"So, uh, where you girls headed?" James inquired.
Carly was about to answer again but thought twice after being discouraged to talk by her big sister earlier.
"Ok I see, well you're welcome to join our little group. We're headed to someplace called Greenwood Pines, suppose to be a haven of some kind." He offered.
Susan thought about it and with a nod said,
"Ok, we'll join you guys."
With a simple nod, James accepted them into the group. Wherever this "Greenwood" was it likely they would find directions to McKennly, the two siblings had a general idea of where the military base was, so they could get pointed in the right direction from there.
The group snuck out of the store they had bee hiding in and carefully made there way through the town. That's when they made it to one of those superstores,
"All right, lets split up into groups of three. We'll meet back at the front doors in 10 or so minutes. Louis, Susan and her sister; me, mike and Jen. Okay let's move!" He planned.
The doors to the giant store opened easy enough and once they were inside they split into said groups.
"Keep close to me, don't stray. Got it girls?" The black haired officer said.
"Got it, come on Carly" Susan replied.
Most of the store was wrecked and empty, but most of all it was dark. Louis held a flashlight along with her combat pistol, Susan had her rifle in her hands with Carly right on her heels.
After searching for what seemed like eternity to Carly, making their way through the dark with the sound of her own nervous heartbeat the only thing she could hear. Then, out of nowhere, the sound of glass braking and the accompanying,
"Oh shit" whispered just ahead of the three.
Louis turns the corner, pistol ready to fire but is stopped when she sees the source of the noise, two boys:
The first boy was Leon, 19, had hazel eyes and short black hair. He was wearing regular blue jeans with a red plaid shirt over a beat up white t-shirt, on his feet were grey running shoes. He had a tan combat bag with a shotgun and a pistol.
The second boy was Leon's brother, Dan. He was 16 with green eyes and slightly long black hair. He was wearing grey skinny jeans with a black shirtwith some band on it. He wore red sneakers, he had a pistol as well.
After the five went through the whole interigation that comes with meeting new people in this broken world, the two pale boys decided to join the group.
After what must have been 20 minutes, they managed to salvage some supplies and met up with the rest if their group. The two newcomers introduced themselves and the group, now 8 members strong, went to explore the rest of the town.
As the people walked through the deserted streets, Dan hung back with Carly,
"Hay, you have a gun?" He asked in almost a whisper.
Carly was hesitant to answer but resigned to tell the truth,
"N-no. My sister doesn't really trust me with one, she thinks I might hurt myself or something." She responded feeling a little embarrassed at admitting that she was regarded as a child when it came to firearms.
"Well in that case, lets keep this our little secret for now." He said and handed her something from his bag.
Carly studied it: in her habds was a small black pistol, probably for self defense, but greatfull that she was now able to defend herself if need be.
She looked at him,
"Thank you Dan. This is very thoughtful." She almost gushed.
He blushed a little,
"Don't mention it, everyone should have done protection." He finished and walked a little faster.
Carly knew how to use a gun, her mother taught her how, the young girl flipped the safety and tucked the gun into her backpack.
She was beginning to like this boy.