Glory And Gore

Chapter Five

Levy was pissed. Not only that Ae Ri was still reluctant to kill a walker, but that Rory had indulged in that reluctance. As soon as she verified that Ae Ri was safe on the top of those planks, Levy was at the door and pulling it open.

As soon as Levy rattled the chains, banging her sword against them and shouting into the unlit store, she was back at the car, ducking behind it with Rory at her back.

Why did she have to be the bad guy? She kept her calm. She didn't yell. That was what Shane would have done. She didn't put it in Ae Ri's face; that had been a bluff to begin with. That was what Maverick would have done. Levy held her ground, kept the walker stationary. It was, easily, the safest way that Ae Ri could have gotten any sort of practice.

His jaw was still clenched, and something kin to anger danced in his eyes. "Levy-"

Levy didn't want to hear it. Not with a threat coming. "Not now."

He clicked his tongue. "I was going to say that I don't hear anything."

Levy tilted her head, and she peered over the car. She didn't hear anything, and she didn't see anything. She had a bad feeling in her stomach at the thought that there were no walkers inside, especially with the warning right there.

She shook her head. "No. This isn't right," she muttered, standing up straight. "Why aren't they... here?"

Her stomach churned. But this run wasn't going to take very long, and chances were that someone had already been inside and used a different way in. It wasn't like they checked. She'd have to check next time. She had to.

Levy shook her head. "Let's be quick."

Rory grabbed her arm. "We have to go back," he said, and Levy felt the same fear she saw in him. "After what happened... Levy, this isn't safe. It's stupid."

"It's quick. We go in, find a few decorations, and we leave. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Uh, we die?"

Levy rolled her eyes. "Fine. You get to tell Ae Ri why she can't have a new shelf in her room." Rory huffed with a frown, and Levy scrunched her face at him before standing up fully. "Ae Ri, we'll help you down."

As soon as she was safe on the ground, Levy went into the store with Rory and Ae Ri.

Jenna was watching the cameras that Katrina had placed on all of "her" places. The compound was running its usual bullshit, and Jenna was a little too ready to accept the watchbird position that Katrina normally left to her inner circle. It was a boring job, but it was far better than any of the others things to do around.

Jenna tossed a ball into the air, occasionally glancing over at the cameras to see what was happening. Mostly nothing, since the world was pretty much dead. But every now and then, there was something to see.

Such as now.

Jenna caught the ball, and she leaned forward. Three people were in one of the stores that Katrina had once held walkers in. It had been vacated for somewhere closer to the compound, but the cameras were still up since the entire town was something Katrina considered as hers. Jenna didn't get it, but she rolled with it anyway.

Three people. One boy, two girls. They were in the party store, trying their best to salvage pretty much anything. Jenna tried to peer closer at what they were grabbing, but the video was too grainy to really see.

She flipped a switch to turn on the audio.

"Arch is gonna love this," the boy said, sounding happy.

"Of course he is- he's Archer," one of the girls said, her voice flat. She rooted around the candy section for a moment. "Hey, some of this is salvageable. Help me look for his favorites."