State of Decay✔️

Chapter 20: On the Hunt

The rest of the day went by peacefully.

The only thing that upset the illusion that they were merely...camping out in an old church, was the occasional sharp crack of a rifle or pistol from whoever was up on the watchtower when a zombie wandered too close to the perimeter. Marcus helped Maya sort through the rest of the ammunition, then went down into the basement with her to make sure the infirmary had been set up appropriately. Once they had moved a few things around, they grabbed some food from the new bounty they had received in the trade and ate outside.

"This is nice," Maya said. "You actually made a great call. You got us food and made us friends. Opened up lines of communication. You know, you've got kind of a knack for this I think. Were you management in your old job?"

"Oh no, not even close," Marcus replied. "Maybe after another five years or so...but, well, that's kind of not even a remote possibility anymore. Given what we're facing."

"Hmm, I don't know. It could just be in the valley and the surrounding area. I mean, the Army is here, quarantining us. So that's gotta mean something. But...eh, who knows? For now, we should simply focus on staying alive. There's just a good a chance as the world ticking along as it always has out there, beyond the valley, as the chances of the other possibility."

Marcus nodded in agreement.

He was eating a can of peaches and a can of tuna with crackers, and washing it down with a bottle of water. Maya was tearing through two cans of green beans like they had personally insulted her. He had to give her credit: even during the zombie apocalypse, he still couldn't stand to eat his greens. Never could, never would.

They finished up their meal and then spent the rest of the night completing the wall repairs and getting the barbed wire into place. Well...honestly, Maya did most of the work, since there was only one pair of good gloves and she was the only one among them who knew what the hell she was doing. Marcus just hung around and offered the occasional hand, but mostly he talked to her. He found himself talking to her about everything: life with Ed, his job, his upbringing, his boyhood summers spent in Trumbull Valley...

Then, just as they were finishing up, it finally began to rain.

The last of the sunshine had disappeared behind the dark, thickening cloud cover and the first light mist of the coming storm began to fall. Marcus and Maya continued eating at the gazebo outside, until they were finished, and then they sat back, content and tired, and enjoyed the rain and the silence for a long while.

Marcus spent much of that time debating whether or not he could actually work up the courage to say something to Maya about this apparent huge crush he'd developed on her ever since meeting her less than a week ago.

Maya saved him the trouble by yawning suddenly and powerfully, then standing up. "Well, I'm going to go to sleep. I imagine we'll have a lot to do tomorrow. You should probably hit the hay as well. We'll both need to be up and ready for another scavenging run."

"Yep, good idea," he replied.

They stood up and made for the tent. Ed occupied the single bed, and apparently they both wanted to sleep outdoors, with the peaceful breeze and the light rain. So, Maya took the top bunk and Marcus took the bottom.

He was asleep in two minutes.

* * * * *

Marcus woke up bright and early the following day.

The rain had ceased at some point during the night, though the cloud cover lingered, leaving the day still and gray. It didn't bother him. He felt fantastic, clear-headed and ready to face the day. Which was good, because the day turned out to be difficult. Maya was already awake. Marcus got up and grabbed a change of clothes from a small stash of personal items he'd put together and stored in one of the dresser drawers of the outdoors rooms. Each drawer was labeled now. One for him, one for Maya, one for Ed, one for Jacob.