“There it is.” Micah pointed toward the warehouse on the map. “It’s weird that we’ve never noticed it before now.”
“That’s a tiny spec. I didn’t think it was a damn warehouse. There could be a ton of supplies in there.”
“But it could also have been scavenged already,” Calix reminded him. “I mean, look at it.”
“It could have been abandoned before the apocalypse.” Jay shrugged.
“Maybe.” Nathan stuffed the map back in his bag and put it back on his back. “Let’s see if we can scope the place out. Just stick together and watch out for any people that could be hiding out in there.”
“No kidding.” Calix shivered. “It’s probably a mess in there.”
Micah led us carefully to the entrance, and with a deep breath, he went to push on the door, but it didn’t budge. “It’s locked.”
“Let me.” Nathan pointed his handgun at the lock, and we all stepped back before he shot it, and the loud metal clang made me jump. “You okay, killer?” He placed the gun back in his holster and glanced at me.
I nodded, my hand over my chest, and I felt my heart thundering beneath my rib cage. “Fine.”
“Stay alert,” Micah barked the order and kicked the door open with a loud creak.
We funneled inside, weapons ready. Our footsteps echoed within the large building, and the air was musty. The floor was littered with debris, but there were large shelves with a ton ofdifferent supplies stocked, kind of like a regular store but in bulk.
Thick layers of dust covered the packaged objects and totes, and the only sound was our footsteps and breathing.
After a few more minutes, we cleared the building. It was easy to do going aisle through aisle since there was no other room in the structure.
My muscles relaxed, and I let out a long breath after knowing we were alone and scanned the shelves. “There are so many supplies. How are we going to carry everything?”
“Just have to carry what we can, darlin’.” Micah shot me a grin before his eyes widened.
He walked toward a section of axes and other tools that could be used for weapons. Rows of different size axes, arrows, baseball bats, and even a few machetes lined one side of the aisle.
We each started looking in the different aisles to see what we needed to bring, and I found an aisle with all kinds of fertilizers and seeds packed tight.
I reached out and grabbed a few spring seed packs, and excitement rushed through me. There were a ton of gardening supplies in the aisle too from tillers to water cans.
“Kind of an agricultural dream, huh?” Daisy walked down the aisle with her arms crossed over her chest and a pensive expression. “You really haven’t changed much.”
“I think I have.” I shrugged, looking around to find a bag or something to put all the seed packs in to make it easy to carry back. “My love for gardening and self-sustainability makes more sense now that the apocalypse happened.”
“Yeah.” She smiled softly and glanced down. “I guess that’s true.”
I noticed a waterproof tote on the top shelf and stepped on the second shelf to give me a boost to grab it. The shelf creakedas I came back down, tote in my grasp, stumbling backwards and losing my footing.
“Shit, Tor!” Daisy reached out and grabbed my upper arm to stop me from falling into the shelf behind me. “Watch out.”
I steadied myself while staring at her before she let my arm go and cleared her throat. “Thanks. That would’ve hurt.”
“No problem.”
“Guys, I found so many medical supplies! Hygiene, medicines, ointments, and literally anything else you can think of!” Calix’s excited voice echoed through the warehouse. “Oh my God!” He let out an excited squeal, making a giggle bubble out of me. “There’s hand sanitizer! I haven’t seen any since after the first year the apocalypse started! And it’sindustrial size!This is the best scavenging trip ever!”
Nathan’s chuckle came after. “That’s great, man! Gather as much as you can! There’s some bags and even a wagon or two over here you can grab and fill up.”
“Awesome!” Footsteps hit against the concrete floor as I assumed Calix rushed toward Nathan’s voice to get a few bags.
I giggled and started putting the seed packs in the tote.
“You do look happier now,” Daisy muttered, tucking a blonde lock behind her ear. “But I do love Jay. I really do.”
