Change of Plans

        Change of plans. Understatement of the year. Floor by floor yielded nothing but locked doors. The banging noises behind each one echoed throughout the empty halls and stairwells. It was the worst noise Bruiser had ever heard. He decided to skip straight to the roof to get a view of his surroundings when he froze in place. In the time of life, something must have been going down on the top floor. He saw no less than eight undead police and 3 dogs.  The wind must have been in his favor because nothing was alerted to his being there. He raced downstairs, skipping two and three at a time until he was back outside. He knew the way he came to get here was relatively clear, so looking at his map, he traced a path back towards the safe-house and than heading north. The ultimate goal was still the Church, but he saw something he hadn't before, a small mom and pop pharmacy a block over from a music store. Taking a last look at the hotel complex, he ran towards the treeline and along the outskirts of the town.

        The sun was going down when Bruiser reached the pharmacy. In the cover of darkness, He used his pipe to smash apart the lock on the door and went inside. Jackpot! He grabbed a shopping cart and began filling it with food, medicine, and anything else he could see being of use. In the Northwest corner was a locked door that led to the storage room. Again, using his pipe, the door opened easily and inside he hit jackpot number two. Antibiotics. Grabbing all he could he raced back to an adjacent vacant house and decided to bed down for the night. It was too risky going back to the evac shelter.

 
        Rested and healed but woken at two in the morning, Bruiser peeked out the front door and felt it was okay to leave. Grabbing his shopping cart full of supplies, he headed down the road through Medford. Distant noises kept him on guard but the trip was uneventful. He noticed the sounds of night animals, crickets and an owl, along the wooded road towards the evac shelter. Outside the door, Bruiser inhaled and held his breath as it opened inward. Stephanie was there sitting on one of the benches. Her grip on her spear loosened and she smiled rushing towards him. He nodded towards her and retrieved the antibiotics from his pocket. Taking them with some water, she asked him how she could repay him. Bruiser said ny information you can give about all of this would suffice, money seemed to be fairly useless and he didn't want to take another person's supplies. She said she can do one better and began teaching him different dodge techniques. After a few hours, they finished and Bruiser broke the silence asking if she'd like to join him until they both can figure out what they are going to do. Stephanie grabbed her few belongings and shouted an emphatic "Yes!" Bruiser grabbed his cart and pipe, Stephanie her spear, and together headed out of the shelter.