then hopped back out. With Akane watching, Logan proceeded to uncouple the trailer from the tractor in a sped up motion. The back of the mall was empty at the moment as they had cleared out pretty much everything around for this day, and as such were able to drive off moments later with just the engine of the rig.
It was only when they pulled around into the front of the mall that they caught the small hoards attention. Akane smiled sadistically as she leaned out of the rig with her AR sending unsteady rounds into the dead. They weren't all headshots as she couldn't aim carefully given the moving truck, but it still filled her with satisfaction as the hoard ran to eat her alive. Logan didn't falter and plowed through the dead as he grew closer to Andy's abode. The marksman was on the roof and took shots to help the two coming to get him, thankful for the assist from the skilled couple.
He knew they were not all there in the head given the choice moments he caught the two alone on the roof genuinely happy at the burning masses they caused almost every morning. Still, with them focused on the dead and not the living he would take the help. The Semi rammed through the dead and shifted onto the main road, building speed as it approached the smaller hoard around Andy's shop. While only getting to thirty before they met the dead head on, they still splatter and threw the majority away as they cut off access from the main shop door to the sidewalk; it was on enough to make it hard for the dead to crowd in. With that in place Logan and Andy opened their doors and started to pass a few boxes of ammo inside before Andy hopped in with them, his rifle slung on his back.
"Akane during this time was firing round after round at the dead trying to get near her side, giggling all the while from the death she was causing. When she heard the car door slam shut she dropped into a smirk as Logan took off again to swing around back to the mall. She continued to rack up her death toll as they brought some outside dead back to the mall after hearing the loud semi's engine running. They were out driving the dead and Akane was doing her best to clean up any hanging on, but one managed to sneak up on Logan's side and lunged for his arm. teeth met condensed rubber and thick plastic as the dead bit into the motorbike armor. Logan didn't pause in his driving as he grabbed a screwdriver he brought with him and jammed it into the dead's head.
The dead dropped and Logan managed to drive back around to the loading bay, the hoard right behind. they pulled up close to the back door and signaled the Sgt. with a walkie talkie who opened the door with a shotgun in hand. Hopping back out of the truck Logan and Andy grabbed the boxes of ammo and sped walked to the door, Akane behind them taking shots at the running dead. once again with a final shot, Sgt. close the door and lock it as the dead started to bang viciously at their missed meal. Andy laughed and cried as he hugged both Logan and Akane, before grabbing his friend Sgt. Kenneth who hugged him just as hard. The couple were breathing heavily as their blood sang at the risk and reward they got from the rescue.
Again the itch was scratched as they popped the safety's on there guns and walked away with the marksmen and cop to go have a nice lunch. The rest of the day went by quietly with a big dinner to settle in the new arrival. That was when the lights went out and signaled the next plot point.