State of Decay✔️

Chapter 24: Loss & Gain

Marcus woke up the next day feeling all right.

He and Danica had spent the better part of two hours hauling their loot from that abandoned warehouse. Maya and Jacob had pitched in when they'd realized just how much there was. They'd found a huge stash of gasoline, a couple of forty gallon drums that had been a bitch to get back to the church and they'd ended up stashing in a tarp in one corner of the courtyard. There'd also been some nice construction materials tucked away.

When they'd finished that up, the four of them had a late dinner, since everyone else had already eaten then, and got several crazy stories out of Danica, who seemed to be cautiously coming out of her shell. She told them about the six month stretch she pulled working the graveyard shift in New York as a paramedic and all the nutjobs and psychos she ended up running into. When she ran out of stories to tell, Maya ended up regaling them with a few of her own stories from when she did a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

By the end of the meal, Marcus found himself falling down tired. He'd been surprised to see how early it was: just past nine PM. The sun was a fresh memory, only recently having gone down beyond the horizon. But, he reasoned, it had been a long day. So he'd said his goodbyes, stumbled off to bed, kicked off his shoes and passed out.

Now here he was, pulling his shoes on. The sun was up but he could tell it was still fairly early. He began his morning ritual. Taking a leak, washing his mouth out with a little cup of Listerine, (they'd found a crates' worth tucked away in someone's house yesterday), deodorant and one mournful glance at the shower, which was no longer useful. Someday, he'd like to be able to enjoy a shower again...or at least a bath.

Then he left the bathroom and grabbed a trio of Nutrigrain Bars and a bottle of water. Maya was the only other one in the kitchen.

"Hey, how you doing?" she asked.

"Good," Marcus replied. "I feel refreshed. I notice I'm waking up feeling like that more and more often these days."

"Early to bed, early to rise isn't bullshit. Your body is in its natural rhythm again and as a result, you feel better," Maya replied.

Marcus began to reply, but glanced over as someone stepped into the doorway that led into the rest of the church. Lily. She looked worried.

"What's up?" Maya asked after she'd turned around and followed his gaze.

"So...I know it seems like I keep dumping this crap in your lap but...something has come up again and it requires your attention."

Marcus chuckled. "Of course it does. What do you need?" he replied.

"I've been talking with someone on the radio. A pair of people who have been kind of camping out and on the run. They didn't even know about the enclaves or anything and I was just telling them they should come join us...and then something went wrong. They stopped responding. I'm worried about them. They're really close, in that house at the bottom of the hill, to the left, first one in the row...you know the one?"

"Yeah," Maya replied, nodding. "Okay, I'll go check them out, extend an offer."

"I'll join you," Marcus said.

They hurriedly finished their breakfast and walked into the main room of the church. As they began heading for the door, Marcus hesitated. He saw Pastor Will sitting by one of the windows, staring out it...

He still wasn't better.

Couldn't worry about that now. They were likely working on a short timeline and there were people to save. The two of them made sure they had their guns, ammo and all the other stuff they tended to need to make it out in the zombie infested city. Once that was done, the pair hurried outside, down the stairs and across the courtyard.